Why this waste?

Morning. My name is Coram. I'm the pastoral staff here at Hope, and this is the part of the service where we open up God's Word and we ask Him to speak. Before we do so, I need to recount one of the greatest husband-wife conversations, back and forth in all of cinematic history. It comes from the 2004 movie, The Incredibles, where two characters, one played and voiced by Samuel Jackson. His name is Lucius Best, aka Frozone, is his superhero name. And he is having a back and forth with his wife, Honey Best, and voiced by Kimberly Clark. And Honey is not in the room. So they are yelling back and forth. This exchange goes a little bit like this. Lucia says, Honey? Honey replies, What? Lucia says, Where's my super suit? She says, what? Very definitively, very clearly, he says, where is my super suit? She seeks more information by asking, why do you need to know where your super suit is? I put it away. He says, I need it. She declines, uh-uh, don't you think about running off, doing no daring do. We've been planning this dinner for two months. He thinks he has a good defense. He says, the public is in danger. She replies, my evening is in danger. He says, you tell me where my suit is, woman. We're talking about the greater good. And she concludes this conversation by saying, greater good? I am your wife. I am the greatest good you're ever going to get. And friends, it might not feel like it, but that is a wonderful introduction into today's message on the book of Mark. You don't even know the link. I haven't even made it explicit. I am a professional. Don't try this kind of linking at home. In this passage, in today's passage from the Gospel of Mark, there is a woman who walks into a dinner party of all places and breaks open, cracks open a jar of very expensive perfume and pours all of it on Jesus. All of it. And some are going to respond with indignation, saying kind of, why this waste? Essentially, isn't there a greater good? Isn't there a greater use for this perfume? Why such a waste? And we get a chance to double click on that, look a little bit closer at this. And then you and I are gonna be given the opportunity to locate ourselves in this story, within the crowd. As this theatrical example is set before us, what's our response? What's our response to the woman cracking this alabaster jar open? What are we deeming as the greater good within our lives, within our faith, within the church? How might you and I deem something wasteful? Wasteful rather than worshipful with regard to Jesus. So we're going to engage, look open, look at his word together just by way of summary for those of you who may have not been here previously. Two sides to the book of Mark. The first half is essentially Jesus revealing himself to a group of people. Yes, the crowds, but to a smaller group of people. And it climaxes in the middle of our gospel by Jesus declaring and asking, who do they say that I am? And they give some examples and then he just pinpoints. He just kind of cuts through the smoke and just says, what about you? Who do you say that I am? And Peter replies, you're the Christ, you're the Messiah. We've been waiting for you. We've been waiting for a victor, a king, an anointed one, and we believe it's you. And Jesus is like, okay, you're right on the title. Let me now use the second half of the gospel, the second half of this book, to make clear that your version of the Messiah, how you would kind of fill out that title and the job responsibilities that go with that title. Let me alter that. Let me fill it out in grander form because you want the power, but what I'm gonna reveal is the suffering. You want the victory, but you don't actually know how that's going to come about. And so this idea of a Messiah that suffers and dies is not a part of their vocabulary. That's not within their frame of reference. And so Jesus is going to be showing them that the part of king is going to come with a crown of thorns. There's going to be suffering. And truly Mark 14 within Mark's gospel is the point where we see the cross in full vision. that this is like the first domino, the first account that brings forth the rest of the gospel. And so let me read Mark 14 verses 1 to 11, and then we're going to take some time to walk through it and eventually get to that spot where we locate ourselves. What's our response to these things? Do we consider these things to be of waste? There is a greater good. We should spend these things, our time, our money, our resources, and other ways? Or can we see these things as worshipful, as beautiful, as compelling? So let me jump into Mark chapter 14. Now, the Passover and the festival of unleavened bread were only two days away. And the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. But not during the festival, they said, or the people may riot. While Jesus 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 and 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 has done a beautiful thing to me the poor you will always have with you and you can help them anytime 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. