Week 1 - Giving as Prophetic Life

While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9
 

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus stood up in the temple and read these words from the prophet Isaiah,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
 to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [Luke 4:18-19]

As He finished reading this passage, He told the listeners that this prophecy had been fulfilled, that He was the one Isaiah described. Three years of ministry followed, but at the dinner table of a friend, another prophet, a nameless woman emptying her jar, returned His words to Him in full circle.

Prophetic action paves the way for Presence. The words given by God to Isaiah paved the way of expectation for the Messiah to come. Jesus’ giving away His identity as the Messiah opened the path for His earthly ministry where God’s love would invade the world in new and unexpected ways. The giving of the woman with her alabaster jar and her broken-open heart helped to usher in a Messiah who would be a Savior for the world, not just for Israel. The ultimate giving of the Savior is what brings us all new life.

Giving is prophetic by nature. It takes the truth of God’s blessing and puts it into a new frame of reference, a new city, a new life. It speaks the love of God in advance, paving the way for His transforming presence. It turns received Grace loose in the world.

The gift of new life we have been given in Christ was never just for us; it is the prophetic Word we were given to speak: with our voice, our actions, our resources, our lives. So what are we saying?

The Real Question: What message about God does my life speak? Am I fully giving the Word that was given to me to carry?

Family Talk: What is one thing you have received (from God or a person) that you can share with others?

ONE in Prayer: Jesus, I want to be a faithful prophet of Your love and presence in this world. Help my life to speak the truth about who You are in everything I do and say, in how I use the gifts and resources you have entrusted to me. Amen.

Week 1 - A Generous Vulnerability

While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9

 

From the world’s perspective, giving is fun and attractive; it can make us feel powerful and smart and special. If we’re in a position to add zeroes to a donation check, it means we are somebody. And if we can’t – well, we probably don’t matter much.

Too often, generosity is an act of measuring the power of the self by the volume of the gift rather than an act affirming the significance of the other to the point of our own vulnerability. We can misuse the needs of others to make ourselves feel in control and superior – financially and spiritually. Jesus reveals that this attitude is equally as sinful as those who fail to give anything at all. This, too, is greed; it is a lust for importance, an attempt to purchase the significance that only Love can offer.

And so, it is fitting that we are never told her name - this woman who broke her jar. Some scholars hypothesize that she was the daughter of Simon the Leper, the host of the party; some say she was just a party crasher. But in the moment of her choice to give God all she had, her life ceased being about herself. She became known and forever would be remembered as being a lover of God. How she gave what she had was the lesson: she was not validating herself; she was crowing Another as worthy.

For His glory and for our joy, God invites us into the incredible experience that He lives all of the time – a moment of looking into the eyes of another and saying, “You are loveable; you are loved.” Giving – of time, talent and treasure – is what takes us there and involves us tangibly in the redeeming work of Love.

The Real Question: From what place in my heart do I give – from the desire to be important, or from the desire to make others more important than myself?

Family Talk: How does it make you feel to know you have helped someone who really needed help?

ONE in Prayer: God of All, You are the First Giver of all that is good, holy, whole…all that is truly love. Form me into Your image so that I also might give in love and share Your heart with the world You desire to redeem. Amen.

Week 1 - It Is Risky

While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9

Religion is something that many of us use to try to avoid risk in our lives. We leverage religion to avoid hell, avoid pain and suffering, avoid our past (and sometimes our present) as we inordinately focus on some distant, all-fixed-now kind of heaven.

While this type of escapist thinking does fit many of the world’s religions, it precisely opposes the way of Jesus. In His life, death and resurrection, we see a Christ who does not avoid hell; he goes there and back. He does not side-step suffering; He responds with healing embrace to the suffering of those He encounters, and extends His arms willingly to receive his own brutal death. He does not exchange awareness of reality for a far off kingdom to come; He says the kingdom is here and now.

It is risky. Christianity is not a safe religion. When lived, it is a sacrificial relationship.

So as we encounter the young woman and her jar, we begin to understand why her life stood out among the religious. It was a risky move for her to crash the dinner party of religious men – a place she never would have been welcomed. It was risky for her to exchange her future for the Eternal Now, Jesus, who was already here. It was risky to bear her heart to the world in so intimate an act as anointing the head of One she believed to be worthy of a king’s welcome – but who was not the king of their occupied land. It was risky, but love compelled her anyway. 

No wonder Jesus loved her. No wonder she is our example.

The Real Question: What is God calling me to risk for the love of Him? Does my love for God include a readiness to sacrifice?

Family Talk:  Talk with your kids about what you feel God is calling you to risk for the love of him?

ONE in Prayer: Jesus, I confess that so often I am unwilling to risk even small things in my life for You. This is not how I want my heart to be. Open my heart to Your love so that my love for You can become more like Jesus’ – a love that surpasses everything else, no matter the risk. Amen.

