The Beautiful, Extravagant, Costly Act of Worship

Introduction

As happens sometimes, I’ve changed the title of our sermon this morning. If you take notes, our sermon this morning is…

This Sunday is Pentecost. It is the 50th day after Easter. It coincides with the feast of Weeks on the Jewish calendar. It is the day that the followers of Jesus were in the upper room praying and the Holy Spirit fell upon them. In this, Acts 1:8 was fulfilled and God has given us the mandate to GO… and as we GO, to give witness to the good news of Jesus Christ to those we come across.

The world is full of great tension. I suspect in all times but in various places and in various ways tension has existed. Even at Pentecost, God saved 3000 souls and continued to save souls daily as He added to the church. But the church did not GO. By and large they stayed… it wasn’t until the church became persecuted that they went away from Jerusalem into Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the world.

We need tension, stress, and pressure to grow. It is through trial that we are formed. When our proverbial cup is shook, it is then that we see what comes out.

Our text this morning has a great tension in it.

Jesus is on His way to the cross. We are within the last week of His life now. He knows what lies before Him. Most others seem pretty oblivious as to what is coming.

The religious leaders of the day are hatching a plot to capture and kill Jesus.

The disciples and those closest to Him do not seem to be understanding the gravity of the moment.

Yet in the midst of the weight of the coming suffering, there is this beautiful act of worship that takes place.

If you have your Bibles or on your devices, would you turn to John 11:55-12:8. If you are able and/or willing, would you stand with me as I read God’s word this morning.

This is the word of the Lord. PRAY. You may be seated

Worship

I’ve been thinking about Mary’s beautiful, extravagant, costly act of worship all week.

CHURCH, I WANT THIS SO BADLY FOR YOU AND FOR ME.

I want to hold it up and just look at it, be in awe of it, and aspire to it.

As I LOOK at it:

Jesus is back in the town of Bethany. Bethany meaning “the house of the poor/afflicted”. It is assumed that because Lazarus, Martha, and Mary live here that they are not rich or well to do. It’s quite possibly a city for the poor and those in need.

Jesus is known to Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus is there with Jesus, Martha is hosting, serving, waiting on the party, and Mary is serving, honoring, worshiping Jesus.

No doubt, Mary’s act of worship, Martha’s service as seen here is an outpouring of love and gratitude towards Jesus for what He has done.

When she cracked open the vessel to take out a pound of this oil, it filled the whole house with a delightful fragrance.

What Mary is doing here is culturally scandalous and inappropriate. Anointing his feet was a gracious, honoring, and loving thing to do. But Mary let her hair down, which you did not do in public… for a woman it should be covered, and she proceeded to wipe His feet with her hair.

The ointment that Mary put on Jesus feet, was priced at least a years wages. Let us take a moment and think about the very few things in our lives that we spend a years worth of wages on.

It was so expensive that Judas was aghast. He said out loud, “What a waste! Do you know how many poor people could have been helped!” (Pete’s translation)

John (the gospel writer) then does not have nice words to say about Judas. How heartbreaking is it that Judas knows the cost of everything, being that he was the one with the money bag, but yet the value of nothing.

His comment on the surface would seem to align with what Jesus was about. Helping the poor, the oppressed, those in need. How dangerous and toxic it is when we look for ministry, position, title, authority, and the things of God for our personal gain. It is a dangerous place to be in when we start to look at those in whom God loves and has compassion for and think, how can I personally gain/benefit from them.

Jesus, as I see it, steps in to take the shame being heaped upon Mary by Judas. Jesus makes the comment that she did this anointing in line with his death and burial.

People used perfumes to suppress a stench, including for corpses, and often anointed corpses. When executed criminals were buried, they usually would have been denied anointing; thus the anointing takes place in advance, by anticipation, in Matthew and Mark (Matt 26:12; Mark 14:8); The mention of Jesus’ impending burial fits the suspense suggested by the hostility of the chief priests in the immediate context.

