ADORATION - eXposed
Mark 14:3-9
Have you ever been the recipient of immense generosity? If you have, how did you respond? Were you at a loss for words of appreciation? Or did you say, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
There have been times when Christians have felt that only an act of immense generosity could even begin to express how grateful they feel to Jesus for all He has done and continues to do for them. We don’t need to be rich to be generous. Often those who can least afford to be generous are the most lavish in their giving. We remember those who are generous in their expressions of appreciation for things we’ve done for them. All of us can be generous with our smiles, our warm and friendly greetings and the one gift we all have the same amount of – the gift of our time.
A father has taught his children to constantly ask themselves: “What am I here to give? “ His teaching reminds us of our Lord’s words, “More blessings come from giving than from receiving (Acts 20:35).” Many mothers have experienced this as they, without hesitation, make countless sacrifices in order to give to their children. The great missionary David Livingstone gave of himself so generously in the service of our Lord. He once said, “In all my life I never made a sacrifice.” He saw it as a privilege, not a burden, to give all he had in the service of his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Who can calculate the acts of unfathomable generosity generated by the actions of the woman in our Gospel reading? St. John tells us that her name was Mary, the sister of Martha. In this story, she doesn’t say a word, and yet she is one of the best known and most inspiring women in history. Mary’s extravagant gesture of generosity to Jesus has inspired countless gifts of generosity to Jesus still today. The beautiful fragrance of her devotion lingers on in our midst still. She was so overwhelmed with love for Jesus that she gatecrashed a meal for men only, in order to anoint Jesus with the most expensive perfume she could purchase. St. John tells us that she poured it not only on our Saviour’s head, but on His feet as well. And then, although in those days respectable women never unbound their hair in public, she used her own hair to wipe Jesus’ feet in an act of unparalleled adoration. Why did she do it? This was her way of giving our Lord the worship and adoration He inspires.
This is the last time we see Jesus in an ordinary, everyday situation before His arrest, trial and crucifixion. Mealtimes were one of our Saviour’s favourite times for ministry, and Mary was probably the keenest and most perceptive listener Jesus ever had. She took Jesus’ words seriously about how He was going to suffer and die for us. Mary had not the slightest doubt in her mind that Jesus deserves nothing but the very best from us, not just leftovers or what we can spare. Love’s native language is lavish giving, giving free of all calculation. There’s no love without liberal and generous giving.
Mary lavishes on our Saviour a costly perfume that came from the Himalayan Mountains far away. In today’s terms, the perfume would have cost $30,000. Was her act an extravagant waste? Or was it adoration exposed for all to see? It all depends on your point of view; it all depends on the state of your heart. Somehow it never occurs to Mary’s critics that the same criticism could be levelled at Simon the leper, who had spent a lot of money preparing the sumptuous feast they were attending. But that, of course, was different. Those present were enjoying the costly meal too much to criticise their host. The simple truth is that no deed, no matter how lovely or how beautiful, will win everyone’s approval.
It’s disappointing, isn’t it, that one of the loveliest events in Christ’s life is tarnished by such small-minded criticism. Mary’s critics may have known the price of perfume, but they knew nothing about extravagance of worship. I imagine that Mary had some much cheaper perfume in her bedroom, but she didn’t bring it out. She gave her very best. And that’s what made her worship so beautiful.She wasn’t looking for a place in the spotlight; she wasn’t looking for applause; she wasn’t looking for hero status. But she has been made immortal because Jesus said, “Wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.” When Mary and her generosity are forgotten, it will be a sad day for our country. When the world no longer remembers her, then it will also have forgotten the story of our dear Redeemer’s suffering and death for us, on our behalf. Her preparation for Jesus’ burial marks the start of His Passion.
No greater gift could we ever receive than the gift of Christ’s life for us. “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).” St. Paul expresses this so beautifully in Ephesians 5:2, it almost sounds like a reference to Mary’s action: “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Speaking of Himself, our Saviour says: “Greater love has no one than this – to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13).” Can our own response be anything but,“Love so amazing, so divine / demands my soul, my life, my all”?
A silent Mary speaks eloquently with her limitless love. A love like hers doesn’t look for excuses to give less. Love doesn’t think in terms of cost. No sacrifice is too great where love is concerned. Jesus gives a beautiful description of what Christian love is, and then He tells all of us what He desires from each one of us. Jesus simply said Mary “has done what she could.” What a wonderful guide to Christian conduct - to do more than is expected of us while we have the opportunity to do so, to do what God has enabled us to do.
Generosity such as Mary showed is its own reward. Our word “liberty” originally meant “generosity”. That’s because it was felt that being generous was the noblest expression of being free from slavery to one’s possessions. Mary lets Jesus defend what she’s done. Soon Jesus will follow her example and wash His disciples’ feet. Imagine how her own devotion to Jesus was strengthened when she heard about that!
Jesus invites each of us to discover the joy of going the second mile for Him. “For it is in giving that we receive”, the uplifting reassurance that our Lord will multiply our gifts to Him with blessings we could never have dreamed of. We truly are a blessed people, blessed by Christ to be a lifelong blessing to others.
We pray:
Teach us, good Lord, to serve You as You deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to work and not to seek for any reward,
except that of knowing we are doing Your will. Amen.
Pastor Vernon Kleinig 2008