The Big Waste

Mark 14:4-5

      Our world faces the clash of value systems. I’m not simply talking about Islam here. I am talking about us and our value system. You can tell when value systems are clashing when people say one thing and do another. The value system of our heart bumps into the value system of our wants and desires. This area of wants and desires is driven by the value system of the world. It is the system that promotes size 2 as the ideal size for a woman, or that being a beer drinking, sports watching man is the best we can do.

      Our value system, often called our worldview, often gets put to the test around money. Money is an outgrowth of our heart. Where we put our treasure we will find our heart. So if we have the big house, TV, boat and SUV’s but can’t pay the bills or give our of our wealth in obedience to Scripture, our value system is being stressed.

      Don’t feel too bad, yet. The disciples had the same problem before and after Jesus’ resurrection. Our text tells of a meal that took place just a few short days before Jesus died. A woman has entered the room and wasted a very expensive jar of perfume on Jesus’ head. And when I say expensive, I mean expensive. This would be almost $70,000 in today’s money. I don’t know about you, but 70K is a lot of cash. And she just wasted in on Jesus’ head.

      At least some of the disciple’s value system was in clash that day. They saw the money pouring out and they got angry with the woman. They saw it as a waste. But could it have been something else that drove their anger?

      Maybe they were greedy and wanted a portion of that money for themselves. Maybe they were jealous wishing they had thought of honoring Jesus in such an extravagant manner. Maybe they had a genuine concern for the poor, having listened to Jesus and taken what He said seriously. Maybe they were angry at being upstaged by a woman, since they were after all friends of the honored guest, Jesus. We will never know.

      What we do know is that money was at the heart of it. They saw money and it caused them to boil. Whatever reason drove them to it, they got mad. And they took their anger out on her. They should have been mad at themselves for their greed or lack of appreciation for Jesus’ care. They could have redoubled their efforts to help the poor, being driven by her example of generosity. They could have swallowed the humble pill and stepped back from the stage. But they didn’t.

      Where is your value system on trial? Part of the Jesus-follower’s life is self-reflection. We are supposed to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us about our priorities. He is supposed to speak to us about our actions. When we do something that violates our stated beliefs, we are supposed to get a prick, a check in our spirit, warning us about the disobedience. Are we listening for those course corrections and obeying?

Children’s Ministry

Mark 10:13-16

      For many people in the world today, children seem to be a nuisance. They get in the way of the fun we had planned, the independence and free-flowing lifestyle. They take our time, attention, energy and patience. They can push us in ways we never imagined possible, even to the edge of sanity! But children can also be a wonderful blessing, bringing more joy and fulfillment than anything else in life. And grand parenting, don’t get me started!

      In our culture babies have been devalued repeatedly. I imagine you heard about the church denomination that said it is OK to kill the live-born baby after a botched abortion. That’s right, the baby is born alive and they said it was OK to kill it, or let it die without intervention. So they have moved from killing babies in the womb to killing them outside, if they aren’t wanted. I sure hope I don’t end up on their “Not Wanted” list. I might be next.

      Jesus’ disciples had a problem with children. They were a product of their culture, just as we are a product of ours. Because infant mortality was so high, children were often not given much value until they had made it for a few years. If they didn’t get killed off by some disease or malnutrition, then they were given status as a person. This sounds familiar. We don’t grant value to a baby until ‘viability’ in the womb, an artificial line in the sand. The baby is a human before that point and after that point, just as an apple is an apple even when it is small and green.

      Some people “don’t want to impose” their values, especially religious values on their children. They want them to be able to choose. What foolishness. They are already passing along their values to their children by the way they live. They are actually saying that these most important issues of life are irrelevant by not purposefully passing along the values. They pass along the value of not lying to them, and yet they lie about their stated beliefs and their lived beliefs.

      Jesus gathers these small children into His arms in order to flip the value system on their day on its head. The simple trust that children have is the kind of trust we should have in our relationship to the LORD. Simple faith, not blind faith. Children learn that their parents can be trusted or not trusted by their interactions with them very early on in life. Long before they have language to express needs, they communicate those needs. When parents respond, the child is soothed and they learn that other people can be trusted to meet their needs.

      Jesus challenges His disciples, and us, to trust Him. He has been faithful in the past. He has not changed. He will be faithful in the future.