Worship is Never Wasted

Text: John 12:1-8

Before we get to the text today, I want to talk a minute to talk about expiration dates. I mean how serious should we take them? Take a poll. Expiration date on milk(GROSS)? who would/wouldn’t? How about a bag of chips(STALE)? There are some things that come with built in expiration dates, like a banana, how brown/black/mushy does it have to be? Everybody know what a breathe right strip is? Yeah i have a box of them here, and while i’m not usually a snorer, last weekend Allison said I was sawing some logs. So i dug through box of stuff in the closet and found this box of breathe right strips. I tried to put a couple on and couldn’t get them to stick, then inside the box i saw a coupon that expired in 2012! So if the coupon expired in 2012, who knows when the actual strips expired. Allison and I were married at the end of 2009 so it could be that we have carried these things with us all throughout our 13 years of marriage.

Now you have to know that I am not a hoarder. I remember when I bought my first house, I said I’m going to actually park my car in the garage, instead of keeping all that stuff “I might need one day”. Man, I’m going to try to not preach the sermon before I preach the sermon today, but Friday I was cleaning out the garage some, (jacob dumpster at church yesterday) and the clutter just exhausted me. And God brought this thought to me, as He often does preachers who are going to preach, He said Jonathan I wonder what in your life you are holding on to that’s getting in the way of fully worshipping me? What’s in my “just in case” pile in my life, or “I might need that one day”. Oh Church hear me this morning as we get into talking about worshipping. The more you let go of, the more you release, the more you de-clutter your life. The more that the Holy Spirit of God has room to invade your space!

Let’s Read the text and then we will set the scene a little bit. Text: John 12:1-8 “Therefore, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a dinner there, and Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who intended to betray Him, said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the proceeds given to poor people?” Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he kept the money box, he used to steal from what was put into it. Therefore Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.””

PRAY

Intro: Set the scene – In this passage we are told it is six days before Passover, before Jesus would eat the last supper with the disciples. It’s the week before Jesus would go to the cross. At the very least from this passage we know that Lazarus was there, who Jesus had just raised from the dead. Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha were both there and most likely many if not all of the disciples. If you remember, just prior to this in scripture we saw Mary and Martha and how Martha was stuck on working while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, and even when Jesus taught there that Mary was choosing the better idea of worship over work, here we are a few weeks later, Martha still working, while Mary is again the center of a lesson that Jesus will teach them.

We see this story related to us in Matthew 26 as well, and when Mary pours out the perfume on Jesus’ feet in that passage, the words that are used by Judas are “Why the Waste?” And that’s where we are going to jump in today….

Point #1 - WORSHIP IS NEVER WASTED

...But Opportunities To Worship Are Often Missed.

For us to truly understand what was happening here we need to talk a little bit about the value of the sacrifice that is being made. The text tells us that the value of the perfume was 300 denarii. Now there are different thoughts on what a denarii would be valued at, but what seems most plausible to us is that a denarii would have been a day's wages. 300 workdays in a year would be a good 6 day work week, so in other words, we are talking about a sacrifice that was equal to a year’s salary. Why would she own this? Why would someone buy a bottle of perfume that’s worth $50,000 or $60,000 USD? Perhaps it was a family heirloom? In that time and culture owning a commodity would have been far more valuable than currency. Perhaps much like it is today. There’s a good chance that this expensive commodity belonged to the house. So Mary’s decision not only affected her, but Martha and Lazarus as well. Regardless of the exact purpose, it’s pretty safe to say it was what was on reserve in the household. No more back up plan, no emergency fund, Mary and her household were laying their full dependency literally at the feet of Jesus.

But why so much? Wouldn’t a tithe have been enough? Certainly, Judas would have been ok with them making a donation of 10% to the disciples of Jesus Christ fund. Interestingly enough Judas’ comment about how what Mary was doing was wasteful shows that he has little to no understanding or concern for what it means to worship God.

In the book of second Samuel in the Old Testament, King David goes out to a piece of land to make a sacrifice to God. He would need the land to do it, an animal, the wood to start the fire, and when he comes near that land, the man who owns it says, “my King I will give you everything that you need for this offering to the Lord.” But the King responds, “God Bless You. But I must pay you for everything, because I will not make an offering to the Lord that does not cost me something.”

