My parents gave me a Pentax 35 mm SLR camera with two lenses as a High School graduation present. At that time, it was the nicest thing I’d ever owned. Emotionally, it’s still the most precious gift I’ve ever received. I really got into photography. I brought my camera on a short-term mission trip to Ensenada, Mexico in order to document the trip and the VBS activities our group was doing. One day we visited a park, and a boy was fascinated by my camera. I felt a longing to let him take some photos with it, but I hesitated because he was little, maybe only seven or eight years old. I had a choice to make: do what was prudent or give something precious away. At that moment, I decided that my mission was more precious than my stuff. I didn’t actually give my camera away, but I placed it in another’s hands, which risked it getting wrecked. I put the strap over the boy’s shoulders, showed him how to look through the lens, helped his fingers find the button to snap photos, and then I watched him walk away and start taking pictures. I got my camera back from him a few minutes later, and it was not damaged. This moment forever made an impression on my priorities in life, and I remembered it when reflecting on this passage.
And while he (Jesus) was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.” – Mark 14:3
Unlike my camera story, where I got it back after sharing, the woman who blessed Jesus gave her whole gift away. The Scripture says she “broke the flask”. The alabaster jar or box was sealed to keep the ointment from evaporating or crystallizing when exposed to air. The author does not use the Greek word for “open”; he uses the word “broke,” which usually means to crush, break, or shatter.
She gave Jesus a precious gift and gave it all. I offer some of what is precious to me, some of the time, and I had to think back thirty years to find a story of only moderately similar risk and sacrifice. What about you? Let’s pray about the gifts we can give and the risks we can take to demonstrate our love and trust in the Lord.
Pastor John Riley