Wasted

by

Steve Blackwell

“While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon
the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure
nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.”

“Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of
perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to
the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.”

"Leave her alone," said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful
thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you
want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on
my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is
preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
(Mark 14:3-9)

What is at the root of this seemingly new idea of radical obedience, utter abandon, and
total surrender to the Lord that is sweeping the country? Those who have experienced the
freedom and joy, associated with this “radical” lifestyle, whether they are aware of it or
not, know something about the concept of “waste.” They may not be able to verbalize it,
but it is waste, plain and simple. We’re not speaking of waste-for-waste-sake, or some
magical solution to gain spiritual insight, or the self indulgent waste of a shopping spree,
we’re talking about the spiritual wasting of ones “self” for the Lord.

Before we go any further lets define our term from the World’s perspective.

WASTE:
• 1.) Poor use; useless spending; 2.) Failure to get the most value out of something.
3.) To squander or spend foolishly.

• “Waste Not Want Not.” This is what your mom and dad always taught you and is
generally accepted as the gospel, and from the World’s perspective makes good
sense.

• A relative term that depends on the value of the thing, and the time, energy, or
money spent on it.
Waste! The word waste has a negative connotation. Waste is something we all do or have
done on occasions, but is always looked at as a flaw in our make-up as a person. Waste is
an extravagance for only the rich and the foolish, for the rest of us it is just “Waste.”

Carnal Christians and the World are quick to point out waste and for the very reason that
the World gives attention to the waste of Christians, on Christ, we should take a closer
look at this idea. If the World thinks it is a bad idea, there may just be something right
about it: a faint glow of light to give us illumination, or maybe the raging fire of revival,
who knows?

I have found, by accident or providence, two principles at work here (in my own life that
is) that have governed my whole Christian existence for the past thirty years. The
principles, or rules, or laws, or whatever you want to call them are these: (1) sowing and
reaping, and (2) scattering. Unless you look at these closely you may think they are the
same thing. To characterize myself in relation to these two laws I could say that for the
first thirty years of my life in Christ I applied the first rule and for the last two years, with
dramatic differences and amazing results, the second.

I don’t mean to say that sowing and reaping is bad, just like the law of gravity is not bad,
if applied correctly; applied incorrectly and it could cost you your life. The law of sowing
and reaping just like the law of gravity apply to everyone, without discrimination.

I had applied the rule of sowing and reaping in my life as a Christian and it worked pretty
well. The rule was valid. It was a very strict and legalistic application of Christianity for
me, although I didn’t think so at the time, and from what I observe in the organized
Church, this is the general application. For most of “conservative” Christianity the rule is
being miss-understood and miss-applied (as are most of the other rules). For me the rule
meant strict budgeting and no waste. Charitable giving was a key component of the rule
and of course the more you gave, in the way of sowing, the more you could expect to
reap at harvest time; a simple idea that worked, but this is not scattering. Sowing and
reaping left no room for the extreme blessings of God, that come from unquestioned trust
and unvarnished faith, which are prerequisites of scattering.

This idea of sowing by scattering is totally different, and a proper understanding of this
spiritual principle means freedom; freedom to waste. Coming to a true understanding of
scattering, through radical obedience, opened up a whole new world for me, and it will do
the same for you.

This whole concept of scattering has in it the latent possibility of waste. The planting
techniques of old were far different than the precise row planters used by modern farmers
today. We can picture farmers of days-gone-by fanning the seed much like a broadcast
seeder used for lawns. Some fell on rocks, and in cracks, and some the birds would eat, or
the roots would not get enough depth before the hot sun would kill them. But, some
would make it to the good soil of a prepared plot. The farmer scattered knowing that
much would be wasted, but waste was not the issue, the issue was making sure that the
seed made it everywhere it was supposed to, that as he went he covered the earth with
good seed. You might call this the radical planting technique. The success of the Early
Church was based on the idea of scattering for its growth; conservative, no-waste
Christianity was unknown to the Apostles.

Today’s modern Church farmers have it all figured out; they waste nothing on chance or
faith. They know all about growing the Church, no precious assets are left to the
unknowable. They have their marketing based on the unquestioned results of computer
generated demographics and psychographics and the like. They follow the lead of other
successful church farmers who tell them what their prospective customers want and need
and supply them with the best seed that money can buy. The end results are all predicted.
Tear down your old barns and build bigger ones to hold the great harvest, and then just
take your ease; no waste, no worry. All that’s left of the old techniques today are rumors;
they’re all but forgotten, only a memory, all most.

