Do What You Can

Shortly before Jesus was arrested and crucified, He and his disciples gathered in Bethany for a meal.  During the meal, Mark 14 explains how a woman anointed Him with very expensive perfumed oil with an estimated value of a year's wages.  Good perfume is always expensive, but usually not that expensive.   Because perfume is valuable the use of it is for special occasions so it will last awhile.  When this woman simply poured out the entire contents of the perfume on Jesus in a moment, it is not surprising they viewed this as a gross waste.  They began to criticise the woman and murmured about how much it was worth.  Instead of wasting it, why not sell it and help the poor?

Jesus didn't see it their way. Mark 14:6-9 reads, "But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. ⁷ For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. ⁸ She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. ⁹ Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Jesus knew His remaining time on earth was short and acknowledged the good work the woman did, a sacrifice He is worthy to receive.  There would always be opportunities for His disciples to do good to the poor, but this notable act this woman did was legendary.  She anointed Christ for His burial, and her gracious gift would never be forgotten.

One thing Jesus said rings in my ears as it relates to my life:  "She has done what she could."  She was willing to do what others refused to consider.  They could have poured out expensive oil on Jesus, but they wouldn't.  They couldn't justify the apparent waste of perfume, even if poured out on Jesus.  It is like this woman realised who Jesus was because of all He had done for her, and she knew He wasn't done.  He had forgiven her many sins, and He would go on to shed His blood for the sins of the world.  Because she was recognised the worthiness of Christ she did what she could for Him.  The question I am faced with is, do I do what I can for Jesus?  There are likely many things I can do I have never considered doing because I, like the disciples, do not value Jesus as I ought.  No matter how much we have done, it is likely there are things within our ability to do we have not done because we didn't see the value in it.  To obtain God's perspective we need to look upon Jesus and remember this woman's example of sacrifice.

As recipients of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have freely received amazing blessings from God.  We have been pardoned of our sin and made righteous through faith.  We have been made children of God and filled with the Holy Spirit.  We have been given everything which pertains to life and godliness.  We who have received so much ought to do what we can to meet needs of others for Christ's sake and go even further - to graciously bless them according to God's leading because we value our God and love our fellow man.  What a testimony, that God would say of you or me, "He has done what he could."  Is there any greater compliment from our Master and Saviour than this?

What Judgmental Words Say...About You

When we are judgmental of others, we can know we are guilty of the exact attributes we find offensive.  Romans 2:1 says, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things."  There is perhaps no better example of this in scripture than Eliab, David's oldest brother.

After David's three oldest brothers went to fight for King Saul, his father Jesse loaded David with food and commanded him to deliver it to the front lines.  Jesse told David to run to the camp where his brothers were and to see how they fared.  David was obedient to do so.  He was shocked when his discussion with his brothers was interrupted by Goliath of Gath who spoke boastfully against God.  He was dismayed when all the men of Israel (his brothers included!) fled from Goliath and refused to challenge him in battle.  Men of Israel quickly filled David in on how King Saul had promised wealth, his daughter in marriage, and tax-free status for their family.  Yet for 40 days, Goliath had come out daily to taunt Israel and reproach the living God.  David asked, "Who is this Philistine, that He should defy the armies of the living God?"

1 Samuel 17:28 states, "Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was aroused against David, and he said, "Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle."  Wow.  To say Eliab was sensitive is an understatement.  His mouth vomited hate.  Eliab questioned David's motive in coming to the battle.  He reminded him of his lowly status as a shepherd, tending a "few sheep in the wilderness."  He accused him of being proud and insolent (bad, wicked).  I love the response of David in 1 Samuel 17:29, for he resisted any urge to defend himself from this verbal barrage:  "And David said, "What have I done now? Is there not a cause?"  Eliab attacked David personally, but this assault only exposed his own wickedness.  He was the proud and wicked one, and he transferred his own faults to David.  His own sin negatively coloured his views of others.

In the previous chapter, David had been anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel.  I wonder if Eliab was still envious of the royal treatment extended to David!  If Samuel had his way, he would have anointed Eliab because of his handsome bearing.  1 Samuel 16:6-7 records Samuel's initial impression of Eliab:  "So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him." ⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  God had refused Eliab as king because of the wickedness in his heart, yet chose to anoint the youngest of Jesse's sons:  David, a humble shepherd, a man after God's own heart.  David was not perfect, but he loved, trusted, and believed God.  Through God he would do mighty feats, and one of the most notable was when he killed the Philistine champion with a sling and stone and won a great victory.

One takeaway from this passage is when a characteristic in someone prompts a negative emotional response in us, instead of criticising or questioning their motives we must first examine our own hearts.  Harsh judgment in us indicates we have sin which must be confessed and forsaken.  Once we repent of our own sin and walk uprightly, then we can see clearly to help others be restored.  Insightful Eliab was proud and afraid, unwilling to meet Goliath in battle.  Sin is a giant only slain by faith in God and humble repentance, and this is a fight to which all children of God are called and by His grace enabled to win.

God Pardons His People

"Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. ¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."

Micah 7:18-19

Have you ever considered how blessed we are the Almighty God is a forgiving One?  We have long memories when it concerns people who have wronged or wounded us.  It seems only death is able to part people from old grudges.  Long after the offender has gone to the grave, hatred and bitterness towards the person can remain.  God could rightly retain His anger forever, for He is eternal and righteous and we are crooked sinners.  But thanks be to God, for He fully pardons those who humble themselves before Him and repent.  To be pardoned is more than being forgiven, for the connection between the offender and the offence is wiped clean.  It is a proclamation of innocence concerning every charge.

