All or Nothing! (Mark 14.3-9)
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All or nothing!
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.
But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way?
For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me.
For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.
She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.
Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
Intro:
It takes a certain level of mindset to “Give your ALL to something!”
And I don’t believe there are many things that we can say......
You know what,
“I gave my ALL to that!”
(pause)
And I also believe that there are many things that contribute to our hesitation in giving our ALL.......
Fear - there’s a trust factor included in giving our ALL
Dissapointment - we’ve been let down before when we felt we gave our ALL
Sin - greed and selfishness can sometime contribute to an inability to give our ALL
And.....
even with all of our hesitation as to why we are inable to give at an “ALL” level.
……….we serve a God that allows us to decide for ourselves what we will do with the lives that has been granted to us by this very same God…………
God does not force us to give God our time and our gifts……..
(pause)
But God in God’s loving nature....
God stands back and allows us to choose whether we will give God our all…
…….or absolutely nothing……..
And in this life journey we make choices daily as to what we will offer to God…..
So at the end of the day………it is really up to us to decide……
…will I give God my all………
….or will I choose to present to God a hand that is holding entirely…….. nothing!
(pause)
Look at it now……….
Mark 14.3
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.
According to the text………..Jesus is in Bethany………….and he is at the house of Simon who is identified as the leper………..
(pause)
Now……..the place where Jesus is……….
(slight pause)
this place called Bethany……has an incredibly…. interesting….. importance……….
Because………this city Bethany in the Greek is translated the house of misery…….
And according to the text Jesus is at this man’s house………in a city described as a house of misery………
And if this woman does not show up wilth all that she has………it minimizes the significance of this place…….
But is it not phenomenal that this woman shows up to give her all……….at a place described as a house of misery!
(pause)
And this is why it is so important to give your all………
even when it looks like misery……
…because whenever love shows up with a healthy dose of servant hood……
…….it influences its surroundings!
(Pause)
In John’s gospel account it speaks more towards how she poured it on the feet of Jesus…………and used her hair to wipe the feet of Christ…
And for a woman of Mary’s position to let her hair loose in front of everybody was unheard of……..
A woman would never unbind her hair in public…..
(slight pause)
But because she was so devoted to Christ in her service she forgot about her dignity……..
And according to the text…….. she loosed what was considered to be her beauty……..
so that she could bless somebody else………
(pause)
I wonder if anybody in here didn’t mind losing your dignity………if it meant glorifying Christ Jesus!
Biblical barrel:
The bible says that David danced out of his clothes as he dropped his dignity to honor God with his praise and worship......
.....so much so that his wife was embarrassed at a King that would act like that.
But......
David had been through to much......
He had received too much from God not to choose the Divine over his Dignity.
(pause and expound)
And........
.........the powerful thing here in today’s text
........ is not found in whether or not she poured the oil on Christ’s head…………or on Christ’s feet……….
(pause)
But the prevailing component that we must recognize is found in the fact that she never got caught up so much on her splendor……
…..that it got in the way of her lifting up Christ in her service……..
(pause and expound)
But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way?
For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
According to the text...
Those who were watching this woman give her all got angry..........
Freedom.......
I have never understood for the life of me why folk get mad at individuals like this woman.......
And......
......the only thing that one could rationally deduce is that these disciples in the text are angry due to the fact that they have miscalculated her actions as it relates to the value of her oil!
(pause)
Because the text says.....
…..the disciples record her actions as…………a wasteful extravagance!
And here’s what they missed………….
They did not miss her holding the oil
......and they did not miss her pouring the oil
But........
..........they had to MISS where the oil fell!
(pause)
How could they notice the results of her pouring........
........and still call it wasteful!
(pause)
But Freedom may I suggest to you,
........that its only in the Church
........when people get angry when you POUR your BEST OIL!
(pause)
But the way I see it......
If what we are doing is for Christ.......
........it should look like the example this woman is showing in Mark’s Gospel!
