A life of devotion

We are all very familiar with the stories of the two sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha was almost certainly the older and she was the one who served – who got the job done. Mary just sat around at Jesus’ feet.

If asked which one you identify with, most of us would say Martha. We know Jesus said, ‘few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’ (Luke 10: 42) but somehow sitting at Jesus’ feet when there’s work to be done doesn’t seem like the ‘better’ thing.

However Mary lived the life of devotion that followed the first and greatest commandment Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12: 30). It was given by Moses to the Israelites (Deuteronomy 6: 4- 5) and is part of the bedrock of the Jewish faith, the Shema, spoken by pious Jews morning and evening and it starts synagogue services.

Mary loved the Lord extravagantly and her greatest act of devotion is recorded in John 12: 1 – 8. A dinner was given at Lazarus’ house – Martha and Mary’s brother – in Jesus’ honour. Martha was serving as usual and Lazarus was reclining with all the guests.

Mary then did something incredibly brave. She walked into a room full of men eating their dinner and instead of quietly serving, the appropriate thing for a woman, she brought an expensive jar of pure nard and poured it on Jesus’ feet. The women would have been shocked and the men embarrassed. It was so inappropriate.

Some have surmised that this perfume may have been Mary’s inheritance. Money was hard to keep safe so inheritances came in the form of land or objects. Mary was blowing the very thing that would keep her in her old age in one extravagant act of devotion.

The apostle John noted that the fragrance filled the whole house – her act of abandoned love touched everywhere.

However even more shockingly Mary undid her hair and wiped Jesus feet with it. If people were embarrassed before, now they would not know where to look. Respectable women did not unbind their hair in public and only lowly servants dealt with dirty feet. Mary was not mindful of her reputation or her social standing, she just wanted to pour out her love to Jesus.

Some present ‘rebuked her harshly’ (Mark 14: 5) and she invoked criticism especially from Judas Iscariot who piously would have liked to give the proceeds of the sale of the nard to the poor. In reality he wanted to get his own hands on the money (John 12: 6). In this account in Mark 14, Judas was so offended by her waste that he went to the chief priests to betray Jesus. It was if it was the final straw.

Jesus however commended Mary for her beautiful act of worship. You can imagine all those reclining at the table who hadn’t known where to look before now sagely nodding their heads in agreement.  Jesus then said, ‘Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’ How true - today we all know about Martha and Mary and her life of adoration.

Devotion though is a hard path to walk. Mary was criticised by her own family for sitting at Jesus’ feet instead of helping. The believers criticised her for extravagantly wasting an expensive jar of perfume.

Mary chose the ‘better way.’ Works for the Lord are important but they flow out of the greater thing. The priority is to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

People will almost certainly criticise us for extravagant acts of worship – for living a lifestyle devoted to God – but it is the ‘better way’.

O come let us adore him

On a recent visit to the National Gallery in London, I was struck by the many beautiful pictures depicting the Adoration of the Magi. Many artists painted these pictures in different ages and the details vary greatly yet the theme of adoration is the same; wise men kneeling before the infant king offering him gifts.  

One of my favourite songs this Christmas has been Adore by Chris Tomlin. It set me thinking about adoration. To adore means to love someone very much, especially in a way that shows a lot of admiration or respect. It can also mean to worship which of course is what the Wise Men did.

They were highly educated astrologers probably from the area of southern Arabia or Iran. They spent their lives studying the heavens and the movement of the stars and planets, believing they could tell the meaning of events or give indications about the future. Their observations led them to notice a new star yet one that was so unusual that these magi knew it signified the birth of a new king – the King of the Jews.

These were wise men indeed for they did not just note this star and study it, they took action. This was a king they must find so they could worship and adore him. Many would think the King of the Jews was irrelevant to them, but not these magi. They knew this king had come for everyone, Jew and Gentile.

So they set off on the long, arduous journey across the Arabian Desert to Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews. They would have travelled with a large, luxurious and exotic entourage. I am sure they caused quite a stir when they arrived in Jerusalem, let alone little Bethlehem.

The magi’s unfortunate meeting with Herod led to the slaughter of many innocent children but what is also of concern is that though the religious leaders heard about the birth of a new king, possibly the Messiah, not one of them went to Bethlehem, only 5 miles away, to investigate. Surely if there was any chance that the Messiah had been born, they would want to go and find out, even to allay false rumours. There was certainly no adoration in their hearts.

It would seem from reading the account of the magi’s visit that the star re-appeared after their visit to Herod otherwise why were ‘they overjoyed’ when they saw it. This is strong language in keeping with those who have travelled long and hard to adore the new king. The star, probably hanging low in the sky stopped over the house where the child was. The magi went in and adored the infant Jesus offering him costly gifts. These gifts had religious significance – gifts offered to God – as well as gifts to royalty. They were not just birthday presents.

The wise men’s journey was a incredibly costly visit in terms of time and money and maybe even dangerous yet I am totally convinced they would have considered this visit to adore the child Jesus, the Messiah, one of the highlights of their lives which would have significant impact on the rest of their days.

I am sure there were many visitors to see the new baby, there always are but Matthew and Luke each highlight the two extremes of society. Matthew tells of the magi the religious outsiders and Gentiles and Luke emphasises the social outsiders, the shepherds. The contrast between the humble, illiterate, rustic` Jewish shepherds and the highly educated, foreign, exotic Gentiles is obvious. Jesus came for everybody to save us all from our sin. Jesus’ offer of salvation is open to all; rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, male, female – all are welcomed by this king into his kingdom.

As Christmas disappears for another year and the sound of carols fades away, let’s make sure that the words O come let us adore him are still found on our lips and in our hearts. If wise men travelled for many months to adore Jesus we too can easily adore him from our homes. He is worthy of every bit of worship and adoration we can offer. He gave up everything and suffered terribly, died and rose again because of his incredible love for us.

My New Year’s resolution is to adore him with everything I can muster in 2017.