Honoring Sacrifice: A Memorial Day Reflection on Love and Devotion

I wasn't sure where he was leading up to, but okay.

You know, if you were able to take an aerial view of America this

Memorial Day weekend, it would be gratifying to see all around,

cemeteries, town squares, the parades, the flags at half staff,

the people who are there crying, sobbing because of their

loved one has died in service of our nation.

It'd be just a wonderful thing to be able to see how we honor our

war dead.

We have plenty of memorials.

They're set aside.

And we do that.

We do that on purpose.

We want to make sure that we never forget.

Young people, I hope you never forget that everything you do this

summer, enjoy the freedom that was paid by blood for you and that

we all would remember what was paid for us to enjoy our life here

in America.

But, you know, we Christians, we.

We don't have a.

We don't have a cemetery.

We don't have a place where Christ was dead.

Died.

And to commemorate.

Oh, it's in Jerusalem, no doubt.

But today our memorials may be worn on our lapel.

It may be an earring for you ladies, maybe our necklace.

It's called the cross.

We may have it on the walls of our home.

Whatever the case may be, we have a book of remembrance of what

Jesus Christ did for us.

And in this Memorial Day, we proclaim this wonderful book.

Oddly, however, in Mark, chapter 14, if you'll turn there,

Mark 14 · chapter mention

the gospel of Mark, chapter 14, oddly, Jesus himself tells us

Mark 14 · chapter mention

to remember someone who did not die.

She was never a soldier.

She never fought in battle.

She never took up a weapon.

But Jesus honored her sacrifice for her Savior.

It's found in Mark, chapter 14, if you'll look with me in verse

Mark 14 · chapter mention

number three.

And being in Bethany and the house of Simon the Leper, as he sat

at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment,

a spikenard, very precious.

And she brake the box and poured it on his head.

And there were some that had indignation within themselves and

said, why was this waste of the ointment made?

For it might be sold for more than 300 pence and had been given

to the poor.

And they murmured against her.

And Jesus said, let her alone.

Why trouble ye her?

She hath wrought a good work on me.

For you have the poor with you always and whenever you may do to

them good.

But me you have not always.

She hath done what she could.

She has come beforehand to anoint my body for the burying.

Verily I say unto you that wheresoever this gospel shall be

preached throughout the whole world.

This also that she had done shall be spoken of her.

Of a memorial of her.

Spoken of.

Of a memorial for her.

We're going to find out why this woman had been given this praise

and acclaim by our Savior.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we know that we're here today to honor and remember

those who died for our nation, to giving us the freedom that we

have.

But also, Father Christians, we're here today to honor you.

Every Sunday is a memorial day of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus

Christ.

We thank you for coming to us.

We thank you for dying on the cross.

We thank you for interceding at the right hand on our behalf.

And we thank you for your soon return.

And I pray for those that do not know you, that may have never

trusted you, that today will be their day of salvation.

You will bless and help us all to take note and realize we have

a lot not only to owe those veterans who died, but to owe our

Savior who died for us.

Help us, Father, to remember not just a day of celebration, but

a day of humbling as we put ourselves in seeing who we are in

light of everything that's been done for us.

And we thank you for that.

For it's in your name we ask and pray.

Amen.

In verse number one of Mark, chapter 14, we note that it was just

Mark 14 · chapter mention

two days before the Passover being handed over that Jesus would

be crucified and died.

His disciples had gone to Bethany with Jesus to rest there.

Bethany was just two miles away.

Usually Jesus under 12 would stay in Bethany with good friends

Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

But evidently there was one, Simon the leper.

We're not told in particular, but perhaps he was healed by Jesus

and one of his ministries.

Mary comes in, according to this passage, with holding something

very precious, an alabaster box, precious perfume.

And she breaks open the container and it begins to pour it

on the head of Jesus.

While she, Mary and Jesus were guests in somebody else's house.

I'm sure as part of the indignation that were leveled against

her, someone might have said, simon, she's making a mess in your

house.

But I don't think Simon cared if Simon had been healed.

He was appreciative of what Jesus had done for him.

Immediately the rebukes came.

And from within the house, some of them indeed talked about

the waste, the waste of that ointment.

It could have been done for the poor.

It could have been sold.

We could have had so much more to help them.

But only rebuke you hurt in that house.

Was not just from the 12, but the only rebuke about this woman

was from Jesus.

Let her alone.

Be quiet.

Take your peace.

Why trouble her?

For she's wrought a good work in me.

She did.

She did what she could.

You know, this is not our tradition.

We don't do this in America.

