________________________________________________________________________

There are very few stories as touching as the story of which we read our text. Most people do not realize that there are two separate accounts of women pouring out precious ointment from alabaster boxes upon Jesus. We know that the accounts are separate because the first was Galilee during the second year of Jesus' public ministry and the incident that we read in our text is in the weeks before Jesus' death in the little town of Bethany which is close to Jerusalem in the south. The first woman who made her way to Jesus was a sinner, a woman of ill repute and "easy virtue," made her way to Jesus' feet as he sat dining with some Pharisees and began to pour out the expensive perfume anointing His feet as was custom when someone was welcomed into a home in those days of sandals. What the Pharisee had failed to do, God used a prostitute to perform and in doing so a tremendous lesson on praise and adoration was revealed to the pious Pharisees, basically, that God cares less about your lineage and sins of the past and more about whether or not you are willing to swallow your pride and welcome Jesus with proper adoration and love!

The second alabaster box incident was even more meaningful and precious because it was not a common sinner and stranger to our Lord that performed the act of worship but we learn from parallel accounts in the Gospels that it was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus who made her way to Jesus' feet and poured out the precious ointment. Just months earlier, Lazarus had been dead for four days until Jesus resurrected him from the grave. We find in Mary a sensitivity to the things of the Spirit that was not found in her siblings. One text records that Martha served, Lazarus sat, and Mary was at Jesus' feet. Mary was a part of the women who first discovered Jesus' empty graveside and went to tell Peter and John who did not go until they heard the testimony of the ladies. We tend to elevate Mary perhaps above her siblings, perhaps too much, because really we need Marys and Marthas and Lazaruses in the church. One is not really greater than another, and all must strive to have a balance. We need Marthas who are willing to work around the church and serve their fellow brothers and sisters. Without them, nothing would be done. We need Mary's who are willing to sit and patiently listen and soak in the teaching and preaching of the Word of God. We need Lazaruses who will take the time to sit at the Master's Table and dine and sup with Him. Yet each person needs to work on becoming more like the others.

Despite all of that, there was something in Mary that is to be admired and even emulated within our lives. The alabaster box mentioned here was a common practice of the women of the time. It was a small ivory container, very similar to a large bottle with a seal upon a narrower neck. Within it we learn that Mary had stored extremely valuable ointment or perfume. The custom of the day was for women to earn such a store to be saved for the day of their wedding and then another for the day of their death. Once the box was broken, it had to be completely used. When Mary brought her box to Jesus, we do not know if it was the box for her wedding one day or for her funeral. But her act of worship was very sacrificial because the Bible mentions how pure and "precious" the ointment was. No doubt she had saved her entire life to purchase such a prize.

Because of the preciousness of her actions, many people have used this story to represent many things. The most obvious connection is to our worship. Obviously our worship is most precious to God when it costs us something. Our praise and adoration is most appreciated by God when, like Mary's, it comes from a broken vessel, humble before His presence. Just as the ointment had to be completely used or go to waste, so must we give all in our worship to truly give God all that He deserves. And like Mary, we must not care what others think about or might say about our worship, but must be willing to give everything in true praise and adoration to Jesus Christ! And like Mary, if we approach Him in such a way, we will not be turned away. Remember the next time we enter into a praise and worship session the story of Mary's alabaster box!

We could go on and on about the lessons of praise and worship to be learned from this terrific history, and indeed spend an entire sermon on just that aspect alone, but I want to point out another, perhaps even more significant, parallel of Mary's alabaster box. Realize that no doubt Mary had had the box and perfume for quite a while and that this was not the first time that she had worshipped Jesus or been in the same house with Him at a meal. What was it about this meal and this particular day that caused Mary to get beyond the normal worship and give the most precious thing to Jesus Christ? What did Mary understand that the others in the room did not? What was it that made this day special?