In college, I was asked to do some medical translating on a trip to Bolivia.  Since I worked and paid my own way through school, I thought, “No way can I find the money/support to not only go overseas, but also take a month of fulltime summer work opportunity,” but I just couldn't let go of the knowledge that God wanted me to go. So, I begrudgingly agreed.  Boy was I wrong.  God was so faithful that not only did I make enough money (in support) to get to Bolivia, but also to provide substantial amounts of money to the hospital we worked in to offset SAVING the life of a child.  I almost missed out on being a part of helping to save a life!  Talk about living the Gospel.  You can't beat saving a life to know what people mean when they say being Jesus.

 – Megan

Week 1 - Giving Into Interruption

While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9

The whole thing was a big interruption. The people at Simon the Leper’s table didn’t really appreciate the lack of order, or the unconventional “gift” of anointing this rabbi, Jesus. This wasn’t how things were done. Her actions were a waste – sinfully short-sighted and negligent stewardship.

But to her, this jar of perfume was more than money; it was a symbol. This jar was a wise investment for her future. It was an object of status; having burial perfume on hand meant that you were wealthy enough to set money aside and weren’t living hand-to-mouth. It was a mark of personal value and importance, material proof that, as a woman in her time, God was “on her side” in providing someone who had taken good care of her.  The significance of stuff then was pretty much the same as what it is now.

So when she shattered her jar, what she really broke in that moment was her self-sustaining provision for security, her carefully crafted social status, her social significance, and personal image.

Surrender like that is always an interruption.

In seeing Jesus, in realizing who He was, she stopped protecting the systems intended to orchestrate a tidy future for herself, and gave away her life instead.  Jesus was here!  He was the one she had been waiting for, and she trusted Him – not just quietly in her privately held beliefs, but out loud with a faith that shattered passive silence. Putting her financial security, possessions, and reputation all second to Jesus, her life became about one thing: loving God.

The Real Question: What is the one thing that my life is most about right now? Does loving God “interrupt” the life I lead?

Family Talk:  Can you think of a time when choosing to follow Jesus interrupted what you wanted to do?   

ONE in Prayer:  Jesus, I belong to You. Give me the faith I need to return all that I am and all that I have to You with my love, so that the world can know and worship You. Amen.

Family Activity - Prized Possessions

In order to initiate a conversation about what it looks like to GIVE, it can be helpful to look at others who have given. This activity has been designed to encourage conversation about sacrificial giving in both this week's scripture and a more modern classic, O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi.

To begin, read "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry (found online at THIS LINK) or you may wish to use the abridged version which you can download at the end of this post.

Begin a discussion as a family about what the husband and wife gave, and why. Be sure to emphasize the fact that they both gave their most prized possession.

Now share the scripture of the week from the prayer guide as a family. (Mark 14:3-9). Discuss as a family what the woman gave to Jesus. She gave her most prized possession.

Make a copy of the "PRIZED POSSESSIONS" worksheet for each participant (you will find at the bottom of the post). Discuss what everyone considers his or her most prized possession. 

Have everyone create a collage of their PRIZED POSSESSIONS either by cutting out pictures from a magazine, taking digital pictures of the prized possessions, drawing them, etc. The older the participants, the more creative the possibilities. (Please save your completed worksheets to share on the As One board at Lakeland. Bring them to Katie Schultz on Sunday for the display.)

As everyone works on their sheet, talk about how difficult it would be to give away your most prized possession. Recall the stories you read and what it must have meant to give up these items.

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Click on the images below to enlarge and print for use in this activity.

Week 1 - Losing My Religion

While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9

It wasn’t a “bad” idea: selling the perfume, making use of the money, giving it to the poor. It actually could have been a very kind thing to do, and quite religious, even by today’s standards. The idea may have been legitimate in terms of remembering the poor, but, according to Jesus, their definition of loving God was still too small. They were stuck in the mindset of practicing religion, and missing the opportunity for intimate relationship with God that was sitting right across the table.

Where they saw waste, God saw true worship.

For example, does it make sense to shell out a few hundred dollars to replace laptops, books, furniture and clothes for underground seminary students in China when the police raid their school? After all, the police will just come back again and again. Isn’t there a better plan? Shouldn’t we throw money after something that is more productive or strategic? Wouldn’t that be less wasteful? Wouldn’t that make more sense? It might. But then we would miss out on making the kind of extravagant offering that the woman with the alabaster jar made: one as simple as a jar, as ordinary as an apartment full of stuff. An offering that says, “Love is the strategy.”

