There Is No Waste in Worship

Matthew 26 places Jesus in Bethany, at Simon the leper’s house, with Calvary getting closer by the minute. Mary comes into that room with an alabaster box of very precious ointment and pours it on the head of Jesus. Mary is not trying to draw attention to herself. Mary is simply giving worship to the One who had been there when she needed Him most.

Mary’s life keeps bringing her to the feet of Jesus. Mary sat at His feet to hear His words. Mary fell at His feet in grief when Lazarus died. Mary now comes to honor Him, minister to Him, and worship Him. The disciples see what Mary calls worship and call it waste. The disciples look at a year’s wages poured out and say, “What a loss.” Jesus looks at the very same offering and says, “She hath wrought a good work upon me.”

The recipient makes all the difference. The ointment would have been wasted on John, Peter, or any other disciple, no matter how great they were. Jesus is the only One worthy of that kind of praise, sacrifice, time, treasure, effort, and love. Worship becomes waste when people sing, serve, give, or labor for the approval of people. Worship is never waste when Jesus is the object of it all.

The costly ointment also shows that worship requires effort. Mary had worked for what she brought. Mary bought it, kept it, carried it, broke the box, and poured it out. Worship cannot live on a consumer mentality that comes to get something while refusing to offer anything. Jesus deserves the very best, not whatever is left over after every tree stand, racetrack, ball field, and other pursuit has taken its share.

Mary also understands the urgency of the moment. Jesus says, “Me ye have not always.” Mary does what she can while she can. Time, health, strength, resources, and opportunity do not stay the same forever. The box in a believer’s hand may be time, ability, money, strength, or life itself, but the opportunity to break it belongs to today.

The ointment remains even through the suffering of Calvary. Jesus is beaten, spat upon, and nailed to a cross, yet the worship poured upon Him is not erased by the dark moments. Jesus still smells like a King. Mary’s act remains beyond the burial because Christ promises that wherever the gospel is preached, her worship will be remembered. A life will be remembered for something, and worship offered to Jesus is never a waste.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Jesus is worthy of the box [00:40:21] The value of worship rests in its recipient, not in the size of the offering. Time, talents, money, and sacrifice can all become empty when offered for human approval. Jesus turns what others call a loss into a good work when He alone receives the glory. [40:21]
• 2. Worship requires more than showing up [00:53:32] Mary’s worship had work behind it long before the box was broken. Worship is not merely waiting to feel something or expecting others to carry the whole load. A heart that comes to give Christ glory finds that effort is not wasted labor. [53:32]
• 3. Break the box while able [01:05:14] Strength, health, voice, resources, and time are not promised to remain. Mary saw that Jesus would not always be physically present, so she did what she could in that moment. The opportunity to honor Christ should not be held back for a future season that may never come. [1:05:14]
• 4. Dark days cannot erase worship [01:10:36] The suffering of Calvary did not cancel the fragrance Mary poured on Jesus. Pain, loss, and hard seasons do not make former faithfulness meaningless. Worship given to Christ remains real, vibrant, and precious even when life becomes dark. [1:10:36]
• 5. A life is remembered by its worship [01:12:05] Jesus made Mary’s broken box a memorial wherever the gospel goes. Faithful worship leaves a mark in the memories of those who have watched it. The clearest legacy is not personal achievement but a life that made much of Jesus.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [31:05] - Scripture Reading: Matthew 26
• [32:01] - There Is No Waste in Worship
• [34:24] - Jesus at Bethany With Mary
• [36:51] - Worship Seen as Waste
• [39:24] - The Recipient of Worship
• [41:56] - The Price of the Ointment
• [45:18] - Jesus, the Anointed King
• [49:22] - Worship Requires Effort
• [56:51] - Worship With Urgency
• [1:03:58] - Do All You Can While You Can
• [1:07:30] - Worship That Remains
• [1:08:59] - Jesus Smelled Like a King
• [1:11:38] - A Lasting Memorial of Worship
• [1:13:47] - Have You Broken Your Box?
• [1:21:33] - Give Your Heart to Jesus

Bible Reading

Matthew 26:6-13

Verse 6: “Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,” [32:14]

Verse 7: “a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.” [32:19]

Verse 8: “And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste?’” [32:29]

Verse 9: “For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” [32:38]

Verse 10: “But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.’” [32:43]

Verse 11: “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” [32:52]

Verse 12: “In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.” [32:57]

Verse 13: “Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” [33:04]

John 12:1-8

Verse 1: “Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.” [36:51]

Verse 2: “So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.” [36:51]

Verse 3: “Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” [36:51]

Verse 4: “But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,” [36:51]

Verse 5: “‘Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’” [36:51]

Verse 6: “He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.” [36:51]

Verse 7: “Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.’” [36:51]

Verse 8: “For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” [36:51]

Luke 10:38-42

Verse 38: “Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.” [36:05]

Verse 39: “And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.” [36:10]

Verse 40: “But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’” [36:10]

Verse 41: “But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,” [36:17]

Verse 42: “but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’” [36:17]

Observation questions

1. What different responses do Mary, the disciples, and Jesus have to the same costly ointment in Matthew 26:7-10? [37:13]
2. According to John 12:3, what filled the house after Mary anointed Jesus, and what does that detail show about how visible her act of worship was?
3. What repeated pattern can be seen in Mary’s life through Luke 10, John 11, and John 12—especially in the way she comes to Jesus in learning, grief, and worship? [36:05]
4. What reasons does Jesus give in Matthew 26:10-13 for defending Mary and calling her offering a beautiful thing?

Interpretation questions

1. Why does the recipient of Mary’s offering make the difference between “waste” and “a beautiful thing”? What does this show about the worthiness of Jesus? [39:24]
2. The disciples spoke about helping the poor, but John 12 reveals that Judas’s words were not sincere. How can a person use a good-sounding reason to hide an unwillingness to honor Jesus fully?
3. Jesus says Mary prepared Him for burial and that the opportunity to minister to Him in this way would not remain. What does this teach about recognizing God-given opportunities before they pass? [57:36]
4. Jesus promises that Mary’s act will be remembered wherever the gospel is preached. In what ways can faithful worship leave a lasting witness even when the person offering it receives little attention at the time? [01:11:38]

Application questions

1. What is in your “box” right now—time, strength, money, ability, encouragement, service, or something else? Is there an area you have been holding back because you feared it would cost too much? [01:14:45]
2. It is possible to sing, serve, give, or labor mainly for the approval of people. When you examine your own motives, where are you most tempted to seek recognition rather than to make Jesus the object of your worship? [40:44]
3. Worship calls believers not merely to show up wanting to receive, but to come ready to offer Christ their best. What practical preparation could help you come ready to give Him glory each week? [54:18]
4. What good thing for Christ have you delayed because you assumed there would be more time, more health, more money, or a more convenient season? What faithful step could you take this week while you are able? [01:07:12]
5. Dark days do not erase worship already offered to Jesus. How does that truth encourage you when hardship, disappointment, or loss makes past faithfulness seem small or forgotten? [01:10:36]
6. A life will be remembered for something. What kind of worshipful legacy do you hope your family, church, and friends will remember—not for your own praise, but so that Jesus is made much of? [01:13:21]