Thought for August 26, 2024

• 1498: Michelangelo commissioned to create the Pieta
• 1682: William Halley first observes the comet named for him
• 1873: First free kindergarten in the US opens
• 1968: Beatles release "Hey Jude" as a single in the US
• Born: Albert Sabin, Mother Teresa, Geraldine Ferraro, Katherine Johnson, Melissa McCarthy, Macaulay Culkin, Branford Marsalis
• Died: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Andrew Mellon, Charles Lindbergh, Neil Simon,  Bob Barker

Some quotes from Mother Teresa:

• Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
• Let us always meet each other with a smile, for a smile is the beginning of love.
• God does not require us to succeed, He only requires that we try.
• If you judge people, you have no time to love them
• Love cannot remain by itself--it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service
• If you can't feed 100 people, feed one
• Intense love does not measure, it just gives
• The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.

Thought:

Reading the first 11 verses of Mark 14 this morning. What a contrast is presented here. Jesus is in Bethany, just outside Jerusalem. It is Passion Week, well, probably the evening of the Sabbath at the beginning of Passion week [Saturday night before the Triumphal entry]. The Last Supper will be the topic in the last part of this chapter. The Lord has me thinking about all of the reactions to Jesus that are evidenced in these 11 verses. 

• Simon the Leper. The events take place in the home of Simon the Leper.  This Simon is still called the leper, but has obviously been healed. This would be like calling us sinner, but saved. I wonder how Simon viewed having dinner with Jesus. Think about being able to host Jesus at your home, inviting guests to come and meet Jesus, the one who changed and transformed your life. This reminds me that I am like Simon--do I show my love and gratitude by inviting people to my house to encounter the risen Jesus--study His word, reflect on His life, bathe in His presence. I am sure Simon had a heart full of gratitude. Is Jesus always an honored guest at my house?
• Lazarus. The other gospels tell us that Lazarus, Mary and Martha were present, Mary was serving. What kind of dinner was this for Lazarus--I am eating with the one who raised me from death back to life, from the grave clothes to the dinner jacket. Do I approach my days with this heart of gratitude--moved from death to life by the blood of the Lamb. Lazarus had experienced the death of the body--but he would never die again. 
• The apostles. They had walked with Jesus, seen His power, heard His teaching. They had seen Lazarus raised from the dead. And they had heard Jesus speaking of His coming departure. In fact this might have been a dinner to celebrate Lazarus being raised from the dead. 
• Mary. she is identified as the woman with the perfume. There is another anointing recorded by Luke where the woman is of ill repute. But here, this is the sister of Lazarus, one grateful for the Lord's power over death and the grave. Notice hat she brought--costly perfume, more than a year's wages [think about that]. What is the greatest income you had for a year--a gift that really required a sacrifice. Reading all the accounts, we get the picture--Mary pours the perfume on His head, she pours more on His feet. She kneels and rubs the perfume into His skin and scalp. And then wipes His feet with her hair. What love, what sacrifice, what devotion--unashamed, unrestrained. Oh, to be devoted to Him like she was.
• Judas. It's a waste. Why waste that valuable perfume on Him? Too extravagant. This is the last straw--Judas leaves to betray for a few pieces of silver.

Thinking about these people a the dinner makes me examine my life---where am I in this story. An apostle watching. A leper healed. A dead man raised. A woman devoting all. A traitor, betrayer, deserter. Lord, forgive me and Lord help me. 

Blessings

Larry