Unrestrained Worship & Extravagant Love

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Mark 14:3

Verse five tells us that this perfume was estimated to be worth a year’s wages for a day laborer. Jesus and His disciples were itinerant preachers. They lived hand to mouth. They had very little money. They lived among and ministered to the poor. And this woman breaks a jar of this extremely expensive perfume and pours it ALL out on Jesus. That is a year’s wages running down Jesus’ head and beard and on His feet. No one can believe what they have just witnessed. It seems a terrible waste to them. So, they rebuke the woman harshly for doing something that frankly seems stupid to them.

But our love and adoration and worship of God shouldn’t be measured or frugal or restrained. They should be extravagant! Love is sometimes wasteful! And some of us are just too functional for our own good. 

Romantic love is often expressed best through generosity and sacrifice and grand gestures… not through careful moderation or restraint or by making sure to avoid waste at all costs. And the same is true of worship. You ought to express your love and adoration and worship of God in big ways as well. There are no prizes in Heaven for making sure you don’t go too far in your love for Jesus. There's no crown for the person who worships God the most moderately and frugally, who manages to avoid extravagance in their worship at every turn.

The greatest commandment isn’t “Love the Lord thy God as responsibly and reasonably as possible. And never do anything out of your love for God that might seem extravagant to the people around you.” No! The Greatest Commandment is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength.” That sounds a bit extravagant by definition to me.

So, don’t be too functional or restrained in your relationship with God. And don’t worry about what other people think about your worship.

Love Jesus Not Sin

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."

John 14:23-24

Sin is an offense against God. Any time we disobey Him, disregard His Word, or violate His righteous requirements we sin. No matter how big or how small the infraction, sin is always an attack on God. It is always an offense and is tantamount to treason. It pulls God down off the throne in our hearts and sets us up in His place. Sin is like spitting in God's face. This is why sin separates us from God and incurs His wrath.

As Christians we understand this, yet there are times we still sin. To show how our sin springs from a lack of love as the verses above suggest, allow me to divide all sin into two broad categories: unintentional and intentional sin. 

Unintentional sin occurs on accident. It happens when we mess up or make a mistake. For example, a person sins unintentionally when they lose their temper or when they accidentally curse or when they forget to keep a promise. These sins don't result from a choice of the will but from a defect in character. Yet, they are sin still. Unintentional sins are still dishonoring to God. They are still an offense to His perfect nature. And they spring from a deficiency of love. The more we love Christ, the more attentive we will be to His teaching and to our character. The more we love Him, the more careful we will be to root unintentional sins out of our lives. The Christian who continues to struggle against these sins loves Christ too little.

Intentional sin is different; it happens on purpose. A Christian sins intentionally when they know what they ought to do, they know what Jesus has commanded they do, they know that disobedience will grieve their Lord and separate them from Him and they simply do not care. They consciously choose to sin against God anyway. It's unthinkable that a Christian could do such a thing, but sadly we do. And the only explanation is that in those moments we are choosing sin over Jesus. When we sin intentionally, we acknowledge that we love our sin more than we love Jesus. Satan will try to make you believe otherwise, but this in an inescapable truth of the Christian life. 

If you are choosing sin over Christ, then you do not love Him enough. If you continue to fall into sin unintentionally then you do not yet love Him enough. None of us love Christ enough. Until the day I die it will be appropriate for me to pray, "Lord, help me to love you more." Join me in praying that prayer today. And more than that join me in living it out. Love God more than you love your sin today

Jesus, Mary and Judas...and the disciples

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

John 12:1-8

Note three responses to Jesus in this passage. Mary shows Jesus extravagant, sacrificial love. Judas responds to Him only with deceit and greed for personal gain. The rest of the disciples recline at the table and maintain "business as usual" little knowing that the time they have left to honor Jesus before His death is slipping away. 

