Poured Out In Giving | John 12:1-8

So our senior minister, Adam Woods, is on sabbatical this month and really he's preparing his soul for the next season of ministry and just pray blessing on him. And but while he's gone, I get the chance to be back and to be filling in this month. And I am so grateful for that.

So, so good to be back. Last week, we began a sermon series. Anybody remember what it's called? Poor me.

Right. And and I'm really I'm so grateful how this graphic turned out. You know, thanks to Leslie and our discipleship team, our digital discipleship team.

I love that. But you need to notice how it's spelled, you know, to understand this whole series. Please notice how it's spelled.

It's not P-O-O-R, poor me. It's P-O-U-R, poor me. Right.

The big difference. Big difference. Last week, we learned that in this world, there are basically two perspectives of life.

There's the complaining, critical, poor me, kind of like Eeyore's voice, poor me. But then there's a different way, a better way, and it's really the Bible describes as poor me, right, poor me. And poor me is really a lifestyle pattern out of offering a drink offering to the Lord.

We talked about last week, a drink offering to the Lord. It's really a lifestyle of pouring out my life for the glory of God and the good of other people. It's a lifestyle, poor me.

Today, I want us inspired by a beautiful woman described in John Chapter 12. John Chapter 12, I want us to be inspired by the example of Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. And I want to read John 12.

I don't have the words up here. I just want you to take in the story. John Chapter 12 says this, six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Jesus lived, where Lazarus lived, and Jesus had raised him from the dead.

We're a week out from the cross and he's sitting at the table with Lazarus and Mary and Martha. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served while Lazarus was among them reclining at the table with him.

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Can you smell it? But one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected.

Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages. He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and as a keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into the bag. Leave her alone, Jesus replied.

Kind of like a big brother, right, protecting the...I love that. Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.

You always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. Isn't that a great story? It's so great, I want you to hear Mark's version. Mark's version, Mark chapter 14, he writes, Now the Passover and the festival of the unleavened bread were only two days away, and the chief priest and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and to kill him.

But not during the festival, they said, or the people may riot. Well, 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, 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 and the money given to the poor. And they rebuked her harshly. Leave her alone, said Jesus.

Why are you bothering her? She's done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have and you can help them in 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. Lord Jesus, bless the giving and the receiving of your word in this place.

Amen. What a story. I tell you what, this story, this is one of the most richest discipleship passages in all the gospels.

In fact, Jesus said, wherever the gospel is shared, her story will be shared right alongside it. Wow. So rich.

So rich. And because Jesus said what he did, that her story would also be shared. That tells me that Jesus intended for her example to be a permanent lesson for every follower of Jesus.

And in this story, what we're going to learn is that a poor me attitude, a poor me mentality. Is one ready to give, just ready to give to Jesus. But first, before we dive into the story, there was a preacher who went and bought a parrot.

I mean, you can't go wrong with a parrot joke. Am I right? This preacher went out and bought a parrot. And he spent months training this parrot to talk church, like to know all kinds of church phrases.

So eventually, the preacher brought the parrot to church and positioned him specifically in the foyer. And every time guests would come in to the church building, walk into the foyer, the preacher would proudly say, and what do we say when guests arrive? And the parrot squawked, welcome to church. Welcome to church.

Right. And then as they were leaving, he said, and what do we say when the people leave church? See you next week. See you next week.

And what do we say after we have received the offering? And the parrot paused and, is that it? Is that it? All right, let's get back to the story. Mary, I'm hoping today, my prayer today is that every one of us will be inspired and maybe even challenged by the example of Mary. Now listen, Mary did not preach a sermon.

She did not teach a lesson. She did not sing a song. She simply poured out.

And what she poured out communicates volumes. Volumes. I think the first thing that her giving communicates is it demonstrates her humility.

It demonstrates her humility. The text tells us that Mary took this expensive perfume and she took the lowest serving position in the house, kind of indicating she told the servants to have the day off, she would do the job. And when she got to washing Jesus feet, she took out this perfume, opened the jar, poured it on his feet, and then she let down her hair and wiped it with her hair.

In that culture, the only person who would have ever seen her hair down would have been her husband and immediate family. And I want you to know this act wasn't a dignified act, but it communicates she wasn't concerned with appearances. She wasn't looking around to see who was watching.

She didn't care about her reputation. She humbled herself in complete surrender. Great humility.

And I think maybe that's where worship starts. When we stop being concerned about what I look like and start asking, what honors him? You see, pride always asks, I wonder what somebody else thinks. Humility asks, what honors Jesus? And Mary got low.

Because in her heart, Jesus was lifted high. That's great humility. Great humility.

Her gift also shows, her giving shows her intentionality. She was very intentional with this gift. Look at what she gave, right? Look at what she gave.

