We are now entering the end of LENT in thinking closely about it. In just a short period of time, we will experience the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, but to also begin to start of the journey of every Christian that has ever walked this earth. In todays reading in the Gospel of John, we first find the extravagant, even scandalous gift Mary gives Jesus, anointing his feet with perfume and using her own hair; all of which makes us wonder if we too will give so much of ourselves to God as mary demonstrated. Our Lenten journey beckons us to be changed completely—as the psalmist's tears are turned to joy, and as Isaiah turns our gaze from the past to a new thing God is doing; as we viewed being a new creation in last weeks sermon.
And then, we find Judas, the identifying disciple proclaiming his distaste for what Mary is doing to Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew, it annotates that all of the disciples, not just judas, portraited their dislike to what mary was doing. Spending approx. 300 denarii, about a year of wages, on perfume to anoint, worship and honor God. Now knowing the poverty in those days was much more prevalent and visible than we see today, and to state the circumstance of being poor painted a grim and dreadful fact is an understatement. So let us hear the Gospel, "six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a dinner there, and Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who intended to betray Him, *said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the proceeds given to poor people?" Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he kept the money box, he used to steal from what was put into it. Therefore Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."
I would like to focus on an important point here that describes the genuine nature of the human race and shines the mind and spirit of God brightly towards each of us. What exactly does worship and faith look like?
It is very suitable to think that when we are grateful about something, we express ourselves, by word or deed. It's a natural reaction. If we dislike some food or drink, we would probably make a very disfigured face and throw the item away. Then exactly the opposite, when we like something, we tend to go above and beyond the effort of affection and appreciation, especially if it touches us deeply. This is what we find is happening here with Mary. Not only does her faith lead her to make this very kind gesture to Jesus, but she gives of herself regardless of public opinion or view that she 'is' honoring her Lord.
John presents Mary's anointing as a sign of Jesus's kingship and as a public announcement of Jesus's being her Lord. In the old testament, Kings and priests were anointed to give honor and receive Gods favor; in addition the sick was also anointed. For some, it was thought to bring on healing properties in doing so. So what Mary did may have some people not fully comprehend the actual means, but just as Jesus said, 'she has kept this for the day of my burial.'
So not only does Mary give a year's worth of wages to anoint Jesus, the disciples claim a dislike of her potential waste. Maybe they were thinking this fool woman was wasting this expensive perfume oil to no point, so it seemed to be for Judas.
So what did Mary give up for her Lord? What did she do to not only Honor God but exercise her faith? She surrendered what she had! For most people in the days of Jesus, having a value in terms of wealth was all one could have even to measure up in such a society. Lots of emphases was placed on what you owned that society could identify your value. Not to mention how expensive and treasured food was. However, Mary just broke the mold. Nowhere does scripture tell us if Mary was poor or not, but scripture says that as disciples of Christ, worldly wealth shall not gain nothing. "For where your heart is, your treasures will be there also."
I want you to try to understand here, that it cost something for Mary to worship and serve God. You know what?—It'll cost YOU and ME to worship and serve God too. There's no such thing as a costless Christian, whether its time, money or something else.
The perfume was the most valuable thing she owned, but she offered her gift of worship lovingly, willingly, and unhesitatingly. True worship and heart service to God are always a sacrifice. You see, what we own, we never owned, it was given to us by God.
Another truth we see in Mary's extravagant display is that she humbled herself. Did you know that if you're proud, you set yourself against God, no matter how much you love the Lord?
Peter tells us, "…be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." Now if I get into a showdown with God, guess who's gonna win and guess who's gonna lose! I'll tell you one thing—I sure don't want God to resist me! God resists me when I'm proud, but gives grace when I humble myself."
Then finally we learn that every time we see Mary, others criticized her. Martha criticized her in Luke 10 and Judas criticized her in both the John 12 and Mark 14 passages. We as followers of Christ will quite probably won’t worship and serve the Lord without some criticism from somebody! Those that criticize Christians may say, “Why, you’re just going too far. You’re becoming a fanatic. You shouldn’t give so much of your time and gifts to God’s cause. It’s alright to be a Christian, but don’t let it consume you or affect the way you live.”
Even believers are sometimes critical and judgmental, and if you’re out to please PEOPLE, you’ll fail utterly! You have to determine what GOD wants you to do and just follow the Lord’s leadership. Does that sound familiar?
Although we face criticism friends, remember whom we serve. Joshua tells us, “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Friends, we have to choose! We have to make a conscious decision about whom do we serve and at what cost!
Like it or not, we will face difficult times in our lives. Many of us are tempted to deal with many issues; some are new, and some are not new. And with those issues, we may tend to attempt to deal with them in our own strength, which without a doubt is impossible. Did you hear that, its impossible to handle lifes struggles alone.
When we think about Mary’s humble effort to worship and serve the living God, she did something very prominent that we each can learn from. We stand firm in the Faith of our Lord, by surrendering it all to him.
Now in looking at this a little further, we are at a crossroads. We see Mary’s action of humility and service to surrender herself to him, in her act of worship, and serving meals, being a disciple, and even praying with Jesus. Greatly though is the ability to release control to God!
What is the difference between commitment and surrender? When you make a commitment, you are still in control, no matter how noble the thing you commit to. One can commit to pray, to study the Bible, to give your money, or to commit to automobile payments, or to lose weight. Whatever you choose to do, you commit to. But surrender is different. If someone holds a gun and asks you to lift your hands in the air as a token of surrender, you don’t tell that person what you are committed to. You simply surrender and do as you are told. Surrender simply put is giving it up for God.
“When a soldier bows to his general, or a scholar to his teacher, he is yielding his will—his life—he gives himself to the rule and mastery and the power of another. Christ did that. He said He came not to do His own will but to do His Father’s will. In Gethsemane He said, ‘Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will’ (Mark 14:36). In just a few days, we will encounter how Jesus suffered on the cross which is what had been settled in Gethsemane. He yielded His life to God and thereby taught us that the only thing worth living for is a life yielded to God, even unto death.
In closing friends, I pray you think on this matter in your own lives. Andrew Murry said this, “If you are controlling your life and spending it on yourself, even partly, you are abusing it and taking it away from God’s original purpose. Learn from Christ that the beauty and purpose of having life is so that you can surrender it to God and then allow Him to fill it with His glory.”
We cannot pursue both God’s will and our own independent will. We have to empty ourselves of one in order to fully embrace the other. When our hearts are surrendered and trusting God, our desires will align with God’s and our joy will be made full! So how do we surrender all?
1 – Stand strong in our faith to God. Learn of Him and constantly learn to lean on Him.
2 – When faced with difficult decisions – pray and seek God's will. Remember God is our helper, ever-present in the hope no matter the circumstance.
3 – Refrain from depending on our own might to solve it all. Even when tempted to fix it ourselves, depend on God to guide and strengthen you.
4 – patiently wait on God's solution & will for the situation. We may live in a world where we want instant everything, but we must wait.
5 – Regardless of the outcome, praise God for being God in your time of trouble. God is always to be honored and praised. He is the great I AM.
Listen to these words if we still try to fight our own battles.
Let Go, and Let God! Amen.