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htstalybridge · 4 years

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Thought for the day: 11th June

(Disclaimer: this is long again. I tried to cut it down but, hey, here we are…)

I struggled to get started with my thought for the day this time. I didn’t feel like there was much going on in my head, there was a lot going on and I was kind of all out of thoughts. I was reminded about a song from way back in the year 2000 called “This Mystery” by Nichole Norderman. It has one specific line which rebounds round my head regularly: “And life becomes the bigger noise, drowning out Your little voice, Your little voice, Jesus”. It reminds me that when the world is loud I need to search for what Jesus is saying.

This week, I watched a Spring Harvest video by Cathy Madavan about the woman at Bethany who anointed Jesus (you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jym22UruuwU)

This story appears in some form in all four gospels (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:1-11, Luke 7:36-50, John 12:1-11). Although there are some differences between the accounts, they share the same basic idea: a woman approaches Jesus, who is sitting with loads of other men, breaks open a jar of expensive perfume and pours it over Jesus. The men criticise this by arguing that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus stops them, saying what she has done is beautiful and they will always have the poor but they won’t always have him. He says that what she has done will be remembered wherever the gospel is preached.

So much of what she does is ‘inappropriate’ behaviour. A woman running in and touching a high profile male teacher. Smashing open a bottle of perfume which costs a year’s salary. Pouring it over Jesus. Some accounts say his head, some say his feet, either way what on earth is she thinking? In some accounts she uses her hair to wipe them. What? Can you imagine? It seems that Jesus’ disciples and other men who had seen Him perform amazing things (like Simon the Leper who, I’m guessing, Jesus had healed) are all sitting round, having a right royal knees up to celebrate Passover. What does this woman, Luke calls her a ‘sinful’ woman, think she is doing? John’s account identifies her as Mary, Martha’s sister, so a friend of Jesus. Still, I wonder if she was actually invited to this party coz she seems to be causing a right scene …

I’ve been doing a bit of light lockdown reading in a book called “Women in a Patriarchal World: Twenty-five Empowering Stories from the Bible” by Elaine Storkey. I know right, sounds heavy! It was actually very readable. In it the author says this regarding this event:

“I wonder if the woman had any idea of what would happen when she burst in on the party. I suspect not. The challenge for her was simply to show Jesus how much she appreciated him, and pour out her love in a practical and intimate way, but in doing so, she raised, for everyone else, the question of their standing before God.”

The men in the room are uncomfortable. Are they genuinely concerned about the poor or are they just embarrassed? Is her behaviour, extravagant as it is, highlighting their own lacking response to Jesus? Is it touching a nerve? If I’m honest, it is for me. It challenges me, perhaps like it challenged them.

Jesus is not saying they shouldn’t be feeding the poor, of course He isn’t. In fact perhaps He’s highlighting to the men that they themselves aren’t doing anything to feed them? What He is saying is that feeding the poor is not all they should be doing. It’s good but it isn’t a replacement for worshipping Him. In reading about this passage I came across the idea that ‘good’ had become the enemy of ‘best’. In other words talk of doing good things (feeding the poor) stopped them from doing the best thing (worshipping Jesus).

In the video above, Cathy talks about the way this woman broke open the jar and gave her lavish, abundant best to Jesus. She gave it all. Wow. What a challenge. Am I giving my lavish, abundant best to Jesus? Or am I giving it somewhere else? Am I giving Him my most beautiful gift or am I just giving Him enough to keep Him happy? It’s a challenge. Am I feeding the poor but failing to break the jar? Am I focusing on ‘good’ instead of ‘best’?

When I was at primary school one of my teachers used to always say the phrase “Only my best is good enough for me” There’s certainly merit in this idea, although in hindsight it has quite possibly contributed to my battle with perfectionism. However, only our best is good enough for God.

They say, and I have certainly demonstrated over this lockdown period, that we often short-change those closest to us, they bear the brunt of our frustrations and perhaps, don’t always get the best of us. I know sometimes my family would vouch for this. We perhaps take them for granted.

Where is our ‘best’ going? Are we smashing the jar and pouring out all we can to God? Are we wholehearted in our lavish and abundant giving to God? We can lavishly and abundantly give to others, and we should do as much as we possibly can, but not at the expense of God.

A while back I came across a poem called “Meet Me On The Mountain” by Jill Briscoe, the start of which says:

“Have you met Him at the lakeside Did you hear His still, small voice? Did He call you there to follow Him, And said, “You have a choice”? And did half of you say, “Yes, Lord,” And have half a mind to start? Did you think He didn’t notice When you gave Him half your heart?”

I don’t know if that last line challenges you, but it challenges me.

When the woman poured ALL the perfume out of the bottle, Jesus surely noticed. Would He have reprimanded her if she had only poured out half? I very much doubt it. But she didn’t. She gave what may well have been her future security to Him. She didn’t let the critical men around her distract her. She focused first on Jesus. Her meeting with Him undoubtedly lingered in her mind after she left. Did the fragrance of the perfume linger on those present at this event after it was over? If you’ve ever been near Lynx Body Spray the smell often lingers for a long time. It sticks in your throat, on your clothes, in your hair. Did Judas still smell the perfume when he left to go and sell out Jesus to the chief priests? Did Jesus still smell it when He went to the cross? Did the woman still smell it once Jesus had been crucified? The impact of her behaviour lingered, probably with everyone. It lingers still in the example she sets us. I am challenged this week not to let ‘good’ become the enemy of ‘best’ Not to let the world become louder than Jesus.

Have a good week,

Heather Shepherd

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