41 Preaching/Teaching: Mark 14:1-25-

The Heart of Worship!

The Heart of Worship-The Messiah Anointed

Because we are worshipping the anointed Messiah, we must:

ESS: You can worship Jesus

Subject: Heart Worship

You were created to worship!

When Heather and I went to Hawaii, the thing we loved the most was walking on the beach and seeing the whales.

Luke 19:40 “But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!””

Even the stones will cry out.

But as humans, unlike the stones or that whale I saw in Hawaii, we have a choice not Jesus to worship Jesus but to choose to worship him whole-heartedly.

What are you worshipping wholeheartedly right now?

Growing up I worshipped basketball-It was my all. The reason I spent countless hours in the gym was because it was my everything. The reason my life felt like it was over after a lost is because it was my ultimate.

People worship all kinds of things

Arkansas, they worshipped a HOG- PIC

The American Dream

Today I want us to see it is not just what we worship.

But how are you worshipping?

Today, I want us to learn from a lady in scripture who worshipped Jesus wholeheartedly. But before we look at her let’s look at the setting this is taking place in.

Setting (1-2)-

Mark 14:1–2 NASB95

Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.”

They had talked about killing him, but now they were ready to pull the trigger; they wanted Jesus dead.

They were celebrating the time they were delivered from Egypt. Isn't it ironic during this time of celebration that they were now in slavery to the Romans? So, there was this great anticipation that they would be delivered from the Romans.

I want you to realize Jews from all over were coming from the City. The entire city of Houston is 7.34 million. One writer claimed the population swelled from 50,000 to 250,000. Could you picture if everyone went to the City for a celebration? People were not just coming to celebrate. They were anticipating that they would be free once again.

It was in this setting that a lady has a lot to teach us about worshipping wholeheartedly.

1. You can worship Jesus wholeheartedly by bringing Him your best (3).

Mark 14:3 (NASB95)

While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.

When we talk about bringing our best to God, we are usually talking about time, treasure, and talent.

I once heard a guy say show me your checking account and schedule, and I will know your priorities.

a. Our posture is essential in bringing our best to God.

Mark does not tell us who this is, but John does; it is Mary. And we see Mary 3 different times in scripture, and all three times, she is at the feet of Jesus. Mary comes to the master humble in a teachable posture.

Martha and Mary (Luke 10)

Lazarus John 11:32

John 11:32 NASB95

Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Again, she comes to Jesus in a proper heart posture before God.

How is your posture before God?

Do you come on your terms?

Do you come rushed?

Is there a relationship that needs to be reconciled that is keeping your from worshipping whole-heartedly?

Is there a secret sin?

Or do you come ready to sit at the feet of Jesus, humble and ready to hear from the master?

If we are not deliberate, we may even want to have a proper heart posture before God, but we may not be able to.

We have to fight against a ton of things to do this but we do have to make time to sit and listen to God.

Quiet time (31 day challenge)

b. Does worshipping God cost you anything?

Expensive PerfumeNardAlabaster

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Exposition)

She is a good model for all disciples to imitate. The high value of her perfume and its expensive container may suggest that this was an heirloom passed from one generation to another.

Illustration: In the book of Malachi, the priests still had to make the sacrifices to God with animals because Jesus the perfect lamb of God had not died yet. Aren’t you glad we literally do not have to bring cows to an altar. God is mad at the priests because the priests are not bringing the best cows to God for offering. They bring these blind and lesser cows to him as an offering. God wants them to give him their best, and they are bringing him leftovers.

There have been times when, instead of offering myself to God wholly, I have brought myself to God half-heartedly. I have noticed in my life that when I come to God and bring him half-hearted offerings, it affects everything. It affects my family, it affects my witness, it affects my preaching, it affects my relationship. It affects everything.

There was a young man in a worship service, and at this particular church, they put the offering plate at the front of the church. And this young man did not have anything to give to God. So, while offering, he sat on the offering plate. It is such a great picture that God wants us even more than our time, treasure, and talents. And when he has us, he has us. That is when he gets the most glory out of our lives.

She comes with her greatest treasure.

When he has us we will gladly bring him our best for the praise and glory of the king.

And isn’t this what Mary is doing right now!

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.”

Martin Luther Quote

Are you worshipping God whole heartedly?

2. You can worship Jesus wholeheartedly by living for the audience of one (4-7)

Mark 14:4–5 (NASB95)

But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?

“For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.

Why? (Waste)

a. (v.4-5)-Mary was not living for the approval of others!

Can we give too extravagantly to Jesus?

Many say yes, there is a limit we can give to Jesus. How do we know this by their response.

