Irvin Wasswa-Tylertown Campus Pastor LHBC

Matthew 26:6-13

6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

When I was in high school/early college I had several different nicknames given to me from various people in my life. My coaches called me Waazuwa (literally would yell “WAAZOOWAAHHHH” when they saw me) as a result of their absolute inability to correctly pronounce my last name. My friends called me Irv, which is a standard nickname of course, which was cool. The nickname that ended up sticking the most that I remember was the nickname Seal, derived from the famous British singer of the 90s. The nickname came to be at Friday night Karaoke Night at the local Mexican restaurant. I had the boldness that night to sing one of Seal’s most famous songs “Kiss from a Rose” from the Karaoke stage, to which then someone in the crowd yelled “Hey, he looks like Seal too”. From then on the nickname stuck. So much so that you could go back and talk to my friends back home and they’d remember that moment and may start calling me Seal again. I was remembered for being the Seal look alike, and had that nickname for a good while.

All joking aside, I do not want to be remembered as merely being Seal’s doppelgänger.I want to be remembered as being someone who was fully devoted to the Lord, and gave Him my all. That was the story of the woman in Matthew 26. The context of the passage is that Jesus is with his disciples when she comes up and decides to pour some expensive perfume on the head of Jesus. The disciples did not at all understand what was going on. They thought this woman was wasting what could’ve been used for better purposes in their mind, but Jesus gets them straight. This act of pouring the perfume on Jesus’ head was not a waste, it was worship. Listen, this act was her offering out of her love and devotion to Him. She gave what she had in worship to the Lord, and we are called to do the same.

The main truth we can glean from the extraordinary act of this woman in Matthew 26 is to give God our all. The woman saw that Jesus, because of who He is, was worthy to be anointed with perfume. Is Jesus worthy of your life? Is He worthy of your tithe? Is He worthy of your worship? Is He worthy of your affection? If He is, then give Him your all. The call to give God your all is something we have got to choose to do daily as we walk with Him. Out of our devotion to Jesus we ought to daily choose to surrender ourselves to the Lord for Him to use us. That is our act of worship as Romans 12:1 says.

Friend, let’s be remembered as this woman was in Matthew 26 as people who give God our everything out of our devotion to Him. May her example motivate and inspire you and I to surrender all to the Lord and let Him use us for His Kingdom work service. 

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

I surrender all,

I surrender all.

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Dear Heavenly Father, all to You I surrender! I give you everything today, for You are worthy. Use me for your Kingdom service today! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK 

Matthew 22:37

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.