John 12: 1-7, Mark 14: 3-9, 2 Samuel 6: 14, Hebrews 11: 24-27, Romans 8: 28

Paul Critchley

Ever wondered why you got a bit bored and distracted during church? Could it be our fault rather than the preacher or the worship band? Is it possible that we came to the meeting expecting God to bless us, instead of coming with a mentality of, 'I've come to bring Him my love and adoration today'? To be an extravagant worshipper is to be worshipping God to the max, to excess.

In John 12: 1-7, Mary took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume of the value of a year's wages and anointed Jesus' feet with it. What a sacrifice from Mary in monetary value! She wouldn't have been receiving much money for daily living and here she was willing to give away a year's wages. But more than that, Mary's love for Jesus was such that nothing was too costly for the Lord whom she loved. She was prepared to face ridicule from others and to be foolish in the eyes of those around her for the sake of absolute unbridled adoration to Jesus. The strong smell of that sweet perfume of her worship would have filled the whole room.

Mark 14: 3-9, tells us about a woman who anointed Jesus' head with a beautiful perfume in spite of rebuke from some present. This too was worth more than a year's wages. As we come solely with a heart to worship and glorify our God, in spite of its cost to us, our worship will rise to Heaven just like that sweet perfume.

When you or I come to worship, it's our place to please God, not to analyze how good or bad the message was, or to judge the content or style of the music. It's for us to recognize how amazing it is to have relationship with the King and to be prepared to go all out for Him without fear of what those around might think.

In 2 Samuel 6: 14 (Amplified Bible) it says, 'David danced before the Lord with all his might, clad in a linen ephod [a priest's upper garment]'.

He was so passionate about God and so unashamed to express his love for God that he danced with all his might. More importantly this verse shows us, it was before the Lord that he danced.

Of course it doesn't mean that we won't get a kick back from our actions if it appears to invade some senses of religious reverence or even seem to overstep what's acceptable behavior. David had Saul's daughter challenge him over the fact that he'd acted in a seemingly 'vulgar' way. This was David's response in verse 22 'I will become even more undignified than this'.

David was radical in his expression of praise. He had an extravagant heart and praised with reckless abandon. David was a worshipper who knew how to seek God's face.

Let's take one more example: Moses, because of his love for God, was prepared to lay aside the treasures of Egypt and be mistreated along with God's people. Hebrews 11: 24-27 says, 'By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time'. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

Moses had forsaken the luxurious courts of pharaoh in Egypt. He had put himself in the way of an encounter with God. He deliberately chose spiritual treasures above anything this world could offer. Do we choose spiritual treasures over any worldly treasures available? God is looking for people like Moses who will forsake the treasures of Egypt.

Likewise, our worship often involves offering to God something costly or dear to us. It involves an extravagant gesture on our part because of the extravagant love and grace on His part.

To love God extravagantly is to come before Him with the thought that whether I experience God's presence or not, my sole purpose is to bring my love and adoration to Him, wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, too many times we base our decision to worship God or not on whether we feel His presence.

A great friend of mine recently shared this example of the sometimes fickle nature of our love. If you ever fell into young love you may have done the classic daisy routine. You pulled out the petals one by one quoting these words, 'He loves me, he loves me not'. We view our relationship like this - when the good stuff happens to us it's a definite, 'He loves me,' but when troubles or disappointment come, we question and can be drawn to say, 'He loves me not'. The truth for those who have come into God's family is that, 'He loves us...He loves us' and that 'all things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose'. (Romans 8: 28)

Our worship is not based on our feelings but our attitude to wholeheartedly pour out a sacrifice to Him who sacrificed everything for us.

Go on. Be undignified!!