Mary's act of love is extravagant, almost gratuitous. The perfume was worth a year's wages. It was doubtless the most precious thing she owned. In all likelihood it was her life's savings. What's more she used her hair to wipe Jesus' feet! To grasp the power of that act you must understand two things. First, in that culture a woman's glory was her hair. Second, many of their roads were dirt roads and animals were used for transportation that would often leave droppings behind. This meant that people's feet were especially dirty at this time in history. Mary could have chosen to wipe Jesus' feet with a towel. Even this would have been lowering herself to the place of a servant to tend to His needs. But Mary takes her glory, the most treasured and clean part of her body and uses it as a rag to cleanse his feet. It's hard to imagine how shocking this was to those present. It was truly an act of deep commitment and astounding love for her Savior.

Compare that to Judas. He offers up no worship for Christ. Instead he attempts to deceive Him. His aim is not to exalt Jesus but to profit off Him, to steal from Him. Judas hides his greed behind fake piety. He claims to care for the poor, but his true care is lining his pockets. We see in this story the seed that gives sprout to Judas' later betrayal of Jesus. Judas' god is money. Already he was willing to lie to Jesus and steal from Him in order to get more money. Soon enough he will find himself selling Jesus' life for 30 pieces of silver, an amount that was only worth about four months wages. Even in his betrayal Judas sells Jesus short. 

Lastly, consider the rest of the disciples. In John's gospel they are silent. Other gospel records (Matt. 26:6-13 & Mark 14:3-9) indicate that they agreed with Judas (although apparently from pure motives) that this was a wasteful use of resources. They thought more good could have been done by giving this money to the poor. These men are faithful to Jesus. They serve Him every day. They love Him. Indeed, they have left everything for Him. But today is merely "business as usual" for them. Little do they know that Jesus will soon be taken from them. Before long they will wish to be back in Jesus' presence again but be unable to be with Him. There is no sin in their lack of action, just missed opportunity. 

Don't miss your opportunity today. Sure, today is just a normal Wednesday. But Jesus is still our Savior. He is still risen from the dead. He is still worthy of all praise and every honor we can bestow on Him. So let's pull out all of the stops and bless Jesus in a special way today. Who knows? It could be your last opportunity. So take the step of faith to share the gospel with that coworker. Make a big gift to your church or to a missions organization. Dedicate a large chunk of your precious time today to getting alone with God and worshiping Him. Do whatever God leads you to do, whatever is the natural overflow of your heart; but do it extravagantly and do it from love.    

Extravagant Love

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Matthew 26:6-13

No one writes romance novels about doing the laundry or washing the dishes for your spouse. Not only are these small acts of love not very interesting but they also don't appeal to our emotions as strongly as grand acts of love do. There is little doubt that without these daily acts of love the grand displays of affection would be empty, but it's also true that any truly great love story needs at least one extravagant gesture of love. 

This may give us something to think about in our relationship with our spouse, but today's passage pulls our gaze towards our relationship with Jesus. When was the last time you got carried away in your love for Christ? Have you ever gone beyond merely doing what you should do for Him and did something extravagant for Him because you wanted to? How sad it will be for those Christians who, when they are called home, realize that their love for Jesus was never strong enough to cause them to do anything risky, costly, or extravagant.

The woman in today's passage may have heard Jesus teaching the disciples that He would soon be killed and was moved by a sense of urgency to show an incredible display of love. She took what was almost certainly one of her most valuable possessions and sacrificed it to bless Him. Jesus was so moved by her beautiful act that He said it would be remembered and preached throughout the world. If you feel the tug to love Jesus extravagantly today then there are three things you'll need to consider from her story.

1. There will always be people ready to criticize you for giving sacrificially to Jesus. Sadly these critical people will often come from within the church. In the story it was the disciples who immediately question the woman's decision. Some may criticize you by suggesting a more effective charitable outlet for your funds or they argue that some financial need within your family should have taken priority. Others may suggest that you are being emotional or seeking attention. But like the woman in the story, don't respond to them. You weren't trying to please them anyway. Your focus should stay on the object of your love. He will answer them in due time.
2. We have limited time to show our love to Jesus. Jesus was only a matter of days away from His crucifixion when this happened. Had she waited too long, she would have lost her opportunity. Her time was limited by Jesus' impending departure; ours is limited by His impending return. We don't know how long we have to use our time, talents and money in this world to display our love for Jesus. But once He returns, that opportunity will have been lost.
3. We can't pour out our love on Jesus the same way she did, but we can still give to Jesus. In the previous chapter, He tells us how. In Matthew 25:40 Jesus says, "Whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do for me." We show Jesus our love by loving other believers extravagantly.

