Learning How to Worship: An Illustration

For those of you who were present this morning, you know that we began to begin to look at the issue of worship as it is unfolded for us in 1 Thessalonians 5. And I noted in my own notes that what we were doing this morning—I had written down, “Learning to Worship 1: An Introduction.” I want to return to the issue of worship again tonight, and in my notes it reads, “Learning to Worship 2: An Illustration.” And I invite you to turn with me again to Mark chapter 14 and to the portion of Scripture which we read this morning, which I said was an illustration of one lady’s worship. And it is a familiar territory for us again, and yet I believe it is necessary territory for us. It is important that if we’re going to understand what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth,[1] that we look to the Scriptures as our only guide and our only source of direction.

And so, in Mark’s Gospel chapter 14 and beginning in verse 1, we have the record of what is also recorded in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 26 and also in the Gospel of John in chapter 12. You find that this particular incident is chronicled by these other two disciples.

Now, we’re told, in setting the context here in the opening verse, that this was immediately prior to the Passover. Indeed, they were only two days away from this amazing celebration. Indeed, it was Jesus’ last night outside Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion. If we had been able to be present in Jerusalem at that particular period of time, we would have been struck by the fact that it was absolutely inundated with crowds and crowds of people. It is estimated that there were somewhere in the region of two million people who descended upon Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. And if we’d been able to move amongst the crowd and talk with them, listen to them, catch their conversations, as it were, in the various thoroughfares and the equivalent of the coffee shops of their day, we would have discovered that the people were talking along the lines of political intrigue—that they were talking about the fact of social injustice and how long it would be while they as Jews would be forced to put up with all of this dreadful aggravation and oppression that was showered upon them by the Roman authorities. We would also have caught from them this great national pride and fervency—hopes rising within their hearts, national feelings running high, the question of liberation, the coming of the kingdom, the possibility of a Messiah, the overthrow of Roman imperialism. Maybe this would be the time; perhaps this would be the day. And sprinkled throughout all of that, the awareness on the part of each member of the crowd of the dreadful ravages of racial prejudice. All of that and more is represented in the summary statement that is given to us here by Mark in his Gospel.

And while, as would normally be the case if we were going, as it were, as journalists for a good story to try and scoop the events, we might be tempted to believe that it would be found somewhere in this great and vast crowd, Mark takes us away from the crowd and into the relative obscurity of the home of a man by the name of Simon the Leper. It would appear that Simon was known as Simon the Leper because he had been simply that: a leper. And presumably, he had been healed by the Lord Jesus. But since the name Simon was very familiar, in the way that John would be a familiar name today, there had to be a further designation whereby you would know to whose house you were supposed to go. And so they would say, “We’ll be going over to the house of Simon—that is, Simon the Leper.” And so there was a dinner party that had gathered there. Presumably, there were others celebrating the fact of the resurrection of Lazarus. And the crowd had come.

And into the midst of that event there in Bethany, and while Jesus was “reclining at [a] table,” as verse 3 says, “in the home of” this man “Simon the Leper, a woman came.” “A woman came”—a fairly inconsequential little introductory phrase, not giving to us an inkling of all that is about to follow; the kind of phrase we might overlook; the kind of event that we may be tempted simply to scan and move on, especially with this vast crowd outside and all these talks of liberation and of political intrigue. And yet, in the great economy of God and in the unfolding of his purposes, what was about to take place in this obscure context was far more significant than what was taking place out and upstairs, as it were, on street level. For here, in the actions of this lady, we were to discover what genuine worship is all about.

A Costly Display of Worship

Now, I want you just to notice with me a number of straightforward things that are there in the text.

First of all, she came prepared. She came prepared. “A woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume.” That’s how we know she came prepared. It wasn’t that she came with a wee skoosh of something in her purse that she had in her compact, or whatever it is that ladies have—various bits and pieces—and finding herself in the context, she said, “Oh! Maybe I could make use of this.” No, she came carrying an alabaster jar. A Roman pound was twelve ounces, and it was somewhere in the region of that[2]—approximately those kind of figures. Therefore, it was substantial, it was not the kind of thing you could conceal about your person very readily, and it would have been impossible for anyone to notice the lady without at the same time noticing the jar which she carried. And she carried it with her because the action which was about to follow was a premeditated action.

Now, this is simply an illustration of what we mentioned this morning: that if worship is to be entered into in all of its fullness and usefulness, it is going to have to be premeditated; it is going to have to be prepared for. And so we need to be encouraging and exhorting one another in relationship to these things, even in the commencement of our worship. It really is not good enough to have a hundred of us simply wandering and chatting in the hallways when we know that preparations have been made for worship to commence at six thirty. Our voice is important, our presence is necessary, we are a significant member of the worshipping team, and therefore, we will not shortchange our brothers and sisters, because we have already predetermined that we will participate in this way.

