Extravagant Worship
Everyone in town knew her as a sinful woman, but her selfless display of extravagant worship changed how everyone remembers her now. Jesus was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the leper. “When she learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them” (Luke 7:37-38; Matthew 26:7-13).
Imagine the depth of this woman’s tears being enough to clean the dusty feet of Jesus! Imagine the gratitude that moved her to boldly display devotion and adoration of the Man reclining at the table. She had heard him teach of the kingdom of heaven. She had understood the heart of the Lord. She had seen the miracles He had done. She had been delivered from her old way of life trough His loving acceptance of her.
With tears flowing from a sobbing heart, she washed the Lord’s tired feet and wiped away the soil with the tresses of her hair. Then she perfumed His feet with oil from her alabaster jar that was valued at a year’s wages. Her love for Jesus knew no bounds. When the others voiced their disapproval of her extravagance, Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
Oh, for the opportunity to kiss the beautiful feet of Jesus...
So what does it mean to be an extravagant worshipper?
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines the word extravagant as “exceeding the limits of reason; lacking in moderation, balance, and restraint (praise); extremely or excessively elaborate; spending much more then necessary; profuse, lavish.” The Holy Spirit is calling us to excessive worship. We are to be overgenerous in our praises to God. Extravagant worship means to be elaborate in our offering of admiration to Him; our worship is to be over and above reasonable limits previously established.
When we stand before the Lord to worship Him, we must ask ourselves, “Am I overgenerous with my worship? Or am I merely doing what is required, merely fulfilling the basic level of commitment? What can I bring the altar that is extravagant?”
The Oxford English Dictionary describes extravagant as “wasteful.” One of the most beautiful accounts of extravagant worship in the Bible is this story of the gift of perfume from the sinful women that was considered “wasteful” by those around her. But as she poured out her costly perfume from the alabaster jar, she must have wished she had even more to give Him. Her action of elaborate love toward her Lord is a powerful example of true, heartfelt worship. Her act of worship had nothing to do with music or song, but it had all to do with being extravagant in devotion to her Savior.
True worship is when one’s spirit adores and connects with the Spirit of God, when the very core of one’s being is found loving Him, lost in Him. True worship is not about the songs being sung; it is not about the size of the band. Although music is a wonderful expression of worship, it is not in itself the essence of it. The core of worship is when one’s heart and soul, and all that is within adores and connects with the Spirit of God. In fact, regardless of how magnificent the musical moments are, unless one’s heart is fully engaged in the worship being expressed, it is still only music.