Break a Jar
Mark 14: 1-9
We’re starting a new series called, “Illuminate.” Our foundational Scripture verse is Revelation 21:23 which says, “And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it.” Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." That light has not only been given to us but we are called to reflect that light in our lives as well. For Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” We are called to illuminate the darkness.
There’s a lot of darkness in the world. It’s doesn’t take too long to see it all around us. We’re reminded of it on the nightly news, the front page of the paper, on nola.com and the news tweets we receive each day. There are over 250,000 people on the WestBank and most of them are surrounded by darkness. Over 150,000 people on the WestBank don’t attend a church on Sunday morning. They need the Light of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 1:10 says, “And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.” We want to illuminate the WestBank with the love of Christ. So we’re in a special season right now focusing on how we can be light and how Gretna UMC can get out the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ and what we have to offer here to the people of the WestBank. We’re seeking to raise funds for a significant marketing campaign to get the Word out but Illuminate is more than a fundraising campaign. The point of Illuminate is not the gift but what happens in your heart when you’re captured by the Light of the World and become light to others. What we need more than your money is your heart. We need your heart to be completely sold out for Jesus and God’s mission of “Connecting diverse communities to a lifestyle devoted to Jesus.” If you are, then you will go into the places of darkness in our community and begin to illuminate it.
Last week, we gave everyone in worship an envelope filled with $10 and asked them to go and bless someone with it. We called it the Bless Back Project and it was a tangible way we could be light by blessing someone unexpectedly. What happens when God’s people get generous? Hearts get changed and lives touched with the light of Christ. In addition, this series, “Illuminate” will conclude with two major events: the first being on September 8 where we’re challenging you to step up and give a revolutionary gift for a marketing and advertising campaign so we can Illuminate the WestBank with the Light of Christ. The second is September 15th as we celebrate Friend Day and Kick off a new sermon series called, “Modern Family.” But the planning and participation for that event begins now as you start to pray for your oikos and others whom you can invite to worship on September 8th.
In our Scripture today, we see an example of what happens when a person’s heart is captured by the Light of the World. Our story is about a woman who was so overwhelmed by being in Jesus’ presence and the thought of all he had done in her life, that she shared her most expensive and prized possession, a jar of alabaster oil and poured it over Jesus. Oils and perfumes were widely used in the ancient world. This expensive perfume was made from a plant grown principally in India. The jar likely was more of a flask whose neck would have to be broken to pour the oil out. So she broke it open and began to pour it on the head of Jesus. This type of perfume was purchased for future use in a funeral. There was no embalming among the Israelites. Burial would be within hours after a death, and the body would be washed, perfumed, and laid to rest. So she took the alabaster jar of expensive perfume, broke it open and then poured it out until every drop was exhausted and the flask empty.
From this woman, we learn several things when your heart is captivated by the Light of the World. First, you take advantage of special opportunities to serve Christ when they arise. This incident took place while Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and eventually to the cross. He and the disciples had stopped over for a few days in the little village of Bethany probably to visit with friends. Bethany is just a few miles from Jerusalem. While he was there, he was invited to the house of Simon the leper for a dinner in Jesus’ honor. We don’t know exactly who Simon was but he obviously was a healed leper, or he wouldn’t have been able to host a dinner party. Most likely, he is one of the many people Jesus touched and healed. So this woman finds herself in the presence of Jesus and a dinner given in his honor. This provides a unique opportunity to do something extravagant for Him. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And that’s the way it is with opportunities to be light. It can happen in planned events but many times it can happen in a spontaneous act. And this woman? She did what she could. She gave the most precious and expensive thing she had to Jesus and poured it on Him.
Second, when your heart is captivated by the Light of the World and it leads to incredible opportunities and extravagant acts, others will often not understand. In the very next moment after this woman commits this act, there was protest. I want you to notice that it didn’t come from the world but from the disciples who cried out, “’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.” Jesus said to the disciples, “The poor you will always have with you and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”. What the disciples showed was that their hearts had not been captured by Jesus quite yet. Many times, it’s people inside the church that fight extravagant acts of love, giving and service. But notice what Jesus does. He comes to her defense! “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
Third, radical gifts of hospitality, service and giving are acts of beauty in the eyes of God. Jesus says, when you worship him, when you give all of yourself to him, when you make a sacrificial offering to him, it is a thing of beauty. The fact of the matter is that our giving has not always been a beautiful thing. Some of us give out of obligation. Some of us give out of what’s left over at the end of the month When some of us give it’s a token offering. And in all these, our giving is not a very beautiful thing because our heart is not in the right place and hasn’t been captivated by the Light of the World. But this woman comes to Jesus out of love and thanksgiving and as a result, gives an extravagant gift and Jesus says it’s a beautiful thing to Him. When you give to illuminate, when you seek to be light in the midst of the darkness by serving others, when you take the risk to really live like Jesus and share your faith with others, when you give extravagantly to Jesus, it’s a beautiful thing and God is honored and glorified.
