Here is a true story about a nine-year-old boy who lived in a rural town in Tennessee. His house was in a poor area of the community. A church had a bus ministry that came knocking on his door one Saturday afternoon. The kid came to answer the door and greeted the bus pastor. The bus pastor asked if his parents were home and the small boy told him that his parents take off every weekend and leave him at home to take care of his little brother. The bus pastor couldn’t believe what the kid said and asked him to repeat it. The youngster gave the same answer and the bus pastor asked to come in and talk with him. They went into the living room and sat down on an old couch with the foam and springs exposed. The bus pastor asked the kid, "Where do you go to church?" The young boy surprised the visitor by replying, "I’ve never been to church in my whole life." The bus pastor thought to himself about the fact that his church was less than three miles from the child’s house. "Are you sure you have never been to church?" He asked again. "I sure haven’t", came his answer. Then the bus pastor said, "Well, son, more important than going to church, have you ever heard the greatest love story ever told?" and then he proceeded to share the Gospel with this little nine year old boy. The young lad’s heart began to be tenderized and at the end of the bus pastor’s story the bus pastor asked if the boy wanted to receive this free gift from God. The youngster exclaimed, "You bet! The kid and the bus pastor got on their knees and the lad invited Jesus into his little heart and received the free gift of salvation. They both stood up and the bus pastor asked if he could pick the kid up for church the next morning. "Sure," the nine old replied. The bus pastor got to the house early the next morning and found the lights off. He let himself in and snaked his way through the house and found the little boy asleep in his bed. He woke up the little boy and his brother and helped get them dressed. They got on the bus and ate a donut for breakfast on their way to church. Keep in mind that this boy had never been to church before. The church was a real big one. The little kid just sat there, clueless of what was going on. A few minutes into the service these tall unhappy guys walked down to the front and picked up some wooden plates. One of the men prayed and the kid with utter fascination watched them walk up and down the aisles. He still didn’t know what was going on. All of a sudden like a bolt of lightning it hit the kid what was taking place. These people must be giving money to Jesus. He then reflected on the free gift of life that he had received just twenty-four hours earlier. He immediately searched his pockets, front and back, and couldn’t find a thing to give Jesus. By this time the offering plate was being passed down his aisle and with a broken heart he just grabbed the plate and held on to it. He finally let go and watched it pass on down the aisle. He turned around to see it passed down the aisle behind him. And then his eyes remained glued on the plate as it was passed back and forth, back and forth all the way to the rear of the sanctuary. Then he had an idea. This little nine-year-old boy, in front of God and everybody, got up out of his seat. He walked about eight rows back, grabbed the usher by the coat and asked to hold the plate one more time. Then he did the most astounding thing I have ever heard of. He took the plate, sat it on the carpeted church floor and stepped into the center of it. As he stood there, he lifted his little head up and said, "Jesus, I don’t have anything to give you today, but just me. I give you me!"
What does Christ expect of us? To do what we can.
Extravagant love. John 12:1-11
Jesus arrived in Bethany where Lazarus lived. The home that they were in didn’t belong to Lazarus though, it was, according to Mark 14:3, “Simon the Lepers” home.
I bring that up because I want to set the stage for that dinner.
First of all, you would never eat dinner at a leper’s house unless the leper had been healed. If he wasn’t it might mean a whole new thing if you ask him to pass you something. The fact that they were at Simon’s house points to his healing. Simon literally owed his life to his guest.
Another guest also owed his life to Jesus. Lazarus was there. In the previous chapter, where was Lazarus? In the tomb!
Two guys…each one “one-upping” the other with story after story. Simon talking about being “whole” and Lazarus talking about being out of a “hole!”
The dinner must have been great, and the conversation even greater. WOULDN’T YOU HAVE LOVED TO BEEN INVITED TO THAT DINNER? (Don’t you just love places and times like that?)
It was a good time and then something truly great took place.
Mary enters the room and brings Jesus a God honoring offering. She approaches Him, breaks open her alabaster jar, and pours it all over his head. She then falls to her knees and pours what is left on his feet and wipes it with her hair.
The fragrance of the perfume fills the room as tension fills the air.
Judas is quick to rebuke her.
But the Lord Jesus is just as quick to honor her.
Jesus blessed her gift and made sure that her selfless act would be remembered forever. Mark 14:9, “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.”
Four facts about her God honoring offering leap from this story.
And just as she did this for Jesus the day before Palm Sunday, we look at it as a way in which we can do something special for Jesus this year.
Extravagant love is precious to us.(John 12:1-3)
An offering that honors the Lord must first of all be something dear to us.
I am reminded of something that David did in 2 Samuel 24:18-25
When Mary brought her offering it was precious to her. She brought the equivalent of one year’s salary and poured it upon Christ. It was beyond what many might have thought was reasonable. But not Mary.