As a matter of fact.....
Collosians 3.23 says,
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, and not unto man!”
(pause)
And so I hear this woman saying,
“I know you are calling what I’m doing “WASTEFUL”.....
But.....
It has to look extravagant……………
(pause)
Because if my life does not look as if I am pouring out my best……
…….than there needs to be a re-evaluation!
(pause)
And if giving all I have to God is wasteful…….
........than that’s just what it has to be……..
(pause and expound)
Look at it now………
But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me.
In the Greek language
this word “Performed” actually means “She has accomplished” something.....
And here’s the signficance of this word in the text......
Don’t nobody start talking until you start “ACCOMPLISHING” something!
(pause)
And Jesus asks.....
“Why are yall giving this woman trouble because of her accomplishments”
(slight pause)
Watch this......
The work may not be noticed by everybody else as worthwhile………..
.......but Jesus looks at it and declares that it is a good work!
(pause)
And sometimes when you are giving your all……….
I believe there has to be a conviction that understands Jesus classifies our work as good because it honors him.
(pause)
Look at it now.....
Mark 14.7
For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.
And I believe the text is emphasizing the fact that ………..
...........we have a select amount of time in the lives to give our all for something worthy of honoring Christ
(pause)
Look at verse 8.....
She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.
The bible says......
“She has done what she could!”
She examined who she was as a result of her relationship with Jesus and made her decision......
Without speaking........
........she made the loudest sound!
And according to Jesus.......
She held nothing back!
And in my spiritual imagination I hear this woman saying......
“I’m giving it ALL back!”
(pause and expound)
And Freedom here’s what’s even more powerful......
Because we have to ask the question of what poured the OIL?
And yes I know......
......that physically it was her hands that poured the OIL.
But......
.......what MOVED her hands to pour it ALL?
(pause)
And.....
.........the only thing that makes sense,
Is her love for Christ!
(pause)
Folk will tell you they love you.....
But you won’t know until they start POURING the OIL!
(pause and expound)
Watch the text......
.....because Jesus says,
“She has anointed me”
[The anointing…………..]
To be anointed symbolized equipment for service.
And so........
Jesus says that this woman has equipped him for service……
(pause)
Now Freedom….here’s the question………..
Are we willing to maneuver our lives in a way that leaves nothing behind in terms of our effort?
Because if we can convince ourselves to give our all………
It might not be as wasteful as we think!
(pause)
We might just have the OIL that makes the difference in some things around us!
…..it may be just enough OIL to change somebody’s life!
(pause)
Dr. Henri Nouwen says in his book “Out of Solitude”
Every human being has a great, yet often unkown, gift to care, to be compassionate, to become present to the other, to listen, to hear and to receive.
He goes on to say.......
If that gift would be set free and made available, miracles could take place.
(pause and expound)
Freedom,
I wonder if we could “SET FREE” the gift of CARING that propells our hearts to SERVE!
(pause)
And………
........destroy the dissoluion that SERVING shackles us down
But instead.......
........Caring enough to SERVE
......sets MIRACLES FREE!
(pause and expound)
Look at it now.....
Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
In other words………..
When you are giving your all……………you are positioning your life to speak louder than death…………..
(pause)
Because.......
........somebody’s going to TELL the story
........of how someone decided to do everything they can to LOVE RECKLESSLY for the sake of CHRIST!!
(pause)
FREEDOM.........
I don’t know about you..........
But I owe God my ALL!!!
(pause)
I feel just like this woman in the text.......
Because when I think about what God means for my life..........
God.........
“All my life God, you’ve been faithful!”
She could have said this is too much to give.........
But she looked at her oil......
......and broke it open so she could POUR it ALL OUT!
(pause)
And now BETHANY can’t just be called “The house of misery”
But now........
........it has to include this woman who stopped by Simon’s house and decided,
“ALL or NOTHING!”
CONCLUSION and COMPLETION.............