Waterstone Church Sermon Podcast · Waterstone Church

At the Party

March 22, 2026·46 min·4 clips

Jesus weeps at Lazarus's tomb, revealing a God who enters into our deepest sorrows.

This sermon from Waterstone Church explores the biblical story of Mary anointing Jesus's feet with expensive perfume from John 12. The guest speaker, Casey, examines the passage's context between Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and entering his final week of suffering. Casey frames the discussion around the tension between two promises Jesus gives his disciples: that they will have trials on earth, but that he has overcome the world. The sermon analyzes how believers often improperly emphasize one promise over the other, either bypassing suffering or fixating on it. Casey defines "spiritual bypassing" as overemphasizing spiritual truths to avoid suffering, illustrated by a story about a well-meaning boyfriend comforting his girlfriend after a soccer loss with unhelpful "at least" statements. The speaker also describes "emotional bypassing," where one becomes so focused on suffering that they dismiss God's truth, sharing a personal anecdote about being a "Debbie Downer" in a small group. Casey then examines Jesus's own response to suffering in John 11, where he weeps at Lazarus's tomb despite knowing he will perform a resurrection. The sermon highlights that Jesus is deeply moved by human grief and personally enters into suffering. Mary's act of pouring perfume worth a year's wages is presented as a dual declaration: anointing Jesus as the Messiah and foreshadowing his death and burial. Casey connects this to the concept of biblical lament, a practice that engages suffering honestly while trusting in God's character. The speaker references Professor Elizabeth Lewis Hall's definition of lament and reads from Lamentations 3:19-24. A scientific concept called the Proust effect is introduced to explain how smell directly triggers memory and emotion, suggesting the perfume's aroma may have sustained Jesus during his Passion. Casey shares two personal middle school memories triggered by the smell of tuna and vanilla bean lotion. The sermon concludes with a personal story about the speaker's strained relationship with her father, using an image of a father and daughter walking together as a metaphor for bringing grief to God. The tone is conversational, pastoral, and illustrative, blending exegetical teaching with personal stories and cultural references like *The Office* and drug commercials. Listeners interested in biblical narrative analysis, practical Christian living, and integrating emotional honesty with faith will appreciate this episode. Those seeking a strictly theological or academic lecture might find the personal anecdotes and informal style less engaging.

As heard by us

A plainspoken sermon on costly love, grief, and Jesus staying close to suffering.

Bethany is the setting for a sermon about costly love, grief, and the awkwardness of Jesus being honored while Judas complains at the table. The preacher stays close to Mary’s expensive perfume, Judas’s protest, and the harder question of what it means to pour something out on…

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Why you'd press play

For when grief and hope are both at the table.

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