Giving Our Best

Giving Our Best John 12:1-8 In the midst of all the swelling events of the last days of Jesus, here we have a private moment after the raising of Lazarus: a celebration dinner for the miracle. Something wonderful had happened and the ladies, Mary and Martha, along with the resurrected Lazarus, wanted to do their best for Jesus and some friends. We all want to think that we do our best – or at least pretty good at whatever we set our minds to do. But many times, we just don't take the time to push ourselves to do the better we could do, leaving our reputation mild and unremarkable. Here is a little story that illustrates that: Miss Jones lived in a Midwestern community and had the reputation of being the oldest resident of the town. Well, one day she died, and the editor of the local newspaper wanted to print a little caption commemorating Miss Jones’ death. However, the more he thought about it, the more he became aware that while Miss Jones had never done anything terribly wrong (she had never spent the night in jail or been drunk or disorderly or of ill repute), yet on the other hand, she had never actually done anything noteworthy. The editor didn't know what to write and was thinking about this when the tombstone proprietor stated that he had been having the same problem. He wanted to put something on Miss Jones' tombstone besides her birthday and death date but he couldn't think of anything to inscribe. The editor decided to go back to his office and to the first reporter he came across, he would give the task of writing a caption for both the newspaper and the tombstone. Upon returning to the office, the sports reporter was the only one around and so he received the assignment. If you pass through that little community today, you will find the following statement on her tombstone: Here lie the bones of Nancy Jones For her life held no terrors No hits, no runs, no errors. We have been given the assignment of giving our best to Christ. Sometimes, that means taking risks and stepping out of our comfort zones. Today’s scripture tells of an event that occurs six days before Jesus' death. We know Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. Mary and Martha were the two sisters who were quite different, to say the least. Mary was known for sitting at the feet of Jesus as He taught the family. Martha, on the other hand, 2 was always busy, cooking and preparing the meals. Mary was more interested in what Jesus was saying than in what Martha was serving. You may remember, when Lazarus died, it was Martha who went out to meet Jesus, saying, if not admonishing Jesus, "If You had been here, he would not have died." Mary had remained in the house. When Mary heard that Jesus was there, she again fell at Jesus' feet, crying, asking Jesus to help them. So, we know Mary was the quiet one of the two sisters. She was more contemplative, sentimental, more sensitive, and maybe even tongue-tied, while her sister Martha probably was more direct and firm, saying what was on her mind. We don't know much about Lazarus, except that he heard his Master's voice from the grave. When Jesus called to him, "Lazarus, come forth," Lazarus came from the grave, still in his grave clothes for all to see. Afterwards, it was bedlam. Because of his being raised from the dead, many Jews came to believe in Jesus. But because others were believing, the authorities wanted him dead all the more. Mary, being quieter and thinking more reflectively, wanted to do something to show her devotion to Jesus, so she took some very expensive perfume, the scripture tells us, and pours it upon Jesus' feet. Again, she is at the feet of her Savior. (This is a different incident than the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet earlier in His ministry.) However, Martha is not the one that Mary is contrasted with in this scripture. This time it is Judas. So, Martha is serving the people while they celebrate a feast of gratitude and thanksgiving that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Mary, she takes expensive perfume, and instead of anointing the head of the honored guest with oil as they traditionally did, anointed the feet of Jesus and then, in deepest humility, wipes His feet with her hair. Judas then speaks up, and utters his cruel protest, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" (Three hundred denarii, by the way, was a whole year’s wages.) John goes on to say that Judas was a crook. What we have here, standing in direct contrast of each other is hypocrisy and greed against pure, passionate devotion. Judas was sneaky and probably trying to cheat Jesus and the rest under the guise of helping the poor, while Mary was giving her very, very best to Christ. That was simple for Mary. She loved Jesus so much that she just wanted to show Him her devotion, and the best way that she could was to anoint Jesus' feet with the best that she had. Giving of ourselves, the very best that we have, is not new to the New Testament. The Old Testament Sacrificial Law was set up on this belief. You were to take your firstfruits, the best calf, the best doves, the best 3 lamb, ones that had no disfigurement, no blemish, no weakness. They were to be healthy, strong and attractive, the best of your heard. This was not the time to weed out your sick animals ― and sacrifice them to God. Second best was never enough. God wanted the very best of the grain and the crops and the animals as an offering, and only a small offering at that, to Him and for the Temple. Then, as the Old Testament evolved into the New, people discovered that God wanted their very best as well, but not just a sacrifice, rather their whole life, well-lived, in respect of Him and in service to others, with love and grace and charity being the tie that binds. When Jesus came, He became that perfect sacrifice for our sins. There was not a blemish on Him, not a weakness in Him. The Bible says that "He became sin for us, who knew no sins" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was not a sinner, He was perfect and that made Him the perfect sacrifice. Mary was anointing Jesus, not only in thanks and devotion, but in worship and for His death, though she did not know it, and she anointed Jesus with her very best. We have been called to give our very best to God. God wants our very best time, our very best energy, our best thoughts and practices. The hymn we sang has the chorus that says, "Give of your best to the Master, give of the strength of your youth." It may be too late for some of us to give of our youth, but we need to be good examples, we need to enable others to give and to give of the very best of one’s talents and gifts. Not the cheaper, not the surplus or the second hand, not the part we don't really need, but our very best. Whatever your skills sets or talents or interests, give your very best. Many times what is given to Christ is as appears in this story from British author Norman Collins, titled, London Belongs to Me. It goes, Mr. Puddy and Connie live at 10 Dulcimer Street in London. Mr. Puddy, who lived in an attic, was a miserable, overweight man who could never hold a job for long and enjoyed eating far too much. Connie was an elderly lady who lived in a flat on the second floor and worked in the cloakroom of a night club. Connie was involved one evening in a traffic accident. Mr. Puddy urged her to go to a solicitor (an attorney) and make a claim, even though she was not seriously hurt. To her surprise, she received 65 pounds (almost $2,000 today). Because, without Mr. Puddy she would have received nothing, she thought she would give half the amount to him, an impulsive and generous thought. But since she could not cash the check right away, she had time for second thoughts. Since the accident involved her and not Mr. Puddy, maybe half that amount would be a bit much 4 as a gift to him. But then, she thought, was it proper for a lady to give money to a man at all? Perhaps she would buy him a gift instead. Later in her room, Connie felt a twinge of pain that might indicate something else was wrong with her, in which case she would need all the money. Then she got the happy idea that instead of a gift, she would make Mr. Puddy a tin of soup for his supper. An even better idea occurred when she thought of adding more water to the soup so there would be enough for her as well. So in the end, her expression of gratitude was a can of watered-down soup. Oh, well, Judas would have understood. Let us give of our best to Jesus. Take a moment and think of what you give Jesus of your energy and time, your prayers and devotion, your quiet time and service time, your family time and your work time, your sum and substance. Is it your best? Let's not give watered-down soup to Jesus ― but our very best today and every day.