Week 7: Day 1
Sarah Yardley kicks off the new week with a beautiful story of worship!
While he 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[a] 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.”
Intro: Hello and welcome to Orbit, a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life from the team behind Satellites - I'm Sarah Yardley. Each weekday we share a little bit of the Bible with you, give you a chance to pray and think about it, and provide you with one practical way to put it into practice today.
Bible: Today's reading comes from Mark chapter 14, verses 3-9
While he 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[a] 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.”
Thoughts: Today’s story is one of the ultimate examples of an unusual meal with Jesus. I would love to be one of those who shared a meal with Jesus, but let’s set the scene - it’s a meal with friends, he’s in the middle of eating his food, and a woman comes in and pours an expensive perfume over his head. It mingles with the meal and the spices, and the air is now sharp with the flavour of extravagant, unusual, brokenness. This isn’t the way we expect perfume to be used!
Have you ever been in a situation that seemed uncomfortable? You might have been watching, or you might have been the one who felt incredibly awkward, totally out of place. This woman, in this moment, was experiencing the anger and the frustration of everyone else in the room. Her action felt totally out of place and everyone else thought it was unnecessary. When I’ve found myself in those awkward moments, I always try to lean in and listen to Jesus about the other side of the story, the part that I might not yet understand.
Recently, we had a fight break out at my offices with a group of teens. It was frustrating and I was totally caught off guard; both sides wanted me to hear why they were right. Neither one seemed to have the full story, and it was a terribly difficult situation. But when I listened, it turned out that both of the fighters were torn up by brokenness. And as I sat and listened, the hardest and most indignant of the young people simply began to weep, because the pain was more than he could fix.
The picture of this woman to me is the picture of the one who meets Jesus and realises that she can’t fix any of her own places of brokenness. Her wounds are too deep, her pain is too great, but when she meets Jesus, her heart is so full that she takes the most precious thing she can offer and pours it out on this God who chooses to be with her. And as she pours out, Jesus takes her gift, awkward and unusual as it is, and speaks over her a sense of honour and dignity, an identity of knowing she is greatly loved and choosing to show it. This is the same invitation He gives to us - in the midst of our messy moments and uncertain ones, to live a live that shows the love we have been given.
Pray: Jesus, we pray that we would know again today how precious our lives are to you. I pray that we would be both bold and fully authentic in pouring back to you the love we have been given. And we hold before you our awkward and wounded places, and ask that you would bring healing as we spend time with you.
Silence: There's now just a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.
Action: Every day on Orbit we give you a simple practical challenge to help you put this passage into action in your life. Here's today's:
Think of someone in your life who lives in a way that you don’t understand. Create some space to listen to them or send them a message and ask for their perspective, especially if it’s different to yours. Have a conversation with Jesus and ask Him to widen your heart with compassion for the friends who are different to you and the circumstances that are hard to understand.
Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection tomorrow.