Worship is extravagant.
When we speak of worship, beyond our Christian conversations, we easily equate the action to deep emotion and value. “I worship the ground she walks on,” we say, and we know that we are sharing how deeply we feel toward that person we love. To say such a thing is an expression of profound love, appreciation and desire. It is the nature of worship to evoke and respond to these rich feelings and thoughts.
Strangely, this is not always the definition of worship within the walls of the church. We speak of worship as an event, a time when we gather with other Christians to sing, pray and listen to the weekly sermon. Often there is a sense of duty attached to the experience, “I have to go to worship,” and careful listeners will hear the implied words, “but I don’t have to like it.”
Sometimes, worship is defined by our preferences and desires. “I really didn’t like worship today. It didn’t move me. I just wasn’t feeling it.” We are disappointed if we don’t know the hymns and frustrated if the experience goes too long. Instead of extravagance of worship, there is a sense of meagerness in spirit.
In the opening of Chapter 12 of John’s Gospel, we find Jesus at Bethany, the place where Lazarus lived. There is a dinner party being given in Jesus’ honor and people we gathered for the event. Suddenly, Mary brings roughly a pint of expensive perfume and begins to pour it on Jesus’ feet, wiping it with her hair. The Bible adds, “and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
Jesus was blessed, but not everyone saw a blessing. For others, it was too extravagant an action. It was a poor use of an expensive perfume. Why, it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. In short, this precious gift of perfume and of Mary’s heart was seen as a “waste.”
But, Jesus didn’t think so. To him it was deeply profound. It showed the great love and devotion in Mary’s heart. It was an extravagant act. It was worship. The party was in Jesus’ honor, but it was Mary who chose to bring him worship.
When we gather together in worship services. It is not primarily to get our needs met. It is not really about our preferences and desires. Nor is it meant to be a duty, an obligatory gathering to “get through.” No, it is an opportunity to share our deep love for God, to offer what we have in pure abandonment to the One we love. It is a time to give ourselves in extravagant expressions of love that can, in their own way, fill the house with the fragrance of the perfume of worship.
As we gather today, and in the days to come. We need to remember that worship is an action. It is so much more than the name of an event. It is an opportunity to pour out our love for God and to receive God’s love in return.
Mary surely heard the critical words as she offered her gift, but she also heard the words of Jesus himself when he affirmed her and her actions; when he made it clear how much he was blessed by her extravagant worship. Don’t we want to hear the same thing? What blessing it would be to know that our actions, our gift of our very selves touched and moved the heart of God.
May we worship expectantly and extravagantly as we offer what we have to God and receive the blessing that comes from truly doing so.
