Looking at other people’s responses to God’s generosity, forgiveness and grace will never be enough, for God speaks to each one of us personally and asks us to respond individually.

The characteristics of extravagance are challenging: we’re taken out of our comfort zone, out of the politeness of the tit-for-tat society we inhabit, away from the world of quid pro quo into the realm of total surrender, radical devotion and actions which may well be misunderstood, frowned upon and opposed.

The responses to extravagance may well be hard to deal with: disdain, disgust, confusion, bewilderment, rebuke, even betrayal. But this story shows us that God’s response to extravagance is worth it. He rejoices; He blesses; He is excited by extravagant worship and passionate devotion to Him and rewards it in ways beyond our wildest imaginings.

So what will our response be? Will we settle for mediocrity? Will we draw back from total surrender, from fervour and passion and emotion because we think it’s messy, reckless, a waste of our time and money? Will we be like Simon or the disciples or even Judas? –  full of pragmatism and good reasoning, but ultimately missing the point and having no heart? Will we be like Michal, David’s wife, who despised his extravagant worship of God, greeting him with sarcastic words designed to cut him down to size? (2 Sam 6:20) Will we spend our lives in true British decorum, never really risking anything for God because we’re not really aware of the enormity of the debt He’s cancelled for us and so we love little? Or will we be like this woman, prepared to risk everything, prepared to break open our alabaster jars of expensive perfume, whatever that may look like in our lives, prepared to do anything, absolutely anything, out of devotion to the God who has done everything for us?

The Characteristics of Extravagance

Generosity is one of the hallmarks of extravagance, for the woman in Mark 14:1-11 gives lavishly of probably her most prized possession. She does not count the cost, but responds to the lavish love of God in equally lavish fashion. Generosity is a characteristic of God (see Jn 3:16, Luke 11:13) and for all who see and understand the cost of salvation to God, our heart’s response is to hold nothing back from one who held nothing back from us.

Extravagance doesn’t care what other people think and can look emotional. So often, fear of what others will think of us holds us back from serving God and we are wary of emotion, but God touches every aspect of our lives. Extravagance will risk looking fanatical and extreme because it will keep God as the sole focus of attention; it is single-minded in the pursuit of God.

The Response to Extravagance

Each person in the story responds differently to the woman’s extravagance. Simon’s response is one of disdain and disgust. He knows this woman is a sinner and thinks less of Jesus for accepting her, but Jesus reminds him that it’s all a question of understanding the debt which has been cancelled: ‘whoever has been forgiven little loves little.’ (Luke 7:45)

The disciples respond with pragmatism and rebuke, focussing on the cost of the perfume and the perceived waste of money (Mk 14:4-5). This response, whilst perfectly understandable from a purely logical and rational point of view, fails to take into account the generous heart of God (see 2 Cor 9:6-8) and God’s mathematics, which very often don’t seem to tie in with ours! (see Mal 3:10-12)

Judas, in particular, was incensed by the woman’s actions; it seems that this was the final straw for him, leading him to betrayal (see Jn 12:5-6). He may well have rationalised his attitude in pseudo-concern for the poor, but his heart’s state was not receptive to God’s grace and Jesus’ statement that this parable would be remembered forever seems to have been the thing which finally tipped him into going to the leaders to betray Jesus.

Jesus, on the other hand, responded to the woman with commendation, understanding her heart and investing in her actions an eternal significance which is worth pondering. It seems that God doesn’t mind extravagance and even positively endorses it!

The Consequences of Extravagance

The woman left the encounter with Jesus financially poorer (since the jar and the perfume were gone), but immeasurably richer in other ways. She left with the assurance of sins forgiven and the knowledge that her action had blessed Jesus prior to His death. Jesus invested prophetic significance to the woman’s act of extravagant devotion (Mk 14:9), significance far beyond what she herself had understood or intended. God takes our smallness, our daily gifts of devotion, our loaves and fishes, and He multiplies them and invests in them meaning and significance far beyond our comprehension. Even giving a cup of cold water to a disciple will reap a reward. (Matt 10:42) Our extravagance can never out-give God’s extravagance.

Tonight’s sermon continued the alphabet series, ‘The A-Z of Christian Faith,’ looking at the letter E – E is for Extravagance. The story of the woman who anointed Jesus prior to His death (see Mk 14:1-11, Luke 7:36-50, Matt 26:6-13 and John 12:1-9) is a vivid example of extravagance in action.

Jesus was dining at the house of Simon, a formal occasion shattered by the arrival of a woman who broke her alabaster jar of perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet with the costly perfume, weeping over him and wiping his feet with her hair. Such a ‘lack of restraint in spending money or using resources’ as this woman demonstrated drew different responses from all those present and gives us insight into both the characteristics and consequences of extravagance.

God calls us to live in extravagant surrender: ‘I lay me down, I’m not my own, I belong to You alone.’ (‘Lay Me Down’, Matt Redman & Chris Tomlin)

His love and acceptance of us, His lavish forgiveness, His abundant grace need to lead us to the place of extravagance, for ‘love so amazing, so divine demands my life, my soul, my all.’ (‘When I Survey The Wondrous Cross’, Isaac Watts)

The city of Leicester was celebrating recently because of the unexpected (to some) success of the local football club in becoming Premier League champions; the club’s footballing success has been the buzz of conversation all season and the underdogs’ triumph has captured the imagination of people far and wide.