Like the people gathered at the table that day, sometimes we may have to let go of practicing our “religion” in order to start living in fellowship with the heart and presence of Jesus that is already on the move in our world.  Sometimes, that may not seem to make much sense as the world goes, and it might take a bit of courage.

The Real Question: Are there ways that I am practicing religion instead of experiencing relationship with God? Where does God long to outgrow my definition of His presence in my life?

Family Talk:  Talk with your kids about the difference between “should” and “want”. You might try asking:

• What is one thing you should do?
• What is one thing you want?
• Jesus wants you to love him not because you should but because you want to. 

ONE in Prayer: Lord Jesus, I want to be one who worships you with all I am and all I have. Help me to have courage when worshipping you calls me to step beyond what I know. I want to join your strategy of loving the world. Amen.

For a couple of years in college, I carpooled with a guy to the UMKC campus from Lee's Summit.  One morning I was driving and we pulled up to a stoplight where a homeless man was asking for money.  I try to make a habit of being generous whenever I see someone in need, so I rolled down my window and gave him my last couple of dollars.  After we drove through the intersection, my friend, who I knew was a long-time Christian, said "I can't believe you just gave that guy money.  You know he's just going to buy booze with that."  He was probably right, but in the moment I felt convicted and replied, "Yeah, maybe.  But I think it's our job to give and his job to use it wisely.  I'm just doing my half of things and I can't be responsible for his part."  It's a challenge every time I give away money, because I'm always tempted to judge.  Always.  My hope is that God will continue to challenge me, and hopefully I can tame my judgment down to a barely-audible whisper instead of a dull roar.

– Chris

Week 1 - Mark of the Beloved

While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9

Scripture, like the Hebrew culture which carries to us its stories, is filled with allegory and symbol. Many details that we skim over actually hold rich meaning when we take the time to look at them. Like nard, for example.

Pure nard was the substance that was in the woman’s alabaster jar. Nard isn’t something that sits on our shelves today, but in the Biblical world, it was a widely known and treasured substance. Made from the roots of underground plants native to the foothills of the Himalayas and noted for its rare and exquisite fragrance, nard was mythologized to be a remnant of the lost Garden of Eden. It was the perfume of unspoiled beauty.

While other herbs and essential oils make repeat appearances throughout Scripture, nard is uncommon, except in one significant place: the Song of Songs. In this erotic, ancient book that uses the allegory of newlywed lovers to teach us of life with God, it was the fragrance of nard that the Bride gave as her mark so that the Beloved could discover her and come to her. Covering Jesus with, of all things, nard, was not a random act with symbolism attached later; it was a living out of the story of life with the Beloved. The Song of Songs had provided the meaning of this moment centuries before… “While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.” [Song of Songs 1:12]

As followers of Jesus and members of His Body, the Church, we are the “Bride of Christ.” Now, as it was then, giving is the vital, fragrant mark of the Bride. It is how the Beloved discovers our love for Him, and it invites His presence to come into our lives in new and intimate ways.

The Real Question: How will God recognize my love for Him in how I live my life? What is the “fragrance” that my living spreads to the world?

Family Talk:  Tell your kids how you have “smelled” the fragrance of Christ coming from them. 

ONE in Prayer: God, I desire to love you deeply with my life. Help me to live in such a way that my life is marked with the fragrance of Christ, identifying all of me with You forever. Amen.

Week 1 - Broken Open

While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9

She got it.

This alabaster jar of perfume was most likely her dowry, her future, her one guarantee of survival as a woman in this time. It was all she had to offer. It was connected to her status, and what had been provided for her security.

And she broke it. With extravagance born from love, she poured it out, anointing Jesus on the head like the King He is, and making herself utterly vulnerable: spiritually, socially, financially.

This example – which Jesus says will always be remembered – teaches us that what God calls us to is not just a redistribution of resources, but into a complete reorientation of relationship. Transformed giving includes, but is not limited to, simply changing out who uses what money. Jesus’ words here put acts of giving in perspective:  God does not need our money as much as He longs for our hearts to be attached only to Him. And this begins with letting go, with containers being broken.

The poor are a gift to us, calling us to live the love of God out loud and, as He says, this always will impact how and where we leverage the resources He has given to us. But the first giving Jesus longs for is the gift of a heart that is broken open to Him. Then, ordinary resources are transformed to instruments of worship. Then, anonymous people mark the world forever with the love of God.

The Real Question: Am I broken open to the love of God? Am I willing to allow His love to break into my life in radical, new ways?

Family Talk:  What is your favorite possession (toy, game, electronic device, etc.)?  What would it be like to give it away to someone else? 

ONE in Prayer: God of All, I give you myself. I surrender the self-contained alabaster jar of my life to be broken open by your love and poured out; so that all may see that you are the King of who I am. I love you. Amen.

Week 1 - GIVE

While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9