What was the last risky, costly, or extravagant thing your love for Jesus led you to do? What do you sense His Spirit and His Word leading you to do for Him now? Now, be bold and extravagant!

For further reading...

• Matthew 25:31-46- Check out the full parable of the sheep and the goats.

First Love Faith

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands [i.e. Jesus]. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Revelation 2:1-5

A letter from home while a child is away at camp is a life saver. A well-written love letter can completely change a relationship. Yep. There is no doubt about it. Letters can be truly powerful things. So if Jesus were going to sit down and write a letter to you or your church today, what do you think He would say? Would He commend you or challenge you? Chances are He would do both because that's exactly what He did with the church at Ephesus.

First Jesus encourages the believers at Ephesus with all they are doing right. A pretty long list! They are living out their faith in good deeds. They are persevering in the faith through persecution. They're effectively refuting bad doctrine and all without growing weary! What an encouragement that Jesus knows. Jesus sees. He has not forgotten about us or our struggles. He is intimately aware and involved in His church, constantly tending to His lampstand (in this passage a metaphor for the church) to ensure it continues to shine brightly in a dark world. Jesus knows you, your successes, and your struggles.

Second, Jesus confronts His followers with the charge that they have forsaken their first love. The terms used here are the same used of a husband putting his wife away or divorcing her. Jesus is saying the believer's in Ephesus over time has grown cold towards Him and in their hearts have forsaken Him. Have you grown cold in your love for Jesus over time? Does your passion burn as brightly as it ever did? I know that in many ways I have lost that first love type of faith and worship.

Jesus, forgive me for growing cold. Reignite that flame in my heart. Help me to give you "first love" faith and worship. Be glorified in me in every way.

For further reading...

• Revelation 1-3:22- Read the intro to Revelation and the letters to the seven churches.

How to Run a Race (Part 2)

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14

The Winter Olympics are over, and the medal count is in. Russia won more medals than any other country. I know this because we track the medal count. In fact, it is hard to avoid hearing the medal count if you are watching any American coverage of the Olympics. We don't track which country has the most athletes compete or which country has the most fourth place finishes. We track which country wins the most medals. The Olympics is all about the medals. They are the reason the Olympians expend all that effort training. They are the reason the Olympians put off other normal life activities like getting married or having kids. In the balance, Olympians believe the chance to win a gold medal is worth it, so they strive to win with a singular focus and with every muscle in their bodies.

There is a prize for us as Christians too. A prize so great that the Bible says it's worth forgetting our old way of life and straining toward it with a singular focus. What is this prize?

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ... (Philippians 3:7-8)

The prize for which we strive is knowing Jesus. The Apostle Paul tells us in this passage that knowing Jesus is far better than anything else in the world. Everything else is like garbage compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus and Paul has gladly traded it all away in order to focus exclusively on knowing Him. That's what the Christian life is really all about isn't it? A closer relationship with Jesus. Of course it is. This is our prize, and unlike Olympic medals, we can take this prize with us when we die! The prize of knowing Jesus is eternal and the race we run as Christians is all about winning this prize.

Until we value knowing Jesus like this, we will never run a good race. Until we long to know Him above all else, we will constantly be distracted by lesser concerns. What we need is the singular focus of an Olympic athlete applied to the Christian faith. We need to fall so in love with knowing Jesus that everything else appears to us like garbage in comparison to its greatness.

Do you love Jesus like this? I know that I'm not there yet. This type of love affects every area of your life. It affects:

•How you raise your kids
•What you do with your money
•What you watch on TV or in movies
•Even your professional aspirations

I need God's work to move forward in my life in this area. If you do too, then join me in praying this prayer.

