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Sunday 13 April 2003 - "A fragrant life"

(Summary of sermon by Erlo Stegen)

Mark 14:3 - 9

At this very time the disciples were indignant about the "waste" of money, the high priest and religious leaders of Israel were plotting to kill Jesus. Attacks from within the church are much more dangerous than from without, but your greatest enemy is yourself.

The Bible records that this costly ointment was about the price of one year's salary. Imagine how many years one should save to buy it, if you can only put away a small portion of your salary per year. However, Mary, without considering the opinions of the men around, anointed Jesus with this costly perfume. The disciples were indignant, with Judas as the ring-leader (from John's account of the same story). She only had this opportunity once, and she made use of it. Some opportunities arrive only once, and if you miss it, it is gone forever.

What caused Mary to break the flask so freely and give all at once? It was not something that started with herself and her love for the Lord. It came from the Holy Spirit working in her heart, much earlier. Jesus had done great things for her first, and this caused her to love Him much. 1 John 4:19 states:

We love him, because he first loved us.

You cannot come to the Lord Jesus and serve Him, unless He first had come to you and done great things for you.

There was an old German missionary who found his work of years fruitless and asked advice from an old Afrikaans dominee. He said that he truly wants to serve Jesus, but just cannot see any fruit in his work. The dominee then answered him, "That's your problem, you cannot serve Him, unless He has served you first."

Have you experienced your sins removed, and your heart filled to overflowing with His love, and divine fire? Remember the fire experienced by those on their way to Emmaus, when Jesus spoke to them. Do you have any idea of what it means to be served by Jesus? What is your driving passion? May it be Jesus and Him alone, as Count Zinzendorf confessed when challenged with the same question.