Worship is Never Wasted |05.11.25| Mother's Day 2025

Mother’s Day can be complicated, right? All of us have a mom, but not all of us are experiencing today the same way.

Some of us are celebrating, some are grieving. And you don’t want to take away from what the others around you might be experiencing, but you also don’t want to be inauthentic with how you’re walking through life right now.

Some of us are so excited today, and some of us are weary from always pouring out.

Some of the moms are so happy and can’t wait to be showered with love today. And some who are listening feel invisible, or like what they do doesn’t matter.

But what if I told you that the WAY you show up, the love you give, the sacrifices you make for your family and your friends…all of that can be a part of your worship.

Because everything about you is SEEN by Jesus. He sees you, and he sees what you do for others, and he calls that “beautiful.”

And I truly hope to encourage you today, because too many of us — not just the women listening — compartmentalize our lives. We carry all these responsibilities and expectations for every aspect of our lives, and we often leave OURSELVES, and our relationship with Jesus, to the end.

But Jesus sees your heart, and he sees your loving acts of kindness. And when we let our lives become an act of worship, we’ll find out that worship is never a waste.

[Ref]

And as we’ll see in our Jesus story today, even when others might not notice what you do, even when others might not “get” you, or understand your heart, Jesus sees you. He gets you.

So turn with me to Mark chapter 14, which can be found on p??? Of the NT in your black, seat-back Bibles. And as you turn there, we’ve been getting the foundational habits of how to study the Bible the last few weeks, so we know that once we have a translation that we can understand, we want to learn about the CONTEXT, the details AROUND the text we’re reading so that we can understand it and apply it better.

This story we’re about to read finds Jesus and his disciples in a town called Bethany, just two miles outside of Jerusalem in the week leading up to the Passover feast where Jesus is going to be betrayed and arrested and crucified.

And our little story we’re about to read takes place right in the middle of a setting of opposition, misunderstanding, and Jesus’ impending suffering. Because chapter 14 begins with the chief priests and the scribes — the Jewish religious leaders — plotting to kill Jesus.

And then right after the story we’re about to read, one of Jesus’ closest followers, Judas, will go to that group and agree to betray Jesus into their hands so they can arrest him.

Even though Jesus has performed incredible miracles to prove that he’s sent by God. Even though he’s been teaching thousands and thousands of people about what it means to live with God as your king. Even though he’s cared for people that others would ignore, they are threatened by him and worried that the WAY he’s acting will cause more trouble with the Roman occupation.

And so if you’ve ever felt misunderstood, or unseen, or underappreciated, I think you’re going to get a lot out of our passage. Let’s read together Mark 14:3-9…

[Mark 14:3-9]

[Mark 14:3]

Now, a version of this story appears in all four of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And each one gives a slightly different perspective on the story. Mark tells us that this takes place at a dinner party that Jesus has been invited to at the house of a guy named Simon the Leper. Maybe the guy used to have leprosy, maybe Jesus healed him, we don’t know.

But he lives in Bethany, which is right outside Jerusalem, and John’s gospel reminds us that this is where Lazarus, Mary, and Martha live. In fact, John tells us that it was actually Mary who broke the jar and anointed Jesus.

But Mark doesn’t name her. Some scholars think that’s because of the time that Mark and John each wrote their biographies of Jesus. Mark wrote his first, only a couple decades after Jesus was crucified and rose again. And one of the main reasons that the Jewish leadership wanted Jesus dealt with was because he had raised Lazarus from the dead.

So some scholars think that Mark kept the people anonymous because he didn’t want to risk them being put in danger.

John, on the other hand, wrote his gospel maybe as late as 60 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, so maybe he’s able to be a bit more free with the identities because they had all passed away or wouldn’t be in danger anymore for being connected with the Jesus movement.

But in any case, we just read it: Jesus is at a dinner party, and a woman shows up with what seems like an unscripted move. One gospel writer said she was crying and overwhelmed. And she has a jar of expensive perfume.

It’s described as nard, which is an extract from India, and it’s in a decorative alabaster jar. And it’s valued at 300 denarii, which would have been a daily wage. So it’s about a year’s salary worth.