It could certainly be argued that the level of our worship is proportionate to that which it truly costs us. There’s a Christian song that came out a few years ago that said I throw a $20 in the offering plate, but I never give until it hurts. This isn’t a message about giving today, unless that’s what the Holy Spirit needs you to hear. This is a message about overcoming our inhibitions, our discomfort, and our willingness to pour out our praise in front of Jesus. If you can throw up your hands and fall on your face before Jesus with no issues, maybe your concern is over turning finances or trust to Him. But if you give faithfully and generously, is your heart, your body, your posture in worship surrendered to Him? Some struggle more to release their emotions, their posture, and their brokenness more than they do their finances or resources. Mary said Jesus here’s my money (that represents trust)... here’s my body (that represents my flesh)…here’s my tears (that represents my emotions)... here’s what people might even think of me or how they might judge me (that represents my reputation) I just want you Jesus.

WORSHIP IS NEVER EVER EVER WASTED, let’s talk for a minute though about how opportunities to worship are missed though...

Point #2 - OPPORTUNITIES TO WORSHIP ARE OFTEN MISSED

I don’t go to the altar and pour out my praise to Him, because people might think there’s something wrong in my life. Well I don’t raise my hands in worship because I don't want to be thought of or seen by others, worship is supposed to be private…. PAUSE It is? Let’s Double check that text today, at any point did Jesus get down and look at Mary (kneel here) and say Mary this was great, you gave me $50,000 you washed my feet with perfume but we all know you just wanted everyone to see you. Nope. In the household of Lazarus, Martha gets condemned for valuing her work too much, Judas condemned for being concerned about how others worship, and Mary is praised by Jesus. Wow! Can you imagine being praised by Jesus?

Francis Chan had this to say about worship, “Our lack of worship may actually be the biggest cause of our divisions. When we don’t worship as we should, all hope for unity is lost. It’s hard to start an argument with someone who is on her knees shouting praises to Jesus. As Christians we are the most divided faith group on the earth, and there isn’t a close second. If you think I’m exaggerating, name another religion with more than two or three factions. But we as Christians have thousands of denominations each believing that our theology is superior. Those divisions are exactly the opposite of what Jesus died for.” END QUOTE Perhaps my favorite thing that ever happens is when a church or a denomination merges with one another, because it symbolizes that two or more groups of people saw unity in Christ as the most important idea to be valued. #BEST IS YET TO COME CAP CITY

While there is some truth to the idea that the oil's cost could have been used in other ways, those opportunities will continue. The chance to honor Christ, as Mary did, was something that would never come again. She wasn’t there for His burial. How many more opportunities do you want to pass to worship Christ as you should? In Mary’s case it was the last time she would be with Jesus before His life was taken. How many more opportunities will you have to worship Him before your life comes to an end. Don’t miss ANY opportunity to worship Him as you should.

TRANSITION... So let’s wrap up today by working together to answer that question.

Point #3/Response - HOW DOES GOD SEE YOUR WORSHIP?

WHO ARE YOU TODAY? I’m giving a quiz today. It’s multiple choice and you have to participate. Not out loud of course, but you will pick an answer... In a gathering of worship, whom from our story do you most relate to? How does God see you? MARY, MARTHA, LAZARUS, JUDAS… By the way there is a right answer and it’s Mary, sorry to give it away so quick, but if you haven’t decided who you are, let’s spend the rest of our time together talking a little about these 4.

The 4 Characters In The House Where The Lord Was were Martha, Judas, Lazarus, and Mary

Martha- We start with Martha. Serving/Working To Prove Her Worth,

Martha seemed to struggle with misdirected worship, worship for us instead of Him: Martha said

If I work, If I’m on the board, If I sing, If I teach, If I preach, If I give, If I fix things… She overcomplicated her worship and her Christianity, and I’m afraid that based on what we see in scripture Martha may have never got it. Never at his feet, never even reclining at the table with Him. Perhaps the truest essence of a Martha mentality is that we are often more pleased with our form of worship than God is. Did you catch that. We are often more pleased with our form of worship than God is. How about Judas?