We could play it safe; I’ve played it safe for thirty years, always staying strictly to the
verified methods of conservative sowing and reaping, and I lived a charming and
productive little life, a life that would be satisfactory to most. Or, you could change your
method of sowing, to something more radical, and sow liberally, wasting some time,
effort, and money, and maybe your life, for the Lord, and reap the harvest of a miracle
endowed life of productivity.

This whole idea of waste has to do with things that we consider valuable. We have to be
constantly reminded; at least I do, to look for value with other eyes, with the eyes of
Jesus. What we may consider waste may be that very thing that is most valuable to God,
which touches His very heart. Would anyone think that it was wasteful to pay a large
amount of money for a rare piece of art; only if you had no idea of the value of rare art?
The question becomes, how much do you think this rare find is worth? If the appearance
to the untrained eye is that it looks like something an infant produced, then to give
anything at all would seem like a waste. Only after thirty years did I finally learn the
preciousness of that rare pearl of great price; for thirty years I choose to stay well within
my conservative bounds and settle for something cheaper. The real issue here, as I look
back, was not that I didn’t detect, or sense the value of what I had discovered but, thought
it could be had at a discount. I just could not risk wasting everything all at once, on one
investment. My claim to Christianity was much like my purchases while shopping at the
Zalch (the black market in Mongolia). I went about claiming to have an original while
possessing a mere replica. It passed well enough in the company of others, who possessed
replicas, but not by those who knew value; I knew what it cost and I could not make it
become real no matter how I displayed it, it was a fraud, and I was a fraud.

†
If you understand what is going on in this story of Mary’s anointing of Jesus, then you
have found a rare opportunity to own a master, or rather be owned, by The Master. Let’s
look closer.

Mary “…did what she could.” Although poor, Mary had amongst her treasures an
alabaster cruse of precious ointment. Anyone would have known its value; perfumes and
ointments were of great value in those days, not like today. How she obtained it, whether
by collecting small amounts at a time or by purchase all at once, doesn’t matter. What
matters is that it was of great value in terms of money and in terms of her being in
possession of it, and everyone knew its value. There was no doubt that it was kept safe
for some very special occasion like a wedding or a burial. The point is that she expended
the whole thing on the head of Jesus.

“I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has
done will also be told, in memory of her." Jesus recognized that this was no ordinary act;
it wasn’t common for this to happen, and those who were suppose to know Him best
were indignant. But, Jesus ordained that this extra-ordinary act would be closely
associated with the Gospel wherever it would be preached. Why? Because she wasted all
of her prized possession on Jesus, and again the question is, why? Because of His great
and rare value; because of His infinite value; because He was worth it, and she knew it.

Human reasoning loves to read about this sort of thing, it makes a great human interest
story. But, don’t let it happen in our presence, that’s an outrage, an injustice. Why, if
you’re just going to throw it away, give it to me and I’ll make good use of it. What about
the poor, they could use it, couldn’t they? Your crazy, that’s what they would say; wasting
your whole life, all your savings; it isn’t worth it; He wouldn’t expect it of you, even He
would call you crazy, ask Him! “Some of those present were saying indignantly to one
another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's
wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.” "Leave her
alone," said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But
you will not always have me. She did what she could.” My translation of this is, “She did
the only thing she could.” Mary had just come through the experience of seeing her
brother raised from the dead and believed Jesus when He said He was on His way to die.
She did the only thing she could do, having read all the prophecies and seen and heard
this man and the things He did, it all made sense now, so she wasted her whole life on the
one she loved, the one who was going to die for her, and this was the right moment, it
was the exact moment and she knew it and she would not let it slip away. It wasn’t
enough to share the perfume with Jesus, she spent it all, all on His glory. Did it make
sense to the mind, no, not at all. But, it made sense to the heart, and her heart was
breaking. He had given back her brother, now He would take her brother’s place and her
place. This was her Savior and this was all she could do, and she did it, a moment of
passionate love for her Lord.