Indignant- They were not just a little opposed. They were highly opposed to Mary doing this act of devotion. Now, remember Judas had not betrayed Jesus yet; he was most likely voicing their thoughts. This sacrifice was way too much; it was extreme. Notice Jesus' disciples and religious people looked down upon this sacrifice. The very people who should have gotten it did not.

The night before Passover, the Jews usually gave gifts to the poor. We would all agree this is a perfect thing to do. Then, the disciples see this lady giving Jesus a gift of a year's wage. This seems so impractical. We are providing such excellent service here. They were most likely puffed up. They had so much pride they were missing Jesus himself. Remember she was at the feet of Jesus and they were not.

Aren't we a lot like the disciples? Many times, we like to do, before we are. And God wants us not to miss it too; let's worship before we serve, and worship can be a form of serving. And when we worship we will want to serve and our heart will be right. Mary got it, and she was at the feet of Jesus.

The disciples were concerned about people with low incomes. Notice it is not a bad thing what they were concerned about, but they missed the most important thing.

CONTRAST

Mary was concerned about Jesus' death: It was about to happen.

We do not know if she connected the dots perfectly about the death of Jesus but it would turn out that she was actually anointing him before his death.

Have you ever given too much to Jesus?

This = the question they were asking

Even believers or religious people often look down upon extreme generosity!

Risk is essential for worship!

We celebrate risk in the world, But why would we not celebrate them in the real world, so why would we not celebrate it in our spiritual lives.

JJ Watt's parents paid for him to go to Wisconsin so that he could have a chance to make the pros (verify this story)

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2573247-the-pizza-delivery-guy-who-made-it-big-the-college-recruitment-of-jj-watt

Watt decided to walk on in Wisconsin but to do so, he had to ask his parents to pay for a year of tuition, and he also picked up a part-time job.

We are presenting J.J. Watt, the pizza delivery guy.

"It gave him a look at what would happen if he didn't attend college," Connie Watt said. "It gave him the idea of working hard and show[ed] that it wasn't something he wanted to do his whole life."

Mary took a risk to worship Jesus?

Have you ever taken a risk to worship?

Or are you holding on to your time, treasure and talents?

v. (6-7)-What others saw as a waste, Jesus saw as beautiful

Mark 14:6–7 NASB95

But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.

CONTRAST-(WHY)

She had eyes to see this unique time Jesus was doing what he came to do (DIE). She had supernatural wisdom because she was worshipping.

The very thing the disciples struggled with, she embraced. She may have gotten that his time was here. But she may have just been doing this as an act of devotion. Either way it does not matter she was worshipping with her entire heart.

THEY WOULD NOT ALWAYS HAVE HIM

If we give Jesus everything, others will look at it as stupid.

Garden Road Baptist Church-As I think about GRBC merging into RCC I think it was a complete act of worship

Are you living for the audience of one?

When is the last time you have risked something for Jesus?

3. You can worship Jesus whole-heartedly by embracing your unique design (8-9).

Mark 14:8 (NASB95)

“She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.

a. Do what you can do

V.8-Love this did what she could do- Be who God created you to be, and no one else needs to be us. This is not just liberating; it's a divine invitation to embrace our unique design. We are free from the burden of trying to be someone else. This freedom extends to our worship, allowing us to express our devotion uniquely. Some people like to worship with their hands up. There were probably a lot of things Mary could not do, but she could do this.

One of the things I learned in preaching is that you have to be you. Preachers all have their favorite preachers and yes we should learn from them. But in learning from them we should not try to be them to the point where we are not ourselves.

In the same way as we worship, we have freedom to be who God created us to be and we have freedom to worship him.

One of the ways we do that is by doing what we can do.

Maybe we overthink it-

What can you do right now?

b. Live for eternity!

Mark 14:9 (NASB95)

“Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

v. 9 When she did what she could do, she didn't just leave a mark; she left an eternal legacy! Her act of devotion, unique to her, continues to inspire and guide us today.

We are still talking about this story today.

What can you do for worship today?

What does worshipping look like for you?

Closing

Mark 14:10–11 (NASB95)

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them.

They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

Let's worship in a way that can never be taken away.

The strongest could not stop Entire Jewish or Roman people

Bribery could not stop him

Money could not stop him

The Elites could not stop him

Why?

*****Gospel-I just want to remind us that as much as she gave it is still pale in comparison to what Jesus is about to give.

WHY WE WORSHIP-We don’t give to God because he needs it we give to God because we need it, out of a response of what he has already done for us.

We give ourselves to this kind of worship: We will never be stopped.

Conclusion

Are you doing false worship

1/2 hearted worship

Or are you offering God your heart