John 12 verses 1 to 8.

John 12 verses 1 to 8.

I think today’s gospel reading from John is primarily about worship. We see Mary the sister of Lazarus – who was raised from the dead – expressing what she feels in her heart for Jesus.

In short she worships Him. She recognises him as God and falls at his feet and anoints them with an expensive oil. This action expresses her deep love for and devotion to Jesus.

And by looking at this act of Mary we can pick up some pointers ourselves about how we too should worship God.

First of all though I think we need to try and define what worship is.

I was looking at lots of definitions of worship and one that I liked was that to worship God is to acknowledge his worth in acts of praise as well as in our daily lives.

So before we can worship God we need to have some appreciation of his worth to us. We need to believe in our hearts that he is worthy of our praise.

Our worship is therefore a response to what God has done for us and an expression of what He means to us.

And worship isn’t just something we do on Sundays. It’s not just singing to God or taking communion.

Genuine worship involves our entire relationship with God and it should spring from a life that is lived in obedience to Him, as a follower of Christ.

The ritual of worship alone is not enough. It is our heart attitude to God that is important.

We shouldn’t be worshippers who sing His praise on a Sunday, but then ignore Him for the rest of the week.

If we are going to offer genuine praise and worship to God – then we should demonstrate it by the lives we lead – lives that honour Him and are fruitful.

A son or daughter may give their parent a mother or father’s day card expressing their love but then ignore them for most of the year.

On the other hand a child may give a card to their parent expressing a love that is obvious because they demonstrate that love by their actions and regular contact.

So let’s look at Mary’s act of worship.

The first thing we notice is that Mary’s act of worship is completely uninhibited.

Her love of God and her desire to worship him is stronger than any feelings of embarrassment she may have, and the focus of her attention is on Jesus - not on the looks of other people who are present.

Of course being British we can often feel embarrassed about expressing any sort of emotion – especially publicly, but ideally we should be free to express our worship to God in a way that feels appropriate.

We are made of body, soul and spirit and as far as God is concerned it is OK for us to express our worship physically – with our bodies as well as with our voices.

So, for instance during a worship song that means something to us, we may want to open our arms towards God or perhaps to kneel in reverence before Him, or just to sit quietly rather than to sing.

Now this may seem a bit alien to some of you, but if these actions helps us to express what we are feeling in our heart towards God they are perfectly natural and normal.

If you’ve been away for a while and you come home and meet a loved one it’s perfectly natural and normal to throw your arms round them and give them a hug or a kiss, because you’re pleased to see them.

If you just walked up to them and said I’m really pleased to see you but kept your arms at your side – they might be a bit surprised.

I used to dislike it when I saw Christians worshipping God with raised arms but God showed me that our bodies are an integral part of who we are, and that by shutting ourselves off physically when we worship we can actually also shut ourselves off emotionally and spiritually.

A flower that is closed cannot receive the sunlight. But a flower that is open can drink in the sun’s rays and reflect beauty.

Mary’s worship is free and uninhibited. She doesn’t just go up to Jesus and shake his hand and say thankyou so much. She kneels at his feet and wipes them with her hair.

She’s not afraid to express with her body what is going on in her heart.

Now I appreciate that we are a traditional village church but I’d encourage you to try and let go of your embarrassment when you are worshipping.

Focus on God and what He means to you more than on what your neighbour may think if your worship appears animated or emotional.

Close your eyes so that you can concentrate on God and try opening your arms just a little to express your worship.

Simply opening your hands out to Him like this can allow worship to flow out of you, and you may discover a new freedom and power to your worship.

The same type of freedom to express ourselves applies to our prayer lives, which are another aspect of our worship.

We are told by the writer to the Hebrews that during the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

Again being British we can tend to keep a stiff upper lip when we are alone in our rooms praying to God.

God however wants to relate to what we are really feeling – whether it’s hurt or anger or a real passion for some individual or cause.

By suppressing what we’re feeling we can suppress the prayer in our heart.

It’s better to follow Jesus’ example and to let your tears or cries come before God and to express any deep feeling or emotion that is in your heart.

Mary also isn’t afraid to express what she feels for God in front of her family and friends.

I went to the funeral of a Christian lady a few weeks ago. She was a cousin and her daughter – who is also a Christian, wanted the service to be a celebration of her life.

We sung a worship song which I particularly liked but I didn’t hold out my hands to worship God as I was sitting next to some other cousins who I knew weren’t Christians and I felt inhibited and slightly embarrassed to express the worship that I was feeling in my heart.

I think being British we have a natural tendency to shy away from anything that we think others might view as odd or strange but perhaps we can learn something from Mary’s example here, and not be afraid to let our friends and neighbours know that we are Christians.

The next point we notice is that Mary’s worship involves giving Jesus a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard.

We are told that the monetary value of this perfume is 300 denarii. The average worker at that time was paid about 1 denarii a day, so this was worth about a year’s wages.

The point is though that Mary gladly gives Jesus this extravagant gift. Again, in her eyes he is worth it.

And if we believe that God is worthy of our worship, part of this should be expressed by our giving.

We should give generously to Christian causes or organisations that we believe are worth supporting.

By giving to God and to Christian work, we show Him honour. Psalm 50 says "Whoever sacrifices a thank offering honours Me."

Paul tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians that each of us should give what we have decided to in our hearts, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver

Some Christians aim to tithe which is to give approximately ten per cent of their income to God. Some give more than this and some less.

Really it’s between us and God. The point is though that we should give with a generous heart attitude that expresses thanks to God for what He has given us – and because we want to bless some project or organisation that we believe will use the money wisely for a good cause.

For instance if you regularly attend this church, you should be contributing something towards its running costs.

Perhaps the most important aspect of Mary’s act of worship is that it is rooted in her life as a follower of Christ.

Luke tells us of another occasion when Jesus visited Mary and her sister Martha. While Martha was pre-occupied with getting the dinner ready, Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to his teaching.

Martha was a bit cross and told Jesus that her sister should be helping her get the food ready but Jesus said that Mary had chosen what was better.

Mary worshipped Jesus in her daily life and this act of devotion sprang from this daily worship.

Our worship of God should also involve every day of our lives – not just Sundays.

There has been a L’Oreal cosmetics advertisement on telly recently with the catch-line ‘because you’re worth it.’

And this should be our attitude towards worshipping God.

As Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians, we should make it our goal to please Him in our lives and we do this because He’s worth it.

In practical terms this means we should aim to have a daily quiet time with God - a time we put aside to be alone with Him, to wait on him and to pray for others – because He wants us to and because He’s worth it.

We should be regularly reading the bible and seeking to grow in our understanding of God’s word – because He wants us to and because He’s worth it.

And we should be meeting together to study his word with others and to pray, because He wants us to and because He’s worth it.

These things are all integral parts of being a Christian – someone who follows Christ, and should be part of the expression of our worship.

Often we may not feel like going up to our room to pray or putting aside time to read our bibles or going to a study group or prayer meeting when it’s cold or wet - but these are things we choose to do because we know that God wants us to do them and because we believe that He is worth it.

John tells us in his first letter that the way we express our love for God is by being obedient to his commandments. So by doing these things we express our love for God.

Above all of course we should be seeking to serve Him in our lives in whatever way we feel He is asking us.

Then our church going will be much more than just a weekly ritual and our worship will be heartfelt and pleasing to God.

I’ll conclude with some words from Paul’s letter to the Romans; Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

In the name of the living God Amen.