Judas- I’m sure we all said oh Pastor pick me I’m a Judas. Haha! No one is ever quick to admit that they might recognize within themselves that they are more like the bad guy in the story than they want to admit. But if you recognize it with a desire to change, that’s a great realization to come to. Judas is a critic, he has selfish motives, he’s worried, he’s jealous. He’s upset about anyone’s worship that takes away from his agenda. What’s so potentially dysfunctional about our worship is that not only do we not worship God the way that we should but we might sit quietly or perhaps not so quietly judging those who do. When we don’t worship like we should, we don’t like others to do so because it isolates us for not worshipping at the level we should. Maybe you aren’t fully a Judas, but if there are any traits of Judas you see in your own Spirit, some authentic confession and worship wouldn’t hurt.

Lazarus- How about this Lazarus guy? Some say that they were having dinner to celebrate His resurrection. I’m not sure what kind of food you serve at a dinner like that, but I’ll bet it’s one I’d like to try. We don’t get alot about Lazarus here except that He’s reclining with Jesus at the table. He is in the presence and company of the Lord. We said earlier Mary’s decision to “spend” this oil in worship affected Lazarus. The very fact that He didn’t oppose speaks volumes. Think about this today, Lazarus had been given new life in Christ, just like all of we have. When you’ve truly received new life in Christ, you will be happy with any form of worship that others offer to Christ. Not tolerant but consenting and in full agreement. He’s saying I have been to the other side. He knows every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Would you take that as a challenge this morning? When was the last time you came and bowed a knee to say Jesus you are Lord? I’ll love to join you in that prayer today.

I know I said 4 characters in the room, but here’s a bonus...How about the rest of the room??? Do you know who else was there? This passage doesn’t tell us. You know why I believe that is? Because they weren’t contributing anything. I certainly don’t want to not even make the story today. If Jesus is in the room, and I wasn’t even noted as a contributor, what an opportunity did I miss to worship?

INVITE THE TEAM

This Story Is About Mary Not Missing The Moment To Worship The Lord. Oh don’t miss it this morning church...

Everyone Should Strive To Be Like Mary… It’s who Jesus approved of here, isn’t that right? We find…

Mary- At the Feet Of Jesus. Too many times and too many people in the church are limiting the way they worship for reasons that I promise you God is not going to hear. If you are somebody that likes to say only God can judge me, you’re absolutely right, but I think many of us don’t really get the ramifications of such a statement or the standards of such a God. God accepted praise from a naked man dancing in the old testament, former prostitutes at his feet, and people crying out to God on their knees with their hands lifted high. He knows whether or not you would be there at His feet with Mary.

GO AHEAD AND STAND

It has been said we can only be filled with the Spirit of God in proportion to that of which we have emptied ourselves. What part of you remains today that is prohibiting the Spirit of God from having full control of every area of your life? Would you empty the security fund? Would you put your “so-called reputation” on the line, Would you release you concern about how others see you? Would you break in the room, despite your friends, despite your family, despite the fact that everyone else in this room might talk about the fact that you raised your hands in worship for the first time in 5 years or maybe ever...PAUSE, and simply say I don’t care I just want to be at the feet of Jesus this morning.

We are going to sing the song we sang earlier, Here’s my heart, and during our prayer time earlier we sang speak what is true. Then we go on to sing those truths. I am found, I am Yours, I am loved, I'm made pure I have life, I can breathe I am healed, I am free. You are strong, You are sure, You are life, You endure, You are good, always true. You are more than enough, You are here, You are love, You are hope, You are grace, You're all I have, You're everything, You are life breaking through. Mary found all this when she wept at the feet of the savior. Will you come and kneel to confess Him as lord, stand with hands lifted high, confess the places you have judged others in worship. Empty yourself of yourself so that you can be filled completely with the Holy Spirit. Withhold nothing from Him, and He will withhold nothing from you (Repeat).

PRAY FOR RESPONSE Revelation 4:11 - Revelation 4:11, NIV: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

Parking Lot/Post Response

Worship Jesus In Your Home

Worship Jesus With All Your Heart

Worship Jesus Now In The Moment