“Like a Girl”
Part 4 – Worship Like A Girl
I. Introduction
One of the greatest insults you could say to a guy is that you throw like a girl, run like a girl but over the next few weeks I want to reevaluate what was once an insult and make it instead a challenge. Fight like a girl. Pray like a girl. Serve like a girl. I hope you have been taking care of the heavy lifting that you should be doing to reflect God’s excellence.
This morning I want to conclude this series by talking about how to “Worship Like A Girl!”
II. Text
Luke 7:36-39; 44-47, John 12:1-5
36-39One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him." Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal."
1-3Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus’ feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5"Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.
DANCE
III. Girl Lessons
a. Girl worship touches toes.
Most of the people I know think that toes are gross! They certainly don’t go around touching other people’s feet. But this woman, went a step further than that, she actually kissed feet. I want you to see that worship changes what was ugly into beauty. Real worship doesn’t take place in the misty, ethereal, I am in a trance, floating, the sun is shining brightly place. It takes place at foot level, where it is smelly, dusty, rough, and difficult. The shoe style of the day was sandals, the roads were dirt, the feet would have been grimy, dusty, sweaty and perhaps smelly. Her worship turned those sandals into a sanctuary.
Thought about this? How did a harlot get this expensive bottle of perfume? She could worship at foot level because she had lived at foot level and knew what it was to be dirty, rough, unloved and unwanted! And her worship was accepted. Her worship left a legacy.
If you have had a hard life then you should know how to worship. If you have endured heartache and disappointment then you should be able to worship. Worship touches even the ugly part of our lives. Are you worshipping while touching toes? Many of us allow worship to stop when we touch or are touched by the ugly parts of life. She teaches us that worship starts in that place.
b. Girl worship steps on toes.
Have you ever had your toes stepped on? Not talking about figuratively. I am talking literally. Someone accidentally or purposely puts their foot right on your toes. There is no doubt that it gets your attention! It causes a reaction.
I have discovered that real worship causes a reaction (God reacts, others react, you react, and your atmosphere changes).
Worship can’t be ignored by God or by man.
You can’t determine whether worship is real or genuine by how demonstrative someone is or isn’t. This isn’t about who raised their hands the highest or shouted the loudest. Worship is real when it produces a reaction!
If worship is real it will step on the toes of God and move him. We are told that God takes up residence in our praise. He moves in when we worship. It catches his attention.
It will step on the toes of others and cause either a positive or negative response from them. Others will try to deflect, direct, and derail your worship. Girl worshipped in spite of everyone else – For a woman to enter a room of men and do this was at once bold and humble. She came into a place where she was not welcome and was sneered at for what she did. Men grumbled about her worship. They reacted. Genuine worship will either cause others to worship or others to complain!
It will step on your own toes and cause you to react. She wept! Worship should produce intimacy not a show. Our worship should move us! If we are going through the motions it will not move us. We should be having an encounter and an experience with God that moves us.
It will change the atmosphere. Fragrance filled the room. (Spray Room Freshener) That is what our worship should be like. When we worship like a girl an aroma surrounds our life and causes a change in the atmosphere around us. It freshens things around us. People should smell us coming!
Has your worship stepped on any toes lately? Have you moved God? Have you moved others? Have you moved you? Can anyone smell worship on you?
C. Girl worship will curl your toes.
Have you ever had a situation where something curled your toes? I looked it up . . . usually there are 3 things that cause your toes to curl. You feel very uncomfortable, shocked or embarrassed.
This girl paid a price in worship that curled toes. Her praise made others uncomfortable. It shocked some. It embarrassed others.
Take a moment and think about what she did. She took a bottle of expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet. The perfume was Nard which is an ointment from a plant found only in the Himalayan Mountains. One man studied this type of ointment and said that "An alabaster of nard was a present for a king".
The bottle itself was very special. The bottle was made of alabaster and had a long, slender neck that was designed to be broken. Here is a vital point: Once broken, it could not be reused. It was broken because there was no other way to get the NARD out of the jar. (No leftovers worship from one service to the other.) True worship came out of brokenness.
This perfume could have been sold for over 300 denarii. An average worker was paid 1 denarii a day. So, 300 denarii would be a year’s wages. Translate that into your salary for a year and imagine “wasting” that on someone.
Her worship curled toes. It was extravagant worship. It was jaw dropping, breath taking, head shaking worship!
When was the last time that worship curled your toes? Shocked you. Excited you. Embarrased you? Cost you? What happened to a sacrifice of praise? Praise when we like song, like song leader, have had a good day. What happened to being broken and spilled out in spite of our feelings? What happened to saying I am gonna praise anyhow? What happened to praising when what you see doesn’t line up with your praise? What happened to praising when you don’t feel like it? What happened to costly worship? Expensive worship? What has worship cost you lately? Friends? Respect? Dignity? Comfort? Is what you have paid a worthy gift for a king or a priest? When was the last time someone looked on in awe of your worship or shook their head in disbelief because of your worship? I want us to see and experience some toe curling worship! I challenge you to worship like a girl!
IV. Close
Has your worship caused any reaction? Has it change anything? Has it cost you anything?
