Extravagant Love
Mark 14:1-9
1. Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him;
2. for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.”
3. While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.
4. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?
5. “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.
6. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me.
7. “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.
8. “She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.
9. “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” (Mark 14:1-9)
When the unbelieving world looks at the Christian, they have a difficult time figuring us out. In terms of their own world view, the way we Christians live doesn't make a lot of sense. But that's because the world's philosophy is one of selfishness and getting, while the Christian's philosophy is one of selflessness and giving. God-centered people in a man-centered world are indeed difficult to understand.
Why would people with already busy lives take additional time to render service to God through their church? Why would they become involved with people, many of whom are not like them, on purpose? Why would they tithe their income when we are already taxed enough? Why would they choose to deny themselves any pleasure at all when life is so short? These things don't make a lot of sense to those who don't know Jesus.
But other things make even less sense. When people in the world see Christians in the middle of horribly trying circumstances refusing to be devastated by them, but rather, turning to God in faith, they don't understand. When Christians should be cursing God in their view, but yet they are praising Him, the world doesn't understand. When Christians take it on the chin and respond in love, the world simply scratches its head in amazement. What kind of people are these Christians? What motivates them? What is it about them that causes them to live this way?
A simple answer to that question would be that our love for Jesus causes us to live that way. We have come into a relationship with the living God. He loved us, reached out to us and forgave us, and now He walks with us through even the hardest times of life. He has given meaning and purpose to life. All we have we owe to Him. And nothing we could ever do would be enough to repay Him for all He has done for us. He lives in us, and empowers us by His Spirit to face life and to face it successfully. So our love for Him causes us to live for Him. Love for Jesus is the motivating force. The longer we know Him the more we love Him, and the more we want to love Him. Our love for Him becomes an extravagant love. There is nothing too great to do for Him; nothing too much to give.
Our passage of Scripture for this morning tells the story of an extravagant love. Mark does not give us this woman’s name, but we know who she is from John's gospel, we know that this is the story of Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. The scene unfolds days before the Passover, which would be Jesus' last.
And while He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "For what purpose has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For the poor you always have with you, and whenever you wish, you can do them good; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, that also which this woman has done shall be spoken of in memory of her." (Mark 14:3-9)
Love's Extravagance
Those who have a love for the Lord and are overflowing with gratitude to Him sometimes do some strange things. At least outwardly they appear strange. Mary loved the Lord. Jesus had been a real friend to her. He had filled her life with hope. He had been there during some of the most difficult times of her life. One of those times was when her brother Lazarus died. But Jesus had come, and her brother Lazarus was miraculously raised from the dead and given back to her. Mary had experienced the presence of the Lord, in the face of death. Jesus was not like any other man she had ever known. He was a powerful man who could thunder forth words that caused the storms to cease, the demons to flee, and the dead to be raised. But He was gentle. Powerful, yet gentle. Little children, far from being afraid of Him, loved to run into His arms. And He was wise, and always pointing others toward God. He was not like any man she had ever known, but He was what a man ought to be. And He had reached out to her. How could she ever thank Him?
Now they were there, all together, having one last meal together. No doubt, she thought this may be her last chance to do something special for her Lord. So she seized the opportunity and took an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, broke it, and anointed Him with it. We learn from this passage that this perfume was worth over three hundred denarii, which was a day's wage in that day. In other words, this was worth more than a year's wage. This was true extravagance. Why would she do such a thing?
This was just like Mary. Mary had an attitude of devotion to Jesus. We find her, in another place, sitting at His feet while her sister worked in the kitchen to prepare a meal. She was hanging on every word. To her, Jesus was the most important person in the world. And the Lord commended her for her action. Mary's devotion is a lesson to us. The mark of a true believer is that he or she is genuinely in love with Jesus.
Mary's love moved her. Nothing was too precious for her to give Jesus. She held nothing sacred. And what she gave on this occasion was worth more than one year's wages.
Consider how much that is. To really get a feel for how much it is, you have to translate it into today's economy. Consider for a moment how much you make in a year. What is your gross salary and any benefits? What is your total package for an entire year? Now add approximately three more months to that, because what she offered was worth over three hundred days work. There are only two hundred sixty weekdays in an average year. That includes some time for a vacation, if you like. Do you have that figure? For you to give what she gave, you would have to give the figure you now hold in your mind. But that is precisely what she gave.
And I'm sure what she gave cost her. There is no indication that she was wealthy. What she gave cost her, just like if you gave a year's wages it would cost you. But that is a mark of extravagant love. That is a mark of Christian giving. If our giving never costs us, then our giving never really means anything. David, when he wanted to make a sacrifice to God, approached a man by the name of Araunah the Jebusite. David wanted to buy his threshing floor so he could build an altar and make a sacrifice to God. Araunah, however, wanted to give David everything he needed - the threshing floor, the wood for the altar and the oxen for the sacrifice. But David would not accept it. He told Araunah that he wanted to buy it for a price. And he said, "For I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing." David recognized, and we should too, that for an offering to be meaningful, it must cost us something.
But even though it cost Mary a great deal, she rejoiced in the fact that she had been given the privilege to give it. It wasn't a burdensome gift. It was a gift of love. It was a gift which was an example of love's extravagance.
