Extravagant Worship

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him,so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house,she brought an alabaster jar of perfume,and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair,kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself,

“If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him

and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”         Luke 7:36-39

Extravagant Worship

from a heart of gratitude

While this woman was dripping expensive perfume over Jesus’ feet, the disciples were standing on the outskirts of the circle thinking, “Man, if this woman had donated that perfume, we could have used it to pay for some of the expenses we have incurred since hooking up with Jesus” (see Matthew 26:8–9). Her act was an act of extravagant worship.

      Since 1987, I have attempted to discover as much as possible about living a life of worship. I have looked for ways of stretching the worship experience I had on a Sunday morning into my daily life. I want to live as a daily worshipper of God. But not just as any worshipper of him … as an extravagant worshipper.

      I have attended conferences, seminars, and workshops that have given me the opportunity to experiment with and experience different ways of expressing my worship. I have searched for and found powerful, anointed songs by gifted musicians that have drawn me toward my goal of extending extravagant worship to Jesus—corporately and privately. I have discovered principles of daily living that have opened my heart to worship him within the simplicity of everyday occurrences. I have read valuable books and resources that have helped to broaden my perspectives on who God is and who I am before him. And yet, extravagant worship isn’t found in any of these things.

      Gathering knowledge and experience is very much a part of our humanness. We look for insight from experts. But there is no program or event that will guarantee an extravagant, responsive heart. There is no especially “anointed” song or “gifted” musician that can draw our hearts to change direction and devotion on a daily basis. There is no training program or conference that will arrest our lives and cause us to live as an extravagant offering to Jesus.

      Should we stop going to them, listening to them, reading them? Not at all. But as we search for God and look for ways of knowing him better, we have to come face-to-face with the reality that while all these things can be helpful in drawing out a hunger from deep within us, there is no “magical” seminar or experience that will change our hearts. Extravagant worship comes from something much simpler—yet much more complex.

      The woman who came to Jesus while he was eating at Simon the Pharisee’s house did not come as an invited guest. Frankly, I’m pretty sure Simon was appalled at her appearing at his home. The Pharisee had a certain stature in the community, and he did not want to be defiled by the wrong kind of company.

      When this woman came to the house, she risked everything. She wasn’t invited, and she didn’t even know if Jesus would welcome her or turn her away. She came with a gift that was precious to her. A gift that she felt was worthy of Jesus.

      We don’t know exactly who she was or why she sought out Jesus. We do know that the people at the dinner recognized her as a sinful woman. As a woman, she had little right to interrupt dinner between men. As a sinful woman, she had absolutely no place in Simon’s home. But we do know that she recognized her own sins and Jesus’ capacity to forgive them.

      The context of the passage implies that the people with Jesus were unsure if he knew she was sinful. Had he known she was sinful, Jesus would have pushed her away … they assumed. She stood behind Jesus, tears flowing freely. She understood her own sinfulness. She understood that she did not belong there in that room with these people. She knew she was unworthy. But still … there she was. As Jesus reclined at the table, she poured the expensive perfume over his feet and wiped them with her own hair.

      An extravagant act in anybody’s definition!

      Extravagant worship does not come from experience or practice or ritual. Extravagant worship comes from a heart of gratitude. Like this woman, the worshipper who worships with extravagance has come face-to-face with the depths of their sin and separation from their Savior, and yet, has experienced the amazing gift of forgiveness and cleansing that Jesus gives and continues to give.

      Only when we have received grace undeservedly do we understand that God’s incredible love gives us life when we deserved death.

      Only when we come to the end of all our own resources and come face-to-face with our own ineptitude are we willing to call upon Jesus to lift us out of our sin.

      Only when we have lost our confidence in this world and in ourselves can we see Jesus in his fullness and let him develop our potential.

      Only when we understand that there is nothing that we have that is worthy of God’s love and grace can we understand his unconditional acceptance.

            Only when we have come to the end of the road with no hope for tomorrow can we truly appreciate the bread, the water, the life Jesus gives to those who seek him diligently.

      Simon had religion. He understood laws and systems. All his life, he had been taught that holiness was reflected in the company he kept. So he kept good company. He was aghast that Jesus would let this sinful woman touch him. Jewish laws were very, very clear about the holy and the impure keeping their distance.

      But Jesus, as Jesus is so apt to do, turned it around on him. Jesus knew that Simon was confused; he understood that Simon did not see himself as sinful—after all, he was a Pharisee—a leader and a man of God. The woman knew she was sinful; Simon had no clue. Jesus said to Simon, “Her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47).

      She gave an extravagant gift of thanks to Jesus because she had no other way of expressing how much she loved Jesus. Part of the problem of giving Jesus an extravagant offering of worship is that we tend to forget how much we have been forgiven. This woman’s sins were obvious to the whole community. She was a lavish sinner, and she knew it! And that’s why her worship was so extravagant—because she knew how much Jesus had to forgive!

 
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