Today I had the opportunity to share THE WORD at the School of Worship that we are partnered with this month. I was honored to have this opportunity because I am a woman, and this is a male-driven society. So I thought for my blog today, I would share with you what the Lord asked me to share today.
One of the things that God has stirred in my heart since our arrival is about learning how to be an extravagant worshiper—a person who loves the Lord so much that they want Him to receive everything that is due Him.
I started by going to Dictionary.com to get a definition of what extravagant was defined as.
Extravagant:
Spending more than is necessary or wise; wasteful.
Excessively high
Exceeding the bounds of reason, as actions, demands, opinions, or passions
The Lord then took me to the Scriptures to show me what extravagant worship looked like in His Word.
Look at Luke 7:36-50 NIV
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 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. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is–that she is a sinner.” 40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. 41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven–as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” 48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
This woman knew the customs of her time; she knew that she was not supposed to be in the house where these men were. She also knew that the Pharisee did not wash Jesus’ feet, nor kiss him as he arrived, nor did he anoint his head. She knew her sins, but her love and desire to worship Jesus surpassed whatever dignity she had left. She did not care about her reputation or the fact that people were talking about her. She had one thing on her mind… JESUS.
She must have been really excited or grateful to see Jesus because her body produced sufficient tears to wet his feet. His feet were dirty and filled with the soil and other miscellaneous dirt of walking around with sandals. And as she finished wetting his feet with her tears, she must have looked around for a towel but did not find one, so she used her hair to wipe away all the mud and water. She used her hair—she wiped the dirtiest part of Jesus with her glory.
It would have been very improper for her to kiss his cheeks, as it was customary for men to do as they greeted, but she knew that she had to kiss him, and with her reputation, she knew that if she kissed his feet that would be sufficient. So she kissed his feet and then broke open her alabaster bottle of perfume and lavished it on him. This little perfume bottle had cost her an entire year’s wages. All that she was worth was poured upon this man, this Jesus.
She was reckless and she was being judged for it. Especially Simon—he was definitely feeling insulted by her inappropriate acts. But Jesus justified her act of worship. He was pleased and God was pleased.
This reckless abandonment in worship reminds me of another person, a man named King David, who was just as passionate and reckless in his worship of the Lord.
Turn to 2 Samuel 6:14-16, 21-23 NIV
14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. … 21 David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel–I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” 23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
Ok, let me preface this scripture to give you a better picture. David’s men had tried to take the arc of the covenant back to the City of David but they had forgotten what God had said about the transportation methods of His presence. They put the arc upon a cart and started to wheel it around. While they were walking, there was uneven soil and the arc started to fall. Uzzah, wanting to make sure that it did not fall to the ground, touched the arc, and God was so displeased He killed him instantly. Unable to take it home, they left the arc at Obededom’s home for 3 months. Obededom was very blessed while the arc was in His home. David and his men went back to pick it up, repented of the disobedience, and then carried it back to the City of David. This was where we pick up with our Scripture.
As David was on his way back with the Arc, he danced a crazy dance of celebration wearing an ephod. The ephod is a high priest garment used to enter into the Holy Place.
When his wife Michal saw him, she despised him in her heart, not in public but in a very private place, and God saw that. She told him what a fool he had been, but David did not care. I love his response as stated in verses 21-22;
“It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel–I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
He told her that he was doing this for the Lord and not for man’s eyes and that he would be even more UNDIGNIFIED that this to bring God the worship He deserved. Which brings me back to our sinful woman with the alabaster bottle—she became more undignified to worship Jesus and please God.
Both of these worshipers had heart to bring God all the glory and all the worship. They were forgiven much and because of it, had so much worship to bring to the Lord. They were both judged by the people that saw them, but they did not care. Their act of extravagant worship was more important than their reputations or the way they were viewed, and God was pleased with them.
The people that judged them negatively were dealt with by the Lord. Simon was shamed publicly by Jesus justifying the behavior of that woman and forgiving her sins, and by being reminded the courtesies that he had forgotten towards Jesus. And Michal was shamed publicly because she was unable to bear children, and as the wife of the King, that was her duty.
So let’s take this home.
Let’s give God the worship He deserves. I have been forgiven much and I know that if we went around, many of us would say the same. Worship is a natural reaction of those of us who had been forgiven towards the one who forgave the debt. Worship is more than just a pretty song, but it is rather the posture of your heart. I want to be extravagant in bringing God worship. I want my worship to exceed the bounds of reason or passion. Let’s bring God the glory He deserves.