We don't anoint the body of someone before they die.

I would be taken back if someone at my age came.

I'm going to anoint your body before you die.

Is there something I need to know?

Is there something going on that I don't know about?

We don't do that.

No.

We embalm them after they're died and therefore prepare them after

death for their burial.

This is unique.

It never been done before.

It was never said in the Old Testament.

Never been practiced at all.

She did something for the very first time.

She performed this wonderful, wonderful ritual for her Savior.

Before she.

She knew something that was amazing.

She knew the word of God even before the disciples knew the word

of God about his coming death.

In fact, she prepared for his coming burial.

In verse number three, we find that the ointment was very precious,

very expensive.

And one of the reasons why we find this was a memorial of her was

the memorial of her sacrifice.

We're told how precious this was today.

It would have been worth a great deal of money and very precious,

very expensive and very extravagant.

We're not told the details of how she got it.

We're not told of how and what the cost was.

Some scholars say, well, it was maybe for reserved guests, reserved

for them when they would come in and after they had been out in

the dusty road.

And maybe a little drop, just a little, and that ointment was spread.

And it would help make the guests smell a little bit better

after having traveled and working up literally as sweat.

But some look at as an act of sacrifice, which it was a great cost

to her by some estimates, $30,000 in today's money.

But however, for Mary, it was a sign of devotion, it was a sign

of sacrifice, and it was something that she held back for

whatever purpose, whatever reason.

And she saw the occasion, and she knew it wouldn't be long before

her Savior would have to go to the cross.

So she got him ready in front of everyone.

Can you imagine being a woman in a man's world?

All the disciples got the glory.

They'd healed people, they'd preached the gospel.

They'd been around with Jesus all the time.

And everybody heard about Peter, James and John and the others.

But Mary did something Very unique and very special.

She took something that was very precious to her, something that

she had hidden away, and she took and sacrificed it for her Savior

that He might have it.

This extravagant sacrifice was not about anything left over.

It was giving of her best.

She gave of her best at great expense.

Personal acts of sacrifice, some others are special because you

have a great deal of love, you have a great deal of respect, you

have a great deal of admiration toward the individual.

And that's why you're willing to do certain things.

Our sacrifice, our devotion to him should be considered special.

And every time you honor the Lord, anytime and every time you

serve him and it's out of yourself, it's a personal sacrifice.

And you do so because you find him very special and very precious

to you.

Certainly what he did on the cross should be considered very special

to us.

Never, never let a day go by that you don't thank the Lord Jesus

Christ for your salvation.

Never let a day go by.

You don't thank him for his nail scarred body on your behalf.

Don't let a day go by that you don't humble yourself before him

and know what he did for you.

Secondly, this was a memorial of her love.

And gratitude shows the gratitude.

I'm sure Simon the Leper had that.

But Mary also experienced it.

You see, for Mary, it was her brother Lazarus.

Lazarus had died.

And four days later Jesus came.

And she was greatly appreciative of all that Jesus had

done.

Indeed, she wanted to make sure that she, she was thankful and

grateful.

And she showed that unto her Lord, unto her Savior.

And she did it out of love.

We're told that this perfume had something very potent, very powerful.

It was not watered down typically, maybe a drop was all it

would have done.

And it was spread throughout the entire house.

The Book of Mark says that Mary poured this over Jesus head.

And John, it says that she had poured it on his feet.

The perfume would have gone everywhere.

It flowed into his hair, down his beard and onto his clothes.

We have to ask ourselves, what do we own?

What do we have that we would consider precious to us?

What do we have that is of great expense?

What do we have of ourselves that we may hide away?

That's considered honoring him.

Some of us, it's our love.

Some of us don't give out love greatly.

Some of us find it hard to love other people.

And I understand that to a certain degree.

But we are to love other people.

That's what Jesus did.

Jesus loved the unlovable.

He loved those that we would find despicable by today.

And yet Jesus loves.

Love them all.

Mary gave of her love.

She gave of her devotion to her Lord.

Have you ever expressed your love extravagantly to someone that

you cared for in a wonderful way?

Maybe it was your future spouse.

Teenagers.

Take note.

If you want to do something grand for that wonderful person in

your life, you may want to go big time.

I mean, some have, right?

There'd been message boards at a ball game, maybe a hot air balloon.

I don't know if they do skywriting anymore in the air.

But whatever the case may be, or car, whatever, you do something

extravagant, you do something out of the ordinary, you do something

that's just so outrageous, but it speaks of your love from your

heart, your devotion.

I don't think there's anything outrageous in showing our love to

Jesus Christ.