After explicitly noting that Judas’s own concern was nothing so pious as care for the poor (12:6), John cites they will always have opportunity to serve the poor, but not always to serve Jesus while he is with them in the flesh (12:8). Jewish society did not imagine that it could eliminate poverty, but did stress its relief; Jesus here alludes to Deut 15:11, which in context promises that God will supply the needs of all the people if they cared for the poor; but the poor would never depart from the land. The context does not permit neglect of the poor, either in Deuteronomy or in John (13:29; cf. 1 John 3:17); but in the gospels where this is told, the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus and/or the urgency of serving him while he remains with them, since he was soon to depart. (Keener, C. S. (2012). The Gospel of John: A Commentary & 2 (Vol. 1, p. 865-6). Baker Academic.) More on this later.

As I am IN AWE of it:

Arguably this is probably the most expensive thing that is in the house of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.

Mary wasn’t asked to do this, but was compelled to anoint Jesus’ feet

Mary loved Jesus. Jesus brought her brother back from the dead. Jesus was in her home. Jesus was wanting to be near. She loved that. She loved him out of a response of who he is and what he has done. Who is he to you? Take a moment to think of who he is to you, what he has done, what he is doing.

She used her hair. Why would she use her hair? A woman’s hair in ancient near eastern times was a woman’s glory. There were components about a man or a woman that were revered and made special. In this context Mary’s hair was her glory, her honor, and to use it on Jesus’ feet was the picture of service, love, and devotion.

In use of her hair because long after Jesus would leave, she would be able to smell the fragrance that would remind her of the extravagant love that Jesus had poured out on her and her family?

This image should hyperlink us back to the story of Ruth and Boaz.

Ruth is the title of a book in the Old Testament named after three women are widowed. Two of them (Ruth and Naomi) go back to Judah where Naomi is from. Ruth is from Moab, not a Jew, and yet adopts the people of her husband and mother-in-law.

It is a story that speaks to the insignificant being significant in God’s economy. She is the inconsequential outsider whose life turns out to be essential for telling the complete story of God’s ways among us. The unassuming ending carries the punch line: “Boaz married Ruth, she had a son Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.”

David! In its artful telling of this “outsider” widow, uprooted and obscure, who turns out to be the great-grandmother of David and the ancestor of Jesus, the book of Ruth makes it possible for each of us to understand ourselves, however ordinary or “out of it,” as irreplaceable in the full telling of God’s story. We count—every last one of us—and what we do counts.

In the story of Ruth, we see she lays herself at the feet of Boaz… her redeemer… the one that would make everything ok.

Mary is coming to Jesus, insignificant Mary who finds her significance and value loving and worshiping Jesus, placing herself at his feet. It would be honoring in that culture to place oil upon the head of a dignitary or honored guest… but the feet is of highest honor and for her to use her hair, her glory, speaks to the depth and intimacy of worship taking place. That what we are reading right here today, 2000yrs later, is a testimony to that beautiful act of worship we are being encouraged in today.

As I’ve been sitting with and contemplating this passage this week, I’ve realized a few things:

Our worship is directly proportionate to our understanding of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

Our worship isn’t for anyone else other than Jesus. But those who are in proximity will benefit from the sweet aroma that comes from worship.

Our worship, like Mary, cost us something. As we give our tithes, as give of our income to the church out of obedience and discipleship, it is not for anyone to know. It should reflect how grateful we are for the work of God in our lives. How He has saved our soul. That we deserve distance, wilderness, and to be forsaken… yet in Christ, He brings us in proximity, relationship, peace, wholeness, newness, power, love… if it wasn’t for Jesus, I would not have the marriage I do, the children I have, the church I am grateful for, friends that surround me and encourage me, nor be compelled to love and be in relationship with those who don’t think or believe like I do but that I benefit so much from.

I’ve talked with a few people who don’t have a lot of money. My encouragement is to give what God would have you to. Worship God with it. Tell yourself, your money, your desires, testify to God’s goodness through it.

Luke 21:1-4 “He looked up and saw the rich dropping their offerings into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow dropping in two tiny coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.””

Not just our finances but our time, talent, and gifting as well Jesus wants on mission. If we follow Jesus, what we realize, remember is that our lives are not our own but they were bought at a price. Our allegiance is to Jesus first.

