Worth-ship

 (note--I'm having a frustrating formatting problem within the post. Try to ignore it.)

Recently I read a blog which asked readers to write a couple sentences about a sermon that dramatically sticks out in their head and why. Over 18 years of attending my church, I can think pretty quickly of hundreds of good messages I remember sitting in, and a handful that I will always remember. But I think because of the fact it was NOT at my home church, I remember one in particular; it really stands out for me. I have wanted to blog on it several times. This morning I woke up with it again in my head and decided it was time to blog it---then my pastor used it as one of his anchoring texts this morning and that was all the confirmation I needed.

Here's the passage: 

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,  a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”

But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Matthew 26:6-13

So the church I was at for this particularly memorable message was Edgewater Christian Fellowship in Grants Pass, Oregon. It's the church we go to when we are visiting my brother and mom, an offshoot of Jon Courson's Applegate Christian Fellowship. Homey, friendly, biblically sound, neat worship. Some of my brother's friends go there. At any rate, it was April 2012. The pastor (the worship pastor, actually, was teaching that day) pointed out something in the story I'd never seen before. 

Here are the 12 apostles, those closest to Jesus, who spend every day with Him, who by now know He is Messiah, the Son of God, who have seen innumerable miracles at His hand--the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the dead raise to life--who look on Mary's lavish expression of worship and snarl, "Why this WASTE?" 

A waste. They were saying--these inner apostles--that Jesus wasn't WORTH THAT.

Yet who knows what Mary had been delivered from? We don't know much about her life before she met Jesus. We see her at His feet while Martha serves...and then in this passage we see her pouring out what represented her dowry, her hopes of finding a husband, in worship over His head. Her worship acknowledged the depth of her salvation and her recognition of His lordship over her life.

The pastor went on to talk about how many inside the church sometimes look on those who worship, or serve, or pray, or evangelize, or teach, or whatever, with lavish expression and say--"Ok, now that's over the top. Tone it down a little. You're a little too passionate about this. Why this WASTE of your (time, money, family, etc)?"

What they really are saying is, "He's not WORTH THAT." 

And sadly, I realize I am sometimes guilty of this. Truth is, we all are.

Yet worship? is really WORTH-ship. Whatever your expression of it--whatever ministry you serve Him through, whether it's a recognized church ministry or it's praying for and reaching out to your coworkers or praying for and raising up your kids--however you express your gratitude to Jesus for saving you, that is showing Him how WORTH He is to you. 

Even in actual corporate worship at church, we judge how others express their love for Him. Sure, there are times when my mind wanders a thousand places and I miss genuine connection. And then there are times, particularly during youth worship when the room is dark and I can sit somewhere by myself, curled up in my chair, tears running down my face, that I really WORTH-ship. But how often, for example, do we look at those who (pick something that bugs you) raise their hands, shout, pump their fists in the air, stand while the rest of us sit, whatever, and think--"Ok, now that's over the top. They're embarrassing themselves." Can you hear the whisper beneath that? "He's not WORTH THAT." Maybe someone thinks that of me. Oh well. I know what I've been delivered from. 

Interesting ending here--let's go back to the 12 apostles. What did Judas do? Betray Him, with a kiss. What did they do when Jesus was arrested? Flee. What did Peter do? Deny Him, three times. Yes, Peter was restored and went on to lead the church. And together with Paul, these 11 turned the world upside down with the gospel. Their relationships with Jesus were genuine and full. But only John was there at the cross. 

Oh, and Mary. She was there. Because He was worth it. And because of her relentless, lavish worth-ship her story has been told for 2000 years as a memorial. 

What's He worth to you?