“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” – Mark 14:6-9
How often have you spent all you have, or more than you should, on a gift for someone you love very much? Why did you do it?
In this case, the woman with the perfume came with a simple and appropriate act of worship, though many of the disciples didn’t see it as such.
“She should have used that money to feed the poor,” they said. They probably thought about how they needed new donkeys for the ministry or new tunics, and we know they chastised her for what they considered to be her waste in this offering.
But what Jesus saw was a pure heart full of love and gratitude for her Savior. Her motives were pure. Jesus doesn’t demand extravagant gifts, by any means, but He deserves them. His very own disciples were focused on the financial aspect, when the act of worship was the eternal piece.
The thing is, a normal Christian can’t always read minds and tell the difference in most people’s motives. When that Super Bowl commercial came out, it ignited a firestorm among God’s people. “They could have spent that money to feed the poor,” so many said. The motives were questioned, the doctrine, the soundness of a message of Christ’s love… but do we really KNOW what the intent was?
What if it was an offering of the finest perfume? What if it was someone’s expression of worship for our Lord, and since it’s not what WE would have done, we criticize it and say it’s wrong and blasphemous?
Who else did that, y’all? The Pharisees.
Worship is an intensely personal thing. It’s unique to each of us. We all have our widow’s mite, and we all have our oxnard perfume.
I submit to you that Jesus wants us to be more interested in our own love offering than in what we think someone else should be doing to worship Him. Your judgement won’t get you or anyone else into Heaven, but your love? That’s another story. At least in my case, I’ve seen a lot more people come to the cross because of the love someone has shown them in the name of Christ than because of the fear of Hell.
Give your widow’s mite. Annoint him with your expensive perfume. Give in a way that you’re most able to express your love and gratitude and worship for your savior. If you see me sitting out in nature somewhere, talking to God, that’s where I’m most comfortable.
He meets you where you are: On the mountaintop or in the valley. All that matters to Him is the intent of your heart. ❤️
(Photo of Israel by Photo by Stacey Franco on Unsplash)