I don't think there's anything too extravagant that he can deserve

from us.

I mean, you can't give him too much.

He's done everything for us in our life.

And that's what Mary did.

Mary gave that extravagant love.

She wanted to demonstrate her commitment, her devotion, her love

to her Savior.

Her gratefulness was for all that Jesus did.

Mary was trying to go out of her way to show everyone he deserves

much, much more.

And then thirdly, this memorial was of her worship, of her

worship throughout the.

Scriptures, every time we read of Mary, it's usually sitting at

Jesus feet.

She's always doing something in the act of worship.

She's always there humbling herself, sitting at the feet.

Even Martha, her sister, got upset when they were preparing a

meal and she was asked about Mary.

And Jesus said, martha, Martha, you're so busy encumbered

about with so much.

What Mary is doing right now, that is the good part.

She was doing that which was good.

It was worshipful, it was needed.

Sometimes, like that jar.

We can't truly worship the Lord and honor him until we are broken.

Have you ever been broken?

Do you hide that which is precious inside of you and you bottle

it up and you don't open it up and you keep it to yourself?

Sometimes, Christians, we need to be broken.

Sometimes we need to see, let others see the love of Christ inside

of us, the worship and honor that we have for him, but we hide

it.

We hide it away.

We don't want other people to know.

And we're not willing to let it.

Out as we should.

To be broken is to be crushed for our sins.

Our past life of what has happened.

We're broken because we realize we are a sinner worthy of

hell.

We're broken to realize that Jesus Christ died in our place.

Psalm 34, verse 18.

Psalms 34:18

The Lord is nigh unto them that.

Are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite heart.

We are to be broken by sin.

I wonder, does sin still bother us?

I've known some people who watch shows and TV with language

that you would not want to repeat.

Even among us, certainly a godly people around.

And yet their language seems to be second nature to them.

It doesn't bother them.

And how they curse and how they cuss.

Well, I've heard it so much, it's just commonplace, you know,

it's just invented by man.

I don't care.

It's none of the Lord.

Does sin bother us anymore?

Do the things that happen and come out of our mouth or what we

do or what we listen to doesn't bother us anymore?

We should be crushed.

We should be broken by the sins that are around us.

Breaking that jar was an act of worship.

It teaches us that we need to care for the cost of Jesus Christ.

Mary did not care about the expense.

No, she didn't care about what others thought.

No, she didn't care about what others were talking about.

She just had one focus in mind.

I want to love, I want to honor, and I want to commit myself

to Jesus Christ.

So our love and our honor.

It's no good if we're just sitting around in a sealed container.

You may say you have a love and many religions today do.

In churches right now as we're here,.

Many churches throughout America talk about the great love

they have for Christ.

But if it's not real, it's.

If it's not broken from within and they've realized that he is their

Savior and they've confessed him to be their Savior.

No, our love and honor and worship is no good just sitting around.

We should be broken from this world.

We should be broken from the peers of our life.

We should be broken maybe from our family.

And we should especially be broken of ourselves.

The Bible teaches us in Matthew 16:24, if any man will come

Matthew 16:24

after me, let him deny himself.

Deny himself.

Break yourself and take up my cross and follow me.

You cannot follow Jesus Christ unless you're broken of yourself.

You cannot follow Jesus Christ until you take that which is inside

of you.

And very precious and break it open.

And let Christ come in fully, totally, you know.

Verse number six, it says, this was a good work.

This was her good work on Christ, her sacrifice, her devotion

and her worship wherever the gospel is preached.

And there we have the definition of the gospel.

The gospel is about sacrifice.

The gospel is about God's love and care and devotion to us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

And the gospel is about our worship, our understanding of what

Jesus Christ did.

The gospel of love that he had for us.

This is a memorial of her because she demonstrated what we

should be doing.

She was playing it forward, paying it forward.

It was a memorial of Christ's coming death.

And she knew the word of God.

She knew what was going to happen.

She knew what was going to take place.

And she willingly took the most expensive item she had and broke

it over him, realizing that he was going to take his body and break

it over her.

Yes, Mary taught the disciples what sacrifice is.

She taught the disciples what love is.

And she taught us as well what worship is.

Some at the table were very indignant.

They got mad.

They tried to express the waste.

But some believers, for whatever reason, thinking that honoring

the Lord is such a great waste.

I mean, for an example, you're here today on a Memorial Day weekend.

What on earth are you doing in church this weekend?

It's a three day weekend.

Now, some of us in the ministry don't know what a three

day weekend is.

We've never taken one.

We always have to be here on Sunday.