In other words, she was doing what the psalmist was doing as he prepared always to worship God. In Psalm 89, the psalmist opens up with these words:

I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
 with my mouth I will make [known your faithfulness] through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
 that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

All of these things are volitional. All of the verbs have to do with an act of the will—not with a feeling but with a commitment. And the psalmist says, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known [your] faithfulness.”[3] “[Your] faithfulness.” And this lady, arriving in this context, is a lady who came prepared.

If worship is to be entered into in all of its fullness and usefulness, it is going to have to be premeditated. It is going to have to be prepared for.

Secondly, she is a lady who bore the cost of the worship she displayed. This alabaster jar was not of some kind of Kmart produce. It was a jar of very expensive perfume. And I mean no despite to the wonderful Kmart store. But it was made from rare dried Himalayan plants. Half a liter would have cost approximately nine thousand dollars, and she had in her possession somewhere in the region of twelve ounces. And therefore, her premeditated action was one which bore great cost. But the monetary value was not as significant as the value of this possession to her as a woman, because this kind of possession was often a family heirloom. This kind of possession may have been purchased for her by her father. She may have secured it as a result of prosperity in her younger life, but if she had one of these, in keeping with the women of her day, she had such a jar of perfume for one of two reasons: either to be used as a dowry in her wedding or to be used in the face of her own burial so that in the embalming process, they may be able to take this expensive product and use it to prepare her for her passage out of time and into eternity.

Now, when you think of that for a moment or two, you realize that the worship of the woman displayed a cost that was far greater than finance. Because by this one particular action, the lady surrendered her personal plans. The lady surrendered her personal ambitions and aspirations for the future. And the lady surrendered, as we will see, her social acceptability in the present.

Now, insofar as that is an expression of worship, loved ones, think about it: If worship is to be genuine, we must, like the woman, prepare. If worship is to be genuine, we must, like the lady, bear the cost. There has to be some cost in genuine worship. Anybody can mouth songs. Anybody can sing along. Anybody can engage in liturgy. But what is being described here is something far more intrinsic than that, something far deeper than that. And the woman reveals it in her actions.

Thirdly, she endured the criticism that emerged as a result of what she did. Verse 4 tells us that they resented what she did. Some present “were saying indignantly,” or with resentment, “to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages.’” There is a reminder of the financial cost. How many of you have spent a year’s wages buying a bottle of perfume? None, I hope. And if you ever have, make sure you move around with a Securicor armored car, bringing the jar with you. And so these people get on their high horse and begin to talk the poor. Judas Iscariot, we’re told by one of the other Gospel writers, was leading the charge. We’re also told by the other writer that Judas didn’t give a rip for the poor; he just saw it, through his greedy eyes, as a chance to make a buck.[4] And he resented the fact—and others did, too—that this lady would so express her devotion and love for the Lord Jesus that she would take something worth a year’s wages, that she would take something prepared as a dowry, prepared for her burial, and that she would do this with it.

And so, not only did she endure the criticism which was revealed in resentment, but she endured a criticism which was revealed in their rebukes. And there in the final sentence of verse 5, we’re told, “And they rebuked her harshly.” “You stupid woman!” they must have said. “Who do you think you are? Trying to make the rest of us look bad, are you? Trying to show off, are we? Coming around here like this with this big jar of perfume, making a fuss and a bother like this. Why wouldn’t you just fit in with the rest of us? Why would you be so extravagant? Why would you act in this way? You make us feel so uncomfortable doing this!” “And they rebuked her harshly.” She could feel their eyes burning into the back of her head as she stood behind Jesus. She could hear their whispered animosity as, with their furtive glances, they mentioned to one another, “What a weirdo. What a strange person. We’re not used to that kind of thing around here, you know.”

She endured their criticism, but fourthly, she was commended by the Lord Jesus Christ. “‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus.” What a wonderful word. It’s not often you find Jesus speaking in this way, jumping to somebody’s defense. “‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus.” And then he asks a question: “Why are you bothering her?”

They must have looked at him and said, “What do you mean, why are we bothering her? I mean, can’t you see what she’s doing? She takes this thing worth nine thousand dollars, and she breaks it and starts to pour it all over the place. A great chunk of it’s going on the floor!”

“[Listen],” says Jesus, “she has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, … you can help them any time you want.”