Logic's Exasperation
Love's extravagance will always produce logic's exasperation. What Mary did didn't make a lot of sense, especially to the cold and calculating Jewish businessman. Immediately, the nit-pickers and complainers began to talk. From John's gospel we see that Judas made the loudest complaint. Judas, you recall, was the treasurer of the group. Now, I don't know that this says anything about church treasurers as a whole, or members of the finance committee, certainly not here in our Church. But Judas just couldn't stomach what was happening. All he saw was that a costly ointment worth over a year's wages had been poured out and ruined, and wasted. Immediately, his mind began to calculate just how much money that ointment could have been sold for. And when his calculator-like mind figured up the exact total, he offered his logical complaint.
Now, you must remember that Judas' motives were certainly not pure. In John's gospel, he is revealed as a thief, who pilfered out of the money which was in his care. So, perhaps his real motivation was to sell the perfume so the money could go in his bag. But in spite of this, his complaint centered on a very logical argument.
He complained that what Mary had done was a waste. He said that the perfume ought to have been sold and the money given to the poor. Now, that sounds not only like a logical argument, but a very benevolent and worthwhile one, I can just imagine someone there saying something about being a good steward. But while it may look so on the outside, Jesus didn't buy it at all.
It is not that Jesus didn't care about the poor. He certainly did. But Jesus saw more than Judas saw. Jesus saw that Mary had seized upon an opportunity to express her love to Him. And all the logic in the world could not take that away from her. Jesus reminded them that the poor would always be with us, and that we would always have ample opportunity to help them if that is what we really wanted to do. But Mary had chosen to do the best thing she could, she had seized an opportunity to offer what she could to Jesus.
Judas didn't understand. He didn't understand because he was outside of Christ in his devotion. Judas lacked a living relationship with Jesus Christ. His relationship was one based only on intellectual reasons. He thought Christ may be the Messiah. And if Christ were the Messiah, he wanted to be in on whatever happened. His commitment was an intellectual one, and intellectual commitment is never enough. Intellectual commitment lasts only as long as things go the way you think they ought to go. That was certainly true in Judas' case. When things started to go in a different direction than the one Judas wanted, Judas betrayed the Lord. Intellectual commitment is not enough.
The Lord's Exhortation
In the midst of the complainers, Jesus gives us an exhortation. He gives us the answer for the question: "What determines a true good work?" He says in verse 6 that Mary, "has done a good deed to me."
What Jesus is saying is that motives are what really count. Why did Mary do this good work? She did it because she loved Him. She offered that costly perfume out of a heart motivated by love. Her motives were right. And Jesus saw that. He looks not on merely the outward work, but He looks on the motives of the heart. And if our motives are right, that's what really counts.
For Christian service to really count, it must be done unto the Lord; and not to man. Christian service that is not done because of our love for Jesus is not truly Christian. But service offered, even imperfect service, because we love Jesus and want to truly do His will, will always be accepted.
The Bible’s purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible’s purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome… religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted’. But the Gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey’. Those are two utterly different things. (Timothy Keller)
Notice what else Jesus said. He said, in verse 8, "She has done what she could." It is not what you can't do, but what you can do that matters. It has been said that "the good is the worst enemy of the best." Too often, people get hung up because there is so much good that needs to be done. There are multitudes of worthy causes and great need and so few resources to go around. And when we look at all the good that could be done, sometimes we are derailed from doing what can be done. You might not be able to reach all of the world, but you can reach one person. You might not be able to comfort all the lonely people, but you can comfort one or two. You might not be able to do every-thing that needs to be done, but you are able to do something. And what you can do, you ought to do. But be careful not to be derailed from doing what you can do because of what you cannot do. There are many good things, but the best thing is the thing God is calling you to do now. In Mary's case, the good thing was selling the ointment and giving the money to the poor, but the best thing was to truly worship Jesus by anointing Him. She did what she could. She did the best thing.
So the question put to us is one of what we can do. The question is really what God is calling us to do. When Mary expressed her love for Jesus in that extravagant way, John tells us that the entire house was filled with the sweet-smelling fragrance of that perfume. What Mary did was a beautiful thing. It was true worship. It was an example of love's extravagance. And, it often doesn't make a lot of sense to the world. To those of us who love Jesus, it makes great sense. For we know that when we truly give of ourselves in worship to Him, our lives are filled with the sweet-smelling fragrance of His glorious love.
God is calling all of us to give ourselves to Him. The challenge for the Christian is not to be willing to die for Jesus, but to be willing to live for Him. It takes a greater commitment to be willing to live for Him than to be willing to die for Him. But that is where the commitment really counts for the sake of the Kingdom of God. It is in living for Jesus that we accomplish Kingdom work.
The question of living for Jesus revolves around the simple question of what we can do. God has gifted each one of us. He has given everyone different abilities. What do you have that God has given you to work with? What can you do well? All of us can do something. None of us are without some talent. Our gifts might not be great, but they are ours. And we can and must offer them to Jesus.
Offer yourself first as a sweet smelling sacrifice to God. Place yourself in the offering that is taken to Him. Then offer those gifts of what you can do in the service of His Kingdom. As you do you will find that He will not only accept them, He will rejoice over them. From your life will come that sweet aroma of fragrant perfume that is pleasing to the Lord. And into your life will come the joy that belongs to those who are in His service and in His will.
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