An Offering of Worship!!

Mark 14:1-9

 “There came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she broke the box and poured it on his head” Mark 14:3

Let me start by sharing this experience I have had in my life. Severally, during the praise and music part of our church service I have undergone an intense experience which I wondered why until it grew clear yesterday. Praise and worship music is meant to be a sacrifice.  And God can’t accept a tainted sacrifice.  Cain’s sacrifice was refused by God because his heart wasn’t in the right condition (Genesis 4:3-5). Jesus also said that if we come to the altar with our sacrifice and remember that we have something out of harmony with our brother, then leave the sacrifice there, go and be reconciled with our brother, then return and offer the sacrifice (Matthew 5:23-24).  Also, the church as a whole is in a state of lukewarmness.  Many are mistaking a lively, dynamic service as being somehow able to make up for a complacent apathetic week of Christian living. People are not being honest and real through the week, are not mending damaged relationships, are living in intentional sins, and then expect to walk into Sunday service and praise God for His goodness . . . and expect to have that praise accepted!

As the music flowed around the church, as people clapped and sang and praised the Lord, I felt an invisible shell harden around me.  The music was beautiful but it couldn’t touch me.  As I experienced this, a great sorrow filled me and tears came.  It dawned on me that this was what God was feeling at that moment.  People were making music and praising Him but it did not touch His heart and that left Him sad. We should be challenged to get real with God before we bother with Sunday music.  God is not currently accepting the praise of many, because they are offering tainted sacrifices.

Did you ever wonder why this woman did not just open the lid and dab a little ointment on Jesus? Couldn’t she have used some if it on Him and saved the rest? After all, this ointment was very costly. Spikenard was an ointment imported from India. One whole jar of it would have cost the equivalent of a common worker’s annual income. This was more than a token gesture; this was a sacrificial offering. The woman was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She is mentioned in the gospels three times and each time she is found at the feet of Jesus. Mary knew what real worship was about. The highest purpose of worship is for God, not for us as Mary demonstrates by her actions and her offering. Mary didn’t just use a portion of ointment to anoint Jesus. She did not try to keep any of it for her own purposes; instead she broke the box, and poured out all the ointment, eliminating any possibility of its being saved for another occasion. Many of us want to worship the Lord with all kinds of restrictions and reservations. They make a great demonstration of their token gifts, but they keep the greater part of their lives for themselves. They may give an hour or two to God each week, but the rest belongs to them. They may give to God a small percentage of their income, but they retain ownership of the rest. They may use some of their talents and gifts in God’s service, but the greater part is expended in self-interest. Such people know nothing of true worship and understand nothing about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus uses broken vessels and a broken vessel can no longer retain its contents. It is powerless to withhold; therefore, it freely spills out all that is within it. This is the purpose of the breaking. It is not so God can take pleasure in our pain. No! The pain is part of the process when we are broken, but it is not the purpose. The goal is the fragrance, the sweet aroma that fills the air…and the nostrils of God. Although Mary was a host to many, she was a worshipper of one and her actions alone transformed the dinner into a worship service. Her worship was rejected by those in the room but she didn’t allow rejection to dictate her response (worship) to Jesus. The fragrance of her gift alone brought all the attention to Him. She wiped His feet with her hair which for a woman signifies her glory and identity. She invested herself in worship to Christ and became low to lift Him high. The spikenard, her gift that day, also represents the essence of the contents of our heart. Our mind, will and emotions are the ingredients that make the fragrance of life so valuable. We must be willing to break the box around our hearts to release our praise unto God.

Many worship inside the boxes of religion, pride, religious personalities or musical styles. Only through this process the pure love of a broken life will become the anointed fragrance of worship by which we can adorn our Savior. Worship touches the heart of God and it is so precious to Him. No matter how much we have tasted of the presence of God. No matter how sometimes comfortable we feel at ease because we know He loves us and that we could come into His bosom and just love Him and let Him love us, we should never lose that awesome holy fear of His presence. No matter how many times you have tasted His presence; no matter how many times you have entered into the most holy place, that freshness and that holiness and awesomeness of His fear is tremendous. The holy fear of His presence always remains. And it is in the heart of God. There is a time in your life as you walk with God you always have a desire to please Him. For example, if you really love your wife, sometimes you think of some ways you could show your love. That is the way we have in God. I want to know what moves God.