Don’t let’s see in this, somehow or another, Jesus denigrating the cause of the poor. There was no one with a greater interest in the cause of the poor. He himself was the essence of poverty in his life and in his ministry. What he is doing here is he is calling out the hypocrisy of these people. He’s saying, “Listen, don’t cloud the issue. The poor will always be here, and you can help them every day. Don’t use that as a disguise. She has done a beautiful thing. You will not always have me, but she did what she could. She poured out perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.” She did a beautiful thing, because she recognized who Jesus was, and she recognized what Jesus was about to do.

When you and I come to understand who Jesus is and the wonderful thing that Jesus has done, then it will change our whole approach to worship. And some of us have become so inured to the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done that we need to ask the Spirit of God to descend upon our hearts in a new and fresh way to open the eyes of our understanding to the immensity of what Jesus has done for us upon the cross, lest we, too, become part of the group known for our furtive stares, our harsh rebukes, and our deep resentment.

The last thing I want you to note is that she made a lasting impression. Verse 9: “I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” We don’t know about anyone else that was in the room. There are many things that happened in the life and ministry of Jesus which are a closed book to us. But this incident and this lady has been reported for the last two thousand years. Why? Because the Spirit of God recognized, as I said at the beginning, that the events that were up and public were not as significant as the events that were down and private. And that, of course, is so often the case.

When you and I come to understand who Jesus is and the wonderful thing that Jesus has done, then it will change our whole approach to worship.

Did you follow what I have noted for you? She came prepared, she bore the cost, she endured the criticism, she was commended by Jesus, and she made a lasting memory.

Worship with All Our Might

Now, what was the issue? Well, the issue was partly in the fact of this brokenness. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. If she had simply carried it around, poured a wee drop out, put the lid on, squeezed it down tight, and put it away again for another occasion, it’s questionable whether this would ever have been recorded in the Gospels. That might have been quite acceptable. That certainly wouldn’t have been very dramatic. But it was the radical way in which she went about these things, taking all that represented security to her and all that represented a future for her and all that had been part and parcel of her life for many a day, and she broke it in order that she might display her devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.

This, loved ones, is where I am in my heart in these days in relation to the question of worship. You want to know what’s going on inside of me? Let me tell you what’s going on inside of me: a great, earnest yearning to discover what it means for my life, my pride, my heart, and my agenda to be broken in the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am relatively tired of church services. I am exceptionally tired of routine. I am, as I travel the country, increasingly disenchanted with superficiality in relationship to the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I am most concerned about it in my own heart. And I am asking the Lord Jesus in these days to show me from the example, for example, of this lady—“Lord Jesus, what does this actually mean for me? What will it mean for my pride to be broken? What will it mean for the splintering of my natural reserve? What will it mean for the crushing of my selfish will? What will it take for me to be touched by this kind of fragrance so that the world will know that my life is a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ?” And that’s what I’m asking about corporate worship at Parkside Church.

It has very little to do with mode. It has everything to do with manner. It has everything to do with asking God to meet us where we are and to save us from being those who are crying out in criticism and to be prepared to be those who are not conformers but transformers, who are catalytic in the discovery of what it means for our lives to be unashamedly expressions of sacrificial praise.

It’s for that reason that we read from 2 Samuel and chapter 6—and I invite you to turn there with me. For there in 2 Samuel 6, you have another person kind of losing it, as it were, for God’s sake. And as a result of what he did and as a result of the way in which he did it, he once again incurred this dreadful resentment.

It’s an interesting little story here for a number of reasons, in 2 Samuel 6. But if you notice in verse 5, as they were going along with the ark, we’re told that “David and the whole house of Israel”—notice this phrase—“were celebrating with all their might before the Lord.” They were celebrating “with all their might.” Now, I know what it is to do something with all my might, and I know what it is to do something casually, and I know what it is to do something routinely. And so do you. And the question is: What, then, will it mean for us as a congregation to follow this kind of pattern irrespective of style or mode? Forget that! What will it mean for us to worship God with all our might?

They did this “before the Lord,” verse 5 says, “with songs … with harps,” with “lyres,” with “tambourines,” with “sistrums,” and with “cymbals.” In other words, they created an unbelievable cacophony of sound. It was impossible for people to be marginalized by it. People heard it. They said, “Something’s going on.” And the worst that you could ever imagine: David was at the heart of it all. If only he hadn’t been right in the middle of it, then it would have been a little easier to criticize it! But actually, his involvement didn’t affect the criticism unduly, as you will notice.

