An Extravagant Gift of Love

     When we hear the word extravagant, most of us think of a very pricey item over and above what one would expect.  A picture of a young man buying a very expensive gift for the love of his life comes to mind; or we might think of the rich and famous with which to associate this term.  However, when my pastor used it in a sermon as he told the story of Mary the sister of Lazarus, many new thoughts blazed through my mind.  What did this woman do that forever linked her to the Gospel story?
     In John 12:1-8, we read:  "Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  So they gave a dinner for him there.  Martha

served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Him at the table.  Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair.  The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, (he who was about to betray Him), said, 'Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?'  He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.  Jesus said, 'Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.  The poor you always have with you but you do not always have me.'"
     Both the Gospel according to Matthew(chapter 26) and the Gospel according to Mark (chapter 14) have this same story presented but no name is given for the woman involved.  All three stories remark about the extravagance of this gift which is given to Jesus.  In Matthew and Mark, however, it is mentioned that the head of our Lord was also anointed, and in Mark 14: 9, Jesus said:  "And truly, I say to you, wherever the Gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."  This is a remarkable statement and one worth noting.
     Looking at the passage in John, it is important for us to reflect on the background of this woman who gave her best to the Lord in an act of humility and devotion.  Mary and Martha are the sisters of Lazarus and resided at Bethany.  Jesus had come to visit (as recounted in Luke 10).  Martha busied herself with a meal preparation but Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to hear Him teach.  When Martha complained to the Lord about Mary not assisting her, Jesus gently told her that Mary had chosen the best part.  Later on, we see both sisters again when their brother Lazarus died.  Following this momentous event, we do not encounter them until this meal at Bethany six days before the Passover.
     What Mary did at this meal was scandalizing to Judas Iscariot and the other disciples.  She took an expensive perfume equivalent to a year's wages and poured it on the feet of Jesus.  Then, she took her hair and wiped His feet.  We can only speculate what was running through her mind, but ultimately it was an act of devotion.  She had broken many traditions of the day; first, by sitting at the feet of Jesus as a disciple in the earlier visit to their home, and secondly, by letting her hair down to perform an act of servitude.  Neither act was acceptable for a Jewish woman. This devotion and love for our Lord was extravagant.  Jesus noticed her genuine heart and proclaimed that she would never be forgotten.
     On the opposite end of this spectrum is the grumbling, Ebenezer Scrooge response of Judias Iscariot the treasurer of this band.  He took no joy in her sacrifice.  He saw it only as a monetary loss because he really did not care about the poor.  No, Judas was a thief himself as the Scripture recounts.  His hand was in the till so to speak.  He would have loved for Mary to sell the ointment and give the money to him as treasurer.  He could have used it for his own desires as he had before.
     Within this short 8 verses, we see the contrast between the heart forever changed by an encounter with the living Lord, and the miserly, empty clutching heart of a man who would betray the Lifegiver for 30 pieces of silver.  Mary gave her best in an extravagant display of her love.  Certainly, she was thankful for the restoration of her brother to life, but she had also had a true encounter with "Emmanuel"...the God with us Messiah promised by all the prophets.  How could she not give Him her all?
     In the same manner, we need to ask ourselves if we have given the Lord our very best.   After all, His display of extravagant love was to step from the height of heaven to become man and suffer a tortuous death so that we might have eternal life through Him.  His sacrifice went beyond perfume or pretty gifts. He gave His very life for us.  So what, we may ask, can we give Him in return?  The Apostle Paul writes the answer in Romans 12:1:  "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."  Nothing less, than giving ourselves in utter gratitude for our salvation by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is our due.
     Because He first loved us with such extravagant love, we are now free to offer ourselves to Him completely just as Mary did in her act of devotion.  She did not know what would occur in six days, and that she was preparing the Lord for burial.  She only knew that she had been changed by her encounter with her Messiah.  She gave the best that she had.  We are called to do no less.  Our time, our talents, our love and our gratitude all belong to Him.  This is what extravagant love really is all about.  Selah!

What Defiles Us?

