Anointed Worship

Opening illustration: Some of us may feel pressured to be perfect when we go to church so that people will think well of us. Metaphorically speaking, we work hard to make sure we have every hair in place. But a healthy church is a place where we can let down our hair and not hide our flaws behind a façade of perfection. In church, we should be able to reveal our weaknesses to find strength rather than conceal our faults to appear strong.

Worship can be an intensely personal and yet very corporate experience. We can worship alone, with a small group of friends, and with our local body of believers. Some of us dance, others raise their hands, some close their eyes and bow heads in reverence. There are many ways in which we can praise and worship God.

Worship doesn’t involve behaving as if nothing is wrong; it’s making sure everything is right—right with God and with one another. When our greatest fear is letting down our hair, perhaps our greatest sin is keeping it up.

Introduction: Shortly before Jesus was crucified, a woman named Mary poured a bottle of expensive perfume on His feet. Then, in what may have been an even more daring act, she wiped His feet with her hair (John 12:3). Not only did Mary sacrifice what may have been her life’s savings, she also sacrificed her reputation. In first-century Middle Eastern culture, respectable women never let down their hair in public. But true worship is not concerned about what others think of us (2 Samuel 6:21–22). To worship Jesus, Mary was willing to be thought of as immodest, and in another text, perhaps even immoral.

Mary offered her financial stability—pouring a very expensive perfume over Jesus, her physical being—using her own hair to wipe His feet, and her reputation—letting hair down was not something a “respectable” woman did in ancient cultures. Mary worshiped Jesus with everything she had. She knew who Jesus was and what He had done for her (He had just raised her brother from the dead; see John 11). Her worship was a response.

That’s what worship is—responding to who Jesus is and what He has done. How do you worship? How can you share your worship with another?

How can our worship to God be anointed?

1. Approach God in Brokenness (v. 3a)

Brokenness is not a feeling; rather, it is a choice, an act of the will. It is not primarily a one-time experience or crisis (though there may be crisis points in the process of brokenness); rather, it is an ongoing, continual lifestyle. Mary had to break the alabaster jar to approach Jesus and pour it all over Him as her act/response of worship.

Brokenness is a lifestyle of agreeing with God about the true condition of our heart and life, as He sees it. It is a lifestyle of unconditional, absolute surrender of our will to the will of God—a heart attitude that says, “Yes, Lord!” to whatever God says. Brokenness means the shattering of our self-will, so that the life and Spirit of the Lord Jesus may be released through us. It is our response of humility and obedience to the conviction of the Word and the Spirit of God.

Many believers fail to consistently rely upon the Lord. Their independence often manifests itself in various ways—self-reliance, self-righteousness, self-centeredness, or some other sinful attitude. It’s also possible that such people might seem outwardly godly, while remaining inwardly rebellious against the Spirit. Unless we come to the end of ourselves and learn to allow Him to work through us, we will never reach our full potential in Christ.

Brokenness is never weakness. It is coming to the end of one’s self-life. Jesus said that the broken man is truly a blessed man (Matthew 5:3). Through brokenness we comprehend that we are finite people in tremendous need of a Savior. A person will throw himself at the Redeemer’s feet only when he grasps the reality that he deserves divine judgment for his sin and that his sole hope is Christ’s mercy. This is where a life of brokenness begins. The broken man, observed William MacDonald is quick to repent. He does not try to sweep sin under the carpet. He does not try to forget it with the excuse, Time heals all things. He rushes into the presence of God and cries, “I have sinned” (MacDonald, 121).

God requires us to be contrite, humble, and broken. This stands in stark contrast to proud, haughty, and hardhearted. There are numerous books available that tell us how to become proud, haughty, and hardhearted, but the Bible tells us how to become contrite, humble, and broken. God operates on a wholly different value system than we have become accustomed to. God operates far above our mundane, human need system. God works in our brokenness as it is pleasing to Him. He is interested in our eternal character.