And in verse 14, “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord”—notice—“with all his might”! Now, I call that dancing, don’t you? There is dancing that’s kind of like that, which cannot be called “with all your might.” And then there is dancing, which is with all your might. And people say, “This guy is doing this with all his might.” Why? Well, he danced with all his might “before the Lord,” and they brought the ark of Israel up “with shouts and the sound of trumpets.”

Now, for those of us who love decorum, this is a major problem. Indeed, if you just read the Psalms and realize how many times it talks about shouting, you realize how we have baptized our Western mindset into the framework of our worship. Now, I’m not suggesting for a moment that we engage in ferocious dancing and in dreadful shouting, but I am pointing out that there is a principle which is central to the expression, and the principle is “with all our might.” I mean, are you honestly singing with all your might, congregation? ’Cause if you are, we’re going to have to change “with all our might” to “with all our might!” I watch sometimes through the doors. I see your faces. Don’t tell me you’re singing with all your might! “Let your house be filled with your glory, Lord. Let your house be filled with your praises, Lord.”[5] How can you sing with all your might through your teeth? Some of you this morning didn’t read the psalm as you were led in worship by Ron. I don’t know why you didn’t. Maybe you can’t see, and so I apologize. But if you can, maybe you can’t talk, and so I apologize. But if you can see and if you can talk, read the psalm! You understand?

Why? Because you came to worship. The leader of the worship said we’re going to read a psalm, so we’re going to read a psalm. And how are we going to read it? We’re going to read it with all our might. How are we going to pray? With all our might. How are we going to sing? With all our might. How are we going to listen? Will all our might. How are we going to preach? With all our might—so when the people come around, they say, “You know what? It was the same kind of hymns, the same kind of songs, but these people are doing it with all their might! It’s like they’re into it! It’s like they actually believe it! It’s like they don’t care who sees them! It’s as if you were at the jolly Jacobs Field, for goodness’ sake!” Can it possibly be that they can make a better noise in Seattle singing about baseball than the people of God can make singing about the redemption that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ?

So, he gives them all a little sandwich to take home in verse 19. Everybody gets a loaf, some dates, a cake of raisins. Everyone in the crowd, both men and women, they all go home. And now David’s coming home. He is pumped. We know he’s pumped, because he’s been doing all this dancing and flying around. This guy is jazzed, and he is coming home, and he can’t wait to see the family, see his wife, and he’s going to, you know, let her know, “We’ve been having an unbelievable time bringing this ark up to Jerusalem.”

And “when David returned home to bless his household…”[6] How was he going to bless his household? He was going to bless his household with the overflow of what was going on in his heart. That’s how we bless one another: the enthusiasm of his joy in the Lord, the wonder of the presence of the Lord expressed in the ark, the privilege of being a part of all of that. He couldn’t contain himself. He was overflowing with it. And he arrives in his house, and he wants to gather up his household and tell them, you know, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”[7] And he’s met by his wife. And sardonically and sarcastically, she says to him, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”[8]

When you’re looking for a way to criticize somebody who’s enthusiastic in worship, you’ll find a way, believe me. And so she fastens on the fact that he hasn’t got all of his clothes on. And she insinuates that the reason he doesn’t have his clothes on is because he wants to appear before the servant girls who are around him. She doesn’t know that. And when we listen to undue criticism of others involved in genuine, forceful, “with all my might” worship, loved ones, it grieves my heart to hear the kind of things that people say. It grieves my heart to read the kind of things that people write. “We don’t want that noisy praise choir up there, thank you very much, Alistair Begg. If you’re going to have that, Alistair Begg, have it on Sunday evenings. It is totally inappropriate on Sunday mornings.” Why? If it’s inappropriate on Sunday mornings, it’s inappropriate on Sunday nights. If it’s appropriate on Sunday nights, it’s appropriate on Sunday mornings. It’s totally inappropriate that only a third of the congregation comes back to worship on Sunday nights. That’s inappropriate.

Loved ones, David wasn’t doing a show for the girls. Loved ones, nobody’s planning on doing a show for you up here either. Can you see inside people’s hearts?

And “David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord … [I danced]—I will celebrate before the Lord.”[9] “[And by the way],” he says in verse 22, “I will become even more undignified than this.” (“You think that was bad? Wait till I get going,” he says.) “And I will be humiliated in my own eyes.” In other words, “I don’t care what people think about me when I’m worshipping God. But I’ll tell you one thing, wife: the slave girls will hold me in honor, because they know what you are unprepared to see—they know that I was worshipping God, not performing for them. But because of your perverted perspective, you have assumed that what I was doing was according to another agenda and for another reason.”