Honest, untainted and real worship is the secret of touching the heart of God. It is something that pleases Him so much; you could almost feel His pleasure. Do you know that in heaven if God smiles, there is some power that flows from Him to our lives? Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Do you know what that kind of faith that pleases God? That faith involves a sacrifice of worship. When you look at verse 7 Noah, verse 8 Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Enoch and all other people; you will notice one thing is common – Each one of them paid a price to love God and to walk with Him. Something becomes meaningful when it has cost you something and you give it to God as worship. When Abraham offered Isaac it meant everything to him. You could feel the feelings of what a holy sacrifice is. To give all that you love, all that is dear and precious to you and pour it before God as an incense of worship. I want to make it very clear that it is not just sacrifice alone; it has to be a sacrifice based on a heart of love and worship.

"It is not just sacrifice alone; it has to be a sacrifice based on a heart of love and worship."

You can love God and your love for God will cost you to surrender many things because of love. You can’t love without giving, because when you love you want to give. But you can give without loving. And that’s what some of the people in the bible did. For example in Isaiah 1, Jeremiah 6, God told the people “I am tired of your sacrifices. I am tired of your incense because you don’t obey My Word. You don’t follow My Word”. God was against those sacrifices. It is not that He is against all sacrifices. He was against the sacrifices that don’t cost us anything. David was known as a man after God’s heart. You know why God loved him? He knew how to touch God’s heart and how to give his best to God. All of us have a public life and a private life. Our private life must be consistent with our public life. I want you to know that there are millions of people all over the earth worshiping God. If you know how to touch the heart of God you will make a difference. There is something about the sacrifice of worship that God bypass the millions of people and come to you. Jesus said to the woman in the well in John chapter 4 and says that the Father seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Those who really know to worship God, God will bypass the millions of people and come to you.

This was the secret of David’s worship in God. He had something different in his heart. He didn’t take his relationship with God lightly. When he did anything for God he didn’t do it the same way that he would do for anybody else. David had many happy moments. He did rejoice when he conquered Jerusalem; he did rejoice when he became king of Israel; he didn’t rejoice in the same way when he conquered all his enemies; but when the ark of God enters Jerusalem David was dancing and leaping like a mad man. Some of his closest folks didn’t understand David. There was something different about his life. He knew how to touch the heart of God.

When I worship God, I want him to know that this is how much I love Him. I don’t want a discounted worship. I want God to know that when it comes to Him I am willing to pay a full price. It must cost me something to worship God. The woman loved Jesus so much and she gave her expensive perfume to him in worship. When you see some people worship the Lord because they love Him, don’t judge because you don’t understand what is going on in their heart. Sometimes you see somebody else worshipping in their own way in their own heart. They are doing what they know best to worship God and it is from their heart, don’t judge. As long as it is love for Jesus and it is not something unscriptural leave them alone. It may be touching to God.

I want you to know that the sacrifice of worship is special to God. And I know that as God deals with my life, He will deal with your life in different ways. I ask you a few questions; when was the last time that it cost you something to show your love for God? I pray that it is not too far away. May we be sensitive in the times that we are living in that God is seeking for worshippers of God. And there may be different ways that we show our love for God. What does it cost you to love Jesus? Do you know that it cost Jesus His entire life in order to love us? Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for fragrant offering, a sacrifice and us to God.” Many times Jesus gave all out of love for God – it was a sacrifice of love. God said, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” Can God say that of your life? I believe in this day and hour, God is looking for those who are willing to “waste” their very best on Him. He is worthy of your offering. 

Amen!!!