Listen, this wasn't a random gift. This wasn't a random gift. Nobody, nobody just has an expensive jar of pure nard just laying around.

Mary wasn't like, well, I'm not really using it. I'll just give it to Jesus. No, no, no, this was intentional.

Because love gives intentional. Love considers questions like, I wonder what he would enjoy? What would honor him? What would communicate to him that he really means the world to me? Love gives intentionally. My wife, Angel, she's great at this.

You know, me, not so much. She's great at this. You know, not too long ago, our niece, Lucy, graduated high school and then was going to her freshman year at Bible College.

And my wife's like, hey, Mark, what should we get Lucy for graduation? You know, let's get her something that she's going to enjoy, she's going to want, she needs maybe. And Angel whips out, let's get her a new laptop. Sure.

And we got her a new laptop. She got her a new laptop. My daughter-in-law, Kenz, is really great at this.

One time she gave me, my daughter-in-law, Micah's wife, Kenzie, she gave me a really cool grilling apron. And I'm like, okay. I don't think that was so much of a gift as more of an assignment.

More like, here you go, Mark, now get out there and grill us up some supper. You know, but that was intentional. She thought through this, right? I'm thinking Mary is like, what do I get a king? What do I get somebody who means the world to me? What? I know.

And she goes out and she buys, she buys this pure nard perfume, so expensive. By the way, this pure nard only comes from the Himalayas in northern India and is only reserved for the anointing of kings on special occasions. That's intentional.

That's intentional. Mary's giving also reveals her theology. Reveals her theology.

Mary's gift reveals what she really believed about Jesus. Jesus wasn't just a great teacher. Jesus wasn't just a miracle worker.

Jesus just wasn't a good friend that they have to dinner often. No, no, no. Mary has concluded.

He's Lord. He's Messiah. He's my Savior.

He's my king. And her gift reflects what she believed, doesn't it? Yeah. Mary's gift really proves what she treasured.

Her giving really proves what she treasured. Listen, I want you to know in this story, Mary wasn't giving up her treasure. She was giving to her treasure.

Big difference. Big difference. And yeah, this was precious.

This gift was precious. But Jesus was more precious. And Mary had already settled in her heart.

That Jesus was more valuable than anything she could ever own. And she proved what she treasured the most. With this gift, Mary defines sacrifice.

Mary's giving defines sacrifice. Judas is the one that pointed out that this gift, this perfume, was worth 300 denarii. 300 denarii.

That would have been about a year's wages for the common labor back then. A year's wages. You know, this wasn't, this wasn't random.

This was a significant gift. This wasn't, you know, spare change. This wasn't Mary cleaning out a drawer and finding a gift card she hasn't used.

You know, I'll go use it on that. Imagine, and imagine something worth in our, in today's economy, maybe $50,000 being poured out in just a moment. She defines sacrifice.

Think about how, what's the most you ever spent on a bottle of perfume or cologne? Some of you are thinking, well, $39.99 at the Walgreens. Okay. Some of you are thinking, well, you know, whatever my wife bought me back in 2018, and I'm still dabbing it on myself.

Yeah, I hear you. Mary gave something worth a year's wages. Because she knows that in Scripture, consistent in Scripture, the Lord wants sacrifice.

He delights in sacrifice. And please know, the Lord is never impressed with the size of the gift. He's impressed with the size of the surrender.

She defines sacrifice. And here's my definition of sacrifice, you know, that I can learn from Mary. Mary gave up what was valuable.

She gave up something she valued for something she valued more. She defines sacrifice. I love that.

And I want you to know, also, that Mary's giving, you know, it flowed out of a heart of gratitude, not obligation. Her giving flowed from her gratitude. Listen, there was no pressure here.

There was no offering plate stuck in her face. There was no stewardship campaign. There was no false manipulation.

She just gave out of a grateful heart. And do you remember who else was sitting at the table? Lazarus, whom Jesus just raised from the dead, her brother. He just raised him from the dead.

No wonder she's pouring out. And generosity flows from a grateful heart. Mary's giving also attracted criticism.

Really? Mary's giving her best, worshipping Jesus, and somebody's going to complain about that? Happens all the time. In fact, often people will criticize faithfulness. They criticize Noah for building an ark, right? They criticize David for extravagant worship.

They criticize the widow for giving everything she had. And they're criticizing her for pouring out this perfume. Attracts criticism.

And Judas exclaims, what a waste. And Judas, you know, he sounded so spiritual. And maybe a little bit reasonable.

I mean, think about it. How many poor people could $50,000 feed? I mean, he's got a point. But here's the problem.

Judas sounded spiritual without really being spiritual. That's a problem. That's always a problem.