          Nearly every day, we can pick up a newspaper and read about another food that has been found to be detrimental to our health.  Sometimes it seems so discouraging,  and often I wonder what will be the next demon in my cabinet.  Just the other day, I read an article about olive oil not being as healthy for us as canola oil.  Yet, for years, we have all heard the praises of this oil as being a heart healthy addition to our diet.
     All this consideration of food and diet can be mind boggling, and some folks seem obsessed with

eating just the right thing in order to maintain their health and peace of mind.  However, our existence is made up of more than issues like what we eat.
     In Mark 7:18b-23 (NAS), Jesus, who was speaking to His disciples, instructs them:  "Do you not see that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?  (Thus He declared all food clean) And He was saying, 'That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts and fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.  All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.'"
     This scripture points to the central issue we all must face.  What we harbor in our hearts is really what defiles us not what we eat on a daily basis.  Yes, we do need to watch out for our health.  Learning good nutrition habits and watching our diet can help to prolong our physical health.  But Jesus was concerned about our heart health....our spiritual heart health.
     Often, whether we want to admit it or not, we have thoughts which we know are not pleasing to the Lord; yet, we allow them to remain and eat away at our spiritual health.  No one else sees these secret sins but God does.  The only time our family or friends become aware of things which we hold in our thoughts or hearts is when we choose to act on them in direct disobedience to God.  This is what defiles us and hurts our relationship with others and with the Lord.  Our only recourse in

redeeming our spiritual health is to quickly confess our sins to God and repent (I John 1:9).  By doing this, we are instantly restored to right standing with our Father in heaven.
     Watching our diet and being good stewards of the physical                                                                                   bodies which He has given to us is indeed important, but Jesus wants us to pay attention to the thoughts which we allow into our hearts.  He wants us to watch the words and actions that flow forth out of our lives.  Do these match with the life of one committed to Jesus Christ?  If they do not, it should be a "red flag" to us that we need to spend some time on our knees before the Father in serious prayer.  May our inner person of the heart reflect God's holiness in all that we do for this is the key issue to the abundant life in Christ.  Selah!

What Happened to Eve?

     My husband is famous for saying over and over, "It all started in the Garden."  Ask any of our Sunday school members and they will assure you that this is his favorite saying.  This is also a true statement for all the problems we face today as a the result of believing a lie in the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve fell into sin because they took their eyes off of their Creator and focussed instead on the prohibition to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  From that time until now, we have all lived with the fallen nature inherited from our first parents.  So what did Satan whisper in Eve's ear that twisted her understanding so that she was led to sin?

     Sinclair Ferguson in his wonderful book, "The Whole Christ" writes this about Eve:  "What was injected into Eve's mind and affections during the conversation with the Serpent was a deep-seated suspicion of God that was soon further twisted into rebellion against Him....Trust in Him was transformed into suspicion of Him by looking at 'naked law' rather than hearing 'law from the gracious lips of the heavenly Father.'  God thus became to her 'He-whose-favor-has-to-be-earned.'" (Location 1486-1487)
     In their conversation the Serpent injected doubt into Eve's thinking as seen in Genesis 3:1: "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  Planting doubt leads to mistrust and that is exactly what happened to Eve.  She began to doubt the character of God...His goodness, His care, His wisdom, His love for them.  This is one reason why we are so fortunate to have the whole Word of God to counsel and guide us.  As we read its pages, we are drawn into knowing the full character of God.  As a result, doubt is driven away and our minds are renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit applying the Word to our lives.
     Our flesh wants to look out for "self" and this is exactly what Satan appealed to when he spoke to Eve in the Garden.  He did not come out and attack God directly but insinuated that He was holding out on His creation.  The Lord did not want them to have the wisdom He had or at least this is the impression that the Enemy gave to Eve.  Instead of seeing God's love and glory, she saw Him as the One who wanted to deprive her of joy.  As Sinclair Ferguson says so well:  "Eve's rejection of God's law (antinomianism) was in fact the fruit of her distorted view of God (legalism)" (Location 1510 "The Whole Christ").
     Eve's twisted thinking is also ours until that time that God opens our eyes to the truth.  In coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as both our Savior and Lord, our thinking begins to change.  We come to see God's character, and the love that will never let us go.  He removes the stony heart of selfish pride and replaces it with the tender heart that finds joy in knowing Him.  It is a transformation that delivers us from a rebellious, self-centered worldview we have had since the day we were born.
     When I hear people tell me that God has too many restrictions and takes all the fun out of living, then I know they have never come to know His character and experience His forgiveness in Christ.  They are talking like Eve and falling for the lies of the enemy.  Life in this world without the Savior is bondage.  If we do not believe that, all we have to do is look around us and see the turmoil in this world.  God made a perfect place in Eden, but man chose to sin rather than obey.
     We do not have to believe the lies of the Serpent for we have the truth found only in the Bible.  It is there for us to read each day.  Daily we should cleanse our minds by looking into its pages and seeing the truth that God has for us.  What happened to Eve does not have to happen to us.  Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Therefore, let us take a lesson from our first parents.  Instead of doubt, let us trust the Lord with all our hearts.  Selah!