The answer is that Mary knew that Jesus Christ was about to die. She knew that this would be the last time that He would sit in a house with her and teach and be served their food and bless the home. She knew it was now or never, and so she put aside whatever might have been normal and gave everything to Him. In fact, when Judas Iscariot spoke up about how he thought that the ointment being poured out on Jesus was such a waste, Jesus responded by telling Judas, "the poor you have with you always, she has anointed me for my burial!" He went on to say "everywhere the gospel is preached, Mary will be forever mentioned as a memorial to her." The fact that we are still talking about her selfless act of worship 2,000 years later is proof that Jesus' prophecy has come true!

Understand what I am saying tonight. The disciples had all heard the same teaching that Mary had heard. They understood that Jesus was repeatedly telling them the He was going to Jerusalem to die, but they refused to believe it. Peter even tried to rebuke Jesus for saying such things. The disciples got so used to Jesus just being there, that the fact that time was ticking toward an eternal deadline did not really register. They were living for the moment, not realizing that the end of Jesus' life as they knew it was very close. I wonder how differently they would have acted toward Jesus, and what acts of worship and sacrifice they would have shown Him if they would have fully realized how short a time was left. But of all the followers and disciples, only Mary grasped the significance of the week and the visit, and only Mary made the great sacrifice while Jesus was still living.

The disciples would sleep through the prayers of Gethsemane and then when all the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, they would run and flee everyone of them. But the ladies did not flee, and in particular Mary stayed with Jesus the entire way. Could it be because of her sacrifice that she did not run? When you have invested everything into Jesus Christ, then there is nowhere else to go! Perhaps then it is a trait of people that walk away from truth that they have not truly sacrificed anything to serve Him!? Perhaps the reason that they can walk away so easily is that they have not really given up anything to serve Him? Maybe that's why God allows trials and tribulation and severe persecution to come in the first year of a believer's walk, because He knows that if this thing does not cost them anything, then it will mean nothing to them in the good times! When you have invested your blood, sweat, and tears into a church, then you cannot just walk away from it and so God understands a principle that you need to get the revelation of tonight: When you are pulling hair out because of the pressure and the stress and you wonder why you should even try to be faithful, remember that the storm is there to put something into you that what you have in Jesus Christ is worth more than anything! I cannot get offended and walk away. You can't preach it too hard for me preacher: I've got too much invested in this thing!

________________________________________________________________________

So the greatest significance of that little alabaster box is not praise and worship, and it is not a particular gift that we offer to God. To Mary that little box represented her entire life. It represented genuine work and trials. It was as if her entire life was within that box, and when she realized that Jesus was about to die, she poured out her life before Him: all her hopes and dreams and ambitions for a happy home and everything that she had saved for and worked so hard for, she willing gave to Him to prepare and honor Him for the ending of His life!

We get so caught up in everyday living that we forget about how precious our life really is. We get so caught up in the everyday ritual that we like the other disciples there tend to take it for granted that time will just go on and on, but time is the absolute most precious thing that we have to give. I don't want to depress you, but I do want you to realize the seriousness of the responsibility of each day that God has given to you. Why do we wait until we know that the end of our life is near to try to make things right with others? Why do we tend to start our good intentions on another day which is not promised to us!? And we can say, "well I'll really sell out to God one day." Or "I know what I need to do, but I'll get there one day." Or "I know I need to get this right with so and so or teach my kids about serving the Lord, and one day I'll get there." And yet we treat our time as if we have all of it in the world. The moment you began to breathe, your life slowly began to be poured out of this vessel. The hour that you just spent, can never be reclaimed and can never be brought back and what just happened, is forever recorded in eternity. You cannot change it. Did you really give God your best?

I found a poem this week which sort of hit home with me:

I have only just a minute.

Only sixty seconds in it.

Didn't seek it, didn't choose it.

But it's up to me to use it.

I must suffer if I lose it.

Give account if I abuse it.

Just a tiny little minute.

But eternity is in it!

James was preaching to the Early Christian church who were having major issues with each other and with prejudice and partiality and he wrote to them:

In other words, when you are arguing and holding grudges and causing strife, do you not realize just how precious your life is that you are wasting? Do you not realize that your life is but a vapor: here today and gone in just a little while!? I found another little comparison on time this week which compares the average lifespan to a normal work day just like the scripture do so many times:

If you are 15, it's 8:51 a.m.