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the 12, went to the chief priest to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. So that's our passage for this morning. Titled this message, Why This Waste? It's echoed, you can hear it within the passage itself. Why this waste? The crowd that observed this, this kind of lavish pouring out, this broken alabaster jar, this scent, this aroma of the perfume filling the house. Why this waste? And so we're gonna look at the jar unbroken. What's their perception? What's this sum? It's kind of a general, like some in the crowd, some in the group who observe this, what would they be wanting? What's their angle on this? Like, no, let's preserve the jar. Let's keep the jar unbroken. We'll look at the jar broken, and then we'll conclude with the word, a word that is spoken. Have you been with us throughout our study of the gospel of Mark? Mark classically uses this sandwich effect in his presentation, which is he introduces something. Then he seemingly goes away from that, only to come back at the end of the account, end of the passage, end of the story, and kind of conclude the original item. And we have that example in today's passage. And so let's first start with the bun, the two sides of the sandwich, and then we'll use that to kind of launch into the meat. And we don't want to forget though about that. It is informing our middle section of the story. At the beginning here, it talks about the Passover and the festival of unleavened bread. And if you're unaware, if you're new to the Bible, this is referencing Old Testament realities, Old Testament history. And so there's this people, this tribal group, this family that God picks, not because they're the greatest militarily, not because they're the most spiritual, that they're more pure than other people groups, but no, he just picks them and says, I am going to call you my beloved. I'm going to care well for you. And in the midst of their story, they get enslaved in Egypt and God is going to bring them out. God is going to rescue them. Again, not because of them, but just he's saying, I love you. I care about you. I don't want to see you in this situation, in this place of slavery. And so I'm going to bring you out. The Passover is recognized as an event of salvation. What do I mean by that? Well, they were told, hey, there's actually gonna be a plague in which every family's gonna face the death of their firstborn. And if you want to save your firstborn, if you in your family want to be preserved from this judgment, you can sacrifice a lamb, take the blood and smear it on the threshold and doorposts of your tent, of your dwelling, and then you will be passed over from judgment. You will be spared. There will be no death of your firstborn within that family, within that house. And so this was then a commemoration, an annual commemoration to remember God's salvation. In that Passover event. The Festival of Unleavened Bread is tied to it. Sometimes in your Bible, you're just going to see these, you know, one might be referenced and the other's in view. But this Festival of Unleavened Bread, a seven-day festival, to remember, we had to make haste. We had to get out of Egypt fast. We couldn't wait for the yeast, the leaven, to rise within the dough. And so we just had to go. We had to make haste. When God rescued us out of Egypt, we went And so this is another feast and festival to remember the haste by which they exited Egypt and recognizing God's salvation in the midst of that. And so you have this annual remembrance, this time of this annual remembrance that is upon them. And this chief priest and the teachers of the law are scheming. They're going to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. This is a unique deal here because it says, Jesus, they're going to try to do something secretly. But all the while, the realities of the city is the crowds are swelling. So for these festivals, there's a pilgrimage. And so the population is going to swell by maybe fivefold. And so you get these tents, these kind of temporary dwellings, people swarm in and it's going to get loud and there's going to be people everywhere. And yet they're trying to scheme in the quietness, in the secrecy. Just some kind of irony that's kind of brought into our story there. The religious leaders are fearing the crowds. Why? Because they kind of are drawn to the healer. They're drawn to his teaching. They're drawn to the miracles. And so they get this kind of fear of the people. It's mentioned in chapter 11 previously and then here in chapter 12, or here in 14, also in chapter 12. But they also fear the Romans because if there's a riot, then Rome is gonna clamp down on them and on their leadership of the temple. And so in the midst of this, there's indications here of, hey, we gotta be careful in this. We gotta be careful in our scheming. The end of the sandwich will say this. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the 12, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were so delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. So they just, spot of luck. We don't have to scheme. One of his own just came to us and you can just imagine their glee because they believe the greatest good is, we've got to take this guy out. This guy's a blasphemer. This guy's a problem. And so they view the solution is, let's kill this man. And we didn't have to scheme too much. One in his own ranks is willing to betray him. Next week, Pastor Steve's going to talk about the connection between the Passover as a feast, as a festival, and Jesus being the Passover lamb. The timing is all of God. God knows what he's doing. And so even though this might feel like concocted by people, ultimately