What is waste? - Audio

On his last trip to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled through the town of Bethany where he stopped to have a meal at his friend's home. In this familiar story, Mary anoints Jesus with ointment from the alabaster box. The disciples were outraged because of the cost of her sacrifice. If anyone should have appreciated what was being done, it should have been the disciples. But instead of applauding what she did, they looked at her with indignation and questioned "why was this wasted." To them it appeared to be a careless waste of a precious commodity. They said that it could have been sold for great value. Bro. Hughes proclaims that Mary knew well the value of that box. The disciples regarded it as waste, but Jesus admonished them and applauded her for her actions. He said that it would be remembered as a memorial and that She "did what she could." In this story, Jesus says that he is more interested in what she did than what she COULD do. It is better to have a church filled with people doing what they can, rather than talking about what could be done! She did more than she knew on that occasion. She was not absorbed int he present, she was preparing Him for what was to come. Preparing for the future is not a waste of time. Mary's act was selfless. Had she been concerned about the value of the box or it's contents, she would not have done it. She decided that He was worth it all. By breaking the box, she insured that it would never be used for any lesser purpose. In breaking the box, she was declaring that she was not holding back but giving all. Waste is not in what is given, waste is what is not given. All of the ointment went out and she satisfied the Lord with her giving. We need to give all to Him. Rather than loaning our services to God and counting the cost of what we give, we should do as Mary and give all to Him. We must stop measuring out what we give to God, we must give all. Pour it all out. The disciples criticism of Mary began with one man, but soon spread to the others. The real waste was not in Mary, but in Judas. The real waste was not in what she had poured out, the real waste was what the others held back and did not pour out. A waste is being blessed and not being a blessing to others. A waste is having to measure all we do to ensure that we do not do too much. A waste is someone who has a talent that they do not use. There is never a waste in the giving, but the true waste is in the withholding. Waste is when we have a gift to give, but we do not give it to God. A waste is when we only see the price, but not the value of what we do. The very reason many people cannot live for God is because they are always counting the cost of that life. What is waste? Not giving to Him is the real waste.