Every honest person will admit they have made mistakes during their lives, "mistakes" which the Bible calls sin.  Even as there are natural laws observed in the world, there are spiritual ones.  On earth what goes up eventually comes down, and the soul that sins will surely die.  God, a righteous Judge, is angry with the wicked every day and will also judge the righteous - His people through faith (Psalm 7:11).  When God forgives us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we are born again, God fully pardons us from all sin.  He also passes over our transgressions, meaning our past sins are not held against us in our present relationship.  God does not burn with anger, hold a grudge, or throw our failures to obey in our face again as a reason to refuse our request, but chooses not to remember them (Isaiah 43:25).  That is a good example for us to follow as believers.

It is impossible for us to love as God does in our own strength.  We are chronically focused on self:  we aim for self-preservation, keep a record of wrongs, angle to insulate ourselves from future pain by maintaining distance, retain our anger, and justify our sinful refusal to pardon others because we are suspicious they will hurt us again.  God never says faith in people is the basis for us forgiving others, but we forgive because He has forgiven us.  God has never commanded us to trust people, but we must trust and obey Him.  God's nature is to pardon iniquity and pass over transgressions.  He is slow to anger and does not retain it "because He delights in mercy."  He removes the stain of sin far from us and relates to us going forward as if we have only done right.  God has compassion on the ones who sin against Him.  Can you show genuine compassion to the person you are angry with?

1 John 1:9 says concerning Christians who have sinned against God, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Isn't the grace of God wonderful?  As we have received, so ought we to freely give to others.  Is it in your nature to pardon iniquity and pass over faults?  It is not in my nature!  Yet since God is our Father, we are to be towards others as He is to us:  to delight in mercy and to have compassion on even those who offend.  With God's help let us pardon others and throw our grudges and burning anger into the depths of the sea.

Thoughts About "Silence"

I enjoy movies which prompt meaningful thought.  I found "Silence" directed by Marin Scorsese to be such a film, a story of young Jesuit priests seeking their mentor and the persecution of Christians in Japan in the 17th century (spoilers follow).  The slow pace of the film allows time for contemplation as the events of the film unfold.  Although the Jesuit faith has major doctrinal beliefs which differ from my own, I was impressed by the conviction and commitments made by the Portuguese missionaries as they ventured into a land largely hostile to foreign religion.  The Japanese Inquisitor compared Christianity to "the persistent love of an ugly and barren woman."  Christianity could not flourish in the swamp of Japan, it was said.

In the film, a Japanese Inquisitor tortured Jesuit padres and found it only emboldened their followers.  It was discovered the way to influence padres to cease their proselytising was to make them watch the suffering of the people they taught and loved.  Villagers were made to "trample" on an icon or spit on a crucifix, and if they refused they were made a public example of.  People were hung on crosses to be drowned at high tide, arrested, bound and thrown into the sea, decapitated, or even hung to slowly bleed over a pit.  The main character and priest in the film demanded a challenge of his faith of his captors, yet watching others suffer proved the hardest challenge of all.  Many times his tormentors said of trampling an icon, "It's only a formality."  They promised if he trampled it meant nothing except they would allow fellow adherents (albeit tramplers) to go free.

That line stuck with me long after the Blu-ray was replaced in its case:  "It's only a formality."  Much of the Jesuit practices displayed in the film were strictly that:  formality.  The people secreted and venerated objects as well as priests to perform rituals.  The people fed off the priests, gathering for mass, holy communion, baptism, absolution, and confession.  One thing which was noticeably absent in the movie was the Bible.  Not once do I recall any of the priests or people opening the scriptures and reading from them.  The priests were honoured by the people as God, but the priests proved powerless to deliver the people from their pains and were impotent to overcome their captors.  Giving in to the demands of their captors seemed the only way of salvation, but it proved to be bondage.  I wonder if the torment of openly denying the faith was worse than seeing people suffer for their faith.

What the movie asserts is true, that only God knows the heart.  A denial of a "religion" is not a denial of Christ Himself.  To tread on a religious icon to denounce a sect is not blasphemy, but to deny Christ is.  Jesus said those who seek to save their lives will lose them (Luke 17:33), and those who deny Jesus before men He will deny before the Father (Matthew 10:33).  We also remember Peter on one occasion denied Jesus three times, but was later restored by Jesus.  Peter clearly was repentant for his error, and the rest of his life was marked as a faithful witness and disciple of Jesus Christ.  Relics and icons are nothing in themselves, and God is not disgraced if we trample.  At the same time if we deny Christ to save ourselves or others present pain, we do God no service.  Wasn't Jesus permitted to suffer according to the will of the Father?  Because the servant is not above the master, Peter wrote to followers of Jesus in 1 Peter 4:19, "Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator."

I am blessed to say history is not on the side of the cruel Inquisitor who claimed Christianity could not grow in Japan.  I received an email from a young man a couple years ago who was once an exchange student hosted by our family when we lived in the States who told us he had become a Christian - in Japan!  It seems the efforts of those daring Portuguese padres that seemed useless have been fruitful as they spread the seed of the Gospel.  Even in a land opposed to Christ, the Light of the World has continued to shine.  God has spoken and continues to speak in His still, small voice.  Praise the LORD for His faithfulness and love, and He will justly trample down His enemies.