HBC A Valuable Life

I am glad for the opportunity to share our ministry with you this morning and now to have the chance to encourage you with a message from God’s Word. This is a challenge for all of us. Sometimes people will look at my family say, that since we are missionaries and serve in some difficult situations that our ministry and work is more valuable in God’s eyes than theirs is. We have always said that everyone has a unique mission field that God has prepared them for. So, I want to talk with you today about having a truly valuable life.

Let me start by saying, “We all only get one life to live…” Now, so other worldviews like those who are Hindu, they believe that if you are really good then you will be reincarnated a cow or something. But, for those of us who are disciples of Jesus, we believe that the life that we are living now, is the only one we will get. For this reason, we believe that each life is a gift. That is why we try to hard to help those who are sick and dying people at the hospital to recover. That is why we as Christians help those who are hurting or in danger. We protect children and those in need. God made us in His image, so all human life is valuable. We value human life because as people made in the image of God, we reflect His character.

In Psalm chapter 90 says that our lifespan is 70 years, 80 if you are strong. That is still generally true for people in most countries. But, because God gave people the ability to think and learn about science, we now know how to live in a healthy way and we can take medicines that help illness, so we can maybe live to 90 or 100 or more. Even if you live to 100, that is still only a very short time that we are alive on Earth. Along the same lines, James chapter 4 says that our life is like a vapor.

Knowing that our life on this Earth is only a short visit, how do we know that the way we are spending our lives is valuable? What even makes a life valuable? We hear a lot about people’s rights here in America. Equal rights, trans rights, race rights… But, truly aside from a Christian worldview of being made in the image of God, the value of a human life is society based. I would hate to have my life’s value be placed into the hands of any nation’s popular opinion!

So, first of all, our lives do have value because we are made in the image of God. He created us and we belong to him. We were bought with the blood of Jesus. For this reason, God wants us to use our lives in a way that will honor him and not simply to benefit ourselves.

‌I want to read us a Bible passage about a woman who lead a valuable life for a reason we typically do not think of.

Read. Matthew 26:6-13

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‌After reading any passage, we first need to consider what did the original audience of this Bible passage understand the message to be? This Bible event is found in 3 gospels (Matthew, Mark, and John). God thought that this story was important for His children to know about.

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‌From John’s gospel, we know the woman in the story is Mary from Bethany. She is the sister of Martha and Lazarus. This Mary is talked about a few other times in the gospels after her brother Lazarus was raised from the dead and also when Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to hear his teaching while her sister Martha complained that she was lazy. “Mark and John in their Gospels tell us more about the perfume that she was carrying. The perfume is nard or spikenard, which comes from India and is typically used for preparing a body for burial” “worth “a year’s wages”

‌I did an internet search about the cost of spikenard now and 5mL is $15-75. I think that she likely used 325gm or more of the perfume, which means that she used It cost about $7,000! That is not quite a year’s wages according to US standards now, but even so, we can understand that Mary gave great sacrifice from what she owned to offer this perfume to Jesus.

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Continuing with verse 7, we then see that Mary takes the perfume and pours it on Jesus’ head. By doing this, Mary is doing the act of anointing. Anointing was done to show honor and the show special identity of a king or an important person. So, by offering the perfume, she is anointing Jesus as king, but she is also preparing him for death since this perfume was to be used to prepare people for burial. So anointing Jesus with spikenard was the right gift at the right time. We will come back to that.

In the other gospels, we see that Judas was actually the one disciple who protested and thought that the money should have been given to the poor. But we can certainly assume that all the disciples were very upset that Mary seemed to be wasting this perfume. Jesus knew that His disciple’s desire was not to actually help poor people but to seek their own power and influence. Jesus had said several times that He was going to die, but the disciples did not seem to believe or understand this. Mary on the other hand did believe Jesus’ words and was offering him something valuable to prepare for the time that he would die. We know from the story of Mary and Martha that Mary of Bethany had a habit of sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to His words. Her attention to Jesus’ words is now being noticed in her actions. Jesus knew that he was being prepared to be put to death. Jesus also knew that, to be anointed and loved in this way, more so than the poor of the community, He was worthy to receive honor as the Messiah.

‌Immediately following this event, Judas prepares to betray Jesus. Now that we have some of the important context, I want to focus on some important sections from this event.

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‌We see from verse 13 that it says that this, “Woman honored to all nations:” “Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

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Now, think about that. This story about the woman who sacrificially gave what she had of value for Jesus will be told wherever the gospel of Jesus is told. First, we see this is true and the event is talked about in 3 gospels in the Bible. And now, all over the world, this story has been told. The story about this woman’s offering is in Bangla, Spanish, Chinese, and has been told in many more languages. She gave honor to Jesus as the Messiah and now God honors her life and story. Jesus even knew as He was being anointed, that you would hear this message today.

