A Foolish Act Of Worship

Everything that was about to happen that day would seem to be the most foolish, most wasteful act that could possibly take place. Those who witnessed it thought the whole thing was inappropriate. A woman showed up at a dinner, a men’s only dinner. But that didn’t stop her. She was driven by an incredible sense of love and gratitude. She came because of one man. This man had been invited not because the host cared anything about him, nor did he have any reason to reward him for anything he had done. In fact, the host, Simon, considered this man to be a heretic, even an enemy. The invitation was given so that Jesus might be embarrassed and scorned or perhaps catch him doing or saying something that might bring reason to have him arrested.

Mary knelt at the feet of Jesus, something she had done before many times. She had brought the most valuable of her possessions, an alabaster jar filled with an expensive perfume. The men watched as Mary broke open the jar and poured that sweet smelling nard on the head of Jesus. It ran down from his head to his feet. In sincere humility Mary began wiping Jesus’ feet with her long hair. She did not cease kissing his feet as the tears flowed from her eyes. Mary knew that this man she called Master, the one who had raised her brother from the dead, would very soon himself die. Mary anointed her Lord with her expensive oil, all of it, not just a few drops. She gave Him all she had.

In disbelief these men, the Pharisees, the disciples, watched what Mary had done. Finally, one of them spoke up saying, “What a waste! That perfume was worth a whole year’s wages. It could have been sold and given to take care of the  poor.” Surprisingly, the one making the remark was Judas, a disciple. What he had said seemed very logical. But Jesus rebuked him saying, “Leave her alone...She has done a beautiful thing to me...She has done what she could do; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.” How appropriate it was for Judas to say that Mary had wasted that expensive perfume. Later Jesus would call Judas the son of perdition. In that context the word perdition means “waste”. Judas, according to Jesus, was the son of waste. It was to be proven to the world that Judas had truly wasted his life.

What Mary did that day remains a testament to this day as to her deep love for Jesus. Her “foolish act” was an example of how one who follows Jesus should worship their Savior. Mary anointed the head of Jesus not only with oil, but more accurately with worship. Her worship filled the room, and the lovely aroma rose all the way to heaven. She anointed His head with worship. She anointed him with thanksgiving. Her love for Jesus led her to a place she didn’t belong, where she was not welcomed, doing something that would bring her shame and embarrassment in a culture where women were considered just a little better than a dog. Yet, Mary didn’t care what others thought. She didn’t care what others thought was proper or socially acceptable. Mary was driven to worship her Lord, her Savior, her  Master and nothing stood in her way.

As we march toward Easter Sunday let us consider Mary’s foolish act of worship, and do whatever we need to do to personally anoint our Lord with worship.

“Anoint the Lord With Worship” is a song written by Pepper Choplin and is one of the songs we sang from the his Easter cantata, The Body Of Christ, of which Sherri and I participated. Our choir joined several other choirs to be a part of a 238 voice choir last Sunday evening.