Lord, help me to fall more in love with you every day so that this world seems less and less attractive to me. Show me, Father, what I need to give up in order to run after knowing Jesus with all that I have. May I consider even the good things that stand between me and knowing Jesus to be trash compared to that great prize. Draw me ever nearer to your, Father. In Jesus' name, Amen.

For further reading...

• Luke 14:25-25- See especially verse 33. We are called to give up everything in pursuit of Christ.
• Jeremiah 9:23-24- Boast in knowing the Lord.
• John 17:1-5- See especially verse 3. Eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son. 

Worship Pop Quiz from God

"Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

Psalm 50:7-15

 

 

Have you ever had that dream where you're back in school and you find out that you have a pop quiz or a test that you didn't study for? That kind of sinking, unprepared feeling is the worst. What’s really bad though is when this happens to you in real life! When it's a dream, you get to wake up and be relieved. In real life you have to deal with the consequences. In Psalm 50 God gives us a kind of pop quiz. It isn’t a math test or a history test or even a religion test. It's a test of our lives. It is a pop quiz to help prepare us for the final judgment, or life’s Final Exam if you want to think about it that way.

 

You will need to read the entire psalm to get the full pop quiz, but in verses seven through fifteen God focuses in on the kind of worship (sacrifices) His people offer Him. He finds fault with them because their worship appears to be just an outward show. Faith is absent. They offer sacrifices upon sacrifices but do so only as a ceremony to garner favor with God. They have an “I scratch your back, you scratch my back” sort of attitude toward worshipping the Lord. They think of their sacrifices as a way to “buy God off” or to make Him owe them in some way. But that is not how worship works! Worship isn’t just going through the motions in a ritualistic way without any faith. This isn’t pleasing to God; it draws His reprimand. God has already done so much for us that we could never pay Him back. You owe God so much that He could never owe you! So thinking that somehow by your worship that you could make God owe you something and earn gifts from Him is crazy.

 

But we do this too! We give money to the church, serve as Sunday School teachers or Deacons and then think that God owes us something. We think we have done God a big favor. We sing in the choir or play an instrument, attend church every Sunday, even read our Bible daily but do so only out of ceremony and ritual. We think that somehow God is pleased with us simply because we do these things. We don't do them from a grateful heart. We just go through the motions, because we think that the ritual is all that matters to God.
 

But this isn't the kind of worship that God wants. In verses fourteen and fifteen God tells us what He wants. He says that He wants us to give thank offerings and to fulfill our vows. Now these are two types of offerings that people offered just because they wanted to. The Israelites were never required to offer these sacrifices. So, God says in essence, “I want you to worship me, and serve me, and give me your tithes not because you have to but because you are grateful for all I’ve already given you and because you want to."

 

If God were to judge you today, what would He say about your worship? Are you only obeying God so He will owe you? Are you simply going through the motions of an empty ritual with no faith behind them and thinking that that is all God wants from you? Worship and serve God out of gratitude for all He has done for you. This is the kind of worship that is pleasing to Him.  

 

For further reading...

• Read all of Psalm 50.
• John 4:19-26- Worship God in spirit and in truth.

Fear the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Proverbs 9:10

The band Death Cab for Cutie has a song called "I Will Follow You into the Dark" which contains the following verse:

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule

I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black

And I held my tongue as she told me

"Son, fear is the heart of love"

So I never went back

Whether or not these lyrics present an experience that Ben Gibbard (the songwriter) actually lived, the sentiment they portray resonates. To many people the idea that we are to "fear the Lord" makes God out to be some tyrant who wants people to cower before Him in fear. But this image of God does not square with the God of the Bible. He is no tyrant. So how are we to understand verses like the one above?

First, we must note that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of it. Thus, though it may be the beginning of a person's spiritual journey, it certainly is not God's desired end for them. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). God's greatest desire for you isn't that you would fear Him, but that you would love Him. In fact, I John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." So then why does God want us to fear Him? Why is it the beginning of wisdom?