She is remembered for her act, her act of anointing Jesus for His burial beforehand,
because if she hadn’t done this very thing, beforehand, it never would have happened at
all. It was the custom to anoint the dead before being buried. Mary the mother of Jesus
and the other Mary came to the tomb to anoint Jesus after the crucifixion, but it was too
late, He had already risen. So Mary, beautiful and sensitive Mary, “did what she could;”
in her momentary act of radical, thoughtless, obedience she wasted it all on Jesus and
anointed Him beforehand. What insight, what love, what unbridled obedience, driven by
the revelation that God was sitting in her presence and He was in love with her. Oh, that
we all had tears enough to wash His feet, that we would know the one who is in love with
us, that we would all in a moment of passionate outburst give all to Him, who gave all for
us, that our epitaph might read, “He wasted his life on Jesus.”

The Lord said that wherever the Gospel would be preached that this act of love would go
out with it. Why? Because He means that whenever those who are being called into the
Kingdom should come to Him, that they should waste themselves on Him, and that their
service to Him should be with passion, and conviction, and compulsion, not fearing what
men might say. This is the result that all our teaching should produce. This is the result
that He is looking for. If we read the entire Bible and don’t get this, then we haven’t
gotten anything. If we study every Book and memorize the whole thing and haven’t
understood this, then we don’t understand anything. Jesus wants us to know Him and if
we are still compelled to hold onto anything in this world then we can say with absolute
assurance that we don’t know Him the right way yet.

“... wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be
told, in memory of her." The Lord said this because this is the goal of preaching the
Gospel. The Lord was satisfied with the act of Mary, and that is the goal, to satisfy the
Lord, everything else is a by-product. To hear those words, “well done, good and faithful
servant” should be our greatest desire and our driving passion. Only when God is
satisfied will we find satisfaction. It is impossible to satisfy God and not be satisfied
yourself. But, and this is an important “but,” God will never be satisfied unless we waste
ourselves on Him. Here is another spiritual rule, in the Divine economy the rule of waste
is the rule of power. The principle of scattering determines how useful we will be to God.
Real usefulness is measured in terms of “waste.” The more efficient and effective you
think you are, and the more you think you are able to accomplish Gods work, the more
you use your talents, even to their limits and beyond, the more you will find that you are
applying the principles of the world and not the Lord. The thing we have to remember is
that first of all we are ministering to the Lord. Our work for Him grows out of our
ministering to Him. The first thing is the Lord Himself, not His work.

Take your eyes off all Christiandom and look at Jesus, and ask yourself, “What is it that
He values most?” The answer involves the rule of waste. “She has done a beautiful thing
to me.” When it seems that we are giving too much and getting nothing in return---that is
the secret of pleasing Him. Even the Disciples were upset with Mary. They thought that
every penny that could have been gained by the sell, should have been used for
something useful, and used to its fullest extent.

What do you look for, what are you seeking? Our whole question is one of usefulness.
We have to be useful and productive. If we can’t log it, and chart it, and record it, and
measure it, in terms of its usefulness, then it is waste and not acceptable. The Lord waits
for us to speak with our hearts the words He wants to hear, “Lord I really don’t mind
about any of that stuff, I only want to please You, that is enough.”
Let us not forget about the fragrance that filled the house on that day. The sweet odor of
that expensive perfume could not be ignored. It covered everything like a blanket and
wherever they went when they left it went with them. The true fragrance of Christians
should be the offering of our sacrifice to the Lord, and having Him accept it, a pleasing
aroma to God. When God accepts our gift, our sacrificial offering, although it has placed
us with limitations because of its great value, and we have been willingly placed in
bondage, and have not tried to pull back, and have thus learned to be satisfied in Him
alone, then we find that He too shares a token of His grace. Immediately your spiritual
senses detect the sweet aroma of Christ. You have been broken and the sweet smell of a
sacrifice accepted by God will surround you, and others will be able to tell, you have
been changed.

This is not something that we do for the Lord, it is who we are. This is not a
choreographed experience orchestrated for some kind of effect. This is you and the Lord,
alone on the Cross, the dark night of the soul, and a forever resurrection, and His house
being filled with the odor of the ointment.

May the Lord show us the strength in wasting ourselves on Him. This is the true meaning
of tithing. This is the hurt that heals us. “Come, let us return to the Lord; it is he who
has torn us-he will heal us. He has wounded-he will bind us up. In just a couple of days,
or three at the most, he will set us on our feet again to live in his kindness! Oh, that we
might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him, and he will respond to us as surely as
the coming of dawn or the rain of early spring.” Hos 6:1-3