'' 20, it's 11:08 a.m.

'' 25, it's 12:25 p.m.

'' 30, it's 1:25 p.m.

'' 35, it's 2:59 p.m.

'' 40, it's 4:16 p.m.

'' 45, it's 5:43 p.m.

'' 50, it's 6:50 p.m.

'' 60, it's 10:11 p.m.

'' 70, it's approaching midnight!

Life is too short to put off serving God with your whole heart today! In fact every person in scripture that did great and mighty things for God had a sense of urgency about them. John wrote about the coming of the Lord as if he expected at that time way back then. Paul used the term "redeeming the time" twice in his writings and was always talking about how short time was. In our other text, he wrote:

To "redeem" means to buy and exchange or literally to buy back from the power of another and to save from being lost. It's the same word that we used when we say that Jesus Christ "redeemed us" by paying the price for sins upon the cross. Paul said that we must redeem the time because the days are evil, in other words it's time to realize that our time is short and time is too short to live with differences with one another and with grudges against your brothers and sisters. Time is too short to not reach someone for God. Time is too short to be in a spiritually sleepy state where nothing can move us or stir us. Time is too short to walk as fools according to whatever we think is right rather than leaning on the Word of God. Time is too short not to focus on the perfect will of God. Time is too short to give ourselves to alcohol and other vices of this world and not stay full of the Spirit of God! Time is simply too short! We must redeem the time! It drove Paul that he knew that he only had a short time in which to work!

Time is short! Realize, parents that you better make a memory today because time is running out. Realize young people, that you will never be in this same place in your life again, you better make the most of the time that has been given you. Realize that as a family, time's too short to stay at odds with one another and to harbor unforgiveness, but also realize the spiritual side. Jesus said:

There ought to be an urgency that draws us closer to the house and Spirit of God! The night is coming when no man can work! If we are going to have revival, then we must have revival now. If we are going to have a move of God, then we need to start here tonight. If I'm going to be on fire for God, then I need to burn brightly today! If we are going to win somebody for God, then we must start praying and working now! We cannot afford to wait to get serious in January. We may not have January! Every time the doors are opened here, it is an important service, because it just might be the last. Every service might be the last service that someone will ever be in. We don't like to think that way, but we cannot allow ourselves to grow spiritually cold by fooling ourselves that we have all the time in the world! We do not have all the time in the world. We must work now while it is day because the time is coming when no man can work, and the lost will simply be lost. If we can't get a burden for lost people now, then we will never get one. We must redeem the time! Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do for God today: We need Him active right now!

Perhaps you are wondering what this has to do with Mary's little box. The dilemma is this. Your life is pouring out of you even as we speak. You will pour out your life on something. You have to pour it out on something because time stops for no one. So what will you choose to pour your life into?! What will you make the focus of your life. What will be the object of your affections? Choose carefully, because you life is the most precious gift that you have. Men should choose more wisely and carefully their course and causes because their life is the greatest thing that they have to give. It is costly because money cannot buy it. It is precious because you only get one chance and there are no do-overs. Realizing that, it ought to be fairly obvious that the only thing worth pouring such a precious gift upon is Jesus! There's not a lifestyle of this world that deserves my effort and attention and time as Jesus does! There's not a cause that is greater than the cause of His love! And remember, He as the perfect human being showed us the perfect example by giving His life and literally pouring out His life's blood for us -- even though He had no promise that we would ever serve Him!

I'm preaching to you tonight. What is it that you spend most of your time devoted to? What is it that is so important that you don't have time for God or for church or for prayer or for study? What is it that keeps you from having the time to witness and testify of His goodness? Whatever it is it cannot be worthy of such a precious gift of your life. As for me, I'll choose to pour my life out upon Jesus. I'll be glad when they say unto me "let us go into the house of the Lord." I'll spend my time getting closer to Him. I realize that even God knows that we needed recreation and God created us that way, but Americans are over "recreationalized." We chase pleasure even if it means putting God on the back burner. But really only He is worthy of the most precious gift that I can bring! Only He is worthy of my life being poured out before Him!

