Broken And Poured Out

The house was filled with the fragrance.

John 12:3

In the days leading up to the Crucifixion, we find Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, pouring out a costly anointing on the body of Jesus. She poured out perfumed ointment on his feet as an act of worship and gratitude and adoration. The perfume she poured out was the outward expression of her pouring out her heart at his feet.

This perfume had been meant for her. It was to beautify her, to call attention to her. It was extravagant, and a woman who owned such a perfume would consider carefully how she used it. Mary chose to use all of it as an offering to Jesus.

Many years ago, something very unfair happened to me in the course of ministry. Someone I trusted reneged on a promise and left me in a difficult position. I was furious and offended and indignant. I was ready to walk away to preserve my dignity and guard my pride. As I fumed and readied my exit, the Lord insistently pulled me aside and impressed my heart with this question: Jennifer, what’s the problem?

“Well, Lord, I’ve been treated as if I were nothing.”

Jennifer, how often do you say to me, “Lord, I’m nothing, and you’re everything”? Would you be willing to be nothing for my sake? If you will minister right now in the midst of your hurt, it will be a costly anointing poured out on the body of Christ. It will cost you something you had held in reserve for yourself. But the aroma of your act of worship will fill this place.

I still cherish that moment when the Lord allowed me to be nothing for him.

Is the Lord calling you to offer a costly anointing? Is there someone who doesn’t give you the proper respect? Is there a situation in which you don’t get the credit you feel you deserve? Would you pour out a blessing on the body of Christ because you love the one who poured out everything—even his blood—for you?

Lord, take me at my word. I am nothing, and you are everything.

When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer(1906–1945), German pastor, theologian, and author