Dave spoke this morning about how Jericho was buzzing when Jesus was passing through that town (Luke 19:1-10). Everyone was crowding around to see this teacher with the amazing reputation, but one man, Zacchaeus, was frustrated. Small of stature, he could not get even a glimpse of Jesus, so, ever-resourceful, he climbed a sycamore-fig tree in order to get a better view.

Zacchaeus had probably spent a lifetime suffering scorn and ridicule because of his size and looks; added to that, he was a chief tax collector, which in Jewish eyes was the lowest of the low. Tax collectors were looked down on as colluding with the Roman enemy and being deceitful, claiming additional taxes which they kept for themselves. Such an individual was not expected to be noticed by Jesus, but in this story, we see how the Saviour is always looking for the individual; ‘the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’ (Luke 19:10)

Zacchaeus may have been the ‘wrong sort’ of person for a respectable Jew to be involved with. Far from being afraid of being contaminated by sin, however, Jesus’ grace and generosity were contagious. He focussed on the individual, not condemning Zacchaeus for his sins but building a relationship with him through acceptance which would lead to salvation.

People are often aching from loneliness and longing for someone to listen to them and value them. Rather than labelling Zacchaeus as others did, Jesus saw beyond the labels and refused to judge him, seeing the dormant life within him. Such acceptance warmed Zacchaeus’ frozen heart to faith (see Ps 19:6 in the Message version.) As He gave Zaccheaus the room to breathe and believe, Jesus unlocked the potential in him.

We need to remember that God offers grace to us and therefore we need to offer grace to others. May we have the faith to see people as Jesus sees them, for we are the only Christ that some people will ever see, and our response, if modelled on Jesus’ response, can lead people to radical change and whole-hearted salvation.

Thanks to all who attended the church’s annual general meeting last night. It was good to look back on all God has done in the past year and to look ahead with expectancy, hope and faith. We may have many plans, but we know it is the Lord’s purpose which prevails (Prov 19:21) and our heart is simply for His will to be done in our lives, our church and our community.

Looking ahead, there are always practical things to do be done when there is a building to be cared for! This summer, we are looking to work on the outside area, making sure the roof is in good order, cleaning gutters, checking soffits and painting and varnishing outdoors. In order to determine exactly what needs doing, we’ll be having a cleaning and inspection day on Saturday 18th June from 12 noon. Inside, we’ll have a general spring clean and tidy-up and outside, those brave enough to climb ladders will find out exactly what needs to be done… with days set aside during the summer holidays to finish this work.

The Community Open Day on Saturday 9th July will be a great opportunity to celebrate 6 years since we officially opened in Market Street. This day will run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and will feature refreshments, craft activities and games (any face-painters out there who want to help us?!), with the church open for people to see what we have been doing and to think about the question ‘What is the church?’ We’re also hoping to hold a family film night from 6p.m. as we’ve done in the past, where we show a family film and invite people to come and watch it and have snacks afterwards. Suggestions for suitable films are also welcome!

We have opportunities to serve the community at the Macmillan Coffee Morning on Saturday 24th September (10 a.m. – 12 noon), where we’ll be raising funds for this cancer charity, and at the Christmas Market on Friday 9th December (4-8 p.m.), where we’ll raise funds for the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. We are privileged to be able to support the food bank at the Salvation Army on a regular basis, giving £50 per month towards this.

An exciting future venture is the planned missions’ trip to India (probably in 2017). We hope to be involved with the ministries of Fredrick and Reeba in Bangalore, and will be looking to raise funds for air fares and other expenses throughout this year. Watch this space for more details!

Thanks to everyone who supports the church so faithfully: in serving, in giving financially, and in giving time and energy. We know that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6), so let’s continue to seek His face and serve Him in all the multifarious ways we can!

Prayer is such a vital part of every Christian’s life and in the Lord’s Prayer we are taught to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matt 6:10)

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have launched an initiative called ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ within the Church of England, urging Christians to pray, especially during the week 8-15 May 2016 as we prepare to celebrate Pentecost next Sunday. In their letter, sent to every parish priest in the UK, they say:

“At the heart of our prayers will be words that Jesus himself taught us – ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.’ It is impossible to overstate the life-transforming power of the Lord’s Prayer. It is a prayer that is reassuring enough to be on the lips of the dying and yet dangerous enough to be banned in cinemas. It is famous enough to be spoken each day by billions in hundreds of languages and yet intimate enough to draw us ever closer into friendship with Jesus Christ. It is simple enough to be memorised by small children and yet profound enough to sustain a whole lifetime of prayer. When we pray it with sincerity and with joy, there is no imagining the new ways in which God can use us to his glory.”

In our church, we are praying for 2016 to be a ‘yield year’, so this venture, asking us to pray for every Christian to receive new confidence and joy in sharing our life-transforming faith, is very much in line with how we feel God is asking us as a church to pray. Let’s be willing to look at new ways to pray, to seek out opportunities to pray (individually and corporately), to pray for friends and family, to pray for our community and to believe that God is willing to hear and answer our prayers! A variety of resources are available here, but ultimately, all we need is the determination to set aside the time to pray and the willingness to actually pray!