Not a complaint, Brother Weatherby.

Just letting you know.

But you're here.

You honor the Lord.

You're worshiping him.

You're right where you need to be on this Memorial Day weekend.

What?

They didn't realize that by demeaning the woman, they were demeaning

Christ.

They were putting him down.

But for them to honor Jesus was a waste.

Come on.

It could have been used for something else.

What a waste.

People say you spend all your time at the church, what a waste.

That money you give is your tithe.

And for the missionaries could be done to do something better for

your life and help your life a little bit more.

I can't believe they wasted their future and career on being

a missionary, on being a pastor.

That's what my dad told me.

I had an older half brother.

He worked for General Electric.

He had several patents by the company.

And he was the epitome of what I ought to be.

When I told my dad I'm entering the ministry, he could see

the sour look on his face.

What a waste.

What a pity.

You could be better than that, son.

Look at your brother.

Look what he did.

Look at the money he's raking in for General Electric.

That's not what God called me to do.

It's amazing how many people think serving the Lord is a waste.

Without knowing it.

They're saying that Jesus is not that important.

Their idea of love and honor and worship is a safe one.

I'll do it.

But as long as I'm safe, as long as it doesn't cost me much,

I'm willing to do it.

As long as I don't really have to put out a great deal in each way.

It's easy to be comfortable, to be moderate, to be easy and cheap.

As long as it doesn't cost me a whole lot, I'll do that.

In other words, I can go to church.

I can come occasionally when I want.

I can come and go as long as I don't have to sacrifice a great deal.

Today, Jesus, like Mary, wants us to break open our lives and live

for him.

Quit hiding what's precious to you and give your love and give your

devotion.

After all, aren't we called in?

Romans 12:1.

Romans 12:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, that you live.

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

There is a sacrifice.

There is a sacrifice.

And we invite you to come today and realize that sacrifice

that Christ had on the cross.

Jesus broke himself on the cross for you.

That is the height of extravagant love that God gave his

only begotten son on our behalf.

That is so out of there.

Like, who would do such a thing?

Who would be willing to give up their only son?

I have only one son.

His name is Jonathan.

I love him very, very much.

He's the only member that can carry on the Cox name.

But as I tell people on funerals all the time, as much as

I love all of you, I have an apology to make.

I could never, ever give up my only son that died on the cross for

you.

But God did.

That's the extravagant love, that's the outrageous.

Love that God had for each and every one of us.

So today, on this Memorial Day, I don't know your political

leanings.

I know that some think well, Vietnam, all those.

It was such a waste.

All of those men and women died for nothing.

They fought for each other.

They were warriors.

Together we may think the war debt is for nothing.

As a waste, it helped make us free.

That is the most valuable treasure we own.

And take with us this Memorial Day, our freedom.

And today, let's not forget the sacrifice of our Savior, who

showed us his great love, his outrageous love by staying on the

cross.

It wasn't nails that kept him on the cross.

It was his Love his love for us that kept him on that cross.

And with that, we're here today to honor him, be devoted to

him, sacrifice, and to worship him with every head bowed, every

eye closed.

Please.

If you're here today and you've never trusted in Jesus Christ

to be your savior, if you're here today and you've never asked

him to come into your life, please realize what great lengths

he went to to help you be able to go to heaven to forgive you of

your sins, to have them forgiven and forgotten as if they

never even existed.

He did all of that just for you.

And today you can come, and today you can pour out your life

before him and say, jesus, I ask you to come into my life.

I ask you to save me.

I am not worthy of it.

But I want to know you as my savior.

I want to know for sure that.

That my sins are forgiven.

I come before you.

I come before you that I might receive you into my life.

Christian, what precious item are you withholding in your life?

What precious thing do you have sealed up in you you're not

willing to let the Lord have.

You're not willing to let him use.

You're not willing to break open today at this altar, a place

to be broken.

A place of sacrifice.

A place where you can just break open your life before him and

let it pour out over the entire altar.

And when you go back, people will see the smile and they'll smell

the scents of Jesus Christ being with you in your life.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the example of Mary.

What she did was a memorial of her for us to emulate.

We thank you so much for her example.

Help us now to break ourselves open.

To break ourselves open for love, for devotion, for and for sacrifice.

And help us to worship you, Father.

You're worthy of it all.

We're so much of a nothing, but you thought of us to be something

in your son.

We're so grateful.

We're so thankful.

Let those today who have never trusted you, let them come.

Let them be saved today.

Let them come and know you as their Savior.

And we thank you for that.

For it's in Jesus precious name we ask.

Amen.