To put that in even a different perspective, earlier in Mark when Jesus feeds the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread…you remember that? His disciples look at the size of the crowd and say that it would take 200 denarii to feed that many people.

So this lady has an incredibly valuable jar of perfume that was probably a family heirloom, passed down from mother to daughter and mother to daughter.

And then she BREAKS the jar open. As in, she’s not just giving Jesus a little. She’s not trying to save some for herself later.

This is a precious part of this woman’s life, maybe given to her as a part of celebrating her marriage, or to keep as a life-savings…and she BREAKS it open so that she can pour it over Jesus’ head.

We’ll get to the significance of why she did that in a second, but first I just want to sit with the fact that this woman gave to Jesus something that was precious to her, valuable to her. And the completeness of her sacrifice is also something worth noting.

When was the last time you saw someone care for someone else in a way that was a COMPLETE sacrifice? You’ve actually probably seen it more than once, and it was probably a mom that you saw, giving in a way that showed no concern for themselves, and all concern and care for the other.

Moms aren’t perfect, and no mom loves perfectly all the time, but we see sacrificial love like this when a mom is up at midnight taking care of their family. We see it when a mom makes sure everyone has a full plate before getting themselves food.

We see it when a mom sits in the car during practice for two hours, just so her kid knows she’s there.

We see it when a mom spends all day planning a birthday party she won’t be in a single photo for.

We see it when a mom lets her body be stretched, her schedule interrupted, her dreams re-routed—so someone else can thrive.

Sacrificial love is a beautiful thing to witness…but it’s not always understood or received well.

[Mark 14:4-5]

Because some of those watching, most likely the disciples, didn’t think it was the right thing for her to do.

Why did she open it? Why did she use it? Why did she use it all up on Jesus? It could’ve been sold, and the money could have been used to support the poor.

It could’ve been used BETTER. We could have come up with better options. But she broke the jar, she used up ALL the perfume. There’s none left that can be used for something else.

And the word that cuts through the room like a cold wind is flung out: “what a WASTE.” …such a waste.

Have you ever tried to do something for someone, and you were completely misunderstood?

It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, young or old… ALL of us have been misunderstood before. Maybe it was because we didn’t know how to properly explain ourselves. Maybe it was because it didn’t turn out the way we intended.

But when you GIVE…and they judge you for it? Because they don’t SEE the reasons why…they don’t SEE the heart that was behind it? They don’t SEE what you’re carrying on the inside…all they see is something they have called a WASTE.

But Jesus sees. He sees the woman. Not just the act, not just the way she’s existing in the room… he sees HER. And he leaps in to defend her.

[Mark 14:6]

“Leave her alone. Why are you getting on her case? She’s done something for ME…”

Jesus leaps in because he sees beyond just the outward signs. He sees her heart, and he even sees her ROLE as a prophetic one for his journey. Remember, I said we’d get back to WHY she anointed him with the oil? It’s something really cool that I didn’t notice the first time I read this passage, but we can’t get there yet because I’ve got to mention one more thing about how the others viewed what she was doing as a waste.

Because maybe you read that part, and you related with the woman because you’ve been misunderstood before. Maybe you’ve been judged before.

But I think that we ALL can relate with the others who are judging her, can’t we?

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Because they look at her extravagant giving of the oil and they think, “Wait a minute! She’s not following the RULES! We’re about to celebrate Passover, and we SHOULD be giving to the poor.”

They were so focused on the TRADITIONS of their festivals and forms of worship that they jumped to judgment. And I wonder if there’s something to learn for us.

Maybe we’ve disapproved of how someone was dressed in church before? Maybe we’ve gotten frustrated at the noise of a child at a church gathering.

Maybe we’ve gotten uncomfortable when someone who is near us is clearly NOT following the “rules”!

Don’t they know how distracting they are? Don’t they see that’s NOT what we’re supposed to be doing right now?

…It’s happened to me, if I can be honest. I’ve gotten focused on others and really made some harsh judgments in my heart before.

But then I’m reminded that I can’t see THEIR heart. So am I really the best judge of how others are SUPPOSED to connect with God? Or am I too focused on how others are acting and I’m really just insecure about how I’m acting…or not acting…that I’m more focused on THEM instead of Jesus?