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‌This woman’s life has great value. Even though she knew that she was a sinner and not a person of great importance, she wanted to honor and worship Jesus. She gave what she had of great value that was in her hands to give Jesus the proper honor which He deserves. For this reason, God chose to honor her too. How amazing it is that an ordinary sinful woman can be remembered in the Bible in this special way and that her story will be told in many nations and in many languages. It makes me think about who will remember my story. I do not think that people from many nations will remember me, but this humble woman has been given great honor. Even if you are an important person in your community, acquire tremendous wealth, a big house, big car, or are a world traveler, what real value will your life’s story hold and for what will your life’s story remembered? This woman was not a rich person or a religious leader, but what made her life valuable is how she chose to worship Jesus and to serve him, not what her life accomplishments were.

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So, what do you have to give to worship Jesus? Mary of Bethany in this event offered one thing, her jar of perfume. That was what was in her hands of value which she could offer. As we saw, this offering was very expensive and was a great sacrifice. Her jar of perfume was the right gift because it identified Jesus as king and prepared Him for His death. This gift to Jesus was a special gift and was actually an act of worship to Jesus.

When we think about worship, we often think about singing. Worship means giving worth to something. So, what do you worship? Some people work hours and hours even at the neglect their families in hopes to make a comfortable life for themselves. Doing so can make money and lifestyle your object of worship. Some people stay up all night praying or doing idol worship. That is one kind of worship, but it is not the worship of the creator God. We as humans were made to worship the God of the Bible, but we often choose to give worth to things and to false gods that do not deserve our worship. What do you have to offer to Jesus that is a true sacrifice? If we are honest, is it really a true sacrifice, or is it just a small part of what we have and then you hide the rest for yourself? I am talking about myself as well. God evaluates our worship and so should we. God knows your actual heart and belief. You cannot hide your true desire. What does your worship of God cost you? What is your worship worth? That is kind of a strange question and I am not trying to quantify worship as much as I want you to evaluate your heart as you offer worship to God who is deserving of all of our worship.

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After King David sinned by taking a census of the people, God punished David and the people by sending a pestilence. David wanted to set up an altar to sacrifice but he would not take the land without paying for it. His worship had to cost him something. Mary’s offering in our story cost her a year’s worth of wages. That certainly cost her something! We worship God in various ways. What is your worship like? Is your worship through song with joy or weak? Is your worship through fellowship one that gives encouragement to your brother and sister in the Lord or do you run to your house right after the church service ends? When you worship God by giving your tithe, do you give with joy or do you give a few bucks out of your weekly salary? What you worship shows what you give worth to. Is God valuable to you? Is your salvation from sin valuable or just a cultural tradition? Finally, is your life’s worth for your own benefit and glory or do you live to worship and to serve the Lord God?

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‌Let’s back up and address the disciple’s reaction in verses 8 and 9. People who do not love God or understand what living as a child of God is like will see worship and the service of God as a waste. When Jesus’ disciples saw the woman anointing Jesus with the perfume, they said, “why this waste”. They did not see the value in her worship. Their mind was on the present Earth and the poor. The thought to help the poor is of course not a bad thing. But was it the best thing? No… The best thing was to offer worship to Jesus while the woman had the opportunity, but the disciples could not see that. They rebuked the woman, but then Jesus in return rebuked them for their attitude.

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‌We as Christians can also have our thinking in the wrong place. We think that the way that we use our money is good, but is it the best? We think that the job we choose is the best for our life, but does it allow us to worship God? We look at people who dedicate their life to being a pastor, going to Bible college, taking less money to serve the church and then many people look at them and say, “what a waste!” just like the disciples did to Mary. But in response, what would Jesus say to that kind of attitude? Jesus would say, “why are you giving them trouble? They are doing a beautiful thing”.

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Only One Life

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C.T Studd (missionary to several places including China, India, and America)

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(last 2 stanzas) Oh let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn; Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;

Only one life, “twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

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Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”; And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say ’twas worth it all”; Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

1 cor 3:12 judgement seat of Christ. Gold and precious stones or wood hay and stubble? God will evaluate your life and “only what’s done for Christ will last”

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To conclude, you only have one life. God gave you your life as a valuable gift to be used for His glory. Mary of Bethany in the story gave a very valuable gift in worship of Jesus. For this reason, she has been given a name of honor in the Bible and her story has been told all over the world where the gospel of Jesus has been preached. So, what do you have that you can offer to Jesus in worship? Your money, your time, your joyful song, your job, even your entire life?? God has given us all of these things as a gift anyway. God is the owner of them. We only offer them back to Jesus as an act of worship. Do not be like the disciples and see worship and service of God as a waste. We were made to worship God with our lives. We have the ability to worship God, for that reason we are valuable. Use your life, your abilities, your belongings, and everything as an offering of worship to God. God gave His one and only son Jesus so that anyone who believes in Him will now perish but will have everlasting life forever in Heaven. We can worship this same God who offered His one and only son for us through the valuable worship of our lives.

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-Let’s pray!

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