Introduction
In recent weeks, we have been
talking about serving one another, and having the “beautiful feet” of those who
share the good news. All good! Yet, sometimes, such things like serving and
sharing become tasks on the to-do list, and at busy times can seem hard to fit
in. When such things become simply tasks, this can take all the joy out of
serving and sharing the good news. This can even set us up for feelings of
guilt … for not getting involved.
How can we stop this from
happening? This is where we need to understand the source of our serving
and sharing. Why do we serve and share? These are not activities that
come out of our human capacity, but rather they are endeavours that come out of
God’s Spirit working through us. So, sometimes, we need to step back, and
reconnect with the source behind our ability to love our neighbour!
Being With
We need to resist the Martha
within us, to embrace the Mary. In that famous incident, recorded in Luke’s
Gospel (10:38-42), Martha was so busy doing, that she missed an
opportunity to just be with Jesus. As important as those tasks no
doubt were, Martha was so set on them, that she even criticised Mary for just
being with Jesus and listening to him.
This is similar to the point
being made in Mark 14. The Gospel of John, if it’s the same incident, actually
identifies this woman as Mary (sister of Martha), whereas Mark prefers to keep
this woman anonymous (perhaps more highlighting the act over the personality).
This woman who poured the perfume over Jesus … was criticised too. There are
critics everywhere! Yes, we should be serving the poor, there will always be
opportunities to serve the poor, but sometimes we will need to just spend time
with Jesus – that will then actually enable us to carry on with that level of
serving … especially through tougher times.
We simply need to know and
love Jesus!! That is why, when we
gather around God’s Word, to consider how we can best serve the interests of
God’s Kingdom in the world – for that is the point of bible study – not
knowledge, but practice – we also need to spend good time simply worshipping
God in Jesus’ Name. We need to, time and time again, commit ourselves to Jesus,
and embrace the Holy Spirit’s leadership in the life of our church.
We can be running around
seemingly busy with good deeds, but lose the reason and the source
behind such activity, i.e. the love and compassion that begins in the heart of
God. We might say that there are so many other pressing matters, but are there
really?! Do the alternatives really stack up?! Are there easy excuses?!
Losing Our Way
It is NO coincidence, that
following this incident (in Mark 14), Judas goes off to betray Jesus – off he
goes … to conspire with Jesus’ bitter opponents. Dramatic isn’t it!! Judas
clearly failed to appreciate the importance of what this woman had done for
Jesus. Judas had been following Jesus for three years, but clearly failed to
really understand what he had got into.
Jesus had presented a great
ideal for Judas, but without a personal investment in who Jesus was, Judas was
NOT going to last the journey. Worse than that, Judas went totally the other
way! Judas had NOT allowed himself to fully appreciate and apportion the depth
of Jesus into his life. Nor did Judas deal properly with his
problematical addiction to money – and this, ironically, cost him everything.
Worship
This woman had encountered
Jesus, had experienced being with Jesus, had likely been ministered to by
Jesus, and now she responded to him in the most beautiful of ways. Sincere
gratitude was spilling over. As this was an expensive liquid, we are left in no
doubt that this was an act of lavish worship. Nothing was held back, the
perfume was NOT measured in any way. She just broke the jar, and poured it all out!! There was nothing conventional about this,
it was radical, extraordinary and impressive! She followed her heart, not
caring what others might think!
The NIV translates the last
part of verse 6 with Jesus saying, “She has done a beautiful thing to me”.
Surely that is something we would want to emulate! Verse 9 points out the
importance of all this. This act will be remembered and recorded and read and
talked about for ever. It was the most poignant act of worship! Yet, as
mentioned before, as this woman is not named here, it is actually the act of
worship itself that is the centrepiece – an act that can be emulated and
repeated by others – and by us!!
We are not in a
position to literally smother Jesus with perfume. But there are other ways we
can attend to Jesus. Reading about him. Working out how best to follow him –
following his ways of living. Praying to him. Worshipping him – which is an act
of gratitude, praise, and commitment. Looking for him in others. Loving who he
is. Becoming more like him.
Sacrifice
Pouring perfume on Jesus’
head resembles the anointing of ancient kings. This woman was saying or
demonstrating who Jesus was for her. Jesus was her king. She was
lifting up the name of Jesus … as her king. We lift up the
name of Jesus … by giving Him our total allegiance – as the King of our
kingdom. Because he is our perfect infallible King, we worship Him, and we bear
further allegiance … in the way we carry ourselves, in the way in which we
live.
There was also, in this
woman’s act of anointing, a testimony to the sacrifice Jesus would make for
others – for all humanity. It was customary, at the time, for the dead to be
prepared for burial with a perfume like this – just like the women were seeking
to do … when they found Jesus’ body missing from the tomb. Perhaps all this was
unconscious; or perhaps this woman had just been given a deep understanding …
of the sacrifice Jesus would soon make. As a condemned crucified criminal,
Jesus would not have normally been afforded any anointing. So this woman
here, presents a testimony of an innocent serving sacrifice from the Son of God
- Jesus.
The question for us, out of
this, is how deeply do we appreciate what Jesus has done for us, and what do we
do about that (in terms of our relationship with him). Do we find a way, our
own way, of pouring perfume over Jesus? The Christian life was NEVER meant to
be about soaking up the grace, and living unchanged! That is often called
‘cheap grace’. But we can never really make Christ’s sacrifice less expensive.
We can only waste it! The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, was always to bring
about transformed lives.
Conclusion
We have been taught to serve
others. We have been called, all of us, to share the good news of Jesus. To be
able to handle this mission adequately – to be able to pull this off for the
long-term – we need to approach Jesus, know Jesus, dwell with Jesus, worship
Jesus, learn from Jesus, and love Jesus! It will be Jesus himself then, that
fuels our efforts to serve and to share (the good news), and make us effective
in bringing forward the Kingdom of God.
Important to the success of
any football team is their defence. We see those annoying defenders grabbing at
and ‘keeping touch’ on their forward opponents. They need to keep tight on
these forwards – the coach tells them to “always keep touch on their opponents
… lest they get away from them”. We need to ‘keep touch’ on Jesus; NOT, of
course, because there is anything to worry about, but rather … because Jesus is
our best friend. Let us never lose touch with Jesus!
How was it that this woman
understood what to do, and how to do it, such that it could be described by
Jesus as a “good service” or a “beautiful thing”? She must have given Jesus
her full attention. If we want to be able to love others for the long haul, we
will need to continue to experience the love of Jesus for ourselves first. As
we do experience such immeasurable love for ourselves, we will likely, much
more naturally, express that love “beautifully” to others. Amen!!
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