This lady was center stage only three times in scripture and each time she is at our Lord’s feet.
She sat at his feet to hear His word (Luke 10:38-42).
She knelt at his feet in sorrow over the death of her brother Lazarus (John 11:32).
And this time, were she brings her offering.
What a wonderful place to be found…at Jesus’ feet. Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we have been there lately? Have we been to busy? Too proud? Too self-reliant?
At His feet was Mary’s favorite place to be. We see her there in times of sorrow and in times of joy. We see her there in times of receiving and in times of giving. We see her there when the sun is shining and when the storm clouds are gathering.
Her motive was love.
Doing something extravagant like this was fitting for her. Not that it wasn’t expensive, it was! It is just that to her, Jesus was worth so much more.
Could the same be said of us? Have we given anything to God recently, not because we were expected to but because we wanted to? Wherever this kind of love exists in the heart, there is a desire to sacrifice. The object of our devotion is worth every penny.
Many it seems, rather than giving Him everything, are content to just dip their finger into what is precious to them and just dab a little upon him.
Extravagant love is pleasant to others. (John 12:3) “And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
The whole house was filled with the fragrance, not just the room in which they were seated. Her gift had an effect on everyone who was present.
Sooner or later everyone would know what had been offered. Even those who were outside would know what had been offered within.
When we give ourselves to Jesus the aroma is powerful. When a congregation is made up of committed Christians who are willing to give everything they have to Jesus, the scent is inviting.
Even those outside of these walls become drawn to the fragrance within.
The people outside of these walls that are starving for truth and life! Don’t be deceived, people hunger for worship and if they are not drawn to the TRUTH, they will settle for the counterfeit. This is why we see highly educated men and women with crystals around their necks in hopes of getting in touch with something beyond themselves and their sad existence. They are starving for HIM, not stories about HIM. And when God’s people give their very best to HIM the aroma will draw people to HIM.
Tommy Tenny, God Chasers, “People don’t sense God’s presence in our gatherings because it’s just not there sufficiently enough to register on our gauges.”
God inhabits the praises of His people…When we bring the sacrifice of praise, the fragrance is attractive.
Don’t wait for someone else to do it before you do it.
Just like Mary did, we encourage one another with our sacrifice.
When we hear of someone else’s sacrifice it encourages us to do more for Him. You be that person. Bring your best to HIM. Let Him inhabit your praises!
A God honoring offering is not just precious to us; it is pleasant to others.
Extravagant love is perplexing to some.(John 12:4-6)…“Why wasn’t this perfume sold…”
Not everyone is blessed when others give to God extravagantly. Even something beautiful and fragrant to God is a stench to some.
Judas’ statement sounded so spiritual didn’t it? “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and given to the poor?” (I like how John unmasked his hypocrisy though!)
Verse 6, “He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as a keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put in it.”
The truth is that those who would be disgusted by your extravagance are typically more into themselves than anything else. They may mask their disapproval in spiritual language but their hypocrisy is evident.
Did you notice the damage that Judas did? Mary’s sacrifice had drawn all the attention of the house on the Lord Jesus Christ. But Judas, by his arrogance, turned the attention away from the Lord.
He wasn’t in love with Jesus; he was in love with himself. For thirty pieces of silver Judas would later betray the Lord Jesus.
To this day, your extravagant love for God will be perplexing to those who gripe. But don’t let that stop you!
In spite of criticism for doing so, seek to please Christ!
Extravagant love is pleasing to Christ.
The only voice heard in favor of what Mary did that night was the only one that really mattered. Matthew 26:10, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
When we really give our gifts to God He knows it.
Our Lord emphasized the fact that Mary’s gift was for Him. Nothing that we give God will ever go unnoticed by Him.
Hebrews 6:10, “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.”
You will never give something to God that will be forgotten, when He receives something from us that is precious to us it is pleasing to Him.
In Mark’s account of this event he adds that Christ also said, “She did what she could” (Mark 14:8).
The fragrance of that perfume has long since evaporated but the memory of that woman will survive as long as the gospel is preached. She did what she could and what she did made a difference.
Picture the scene as Phillip Keller described it:
“The delicious fragrance ran down over his shining hair. It enfolded His body with its delightful aroma. Even his tunic and flowing undergarment were drenched with its enduring pungency. Wherever he moved during the ensuing days, the perfume would go with Him. Into the Passover; into the Garden of Gethsemane; into Harod’s hall; into Pilate’s patio; even into the cruel hands of those who cast lots for his clothing.”
With each crack of the whip, Mary’s gift was remembered.
With each nail driven in, her love was felt.
What does Christ expect of me? To do what I can. To do what I can regardless of criticism. To do what I can from a heart of love.
Like Mary’s alabaster jar, may we be found broken before Him! And like the boy in my opening illustration may we say, “I give you me!”
Extravagant Love
John 12:1-11
By Michael R. Hensley
FBC