You see, what is a fanatic in Christian terms? In Christian terms, a fanatic is just somebody who loves Jesus more than I do. A fanatic is usually somebody that makes me feel a little uncomfortable. And so instead of saying, “You know what, that girl is really worshipping the Lord,” “That girl is really leading me in praise,” “That fellow is really helping me to worship,” I can step aside from it by calling them a fanatic. And then, if you think about it, if you wanted something to be fanatical about, wouldn’t be bad to be fanatical about the worship of the Lord Jesus.

When the Spirit of God sets the people of God free in genuine, heartfelt worship, those who attend church will be caused to fall down and say, ‘Surely God is in that place.’

And so the lady came and crushed the jar across the head of Christ, and the assembled group rebuked her harshly. I don’t know what it means for you. I don’t even know what it means for me. I don’t know what it means for us. But I do know this: that when the Spirit of God sets the people of God free in genuine, heartfelt worship, those who attend church will be caused to fall down and say, “Surely God is in that place.”

And loved ones, I’ve got to tell you: I believe we have every right in the world to expect that that would happen. As long as the Spirit of God is the Spirit of God, we have every right to assume that God would so move amongst us that the watching world would not be seduced by our clever singing, would not be entertained by our approach to worship—I have no interest in reducing things to the lowest common denominator so that the people who wander off the streets will find it very acceptable—but rather that as we’re lost in wonder, love, and praise, the people will be caused to say, “God is in that place.”

’Cause let’s think about it: when we get to heaven, that’s what we’re going to be doing—singing, worshipping, like crazy! And I’ll tell you, time’s going by. So we better get these training sessions cranked up a little bit. ’Cause if some of us died tonight and went into the presence of Jesus, we’d be in for one unbelievable shock—say, “Goodness gracious, I didn’t know that this kind of stuff was going on up here!”; say, “Oh yeah, we’ve been doing this for ages. Don’t you know these songs?” ’Cause if you think about it, they got everybody from Martin Luther, Charles Wesley—they got the whole gang up there. And if you think they’re singing all Luther songs, you’re wrong. They got Keith Green up there. Hallelujah, right? And I for sure know he’s telling old Luther, “Man, hey, back down on that stuff for a minute or two. We’re going to do some worship choruses here.” I can just see the gates of heaven ringing, with Keith Green leading the whole host of heaven in the singing of “Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty! Early in the morning, our song shall rise to thee.”[10]

Let the world think we’re nuts. But let’s at least give them a reason for believing we’re nuts rather than marching around with big banners and political campaigns. That’s why we look to the Lord in prayer as we conclude.

Let us pray:

O Lord, we thank you for this lady. We thank you for ladies down through the years who’ve offered their lives to you as a living sacrifice. And Lord, if we’re honest—if I’m honest, I’m more naturally in the group criticizing her for her extravagance than helping her to break the jar of perfume. And we pray together tonight that you will save us from fleshly extravagances, from foolish preoccupations, from enthusiasm that is devoid of biblical truth, from biblical orthodoxy that is devoid of genuine enthusiasm; that you will save us from mindlessness; that you will prevent us from erring where your Word says that everything should be done decently and in order.[11] We ask that we may be spiritually alive, spiritually assisted, spiritually active, determining that wherever we are and whatever the opportunity when God’s people gather in worship, we will give ourselves to it with all our might, for it is fitting that we might do so.

We recognize, Lord, that our personalities are different. Some of us are far more extravagant. Some of us are far more outgoing. Others of us are far more introverted. Save those of us who are ebullient from criticizing the quiet. Save the quiet from being put off by the extrovert. And help us, Lord, not only to join our hands but to have our hearts joined in a great celebration of your praise. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us, we pray, and break us and melt us and mold us and fill us.[12] Prepare us, Lord, for heaven as we adore you even now.

And, Lord, we commit into your care one another tonight; our loved ones, some who are far from us; our friends. We pray that as we make our journey to our homes, those of us who live alone may know in a special sense your presence as we end this day. And grant, Lord, that into our heartache you may pour your balm, into our disappointment you may bring your encouragement, into our fearfulness that you might grant us strength.

And now unto him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, now and forever more. Amen.

[1] See John 4:23–24.

[2] See John 12:3.

[3] Psalm 89:1 (KJV).

[4] See John 12:4–6.

[5] John Barnett, “Let the Redeemed” (1989).

[6] 2 Samuel 6:20 (NIV 1984).

[7] Psalm 103:1 (KJV).

[8] 2 Samuel 6:20 (NIV 1984).

[9] 2 Samuel 6:21 (NIV 1984).

[10] Reginald Heber, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!” (1826).

[11] See 1 Corinthians 14:40.

[12] Daniel Iverson, “Spirit of the Living God” (1926).