God is in control, bringing forth events, orchestrating events in a certain way so that the conclusion results in God's end, which is salvation, rescue. So what is happening here is the first domino being pushed over in the start of the week that will ultimately lead to the crucifixion of Jesus. So just kind of put a button on this kind of the bun of the Mark and Sandwich. A large, sizable crowd is gathering amidst a small minority of religious leaders scheming in secret in the corners. This loud, sizable crowd is remembering a lamb, a lamb that was killed, whose blood was poured out and saved their family from judgment. All the while, another lamb, one that John the Baptist declared, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Another lamb is going to face death, blood poured out to bring forth salvation. And the first domino getting pushed over here. Let's go in now to the meat of the sandwich, recalling, remembering that there is in this bun a connection with the meat. That there is an indignant group of people that are going to see these things and say, what a waste. So it says here that we are at Simon the lepers likely would not currently have leprosy but may have been healed by Jesus. But he's called Simon the leper. They're meeting in his house, and it would have been customary at a feast, at a festival, for the men to be huddled around and the women to be serving. And so the introduction of this female, probably Mary, of Mary and Martha, not fully sure, and it's not reflected in Mark's gospel. We think so. She's going to introduce herself into this dinner party in dramatic fashion. It says that she broke the jar and the aroma fills the house. And here is the response. Some of those present. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, why this waste? 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. So you get this sense in which they deemed a greater good is to preserve the jar, a jar unbroken, A jar that's broken is deemed wasteful. This alabaster jar could have been handed down from generation. It's a considerable amount of wealth. Some 300 denarii is what it's estimated. And so I think if we go back to the feeding of the 5,000, they thought it would be about 200 denarii to feed 5,000. So 300 denarii gets you and 7,500 of your closest friends for a meal. So it's significant. It's a significant deal. And then once broken, kind of this jar going from unbroken to broken, it's unusable again. You got one shot on this. No taking some and saving the rest for later. It's very clear in Mark's account and in all accounts. The jar was not open. The jar was broken. And, Jesus didn't deny the cost, didn't deny the sacrifice, didn't deny how much, was, quote unquote, wasted in this little exchange. The indignancy that the people in the room, some, share is one of nostrils flaring like a bull about to stampede, about to go forth. This sense, it carries with it a sense of snorting indignation. Maybe not unlike Honey Best when she thought she was going to lose her evening with her husband. just this like, don't you dare, right? This don't you dare waste money like this. And now tying it to kind of a bigger biblical metaphor, this idea of aroma versus stench is found in different parts of our Bible. That which is pleasing to one is distasteful to another, a stench to another. And I wanna highlight Eugene Peterson's, the message here. He captures this part of 2 Corinthians, the idea that something like this, or in another case, the cross of Christ can be met with varying responses. He says, In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade through us. He brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation. And here it is. an aroma, smelling of life to some, not to all, but to some. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse. Vivid, vivid descriptors of this isn't just a one-time event of a woman pouring perfume on Jesus. Essentially, at other points of the Bible, the cross is going to be lifted up. And say that at the center of your gathering will be an aroma to some and a stench to others. How do you perceive it? Do you perceive the greater good is, don't go to the cross, Jesus. What a waste for you. You're such a great leader. You're such a great healer. We want you to keep teaching us. Don't go to the cross. That's a waste. That's a stench. Essentially, what's communicated in 2 Corinthians is there's going to be a division in the room. As there was in the room with the woman pouring out the perfume, there's a division whenever the gospel is lifted up. Some saying, it's beautiful. It's exquisite. The value of Christ is worth it. His salvation is worth it. And others will say, it's a stench. I hate it. What about you? when you see this, when you have this, this kind of idea of a jar broken, preserved, kept, that there is a greater good down the line. I gotta admit, there are moments where I think just like this group of guys, this might've been Judas leading the charge, but just isn't there a better use for this? We get into that efficiency mode, financial planner mode. Maybe the perception of, yeah, let me be in charge of the money bank. Let me be in charge of making the decisions about what is wasteful or not. What is good? What is the greater good? What is the greatest good? As I was sitting with this passage this week, I think it's easy to get caught up with the, well, she's clearly the positive character. And