Brown's Daily Word 2-25-08

Good morning,
Praise the Lord, for He redeems us and sends us into the world to serve Him, to witness for Him, and to demonstrate our love for Him. Praise the Lord, for He equips us to serve Him with the talents, the treasures, and the time that He bestows upon us.
We had a wonderful weekend. The Jeremiah People ministered to us this past Saturday through music and drama, in a musical centered on the personal relationships, interactions, communications (or lack thereof) and temptations faced by every family. The presentation, the music, and the message were powerful and provocative. It was intense and inspiring. We are blessed indeed to be able to have such a gifted and talented troupe of musicians/actors/dancers with us.
The Lord also blessed us in worship yesterday. Indeed, "Better is one day in His house than a thousand elsewhere". As our Lord and Savior journeyed to Jerusalem, He blessed people on the way, bringing change and transformation. He demonstrated His mighty deeds, along with signs and wonders. We are also given glimpses of how ordinary people demonstrated their love for Him. In John 12:1-12:8 we encounter Mary, who exhibited extravagant love towards Her Savior and Lord. As her alabaster flask was "Broken and Spilled out", so was her heart, her life, and her love. Jesus' love and grace is reckless, and even relentless, toward us. Mary, saved by grace poured her love out to Jesus in a very demonstrative way.
I heard a song, “What I Did For Love” from a famous Broadway musical, "A Chorus Line". These are the words: “Kiss today goodbye, the sweetness and the sorrow. Wish me luck, the same to you. But I can’t regret what I did for love, what I did for love. Look my eyes are dry. The gift was ours to borrow. It’s as if we always knew, and I won’t forget what I did for love, what I did for love. Gone, Love is never gone. As we travel on, Love’s what we’ll remember.”
John 12:1, “6 days before Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany." Bethany was a Jewish village about 2 miles from Jerusalem where travelers often stayed because Jerusalem was crowded and there were no accommodations there. Bethany was also the home of three of Jesus’ closest friends: Martha, Lazarus, and Mary. Jesus used their home as a sort of headquarters. This family gave a special dinner for Jesus, perhaps out of gratitude for all he had done for them, especially for the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
There are 3 main characters in the passage, Jesus, Mary and Judas. Mary and her gift to Jesus are viewed in different ways by varying people. The gift was an alabaster container holding a pint of nard. Nard was an oil made from the root of a plant grown in India, Nepal and China. It was imported and very costly, 300 denari, (a year’s wages then). Nard is still available today. It would cost $328 for the pint Mary used. That’s about $20.50 per ounce, a little pricey even by today’s standards.
Mary used this costly gift in a way that definitely drew attention to herself. It was unlawful for a woman to touch a man or to draw attention to oneself in public. The only women who let their hair down were the harlots. Yet, Mary threw aside convention and restraint, and bestowed on Jesus this precious, extravagant, loving, sacrificial gift. She didn’t care what people thought. She was going to show her love for Jesus.
Surely those present questioned in their mind, if not verbally, what Mary was thinking. “Who does she think she is? --- “This is outrageous!” --- “How dare she be so bold!” They may have been offended. I have found that people who are looking for a reason to be offended are usually all too easily able to find it. You tend to see and find that for which you are looking.
“The house was filled with fragrance.” Was it a spontaneous, loving, extravagant gift or a flagrant, foolish, public display of outrageous waste? If I had been there I would probably be sneezing, coughing or wheezing. I might even have complained about how Mary’s action had ruined the evening for me. It probably would have been necessary for me to leave.
In Verse 6 – Judas is called out as a thief and it is implied that Judas really wanted the money for himself, not the poor. I wonder whether, for Judas, Mary’s actions were a horrible waste of money because: 1) he could have taken the money for himself, or 2) he honestly did not think Jesus was worth it.
There are those like Judas who think it was a waste. They also believe it is a waste to give so much money to the work of Jesus’ church, to go to a small church with little prestige, and to serve God and our community with our talent, our time, and our hands.
What do you think? Were Mary’s actions an example of loving devotion to be emulated by all Christians or were they a waste of time and money because Jesus was not worth it? What are you willing to do, to what lengths are you willing to go, for the love of Jesus?
In His Extravagant Love,
Brown

click here to see video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjPcoElIpR0