6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
A grateful heart is refreshingly lovely is it not? In our age of entitlement, it particularly stands out as a pristinely beautiful trait. The Lord Jesus certainly thinks so. Gratitude is a sincere and concrete expression of the attitude of our heart not only demonstrating appreciation but love and respect as well. In our verses for today, we see a woman come and anoint Jesus with a very expensive perfume from an alabaster jar as He reclined at a table. While her actions may seem a strange sort of compliment to us it was then thought of as the highest act of respect. Her selfless demonstration of love and gratefulness for what the Lord Jesus had done for her earned her great kudos from the Master. Paul tells us in Colossians as well as 1 Thessalonians that a thankful heart is God’s will for every believer:
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Col 3:15 (NIV)
16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thess 5:16-18 (NIV)
“Cultivating a grateful heart is not just an add-on nicety, a civil tip of the hat to God as we steamroll through our day. A posture of purposeful, perpetual thanks to God is absolutely central to Christian character. It gives glory to Him. It is the key defense against Satan's temptations to despair, distrust, dysfunction. It protects us from sin and self. It is the hallmark of heaven. It does not exist in hell." Ellen Vaughn
“Gratitude is not only the memory but the homage of the heart – rendered to God for His goodness.” Nathaniel Parker Willis
When there is true love and thankfulness in the heart for Jesus, nothing is thought of as too good to bestow on Him. Our gratitude demonstrates our faith and trust in Him with even our most priceless possessions. It is agreeing with Him that He has our best interest at heart, that He loves us and cares for us even if we may be perplexed at our circumstances. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is essential for our joy as well. It must become a fixed habit which no circumstance can weaken. When we can praise in the darkness - though even confused and clouded in our situations - it brings forth both joy and peace. Remember, we are not praising the situation but the God who controls all and is able to turn what seems most difficult into what is most good for us. He is the Maker of beauty from ashes. He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift. I am reminded of the Prophet Habakkuk’s resolution of gratefulness when he wrote in his dark day the following:
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Hab 3:17-19 (NIV)
“Joy is the realest reality, the fullest life, and joy is always given, never grasped. God gives gifts and I give thanks and I unwrap the gift given: joy. Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant- a seed- this plants the giant miracle. The miracle of eucharisto. Do not disdain the small. The whole of the life - even the hard - is made up of the minute parts, and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole...There is a way to live the big of giving thanks in all things. It is this: to give thanks in this one small thing. The moments will add up.” Ann Voskamp
“The root of joy is gratefulness ... It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” David Steindl-Rast
There will always be the naysayers among us – those who sneer at our thanksgiving in all things as impossibility. Just as these disciples who were indignant over the waste of the costly perfume. Yet the “sacrifice of praise” will always be costly. Is it really a gift if it is not dear – if it doesn’t cost? I believe the sweetest songs of praise and thanksgiving – the highest honor we can bestow upon the Savior - flow from hearts and lips of those bearing costly sacrifice.
“Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart — transforming the disposition and the whole character. Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit—before it can become a fixed and permanent quality. An occasional burst of praise, in the midst of years of complaining, is not what is required. Songs on rare, sunshiny days; and no songs when skies are cloudy—will not make a life of gratitude. The heart must learn to sing always. This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit which nothing can weaken. We must persist in being thankful. When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness. Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.” J. R. Miller
“But, grateful eyes truly do see grace and goodness, even in the most difficult and unattractive packages. The Gratitude Syndrome makes you desire what you already have rather than always needing to have what you think you desire. Gratitude makes life’s horizon bright and big rather than dark and distant. It turns what you have into more than enough.” Jennifer Rothschild