When we give our money and our time and our skills and our abilities to Jesus as worship for what He has done, others benefit from it. It is that sweet aroma they all were smelling in the home of Mary. Your giving supports families in need, trains and disciples people for mission, feeds hungry orphans across the world, supports humanitarian efforts in war-torn areas. It affects our community, our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the outer most parts of the world.

It isn’t until we love Jesus supremely that we can love others fully. When Jesus takes His rightful place in our lives, the love that Jesus then gives me for others then becomes helpful and life-giving

If I put Crystal or my children first… making them priority… they can not carry the weight and burden of what I need from them. If they are my identity, then at the slightest moment they are taken from me, I lose who I am. If they disappoint me or let me down, I’m thrown into anxiety and worry. They can not carry the weight of mine that only God alone was intended to carry.

I had mentioned earlier about taking care of the poor, how Jewish thought was never around solving poverty but that they had a scriptural obligation to take care of the poor. The mandate falls to us, but we can not take care of the poor well unless Jesus is primary. If the poor becomes our cause, our primary cause, we will be frustrated, exhausted, and unable to accomplish our task because it is an inexhaustible problem. With allegiance to Jesus first, He carries the burden and holds responsibility for the results.

I ASPIRE to this:

It is not the love that I have for Jesus that makes Him love me more. The love I have is a response to my awareness for what He has done.

Luke 7:47 “Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.””

It is what He has done for us that makes me want to love our community well. I want them to experience it. This is what is such an honor and priveledge to use our resources and assets to create a space where those who may not ordinarily come into this space, come by concert, conference, or an event and come in contact with us who love Jesus, love them, and are wanting to invite them into knowing Jesus.

That my worship of God would be real, uncontrived, and relentless. That I would press into the awkward, I would put my reputation on the line, that I would see myself as a living sacrifice, upon the altar of God, that is pleasing to God, for his use and service. My money, time, my relationships, my efforts, my talents, my skills, and that I would be expended for the Kingdom.

It is so easy in our consumer culture (think about all of our choices and decisions about where to eat, play, shop) to have it our way, right away… and if we don’t, we’re going somewhere else. It’s about ME. Our time is about ME.

Church, this is the antithesis for the follower of Jesus. It is about HIM. He is the head of the church. He gave His life for the church. He wants to present a beautiful bride. May we not look at the church as a commodity, but that which Jesus gave His life for.

That those things I consider, or are considered my glory/honor, what I am recognized by, would be offered up to Jesus to serve Him and love Him.

That the worship of God would linger and become part of my scent.

1 Cor. 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”

That in my doing, in my being, that the fragrance of Christ would emit everywhere.

This act of worship was a foreshadow to how Jesus would instruct His followers to serve one another...

Lazarus being with and near Jesus (we should be drawing near to God’s presence daily)

Martha working and serving those in the home, feeding them being hospitable

Mary, with probably the most symbolic expression of service anointing Jesus’ feet (save the cross… but Jesus even washing the feet of the disciples)

Conclusion

Would you please STAND

Church this is my prayer for us. That we would be a people who are engaged in this beautiful, extravagant, costly act of worship.

It is only in Jesus that this life makes sense.

We were created for relationship with God. In not having relationship we will find ourselves missing something deep in our souls. We look to fill it with ambition, drive, achievement, success, other relationships, possessions, power, you name it. None of those things are bad in and of themselves, but if they are not in their rightful place, it suffocates, exhausts, and crushes us.

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” - Augustine of Hippo

May God draw you into this deeper and deeper.

May the Lord reveal to you His great love for you… he’s not angry with you, he’s not disappointed in you, he’s calling you into a full beautiful, extravagant, rich experience… far exceeding any hope or vision you have for your life.

If you are here and following Jesus, want more, know there is more, want to yield every area to your life into submission under God’s authority, because you are not experiencing the deep satisfaction the God offers, come and receive prayer (INVITE PRAYER FOLKS DOWN)

If you are here and have been contemplating yielding your life and allegiance to Jesus, come down and receive prayer… let the person know that you want to follow Jesus… they will pray with you as you give your life over to him. Let them pray for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit, let them pray over for you to be strengthened, let them pray over you to experience the new life that is in Christ Jesus, set apart for you… that you might know the height, the breadth, the width, and the depth of God’s great love for you, in which nothing can separate you from.