In Great Britain, a butcher specified in his will that he be cremated and that at his memorial service the organ was to play Cole Porter’s song, “Every Time We Say Goodbye.” Well, he got half his wish. He was cremated, but the organist brought the wrong Cole Porter Sheet Music. Instead of playing, “Every Time We Say Goodbye,” he played “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes!” (Associated Press, March 22, 1990).
Appropriate, I think, for a cremation ceremony.
As you think about what Jesus did for us on the cross, what would be an appropriate memorial for Him? How do you properly remember the One who died to save your soul? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to John 12, John 12, where Jesus commends a woman for the memorial she rendered to Him, right before He died on the cross.
John 12:1-3 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume (ESV).
How do you memorialize the Savior? Well, first…
MAKE IT A COSTLY MEMORIAL.
Don’t do it cheaply. Do it extravagantly. Give your best to the Master.
That’s what Mary did. When Mary came to the feet of Jesus, she took the place of a slave. When she undid her hair (something Jewish women never did in public), she humbled herself and laid her glory at His feet. When she broke the alabaster box of perfume, she gave the best she had. It was a public, spontaneous, sacrificial and lavish gift.
She gave a very precious perfume that came from the Himalayas in northern India. It came sealed in an alabaster box, and it was to be opened only on special occasions. The perfume itself was worth 300 denarii, 11 months wages, and perhaps Mary’s entire life savings. It was the best she had, and she gave it all to Jesus.
At a church meeting, a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. “I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar, and I went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I knew that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all. So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.”
He finished, and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat. As he sat down, a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said to him, “I dare you to do it again” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.458)
Sometimes, it’s a little easier to give when you’re poor than when you’re rich. But no matter what your station in life, Jesus deserves all that you have. He deserves your very best. Jesus deserves a lavish and sacrificial expression of praise and gratitude.
Louis Evans, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, visited a mission field in Africa, and there he saw a doctor who gave up a lucrative practice to be a missionary. The doctor invited him to observe a major surgery. Dr. Evans noticed the obvious strain of on the surgeon after the surgery.
“How many times a week do you do this kind of procedure.”
“Sometimes, several times a day.”
“How much would you have charged for this surgery in the States?”
The surgeon told him the price.
“How much will you get here?”
Beads of perspiration were still in his face and his lips were purple when he replied, “A few dollars, a smile of gratitude, and the blessing of God. Man, this is really living!”
That surgeon gave his life sacrificially, and God blessed him for it.
Now, God may not call you overseas like that. But no matter where you are, Jesus deserves your very best. He deserves a lavish expression of your love. He deserves all that you have to give Him. So if you want to remember Him in an appropriate way, make it a costly memorial. However, if you give your all…
EXPECT PEOPLE TO CRITICIZE YOUR MEMORIAL.
Anticipate condemnation. Assume that people will censure you and put you down. That’s what happened to Mary—Judas reprimanded her.
John 12:4-6 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it (ESV).
Now, at that time, nobody knew he was a thief and a betrayer. At that time, the disciples trusted him to keep all their money. They respected him, and this respected member of Jesus’ disciples criticized Mary. That had to be hard to take. Mary had to be devastated. But that’s what happens when you give your best. Even those you respect may sometimes criticize you.
An aspiring politician gave his speech his best shot. He felt that it was a stirring, fact-filled campaign speech. Then the candidate looked out on his audience and asked, “Are there any questions?” Someone in the back row called out, “Who else is running?” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.134). You give it your best shot, and somebody always finds fault.
Robert Cook, past president of King’s College, once related a true story from the early years of his ministry. Evidently, at that time, he had received some rather pointed criticism. In fact, it had become of such great concern to him that he sought the counsel of a friend, another preacher, Harry A. Ironside. Pouring out his heart, Bob Cook asked what he should do about the denunciations being made against him. He wanted to know how to handle them.
Ironside gave the following wise counsel: “Bob, if the criticism about you is true, mend your ways! If it isn’t, forget about it!”
That’s good advice.
I like what Teddy Roosevelt once said: “It is not the critic who counts, not the person who points out where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the devotions, and spends himself or herself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his or her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”
When you give yourself sacrificially, people will criticize you. They may even condemn you for it. So expect it. Expect it, knowing that it is not the critic who counts. It is the person spending himself or herself in a worthy cause.
That’s certainly the case in this passage. Don’t miss the contrast between Judas and Mary. Judas is the critic, but he turns out to be a selfish, self-centered thief. He thought it would get him ahead, but it only destroyed him in the end. Later, he betrays our Lord and ends up hanging himself. Today, nobody wants to call their sons, “Judas,” because it is a name synonymous with “betrayer.” On the other hand, Mary is a selfless, sacrificial giver, and her name is still very popular today.
