The Beautiful Life: What It Means to Love Jesus Wastefully
Based on Mark 14:1-11
What does it mean to live a beautiful life? Redeemer is a church in Manchester seeking to live this out. Not Instagram-beautiful or aesthetically pleasing, but truly, deeply beautiful—the kind of beauty that echoes through eternity? The story in Mark 14:1-11 gives us a profound answer through the lens of one woman's radical act of worship.
Setting the Stage: A Party During Passover
Before we dive into this remarkable story, we need to understand the context. This takes place during Passover—a celebration of God's people being freed from slavery in Egypt. Passover kicks off a seven-day festival called the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where families would gather to eat, pray, sing, and celebrate together. Think of it as an ancient week-long family reunion centered on God's goodness.
The name "unleavened bread" comes from the urgency of the original Passover: make bread quickly without waiting for it to rise, so you can be ready to follow God to freedom. God's people were serious about enjoying life—they took a whole week to celebrate!
Jesus is in the middle of this festive week, but He's on His way to the cross. He's about to set His people free, not just from earthly slavery, but from our slavery to sin—that force that holds us back from God, from others, and from ourselves.
And where do we find Jesus during this momentous time? At a party with His followers, in the home of Simon the Leper (likely the same Simon Jesus had healed earlier).
Meet the Characters
This story introduces us to four key players, each representing different responses to encountering Jesus:
Mary (the artist) - Though not named in Mark's account, we learn from John's Gospel this is Mary
Judas (the baddie) - The betrayer
The disciples (the snobs) - Those who criticized what they didn't understand
Jesus (the Savior) - The one worthy of extravagant love
The artist, the baddie, and the snobs all encountered beauty incarnate—Jesus Himself. But only one of them truly enjoyed it. And because of that, only one of them created something beautiful in return.
Mary: The Wasteful Artist
A Radical Sacrifice
Mary arrives with a jar of expensive perfume—her life savings, her pension, her security for the future. This wasn't just pocket change; this represented years of saving, planning, and working toward stability. And she poured it all out on Jesus.
Imagine saving up for months for something you really wanted, then instead of buying it, giving all that money away. The perfume filled the air with an overpowering fragrance, but more than perfume was being poured out—it was Mary's entire future.
Called "Wasteful"
The men in the room were uncomfortable. They called it wasteful, excessive, "going overboard." People often get uncomfortable with extreme devotion because it challenges their own level of commitment.
But here's the thing about going "overboard" for Jesus: the radical Christian movement gave us human rights, universal education, orphan care, the abolition of slavery, and institutions like the NHS. Thank God for people who "go overboard"! Here in Manchester, our church has seen how this kind of passionate devotion continues to transform communities today.
There's a difference between devotion to Jesus and foolishness, but most of us could lean into deeper devotion. The path of a beautiful life is littered with "wasteful" acts of devotion. As we've witnessed in our community in Manchester, when believers embrace this kind of radical generosity, it transforms not just individual lives but entire congregations.
The Reward of Waste
How did this "waste" work out for Mary? Jesus declared that wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, her story would be told. By sacrificing her future, she gained a legacy beyond her wildest dreams.
Motivated by Love
Mary wasn't trying to get something from Jesus or manipulate Him into blessing her. She loved Jesus for who He is. Just like you wouldn't trade away your parents for all the things they give you—you love them for themselves—Mary's worship was motivated by pure love for Jesus.
This is what love looks like in action: the most beautiful act any human can do is love Jesus. This kind of authentic, sacrificial worship is what we long to see in every church in Manchester—believers who love Jesus not for what they can get, but for who He is.
Jesus: The Ultimate Beautiful Sacrifice
His Greater Sacrifice
If Mary's sacrifice seems extreme and beautiful, it pales in comparison to Jesus'. He recognized that Mary understood something profound about His coming death—she was preparing Him for burial.
Jesus was about to be betrayed, tortured, publicly humiliated, and killed. But this wasn't just any death. He was sacrificing Himself to solve our deepest problem: sin that separates us from all that is beautiful, especially from God Himself.
God's Extravagant "Waste"
Think about how "wasteful" God is: How many colors exist in this world? How many flavors of food? How many species of animals? Beauty comes from God's extravagantly wasteful creativity.
The biggest example of divine "waste"? God giving His life on a cross. God's constant self-giving motivates us to live similarly—not to earn something from Him, but because we get to have more of God when we follow His ways.
How to Be a Wasteful Artist
We sacrifice for things all the time—every purchase, every scheduled commitment, every investment of attention or money represents a sacrifice. We never sacrifice for something that isn't worth it.
Mary saw what was worth it.
Four Characteristics of Beautiful, Wasteful Love:
It costs something - Real devotion requires genuine sacrifice
It takes time - Nothing beautiful ever came out of a microwave oven
It requires your presence - Not just physically, but attentionally and emotionally
Most importantly, it's motivated by love - Love for God that flows into love for others
The Practical Challenge
If we want to see the church make disciples, see more people come to faith, and serve the poor in tangible ways, it starts with us becoming wasteful artists ourselves. Whether you're part of a church in Manchester or anywhere else, the call remains the same: radical devotion that looks wasteful to the world.
What would it look like for you to be more "wasteful" in your devotion?
Your giving: Would anyone call your financial generosity to God's mission "devotional" or just checking a box?
Your time: How much time do you spend discipling others or investing in the church community? In our Manchester church, we've discovered that the most fulfilled believers are those who pour themselves into mentoring others.
Your presence: Are you fully present when you worship, or are you going through the motions?
The Heart's Battle
Here's the challenge: we all have an artist, a baddie, and a snob living in our hearts. When we encounter Jesus, we don't always choose the way of beauty. Sometimes we want to spend that time and energy on ourselves or try to gain something for our own benefit.
But Jesus allows us to live lives of beauty as we worship Him with everything we have.
The Beautiful Truth
Jesus' love is the most beautiful thing this world has ever seen. And the most beautiful act any human can do is love Jesus.
This story isn't just about one woman's extravagant worship 2,000 years ago. It's about the invitation each of us receives daily: to encounter the beauty of Jesus and respond not with calculation or self-interest, but with the kind of love that the world might call wasteful—and that Jesus calls beautiful. You can learn more about following God here.
The question isn't whether you can afford to be wasteful in your love for Jesus. The question is whether you can afford not to be.
After all, the path of a beautiful life is littered with wasteful acts of devotion. And those who walk this path discover that in losing their life for Jesus' sake, they find life that is truly beautiful—a legacy that echoes into eternity. This is the kind of transformational living we're passionate about fostering in every Manchester church community.
What would it look like for you to pour out your "jar of perfume" for Jesus today? What beautiful, wasteful act of devotion is He calling you to?