Here I believe that another proverb can be helpful. Proverbs 16:6b says, "by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil" (see also Proverbs 3:7-8, 8:13, & 14:26-27). Imagine a young child who keeps running out into the street after his ball. His parents might try to explain to him what would happen if he were to get hit by a car, but children who are very young cannot understand these kinds of consequences yet. So eventually the parents would tell their son that they will punish him if he runs into the street again. They may promise to put him in timeout or to spank him or to take away his dessert, because these things are in his ability to grasp. From that time on (perhaps with a few exceptions) the boy would avoid running out into the street not because he feared getting hit by a car yet but because he was afraid of the punishment. Eventually, as he grew older, however, he would understand the danger of getting hit by a car and would avoid running into the street for those reasons. 

Just like that young boy needs the threat of punishment to avoid disaster, even as adults we often need the same. You see the enemy has waged an excellent marketing campaign for sin in this world. He packages it just right. He plays up its temporary pleasure and free nature. He doesn't mention the pain, suffering, and disaster it brings into your life. We are often like small children staring at sin; we just can't seem to see the danger in it. We need the fear of being punished by a holy and just God to turn us away from evil. The fear of the Lord puts us on the right path. It helps us to avoid sin even if we don't yet see how destructive it is. As we move farther down this path into relationship with God we learn that He is loving, gracious, merciful, and patient. We learn that Jesus died to pay for our sins. We read about the true effects of sin in the Bible, and we become more capable of seeing through the scheme. We start avoiding sin for our own sake and for God's glory.

Although there is a sense in which we should always tremble before the greatness of God's power, the fear of the Lord is only where we start- loving God with all our mind, soul and strength is where we are headed. Fear is the first and natural response to God's awesome power and nature- loving submission is the final result of growing to know the goodness and grace of this all-powerful God.

For further reading...

• Proverbs 3:7-8, 8:13, & 14:26-27- Read more about the fear of the Lord in Proverbs.
• Deuteronomy 10:12, Psalm 33:18, & Psalm 103:11- Notice how these passages place love and fear right next to one another. They offer some good ways of considering how we continue to tremble before God's greatness while still loving Him.  
• I John 4:7-21- God is love!
• Deuteronomy 6:5- Fear of the Lord leads us to obey God's commands. God greatest command is that we should love Him!

Feeling a Bit Puffy Lately?

But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.

1 Corinthians 8:2-3



 

We all like being the one who knows more, right? Even as little kids, when we knew something that our friends (or even our parents) didn't know it made us feel good. The truth is that many of us are still like this as adults and it contributes to our conflicts. We care much less about our relationships with the people who disagree with us than we do about proving that we are right...that we know more than they do. Knowledge is a good thing, but it can puff up. This is the difference between simply being smart and being a smart aleck.

 

Today's passage reminds us that no matter how smart we are, none of us know yet as we ought to know. You can be the smartest person on the planet and still be humbled by the truth that you do not yet know all that you will know one day in heaven. Nor do you know anything now in the way you will know it there. You see knowledge is always understood within a specific context, or worldview. You can know a fact, but misunderstand its importance when you are looking at it from the wrong perspective. Only once all is revealed from heaven's vantage point will we fully and finally grasp God's plan in all its glory. Only then can we see how all the little factoids we have picked up along the way fit into His grand masterpiece.

 

Yet, all of this is surpassed by something else: love. Whoever loves God is known by God. What a promise! What a blessing. How many of our problems are based on the fact that we are striving for knowledge of God or of His creation at the expense of drawing nearer to Him in love? Even knowledge of God can puff up. For that reason, it goes unnoticed from God's vantage point. But love for God puts a person on His radar. We can be sure that a man or woman or child who is deeply in love with God does not go unnoticed. In a world of ungrateful rebels, souls that are lifted up in true heartfelt affection stand out in sharp contrast. So I wonder...have you been seeking after knowledge of God more than love of Him? Has your knowledge of God or of anything else caused you to get a bit puffy in your interactions with Him or with others? If so, choose to focus on love today. Love for God and love for others. And as you do, know that you will not go unnoticed by God.

 

 

For further reading...

• John 15- Abide in Him.
• Mark 12:28-31- The two greatest commandments.