10/23/2024
"CHAPTER ONE
PLEASING GOD
Mary of Bethany
The aroma of the contents of a broken alabaster jar filled the room in the little house in Bethany where Jesus enjoyed a meal with close friends. Few of the men noticed as Mary produced this jar of ointment, a concoction ripe with pungent scent. The men were busy talking, eating. Only Jesus saw her steal away to her hiding place, find her most precious possession, break the container and lovingly anoint his feet with the spice. But the aroma gave her away, pulling back her curtain of privacy and thrusting her to the public stage.
The other men were not pleased. They rebuked her. This simply was not the best way to use this valuable commodity. It was worth a year's wages to the common man. Once committed to this line of reasoning, an alternative use had to be proposed. Let's see, ah yes, the poor, always a handy cause to plead to gain the Master's favor. The air was heavy with the smell of the ointment and with anticipation of how Jesus would handle this foolish woman.
Around that table were men whose names would become known throughout the world for centuries to come. At this moment they were obscure little men with glimmers of greatness that only Jesus could see. Among them was John, so filled with fun and free with emotion; Peter, his opposite, so rough and full of pride; Thomas whose knife-like mind always sliced away the nonessentials in an issue; James, John’s mischievous brother, a “Son of Thunder” he was called; Matthew the former tax collector; the other Galileans, and Judas, who kept the money. A diverse group, hand selected, not for what they were, but for what they could become, if they centered their lives on God. All were silent now, waiting for Jesus to answer their question. Mary had wasted a valuable resource, hadn’t she?
"Leave her alone," Jesus said. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me." He went on to say that she had done what she could, that she had anointed His body for burial, and that wherever the Gospel is preached, her story would be told.
The men were shamed. He had taken the woman’s side over theirs. But as they listened, something began to stir within them. It always did when He spoke. Soon, their embarrassment was forgotten and before long all but one was wishing that he had something valuable to pour over Jesus’ feet."
Each of us has so much to learn about our worship from Mary of Bethany. "Worship that Pleases God" is available from Amazon and directly from the author.