Fourth, you get to be a part of God’s greater work of salvation. As Jesus was headed to the cross, this gracious and giving act of this woman was much more than that. It played a key part in God’s plan of salvation by preparing Jesus heart and mind as well as his body for his impending death. For Jesus said, “She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.” Even though Jesus was still days away from the cross and still ministering to the crowds, in this act, He was being prepared for the cross. This woman did this extravagant act of love and didn’t even know the real implications of her actions. For her, it was the greatest gift of thanksgiving and love she could give. For God, it was an act of preparation of Jesus and his body that He might become the sacrifice for the sins of the world. She was just seeking to respond to Jesus in her own way but God used it as a key part of His plan of salvation. Illumine is just like that. A simple act can be used in powerful ways in the work of the kingdom, whether it be a kind word, an act of service or a gift of help. We may never even get to see the results or the impact it may have on someone’s life, but God uses it because we have submitted.
Fifth, you give your most precious possessions. The Scripture says, “She did what she COULD do, not what she thought she could do.” Too often we give what we think we can do and when we do, we’re in the grips of deficit thinking. Deficit thinking says, “I can’t afford to give that much.” Deficit thinking forces us to focus on how little we have when we should be thinking about how much we have. When compared to the 1 billion people who live on this world, we’re in the top 5%. Whether you realize it or not, we’re wealthy, comparatively speaking. I hear retirees say, “I’m on a fixed income!” Well, who fixed it? The Bible says our Father owns cattle on a thousand hills. He owns the universe. He can multiply loaves and fishes. He can bring people back from the dead. The devil wants you to have deficit thinking because then you think you don’t have enough to give an extravagant gift. Isn’t it amazing that no matter what stage of life we’re in, we never seem to have enough money. Many people don’t believe they can afford to give what they should, no matter what income levels they might be in. Here’s the truth: Giving isn’t a luxury of the rich, it’s a privilege of everyone. Giving and devotion to God has got to be a sacrifice.
What I want you to do this week is to put the process of illuminate in the front of your mind, to line up your desires with God’s desires and to take a step out in your faith, to get off the sidelines and into the game of God’s plan and become light in the world. I’m asking you to live a life of light where you “get it.” Because you realize that everything you have and everything you are comes from God and that it all belongs to God. Are you willing to break a jar and move beyond deficit thinking and what you think you can afford to what you can do and what God wants you to do? Verse 8 tells us that she did what she could. Jesus wasn’t talking about what you do when you walk in the mall and put a dollar in the Salvation Army pot. You know, “You do what you can.” Jesus didn’t mean when the office collection comes around for the United Way and you do what you can and put a little in the giving. He didn’t mean that when you drive by the homeless man and decide to go and get him a hamburger and you say, “You did what you could.” No, he meant that her heart was so captivated by Jesus and the kingdom of God that she gave abundantly, extravagantly and sacrificially.
When we do ALL we can do then, God does what only He can do. What Jesus is saying is not that she did what she thought she could, but that she gave what she COULD! She broke her jar. She went for broke! She didn’t pour a few teaspoons out and use it so that she could have some to use later on for herself. She broke the jar and gave everything to Jesus. She didn’t just do what she thought she could, she did ALL that she could. She went all in. She dove in head first! And we are called to do the same. When we give all that we can do, then it’s a beautiful thing in the eyes of God and God will receive the glory and He will do what only He can do.
I remember the first time I broke a jar. It’s when I got out of seminary and was making $14,995 and I made the decision to tithe. Now that’s not a lot of money and I had a new house to pay for but I decided to step out in faith. And the amazing thing was that I never went hungry, never fell short of paying my bills and still had enough to date my girlfriend who is now my wife. I tested God just as he challenges us to do in the book of Malachi and guess what, He passed! He came through just as He said He would. Another break the jar moment for me was a couple of years ago in our capital campaign. One of my lifelong dreams was to own a motorcycle. I had friends with bikes and was looking forward to riding with them. I had been saving for the bike and was up to $3000 and then in worship one Sunday, I felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit. I knew what I had to do and the bike was going to have to be put on the back burner. So I stood up the next Sunday with 30 $100 bills and announced to the congregation that I was giving my bike money to the capital campaign. That was hard to do. But God had asked to put off our stuff so that we could invest in His stuff. And you know what? Life is more than about my dream of a motorcycle. It’s about getting my life, my mind and my heart in line with God’s. And I’ve never once regretted anything that I’ve given away to God. And there’s not a place I’d rather give than God and to God’s mission at Gretna UMC.
I want to challenge you to begin the process of looking at the jars in your life and contemplating what jars are you willing to break and give back to God. The fact is many people before you have broken jars in their life so that you can be sitting here today in this beautiful sanctuary. What jar is God calling you to break in your life and give to Him and His work so that we can bring light into the darkness? How often do we limit what God can do by giving and doing what we think we can do rather than doing ALL we can do. We are blessed to be a blessing to change lives. When we do ALL we can do then, God does what only He can do.
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