In the movie, The Poseidon Adventure, the ocean liner, S. S. Poseidon, is on the open sea when it hits a huge storm. Lights go out, smoke pours into the rooms, and amid all the confusion, the ship flips over.
Because of the air trapped inside the ocean liner, it floats upside down. But in the confusion, the passengers cannot figure out what is going on. They scramble to get out, mostly by following the steps to the top deck. The problem is the top deck is now 100 feet underwater. In trying to get to the top of the ship, they drown.
The only survivors are the few who do what doesn’t make sense. They do the opposite of what everyone else is doing and climb up into the dark belly of the ship until they reach the hull. Rescuers hear them banging and cut them free.
That’s the way it is in life. God has turned the ship over, so to speak. So the only way to find freedom is to choose what doesn’t make sense. It is to lay down your life by serving, supporting and sacrificing yourself for others (Men of Integrity, Vol.1, No.2).
Don’t be a taker like Judas. Be a giver like Mary. Sure, it will cost. And sure, people will criticize you in the process, but your Lord never will.
If you want to remember Jesus in an appropriate way, make it a costly memorial. And expect people to criticize that memorial. But…
ANTICIAPTE JESUS’ COMMENDATION.
Look forward to the praise He will heap on you. Await your Lord’s compliments. That’s what He did for Mary.
John 12:7-8 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me” (ESV).
As the fragrance of her perfume filled the room, Jesus said, “Let her alone, she’s doing this for me.” Her sacrifice blessed everybody there with its sweet-smelling fragrance. But most of all, her sacrifice blessed our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His opinion is the only one that counts, and if you’re right before God, that’s all that matters.
57 pennies that were found under a little girl’s pillow when she died left their mark on all of Philadelphia. The girl wanted to enter a little Sunday School in Philadelphia, but she was told that there was not enough room. She began saving her pennies to “help the Sunday School have more room.”
Two years later, she became ill and died, and they found a small pocketbook under her pillow with 57 pennies and a piece of paper that had the following note written very neatly: “To help build the Little Temple bigger, so more children can go to Sunday School.”
The pastor told the story to his congregation, and the newspapers took the story across the country. Soon the pennies grew, and the outcome can still be seen in Philadelphia today. There is a church which will seat 3,300 people, a Temple University which accommodates thousands of students, a Temple Hospital, and a large Temple Sunday School. And it all began with a beautiful, dedicated spirit, and 57 pennies (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.462).
Just like Mary’s sacrifice, this little girl’s sacrifice blessed a lot of people with its sweet-smelling savor, and I know she pleased Jesus, as well.
When you give your best to the Master, when you give all you have, many people benefit; but best of all, Jesus commends you for it. He says, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.”
As you think about what Jesus did for you on the cross, consider making a costly memorial, and start by giving Him yourself. Sure, people will criticize, but Jesus won’t. He’ll commend you before all your critics someday.
In October 1864, President Abraham Lincoln received word that Mrs. Bixby, a Boston widow, had lost all five of her sons in the Civil War. Lincoln later wrote his condolences:
“Dear Madam, I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
“I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save.
“I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
“Yours very sincerely and respectfully, Abraham Lincoln.”
That would be a beautiful story if that’s all there was to it. But the story took an ironic turn just a few weeks after Lincoln’s letter was sent. Somehow that letter got leaked to the press and it was proclaimed a masterpiece. Then a reporter checked the records of the Adjutant General and discovered that the president had been given bad information.
Mrs. Bixby had not lost all five of her sons in battle. One was killed in action at Fredericksburg. One was killed in action at Petersburg. One was taken prisoner at Gettysburg and later exchanged and returned to his mother in good health. One deserted to the enemy. One deserted his post and fled the country.
Word got out, and the press, as well as the rest of the country, became divided in its support of President Lincoln. Some said he had been innocently duped. Others said his feelings were sincere if the cause was not.
This is what Carl Sandburg ended up writing in his exhaustive biography of Lincoln: “Whether all five had died on the field of battle, or only two, four of her sons had been poured away into the river of war. The two who had deserted were lost to her as though dead. The one who had returned had fought at Gettysburg… She deserved some kind of token, some award approaching the language Lincoln had employed. Lincoln was not deceived.
How like the Bixby family is each one of us – a mixture of success and failure, honor and shame. Yet, knowing the whole story of our lives, Christ will honor those who serve Him (Dean Feldmeyer, Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching).
Will you serve Him today? Will you give Him your all? Will you give Him your best? Please, don’t delay, for Christ wants to honor you today.