And what Judas saw as waste, Jesus saw as worship. And sometimes love does things that the spreadsheets can't justify. Have you ever noticed that? Sometimes love does things that the spreadsheets can't justify.

Judas had a spreadsheet. Mary had a Savior. Mary's giving also, you know, it attracted criticism.

And unfortunately, that'll happen. But Mary's gift also made a lasting impact. Her giving made a lasting impact.

I love the phrase, after the bottle is opened and poured out, it says, and the fragrance filled the whole house. The fragrance filled the whole house. I love that.

Everybody in the house knew it. And I love that because everybody was affected, even on the people she didn't pour it out on. That's what kingdom generosity does.

When you give to Jesus, it infects so many more people that you can't see. And you may never see it on this side of heaven, but it infects so many people you can't even see. And church, can I just remind you today that when you're generous in the kingdom and when you give to Jesus, I tell you what, missionaries are saved.

Churches are planted. People are saved. Kiddos hear the gospel.

Students are discipled. Marriages are strengthened. Lives are transformed.

Giving to Jesus makes a lasting impact. And one more, and maybe the most important, Mary's giving delights Jesus. And ultimately, this is the most important thing.

Her gift delighted Jesus. Judas saw it as a waste, but Jesus saw it as worship. And Jesus receives it.

And I love what's happening here. Jesus sees her. Jesus understands her.

He receives her worship. He defends her. And then He turns and honors her.

Big time. I tell you what, I want that for my life. I want that for my life.

I want to come to the end of my life knowing that I honored Him. I don't want to come to the end of my life and hearing people say, Man, He was so successful. And He built so many impressive things.

No, no, no. I want to hear Jesus say, Well done, Mark. Enter your Master's happiness.

Because a poor me life isn't ever about impressing people. You know what it's about? Delighting Him. So how do we win with this text? How do we win? A couple of suggestions.

Number one, would you determine your most valued treasure? Would you just determine your most valued treasure? You have one. Everyone has one. Something's getting all your attention.

Something's getting your affection. Something's getting your resources. Would you determine your most valued treasure? And can I please let it be Jesus? Number two, would you just ask, What are you still keeping the lid on? What are you still keeping the lid on? Maybe the question isn't, What are you willing to give Jesus? Maybe a better question is, What are you unwilling to give Jesus? What are you unwilling to give Jesus? Because that probably, Whatever you're keeping a lid on, That probably is what's standing in the way from you living a poor me attitude.

A poor me lifestyle. So what is the jar in your life that you're unwilling to open? Your time? Your talent? Your treasure? Your plans? Your future? Your control? What would happen today if you unsealed the jar and just poured it on the feet of Jesus? Third, can I get you just to pay attention to what you've been pouring out? Will you just pay attention to what you've been pouring out? I love the phrase, And the fragrance filled the house. What Mary poured out, The fragrance filled the house.

Can I just get you to think about, Pay attention to what you're pouring out. I tell you what, If in your home you're pouring out praise, Your home is going to smell like praise. If in your home you are pouring out thanksgiving, Your home is going to smell like gratitude.

If in your home you're pouring out generosity, And grace, And love, And compassion, That will be the aroma filling your home. But you know the opposite is true too. If you're pouring out criticism, And argument, And complaint, If you're pouring out bitterness, And unforgiveness, And will that stink will permeate your house.

And maybe the better question today is not what's in your heart right now, Maybe the better question is what does your house smell like? One more, Would you just remember, Whatever you pour out for Jesus is never wasted. Whatever you pour out for Jesus is never wasted. Never.

The world will say keep it. Jesus says give it. The world will say protect it.

Jesus says invest it. The world would say claim it for yourself. Jesus said give it for eternity.

Store it up in heaven. What's poured out for Jesus is never wasted. Church family I just want to remind you today you only get one jar.

You're only given one life. You're only given one opportunity to pour it out. And can I plead with you to pour it out.

Just pour out your compassion. Pour out your generosity. Pour out your gratitude.

Pour out your worship. Pour out your life for the glory of God and the good of others. Amen.

Don't you dare come to the end of your life with your lid still on. Don't do it. Pray with me.

Lord Jesus I am so grateful today. Again Lord I am so grateful that I am able to be home this month. And to preach at the crossing.

What a joy. And I'm so grateful for Mary. Such a beautiful woman in scripture.

That demonstrates that a poor me life is a life ready to give to Jesus. I pray Lord that as this month as you're helping us cop a poor me attitude. That you empower us to be pouring out our lives for the glory of God and the good of others.

In a way that delights you and you alone. Thank you for Mary. Thank you for this passage.

Through your Holy Spirit would you empower us through your word today. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.