The Beauty Of Extravagant Worship Series

Those who pour out their love to Jesus are still criticized today. When the world looks at what we do, they say, “What a waste!” As people are driving by right now and they see these hundreds of cars parked in our lots some of them are thinking, “What a waste!” Why are these people giving up their Sunday to sing songs and to study an ancient out-of-date book? They just don’t get it. They think worship is a waste of your time, a waste of your money, and a waste of your energy. But worship is never a waste.

A woman took a crafts class on how to make wax figurines. The teacher was a local artist who had exacting standards and seldom passed out praise. The teacher constantly criticized this woman’s efforts, no matter how good the wax figures looked. The woman tried harder each week, but still the criticism increased. On the last night of the class the woman brought her final project, an apple, and placed it in front of the demanding teacher. The teacher immediately began criticizing the color, shape, and texture of the wax apple. When she finally finished the woman picked up the apple and took a big bite out of it. It was a real apple. Not everyone recognizes real worship, but Jesus does!

When you give your all to the Lord, not everyone will be happy. I recall a man who attended the same church I attended when God called me to preach. He was a respected local businessman. I had even done some work for him selling Dale Carnegie courses. And I had listened to Dale Carnegie’s motivational theories. One of his famous quotes was, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” This businessman took me under his wing and mentored me before we even knew what mentoring was. On the Sunday I surrendered to the Lord to become a preacher, everyone was very excited for me, except this man. I could tell he was disappointed. I remember he said to me, “David are you SURE you want to give your life to being a preacher? You could really be a success in business, you know.” He didn’t come right out and say it, but he was thinking, “What a waste.” Well, that was 46 years ago, and I know I’m doing exactly what God wants me to do and I’m still having FUN doing it!

4. WORSHIP IS ALWAYS A PROPHETIC ACT OF RECOGNITION

When Mary poured the perfume on Jesus it was more than just an act of worship. She was also anointing His body for His burial that would take place in a couple of days.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me… She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.” (Mark 14:6, 8) During the previous weeks Jesus predicted several times He was going to Jerusalem where He would be handed over to the Romans and He would be tortured and crucified and would come back from the grave. But all of this death-talk just went over the heads of the disciples. They were still arguing about who was going to sit on the right hand and left hand of Jesus when He sat on His throne. Out of all the people there, Mary got it. She knew Jesus was going to die.