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Sunday, October 08, 2006
The Expensive Perfume
("DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE - Part I)
Teaching by Hsia Pin
Mark 14:3-9
vs 3: While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as 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.
This is a story that is found in different versions in the different gospels. It could be that it happened a few times with different women - in one of the stories the woman is described as having a sinful paszt, in another story she's named as Mary (the sister of Martha), and in other versions it's Jesus' feet that are anointed rather than his head.
The point of this story, however, is that a woman came up to Jesus at a party and poured a bottle of expensive perfume over him. The whole party must have fallen silent - shocked by the cost of her gift.
vs 4-5: Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.
Those who were looking on might have wondered why she didn't save the perfume for herself - after all perfume is for us to make ourselves smell nice. Or they might have wondered, "if she wants to give away the perfume, why not spray a bit on Jesus and spray the rest on us so that we can ALL smell nice?"
* * *
Often the world's natural way of thinking is to spend the life that we have on ourselves, to do things that will make us look good (or 'smell nice') to those around us, and to satisfy our human instincts and desires. Or else, one step more noble, it's to help others and make them look good.
But Jesus considered one thing even better than this - making him 'smell nice'! vs 5: "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
It wasn't as if Jesus wanted her to spend the money on him and not care about the poor - Jesus himself always cared about the poor. But the truth taught here is: the ultimate thing that pleases God is when we use our utmost to make Him 'smell nice'. That is, when we live in a way that glorifies God and brings honour to Him, and helps those around us to see how good He is!
* * *
Why ALL of it - the whole jar of precious perfume? Well every drop of our lives that we use to honour God is pleasing to Him! And when our aim in life is to please God, there is no better way to use our lives. In fact, it would be a waste NOT to!
Recently, HP's boss returned from a trip overseas. It had been easy to slack while he was away, but when he got back he had a meeting with everyone to find out if they had completed the projects they had been assigned to do. HP had done his part, but it was still quite scary waiting for his turn to report in. At that time everyone realised how much they wanted to please the boss! But if they had used their time to enjoy themselves rather than diligently working to make sure the boss would be pleased when he returned - now they would be found out!
This really brought home the thought: When we come face to face with God at the end of our lives, won't it be an even more scary experience meeting someone who's not just our boss but our Lord, the Master of all creation? At that time, we'll realise how much we want to please God and how pleasing Him was the only thing that really counted. And if we've spent all our lives living just to please ourselves, to satisfy our own nature, we'll suddenly feel - oh no, what was THAT all about? If we look back on our lives and find that none of it was spent trying to please God, we'll have done nothing of real value. It'll have been wasted!
* * *
Personally, this teaching was a new revelation to me because I've always had the mindset that "This is my life and I own it and I have the right to use it on myself, on what I feel like doing." (For me this tends to take the form of soaking in my emotions and moods and writing poems to memorialise and sometimes encourage them - which is not wrong in itself but which is wrong when I end up putting me and what I feel above anything else in my life and refusing to budge even if it interferes with my witness for God!)
Yes, I do have the right to spend my life glorifying only my wants and feelings, but it would please God best if I spent my life glorifying Him, making Him look good to others. And for no other reason than that it pleases God, I do want to 'waste my life' glorifying Him - because such 'waste' is not a waste at all.
- Joanna
the alleged @ 1:54 AM
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