Maybe there are those onlookers who like those in the house with Mary, will scoff and say "what a waste." "What a waste of a precious life and time to go to church." "What a waste of energy to jump around in praise and worship." "What a waste of focus to be so studious of the scriptures." But let them say what they will, I'll learn the lesson of Mary: If I pour it out upon Jesus, then it will never be wasted! Even tonight her memorial grows as more people learn the beautiful lesson of her sacrifice: don't rebuke such a gift, but emulate and copy it! She poured out her life upon the only one who could save it! She understood that He was about to die, but she also understood that He was the resurrection! Not only had He resurrected her brother, but He had completely transformed and touched her life, and so she knew that in return only the best gift, the most precious thing that she had to offer would do. I must pour out my life upon Jesus Christ, because I owe Him so much!

________________________________________________________________________

To close this message, I want you to ask yourself the most important question that we have asked thus far: "How do I pour out my life upon Jesus Christ?" It's obvious that we must and that He is the only one deserving, but what does it mean to really pour out my life upon Jesus Christ? From the alabaster box of Mary, we realize that to pour your life out upon Jesus means that you:

1. Give Him all of it, not just a part!

If Mary would have tried to keep back part of the ointment for herself, it would quickly have spoiled and lost it's value and sweet aroma. Our lives are only pleasant to others when everything is completely given to Jesus Christ! You can't be half-hearted in this thing, because just like the Manna that fell from heaven, the part that you try to hoard to yourself will grow worms and stink! If you are to really pour your life upon Jesus Christ, then you must give Him everything!

2. Allow yourself to be broken!

The sweet ointment could not be released upon Jesus until the vessel that was holding it was broken before Him. Your gift of your life is of no value to the Master whatsoever until you allow your will to be broken before Him. Understand that when Mary broke that box, it would never be the same again. It could never go back to being what it once was. It would forever look and function differently because of what had happened to it that day!

The scriptures say that God will not turn away a "contrite spirit." In other words, He will not turn away someone who is humble before Him and allows their will to be broken by His will! But the same verse says that He resists the proud. You will get absolutely nothing by indignation through trials or self-reliance, and everything through humble obedience and patience through your ordeal. God is trying to break you so that He can use you. He cannot use you otherwise. And when you have been truly broken and began to pour out your life upon Jesus Christ, you will know it because you can never go back to what you once were. You can't just walk away unchanged. It forever alters everything about your life, to really pour it out upon Jesus Christ!

3. Don't stop because of what others might say.

If Mary would have listened to her critics, then she would have stopped her sacrifice long before it was completed! But the ones that were the loudest critics were those who were too selfish to pour their life out for Jesus Christ. Judas Iscariot didn't like the talk of that sacrifice stuff and dying on the cross and so he was getting out and trying to make a little profit at the same time. But what Judas didn't realize is that by refusing to pour out his life upon Jesus Christ, he was choosing to pour it out upon greed and money and regret. We know this because the scriptures says in the first chapter of Acts that he went and hanged himself and then fell over a cliff and his bowels gushed out from him. Judas poured his life out onto a broken pottery field that represented his life. That is why that you cannot listen to the critics of a holy lifestyle. You cannot afford to listen to the opinions of others. If they choose to pour their life into something other than Jesus Christ, so be it, but the only way to pour out your life and still have it, is to pour it upon Jesus! Because one day there is going to be a resurrection and the dead in Christ shall rise to meet Jesus Christ in the air, and Judas Iscariot is not going to make it, but a little lady named Mary will! Not only her, but the people who grasped the example that she gave and copied it: they will also be there in the air. That's why Jesus said that everyone who will save his life shall lose it and to everyone that loses his life for Christ's sake, they will save it! Only by dying out to Jesus Christ can we live forever!

________________________________________________________________________

I will choose to pour out my life upon Jesus! He is worthy of the best that I can give!