Monday 20 July 2015

Beautiful Worship

"She has done a beautiful thing to me" Matthew 26.10
This phrase leapt out at me as I read through this account of Jesus being anointed just before his death in Jerusalem. Would Jesus ever describe my worship of him as beautiful? 

In Matthew's account, we are not told anything about the woman's background; we are not told anything of her previous encounters with Jesus. The only thing we know about her, the only way we can judge her is by her actions. And the disciples do judge her - they were indignant. Why do they judge her? Their own words suggest that it is concern for the poor. My immediate reaction is to find more sinister motives in some sort of pop psychological analysis - perhaps they are reacting with indignation to cover up their fear that their own worship doesn't measure up. But in doing so, I am trapped by my own judgmentalism.

What is more striking to me is the idea of cost. The disciples focus on cost, the woman doesn't seem to. On first reading, I thought that a central point of the story was that beautiful worship should be costly. Maybe not just in monetary terms, but still costly. I don't want to pray today, but I should; I don't want to go to church, I want a lie in, but I should...

Now, though, I am not so sure. Only the disciples speak of cost. The whole impression of the passage is that the woman doesn't regard the gift as costly. She doesn't count the financial cost, nor the risk of such a public display of worship at a time of such growing hostility to Jesus. It is simply a delight to her. It is not extravagant, but wholly inadequate as an expression of her worship of Jesus. But look at what it achieves - something far greater than the cost of the expensive ointment. She gets the unique privilege of preparing Jesus for his death. As he hung on the cross, the aroma of the perfume might well have drifted into his nostrils, reminding him of her worship. She also will be remembered. We remember great Christians for any number of reasons, but to be remembered for loved filled, beautiful worship, that would be something. And what is striking is that her worship is complete - we don't know her name. We remember her in order to be reminded of how precious Jesus is. 

How can I be so captivated by Jesus, that my worship becomes heartfelt and wholehearted, rather than routine and ritual? How can I prepare for Sunday worship, so that I recognise how precious it is? How can I so focus on him, that my concern about what others think, or the cost of my worship dissolves? 

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