[Mark 14:6-8]

But Jesus SEES her. And he defends her. And he explains what she’s doing, even though I’m not sure SHE knew the full purpose until he explained it!

“She has done a BEAUTIFUL thing for me.” keep reading to verse 7

V7] “The poor you will always have with you.”

As in, caring for the poor is great and amazing, and you should definitely do it. But Jesus is making a point about TIMING. The TIME to care for the poor is all the time. But the TIME when this woman could participate in Jesus’ story was now. Keep reading to verse 8

V8] “She did what she COULD.”

She wanted to honor me and show me love and worship. And she did. But she didn’t even understand why it was exactly what was needed. Because Jesus says that her anointing oil was not only similar to OT prophets who anointed KINGS with oil, but her oil was preparing his body for burial.

Because Jesus was about to prove he is KING of all creation, yes. But his crown would be painful, and his throne would be the grave.

And his disciples didn’t understand it then. The woman didn’t understand it then. But her misunderstood act of worship was SEEN by Jesus, and he called it BEAUTIFUL because it was her way of honoring him and the brutal path to victory he was about to take.

Her act of worship wasn’t beautiful because it was correct in her understanding of theology. I doubt she understood that she was anointing him king and preparing him for his burial.

No, he didn’t applaud her proper theology. He defended her and highlighted her loving ACTIONS as “beautiful” acts of worship.

[Matthew 25:37-40]

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that their loving acts of care and compassion for others are actually acts of worship towards him. He lists all the ways that they could help a hungry person, or be kind to a stranger and show hospitality, or visit a sick person or a prisoner…and then he says, “Whatever you did for the least of these…you did for me.”

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Every act of love and compassion towards others can actually become an act of worship. And Jesus sees your heart. So every time you…

Get up at 2am with a sick kid…

Speak encouragement into someone else’s life….

Forgive your spouse…again…

Volunteer when you’re already pretty stretched…

Give when no one sees…

Jesus sees it. And he calls it beautiful. Because true worship isn’t about being seen or understood or validated by others.

It’s about being known by Jesus.

[v9]

And look at how Jesus points out that her acts of devotion and worship actually create a legacy that lives on: “wherever the GOSPEL is preached throughout the world…what she has done will also be told.”

That’s legacy. She didn’t know she was preparing Jesus for burial. She didn’t know her story would inspire millions of people for thousands of years.

She just gave what she could — in LOVE — and Jesus multiplied it. Because he always multiplies what we bring to him in love and makes it so much more than we could imagine.

And this is true for everyone listening right now: You might never know the impact of your love towards others. But God is building something eternal through your faithfulness.

Our days aren’t filled with “just”s. It’s not JUST parenting or JUST serving or JUST showing up for our friends and family.

When it’s done in love, it can become an act of worship, an act of faithful devotion to our king. And then it’s not JUST anything… it’s powerful. It’s seen by Jesus.

And it’s remembered. Because worship is never wasted.

[ref questions]

So what is God saying to you today? How is he inviting you to follow him this week? If you’re okay with it, I’d like to give you a suggestion.

This week, live like what you do matters to Jesus — because it does!

This week, show LOVE to others as if the way you do it matters to Jesus — because it does! It makes an impact!

And Jesus doesn’t think that the only acceptable forms of worship are uninterrupted Bible study, or serving on Sundays, or singing in church.

No, he’s inviting you to reframe your everyday acts of love, like parenting, caregiving, praying, encouraging — as WORSHIP.

Because when it’s done out of love for Jesus, even our ordinary acts of love towards others become eternal.

That hard season you’re going through? That can be an offering poured out to Jesus.

That underlying prayer that you keep up as you just go through life? That’s a life-line to Jesus and his mission he wants to work through you.

That woman you know who feels unseen? You can speak words of LIFE to her.

Because Jesus sees her — Jesus sees YOU.

He sees that deep love and effort you pour out. And he calls it beautiful. And it’s never a waste.

Our King Jesus has conquered the grave and won abundant, eternal LIFE for us, so we GET to join our acts of love with his ultimate act of love, giving worship to God and joining him in restoring the people and world around us.

Because of Jesus, you have value. Now rise up and live it! Isn’t that good news?