Am I Wasting My Life?

Scripture

8The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said. 9“It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”10But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me? 11You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. 12She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. 13I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” Matthew 26:8-13

Observation

This was Mary (Jn 12), the sister of Lazarus and Martha, who poured out this extravagant gift upon Jesus. What a waste this seemed, when the expensive perfume could have been sold and used for ministry. A years wages could have fed a lot of people in need. Yet, Jesus pointed out the pure and sincere devotion in this act of worship was for Him and Him alone. This was the confirmation He needed as He headed towards the cross. This beautiful gift stayed with Him all the way through the torture He was about to endure. He would have smelled this perfume as He travailed in The Garden. Judas would have smelled it as He betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Pontus Pilot would have smelled it as He turned Jesus over to be beaten. The Roman soldiers would have smelled it as Jesus carried His cross up to Golgotha. The two thieves on the Hill of Calvary would have smelled the perfume as one mocked and one believed. With His final breath as He surrendered His Spirit to The Father, His body wracked with pain, He would smell the scent of this wasteful gift. No wonder Jesus said this act of worship would be forever linked with the presentation of The Gospel.  It was a prophetic act of what Jesus Himself was doing for all mankind. A seeming waste of a life poured out bought all who would believe eternal life! Paul picks up on this theme when he writes to Timothy, “5But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. 6As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.” (2 Tim. 4:5-6)

Application

Aden and I had the privilege of staying with the Pagaragan family while in Tokyo for the Ohana Retreat. This beautiful family moved their lives to Japan as missionaries to bring the message of Jesus to a country where less than 1% are Christians. They use their home to teach gather Japanese students to teach them English. They will often then invite them to join their family at church on Sunday.  When they picked us up from the airport they shared that they had finally seen the first salvation of one of their students recently. After 10 years of ministry, pouring their lives out before Jesus, they celebrated this new disciple of Jesus. In fact, Aden and I had the joy of meeting him and praying with him. I have been in ministry for a long time. Many would look at that investment of time, energy, and resources with the same indignant disgust as the disciples did with Mary’s perfume.  Why would you spend 10 years to reach one soul? It challenged me to my core. Would I love Jesus enough to pour my life out for someone who may or may not ever come the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? If my ministry is simply about outcome and results the answer is no. If my ministry is to waste my life in the extravagant worship of Christ then, no matter what He asks me to do, the answer must be a resounding yes! My friend Jay Kaneshige has been ministering to native Japanese churches for the past 20 years to work on a succession plan and hand off to the next generation of churches. He describes it as the slow and steady work of “chopping down a tree that won’t fall in my life time.” This past trip to Japan, though, he was able to witness the young man he had been mentoring stepping in to his God-given gifts repeating, in his own tongue, the lessons Jay had been teaching him. Jay went on to say in grateful worship, “I’ve never seen it before in real time, hearing my questions being repeated almost exactly in that country. It was the Father literally saying, ‘it won’t fall while you are on earth but here’s a glimpse of why you are doing what you are doing.’ No other way to describe it. You have to imagine—I’ve never seen it happen before in over twenty years. But the long view for me is just to keep my eye on the ball and press on no matter what happens or doesn’t.  What a lesson, my friend.  That’s all I can say.  Just not my first choice given my DNA but I’m just the kid.’  This really encapsulates the heart of willingness to waste our lives as worshippers of Jesus. Most of what Jesus calls us to do most people will never see or celebrate. Yet, a life poured out to Jesus may seem like a waste here on earth, but it is celebrated in Heaven.

Nate Saint was the missionary pilot who flew Jim Eliot and 3 others on a mission trip to a remote tribe of natives in Ecuador, where all 5 of the missionaries ended up being killed by the tribe after they landed.   Before his death, he wrote these words:

“People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives … and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.”

Prayer

Jesus, You said, “He who wishes to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake, will find it.”  My life is truly a waste if I don’t waste it as a worship to You. I want to continue to spend my life in serving You rather my self.  I want to worship You regardless of the “results”. Forgive me for only being committed to ministry that fulfills my sense of worth through observable and celebrated outcomes. Wasting my life in serving You Lord is the only investment that will last forever.