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John 12:4-5 -- "But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, 'Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?' "
| image: [not my foot] flickr.com |
A Dalton family member looked over at me and asked "Dude, do you know how much you could get for that thing on E-Bay?"
What?! How could I possibly let go of this precious gift? In the first place, I'm not even sure I COULD sell it legally as it IS a real elephant's foot and second .... what?! Members of a very dear village in Africa presented this foot [along with another one for my sister] as a thank you gift for our service in their community almost forty years ago. It was a heart-felt and very priceless moment in my memory - when the two feet were given to my parents for my sister and me in order that we might always remember the time we spent in the company of some very precious people. The pair of feet were given in love and no amount of monetary compensation could compare with THAT.
Right before Jesus died on the cross, he had dinner at the house of the once dead, Lazarus. As the meal was being served, Lazarus's sister, Mary, approached Jesus and very humbly anointed his feet with a very expensive perfume. For some reason, this action got under Judas's skin. He didn't keep his thoughts to himself, either. He fussed about it and asked why Mary didn't just sell the expensive perfume and give the proceeds over to the poor instead of "wasting" it on the dirty feet of our Lord?
I wish I'd been there to hear the tone in our Savior's voice when he said - let her keep the perfume for my burial - you will always have the poor, you will NOT always have me.
Jesus was trying to make a point - sometimes our actions - even the ones with good intentions - don't mean much without love behind them. If Mary had sold the perfume and given away her money, she would have been performing an action that didn't mean near as much as the display of her love and affection for Jesus when she anointed his feet. The value of the perfume wasn't the money it might bring at a sale - but in the heart of a woman who deeply loved Jesus as she cleaned the road dust off of his travel-weary feet.
Paul reiterated this point in I Corinthians 13 when he expressed that - even should he give his very life - the act would be meaningless if there wasn't love behind the sacrifice.
WHAT we do might not matter as much as HOW we do it. The things we emote when we do what we do really ARE the heart of the matter. Do we grudgingly give up our tithe in the offering plate as we think of all the bills we have to pay - or do we put the envelope in the plate with a grateful heart? Do we let our minds wonder wile we sing hymns during the church service or does love pour from the words that part from our lips with every breath we take?
It matters.
As I lovingly wrap the prickly elephant's foot stool in an old sheet and place it back into my closet I think of all the wonderful people by whom I've been so richly blessed in my trots around the globe as the daughter to missionary parents. The bright smiles, warm embraces, and freely given hospitality are not things that E-Bay can bring to me - no matter what I happen to sell there. The value in the foot stool isn't in how rare the object is - but it's every single lovingly hand-stitched leather square on the cushion - and all the hands that were placed on it when it was given to me with hearts full of love. It's in all the effort put into the conservation of African Elephants on the game preserve from whence the foot was legally obtained by our fellow villagers. And it's in the sacrifice that each villager made in order to purchase the feet as gifts to our family.
The heart of the matter IS my heart. Nothing I accomplish is worth a single penny if its not done with a true and honest love for my Savior, Jesus Christ.
You can bank on that.
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