Authentic Worship

In John 12 we get a glimpse of the great cost of worship. While in Bethany, Jesus is at a party thrown in His honor. He was having a great time kickin' back with his friends when Mary interrupts the easy-going evening as she takes a pound of expensive ointment and anoints the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

This one act of worship changed the entire atmosphere as the sweet aroma spread throughout the room. Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, rebuked Mary for "waisting" God's money on such frivolous activity. After all, he reasoned, that money could have been used to feed the poor.

Here's a couple thoughts on this Scritpure:

• Authentic worship requires sacrifice. If it doesn't cost you something, it's not real worship. Some scholars say that Mary's expression of worship cost her a years worth of wages. Have you ever given a years worth of your wages in one offering? Crazy, huh. Authentic worship could cost you your reputation, your time, your pride, your money...anything you that could potentially become an idol in your life.
• Authentic worship honors Jesus first. Mary puts Jesus first while simultaneously disregarding the others in the room. Her one act of worship foretells the sacrifice Jesus would soon make on the cross. Often times, we try to create worship experiences that honor the unchurched over Jesus. While we need to make guests feel comfortable in our worship services, our first responsibility is to cultivate an atmosphere that honors Jesus first, thus creating an environment where His Spirit can cultivate life change.
• Authentic worship changes the atmosphere. It releases faith. It compels an audience of spectators to become participators. It captures the attention of Jesus. Real worship changes stuff ... in our hearts, in our church and in our community.
• Authentic worship will always come under criticism. Judas criticizes Mary for waisting money in her expensive display of worship. It's kind of like people who criticize a church for spending lots of money on reaching their community for Jesus with creative outreaches meanwhile they are robbing God by not even honoring him with the tithe.
• Authentic worshippers will always be defended by Jesus. Jesus tells Judas to back off. Jesus knew Judas was a thief. He knew Judas didn't really care about the poor. Jesus also knew the true motivation of Mary's heart. Jesus and Jesus alone will ultimately decide what is pleasing to him.