Lenten Devotional | April 15, 2019

April 15, 2019

by Kim Goddard

Holy Monday

“Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume.” John 12:3 (CEV)

In John’s gospel, on the evening before Jesus rode into Jerusalem to announce the hour had come for the culmination and completion of his work, Jesus stopped for a last visit and to share a meal in the home of his friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. There was much to come in this final week. Hard, horrendous, unthinkable things. But for this evening, it was enough to laugh and linger in the company of those who desired nothing more than his presence. No requests, no demands, no accusations, just blessed and holy fellowship.

We don’t know how long Mary planned her act of deepest devotion, or if she planned it at all. Maybe it caught her by surprise and she simply responded to the urging of the moment. But Mary was moved by a passionate yearning to show her love and devotion to this one for whom mere words of respect and admiration were simply inadequate.

And so she took the perfume and slowly, carefully, lavishly poured it over Jesus’ feet and then dried his feet with her hair. This was not about washing away the dust of the day. It was not fulfilling a practical necessary custom or even offering more than the usual hospitality. This was bold and extravagant; it was excessive, unrestrained and extreme. .... It was passionate worship. Worship the way it should be.

And so, pondering this passage of scripture, I consider my own acts of worship. In private devotions how often do I linger in prayer or meditation, like enjoying a long dinner with a good friend; asking no favors, offering no complaints, content in God’s presence?

For Mary, all of her attention was given to Jesus; there may as well have been no one else in the room. In corporate worship, does Jesus have my attention? Is my time there about worshiping God, or is it about me and my needs, or the selection of hymns, or the wording in the bulletin, or little cups versus intinction, or the sermon, or the choir, or, or, or? How often do I really pray, instead of saying the Lord’s prayer, or the prayer of confession before communion? Does “passionate” describe worship for me?

Prayer:

Gracious Jesus,

I thank you for Mary who fell at your feet in passionate worship, abandoned totally to expressing her love for you. I pray to follow her example so that I might more perfectly and extravagantly worship you. Amen.