then you got all these other villains over here. And the moral impulse are just like, well, I just gotta be like her. I just gotta find something of value and then just waste it on Jesus. And and that impulse is is not necessarily wrong why because it it clearly demonstrates the value of jesus if we just sell everything we have right and say why do i do that in honor of jesus, it will clearly demonstrate a value of who he is, but is that the point of the passage, is that what all of this comes together is just hey you have expensive things now just, dash them break them in one-time uses pour them out and just try to maintain that fragrance in worship of God is that is that what's being called for here. I don't think so. How might I get there? Let's keep reading in our story here. Oh, one more thing. Does Jesus not care about the greater good of the poor? Is that what he's communicating elsewhere? Later in our passage in verse seven, the poor you will always have with you. Is that Jesus just kind of saying, it's okay to neglect the poor? I don't think so. So. Number one, Jesus essentially is saying, you're using this opportunity of this woman anointing me in order to champion the cause of the poor. You can do that at any time. It's okay. She's highlighting something specifically about me. So I think that's one thing. Clearly throughout the Old and New Testament, God's care for the poor is communicated. If you remember this Old Testament story of harvesting farmers, this is Midwestern people. you guys know this about farming, right? It's, hey, don't harvest, don't glean all the way to the edges of your field. Let that remain so that the poor might be able to take advantage and be fed through that. And so clearly God's heart for the poor is prominent throughout the scriptures. And in this, I think what Jesus is trying to highlight is she's doing something uniquely. There's something about this moment there's something about me, that I'm okay with I'm okay with this anointing this anointing for burial you're not always going to have me this is a one-time event that will be learned about in the weeks years to come so. The jar unbroken the jar preserved means we get to keep this money for other uses. She, rather than doing that, spends it. She breaks it. And we have that now in verse three here. While he was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the leper, she comes with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. Made of pure nard, she broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. And this is an object lesson for us. I think I've been most impacted by my brother-in-law with the idea of when you're reading the Bible, one of the ways the Bible interprets itself and that you and I can incorporate in our own Bible reading is, where do you see in the passage that you're reading? Harm. Where do you see suffering? where do you see brokenness within the passage because in all indications that's likely alluding to the cross in some form or fashion, now how might we see that here if you just think about this broken alabaster jar, the the reality is the perfume is poured out, later in this same chapter jesus is going to say he's going to take a cup he's going to lift it up and he says this is this is the blood of the new covenant. This is the blood of my relationship with you poured out. And so we get this idea that in this case, a vessel, a jar pours out our perfume. And Jesus says, yeah, and at some point that cross is going to be your object lesson. My blood will be poured out for you. The idea that this is broken, a broken pot, one time for all time. No way to get that back. Jesus says, I will go to the cross one time for all time. I will be broken for you. The broken jar shows the totality of the gift. Never to be resealed, never to be altered. Jesus broken for you, for me. In verse eight, he says this. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. So on one level, this is just like the widow's mite. If you remember that story from back in the spring, there are people just giving all sorts of money into the coffers, right? And this widow comes up and offers two small copper coins. And Jesus prizes that. She gave all she could. And we get this similar retelling of that with the woman and the perfume here. But on another level, Jesus makes clear, she's doing something here that is associated with death. After Jesus dies, women are gonna go to the tomb and say, we need to anoint this body. And he's already been raised from the grave. So this is like the one burial anointing that Jesus is going to have is the woman who does it before his death here. And it's unclear if you're looking for the spot where commentators are going to spill a lot of ink. It's like, did she know what she was doing? Was this one of those like prophetic things that she did and didn't really fully understand? Was this just like a ceremonial anointing, which can happen as people come into the house. You just anoint them, you honor them in that way. Regardless, Jesus makes clear, right? What's happening here? She's anointing my body beforehand to prepare me for death, to prepare for my burial. And so in this, we have a connection, a very clear connection of a jar broken. Of perfume being poured out. And we connect that to the death of Jesus, that his body will be broken, his blood poured out. Look at what David Garland says on this. The readers can understand