“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. 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. 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.’” (John 12:1-8 ESV)
We read about Martha and Mary also in Luke 10:38-42. Martha was serving then, too, and Mary was sitting at the Lord’s feet listening to his teaching. Martha was concerned that Mary was not helping her serve, and so Jesus responded, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
And in today’s lesson Mary is found anointing the feet of Jesus with expensive ointment and wiping his feet with her hair. So she is again at Jesus’ feet (not sure the historical order of these two stories). And Jesus defended the honor of Mary once again, only this time against Judas Iscariot’s rebuke of her, which stemmed from his selfish motives. And 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.”
Now when we are serving the Lord Jesus with our lives, in answering his call upon our lives, we are always going to have people who think we should be doing something different from what we are doing, for they may not see the importance of the ministry God has given us, and they may minimize it because it doesn’t fit in with traditional standards created in the minds of human beings who have locked themselves into religious rituals and practices that they think are of God, when they may not be.
For what is commonly being referred to as “the church” these days is mostly not the biblical church, the body of Christ throughout the entire world. Mostly these gatherings of what are called “church” are institutions of man, created in the minds of human beings, being operated according to worldly or human standards under the headship of church denominations and incorporated under the state (the government). So they are not of God.
And it appears that most of them have gone the way of the world and they are marketing their “churches” to the world with worldly means and methods, and so the majority, it appears, have also altered the divine character of God/Christ, and of his church, and of his gospel message to make them more acceptable and appealing to the ungodly and to human flesh. So, biblically, these gatherings are not the church, the body of Christ.
So, what is the church? It is the collective body of Christ throughout the entire world comprised of all who believe in Jesus Christ with God-given and God-ordained and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ which results in the forsaking of our sins and us following our Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands, in practice. All those who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ but have not and are not dying to sin and living to righteousness in walks of obedience to Christ are not the biblical body of Christ, the church.
And a specific location is not a necessity in the gatherings of our Lord’s true church, his body. Remember what he told the woman at the well?
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” (John 4:21-23 ESV)
So, the focus is on true worship of God, not the location, and not the day of the week or the time of day. And true worship of God is not going through a bunch of religious practices and rituals instituted of man which do not coincide with God’s biblical purpose for his church. So, why am I going off on this subject of church? Because the same thing that was done to Mary by her sister Martha and by Judas Iscariot (different things with different motives) is being done today by “church” people.
It really doesn’t matter to most of them, it would seem, if you are sitting at Jesus’ feet daily, sinking in the truths of his word, and then living them out in your daily life in doing what the Scriptures teach that we all should be doing with our lives, if you are not sitting in a chair or a pew in one of their “institutional market-driven churches” on a Sunday morning going through their religious rituals, singing their songs, and listening to their preacher. Do you see where I am going with this? I hope you do!
Jesus is all about having followers of him who will serve him with their lives wholeheartedly, who will sit at his feet daily, drink in his word, and do what he says, and who will do the work of the ministry to which he has called them. He is looking for people like Mary who will be brave enough to stand out as different and to serve the Lord in the way in which he wants them to serve him, even if they are ridiculed by others who think they should be someplace else doing something else other than what they are doing. For it is Jesus we serve, not human beings.
So, please understand that sitting in a pew in a building called “church” on a Sunday morning as a spectator is not serving Jesus Christ with your life, and it is not what the gatherings of the church are to be all about. You know that Scripture “they” love to use against us who do not attend these institutions of man? It says that we are to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another. And in another passage it says we are to exhort one another daily so none of us are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Hebrews 10:24-25; Hebrews 3:13).
When we gather together it is so we can encourage and exhort and minister to one another to help one another to grow to maturity in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord. So this is what is pleasing to the Lord, not “church” attendance on a Sunday morning. We are all to be sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ (the true gospel) and spiritually encouraging and exhorting and stirring up one another to faithful walks of obedience to the Lord. And if this is what we are doing, God is pleased, for we have chosen “the good portion.” So don’t let the opinions of others discourage you.
[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]
Jesus, Hold My Hand
By Albert E. Brumley
As I travel through this pilgrim land
There is a friend who walks with me
Leads me safely through the sinking sand
It is the Christ at Calvary
This would be my prayer, dear Lord, each day
You help me do the best I can
For I need Thy light to guide me day and night
Blessed Jesus, hold my hand
When I wander thru the valley dim
toward the setting of the sun,
Lead me safely to a land of rest
if I a crown of life have won;
I have put my faith in Thee, dear Lord,
that I may reach the golden strand,
There's no other Friend on whom I can depend,
Blessed Jesus, hold my hand.
Jesus, hold my hand
'Cause I need Thee every hour
Through this pilgrim land
Protect me by Thy power
Hear my feeble plea
And O Lord look down on me
When I kneel in prayer
I hope to meet You there
Blessed Jesus, hold my hand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhVIgVAJrWg
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