the indignant question, why this waste? Or literally, to what purpose this destruction, this destruction of the jar? In a different sense. Something of great value was poured out in 14 verse 3, our passage for today. Jesus ties this act to his upcoming death. In chapter 14 verse 24, in the words of institution, Jesus says that his blood, is poured out for the many. It is of inestimable value. Is there a greater good? No, this is the greatest good. This is the greatest value. Inestimable value, it says. No price can be put on it. In other words, the woman's pouring out of costly perfume, foreshadowing the costliness of the pouring out of Jesus' blood. He concludes, why waste Jesus on a cross? The answer to the question is to be found in the very attitudes of the indignant grumblers, the treacherous leaders of the nation, and the traitorous false disciple the world needs saving. The text resounds with the affirmation that neither the pure nard poured out for Jesus nor his blood poured out for the many is a waste. It's tempting to put ourselves in the place of the woman, anoint ourselves, our worship, our response to Jesus in like fashion. And yet, as I've sat with this text, there's so many things I'm tempted to call a greater good. There's so many other things that I put in there and say, this is of chief importance. Maybe not spiritually in a declarative manner, but moment by moment, day by day, Looking at how I use my time. Yeah, how I use my money. How I use my resources. How I use relationships. Where do we go with this? Where does the text take us? My brother-in-law, when he preached through this, he, and he's a pastor in the Twin Cities here. Great guy, I love him dearly. He saw something that I don't think I would have seen. He says, do you see how Jesus says to those who are watching, leave her alone? I'm like, well, I mean, I read it. And he's like, do you know the consequence of that? Do you know the reality of Jesus saying, leave her alone, why are you bothering her? If we take it on face value, this is a way Jesus one-on-one protecting this woman from accusation, from the indignation that's clearly present. But in another sense, if we read that thematically or through this biblical theological lens, because we're on this side of the cross, that's what the cross says to us as far as every accusation that you and I face. That Jesus essentially says to our accuser, leave him alone, leave her alone. Why are you bothering my child? And that's where I want us to maybe locate ourselves now with regard to the passage. It's possible that maybe we're having a great week and we feel like we're the woman and we're like, Jesus, nothing is too big for you. Nothing of value, I'll give you everything. Or maybe this week we felt a little bit more like the others in the crowd, indignant, comparing ourselves, comparing ourselves to someone else and what gift they might be bringing forward. I want us to locate ourselves right here. Because one thing I know about you, we're we're westerners american social media intake volume of words and even volume of accusations, what do i mean by that religious accusation. You need to do this to be okay. You need to follow the 10 commandments. You need to be more consistent in your Bible reading, in your disciplines, and coming to small group and showing up to church and serving in the community. There's religious accusations. And some of this is self-imposed. Some of this we put on ourselves. I'm not living up to the standard that I have for myself. I'm not a good enough leader. I'm not a good enough Christian. And how powerful it is that the cross stands in our defense. And it says, leave him alone, leave her alone. Over the course of the next five weeks, what are we at? Politics. Politicians telling you, you're wrong if you don't vote for me. You're crazy. You're in darkness. You're treacherous to the country if you don't stand with me right, and how freeing friends how helpful to have the cross say will you leave my child alone in this month, they're okay because they're in me, they don't need to vote a certain way to be okay hey, they're okay in my cross. Or just even the things that we might categorize as good, greater good, good, better, best. Every day you and I are gonna wake up and something's gonna rival for our attention, our affection, our worship. These things are not always bad things. Many of them are good, worthwhile. Caring for the poor, should I not care for the poor? So many of you are in professions, in work that you find meaningful, life-giving. That I would say, good, do that, do those things, go. And yet at our heart's level, is that where identity is? Is that what makes us okay? Are we better than somebody else because of what we do day in and day out, the vocations that we've chosen? We need to guard against the mentality that says, do this and you'll find life. Fulfill this and then, then you'll be happy. Then you'll be at peace. These are false gospels. The cross stands in our defense. Leave my child alone. That is the word spoken to every accusation, friend, that the devil might throw at us, that we might accuse ourselves. Some of you, your biggest critic is yourself. Self-criticism, self-loathing. And Jesus says, that is not the life I have for you. I went to the cross. I poured myself out as a sweet aroma, beautiful aroma, so that you would know clearly how much I love you, care for you. One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is Zephaniah 3.17. Think about this. As you think about all the ways that accusations from without, accusations from within, might have Jesus and his cross say, leave him alone. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you, hope, with gladness. He will quiet you. He will quiet you and all of your self-accusations. He will quiet the world, so that all we hear is him and his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing. As you locate yourself in this passage, it's not ultimately about what you can do in honor of God, how much money you can spend, how much time you can spend, but rather to see Jesus, his body broken, not unlike that jar, his blood poured out, not unlike that perfume. And you say, what a sweet aroma. Jesus says, I want to quiet every accusation. Leave her alone. Leave him alone. That child is mine. That's why we've adopted the mission statement that we have, unburdening ordinary people by pointing each other to an extraordinary savior. What's true of ordinary people? We can think too highly or lowly of ourselves. Accusations from the world, accusations from within. And we wanna say, take your eyes off yourself. Cast your gaze to the cross. Jesus is our extraordinary Savior. He, through the cross, is broken on your account. Through the cross, he is poured out for you. Do you believe that this morning? Is that your boast? Is that your hope? Is that your foundation? A couple questions to consider and reflect on, whether today, whether during our closing worship or this week. What accusations are you hearing. You likely have some indignant person in your life saying, that's not enough. That's wrong. Why did you do that? Why didn't you do it this other way? Why didn't you do it like me? Maybe it's a parent. Maybe it's a sibling. Maybe it's a boss or a coworker. Maybe you can't stop accusing yourself. Maybe you need to be released this morning from self-loathing. What accusations are you hearing? Can you hear the Lord's love? Can you be quiet? All those accusations, can you have them quieted by the Lord, so that you can truly feel seen and loved? That Jesus is saying, I'm not asking you to go do something. I'm asking you to see my brokenness for you. Let that be an estimation of your worth and your value. Let that be the love that grounds us as a church. Not what you and I can do for Jesus, but what he has done for us. And secondly to collectively i'm trying to do this more just collectively for us as a community where might we as a church be tempted to claim something other than jesus as our greatest good, try to show the work of our hands as a way of saying we're worthy we're valuable look look at what we've done but to to come back and say you know what, at the end of the day what does this church stand on? Pointing people to our extraordinary Savior. That's what we do. And as a consequence, nothing flashy, very ordinary. That's who we are as a church. So people might not mistake this is about us. It's not. It's about him and him alone. I'm going to invite our worship team forward. We're going to close with a couple songs of worship. At any point during this time, I'd ask you to reflect on those questions, how that might hit you, how that might locate you within today's passage. If you've said yes to Jesus, then you've said yes to a broken jar poured out for you. You've said that that aroma is pleasing. Wonderful, life-giving. That's what the cross says. And if that's true of you, you don't have to be a member of a church or any church. You can come forward and take communion. The cracker represents Jesus' body broken for you and the cup his blood shed for you. If you're fueling accusations, if you're feeling beat down by this world, we'd love to pray for you. Maybe you have something specific, maybe just a general prayer. The individuals that stand up here and pray week in and week out are trustworthy. They're not taking your prayer requests anywhere, but to God. And we'd love to pray for you. Don't leave here downtrodden, beat down. Don't leave here listening to accusations from the enemy or of self-loathing. If you wanna give, you can do so online through our website. There's a giving portal. That's one of the ways that the individuals of hope say, thank you, Jesus, for all you've done. Love this church, wanna be a part of this church, continue to share this message of hope. So with that, let me pray for us and then we'll close with some worship. Jesus, we acknowledge, we confess that we are often more like the critics at the table than the woman with the jar. We hold back, we keep things sealed, we measure our worth by what is efficient or seems useful. We demonstrate our value by the work of our hands. We treat other things as the greatest good, and every day God we wrestle with accusations, from ourselves from others, but because you were the jar that was broken because your body was given and your blood poured out not wasted that poured out, spent on people like us. And so God, may we hear the good news that your cross says, leave them alone. Leave them alone. They are mine, my children, my son, my daughter. God, let that word be sung over us. Let that word be louder than any other. Fill our church with the fragrance of your grace, your aroma, your cross. Thank you, Jesus, for who you are, what you've done. It's in your name, we pray, amen.

Mark 14:1–11 Mark 14 · chapter mention