And what a privilege it is to sing back to God from his holy hymnal, the very words he inspired and ordained to be brought to him in worship. If you would please, let's take our Bibles out again. And we want to turn now as we come to our opportunity for the exposition of God's word to Mark's Gospel, chapter 14. Mark's Gospel, Chapter 14, as we continue in our exposition of this gospel narrative. We've spent the last several weeks looking at Chapter 13, the Olivet Discourse, and now we resume in our continuing exposition of this gospel. Mark, Chapter 14, we're going to be looking this morning at the first nine verses. So beginning in verse number one, let me begin by reading the text. we find these words. It says, It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him. For they said, Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people. And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, As he was reclining at a table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii. and given to the poor, and they scolded her. Jesus said, Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. You always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them, but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her. Let's now pause together for prayer. Heavenly Father, we bow before you now as we look to your Word. Father, we come before you as a people who are hungry, and eager to receive the very pure milk of the Word. That Word that sustains us, teaches us, equips us, corrects and confronts us. The Word that gives us the precious promises for God's people and gives us the way of everlasting life. We come, Father, with the full confidence its inerrancy and sufficiency. And yet we come also, dear God, with a sense of dependency before you for the need of the ministry of your spirit, for his work today of bringing your word to our hearts afresh. Help us, Lord, as we look at this familiar story to see the eternal and abiding truths. Help us, Lord, that we would see by way of positive example how that we are to have a kind of service to you that even makes the world shake its head at our devotion. And Father, help us that we would seek to give all that we are and all that we have that you might be glorified and honored and lifted up in our lives. Again, dear God, it is our prayer that according to Your purpose and by Your sovereign grace, You would draw those apart from Your Son to Him, that their eyes might be opened, that their ears might be unstopped, that their hearts might be created afresh, that they might receive Christ our Savior for their salvation, their deliverance from sin. We pray, O God, that as we look to your word, we would have confidence that it does not return void, but it does indeed accomplish that which you have purposed. Bless your word, O God, we pray. We ask this all in Jesus Christ's holy name. Amen. As we come to chapter 14 of the Gospel of Mark, we come to something of a transition in the narrative. Up to this point, primarily, the focus of this narrative of the Lord Jesus, which Mark, inspired by the Holy Spirit, has inscripturated for us, is a picture of Christ as that great prophet, as indeed he is. It is focused upon the Lord's teaching upon his instruction, upon his great wonder-working, and of course, the spiritual implications of those realities. But when we get to chapter 14, the transition is even more pronounced. From him as the great prophet, to Christ as the great priest. Jesus Christ, the prophet, priest, and king, is now being portrayed ever increasingly in light of the cross as that priest who indeed will offer up that sacrifice that atones for sin, that placates the wrath of God, and that secures salvation for his elect. Certainly that theme of the cross has been developed throughout the narrative as Jesus has made several predictions about his death, about his departure, But now we transition very starkly here at this point and we see the reality of why Christ came as it is presented in all of its glory and all of its centrality. And this is what we find as we turn now and look at our exposition today. And indeed, as we look at these verses, I want to consider that we can divide up these nine verses into two different sections. The first section is found in verses one and two. That is what I'm calling this record of sinful opposition. And then verses three through nine, we have the record of this special offering, a special offering that was made by Mary and the anointing of the Lord Jesus. And this is how we're going to consider these nine verses today. Let's begin, first of all, by considering verses one and two, this sinful opposition to the Lord Jesus. We are told here in these verses about this increasing opposition to the Lord and his ministry. Certainly, this is not some new occurrence. It is a building opposition that has been present from the early days of Jesus' ministry, and it's like a crescendo. It continues to build now as we are in the midst of Passion Week. We are told here, notice in verse one, it says, It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and to kill him. The word there for stealth in our translation is the Greek word, Delo, and it means by trickery, by deceit, by decoy, by guile. They wanted to deal with Jesus. They wanted to kill Jesus. But they desired, they plotted, they planned, they imagined that they could do that in a way that would be clandestine. We're told specifically in the reason verse two, it says they said not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people. You see, they themselves were fearful of the people. They realized that the great fanfare and reception that Jesus had received as he came in on Sunday in the triumphal entry. They realized that Jesus was just the kind of person in their eyes who could really cause a stir at just the wrong time if they didn't handle it with stealth, with deception, with guile and with trickery. They wanted to wait until after the Passover was over. They wanted to deal with Jesus and, yes, eliminate him, but do it in a private matter. They want to try to not draw attention and undo issue with Jesus and his followers during this significant portion of their religious calendar. And so we see their intention. And yet, congregation, we see in this record here how God indeed can disappoint the designs of the wicked, can't he? We see here in this very example how God does indeed overrule the imaginations of the wicked in order to glorify himself and do just as he has ordained. Indeed, Jesus would be crucified at the very highest point of their festival when the most number of people would be pressed into Jerusalem just as God had ordained. These, I think about this, this scheming stealth kind of imagination of these evil rulers. I can't help but think of Psalm 2. Turn back to Psalm 2 and let me just read to you the words of the psalmist here. I think it's very appropriate as we, as we see here, what they were seeking to do with the Lord Jesus. Psalm 2, verses 1 through 5, we have these familiar words about the wicked who are opposed to the purposes and plans of the Lord. Psalmist writes in Psalm 2, verse 1, Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? That's exactly what the high priests and scribes were doing. They were plotting in vain. The kings of the earth set themselves. The rulers take counsel together. against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sets in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury. We could find no greater example of what Psalm 2 is writing about than what we find here in this gospel narrative. These wicked religious leaders, these people of great prominence, they were plotting and they were imagining these vain schemes and trickery and plans. And yet the reality is that they were not in control, were they? Almighty God, the sovereign of the universe, was orchestrating every detail of the events of Jesus' life for his purpose and his design. And while they plotted and while they schemed, God was in control and orchestrating his purpose. And indeed, God did visit them with great wrath and great fury and judgment. even as they sought to scheme against the Lord. Congregation, I think this is a word practically for us today. We live in a troubled world, don't we? We live in a world where it seems that evil is abounding. Indeed, lawlessness seems to abound more and more. And we look at our world and we look at the, quote, advances of the wicked schemes of the devil and all the various wickedness of our land and we say, Lord, Why do you wait? Why do you tarry? Congregation, we need to be reminded, just as we see here in this example, God is on His throne and He is disposing of His perfect plan according to His exact timing. Amen? And He is doing as He has ordained. In this we can take great confidence. He is working all things out for the good and for His glory. in time and into eternity. So we see here the sinful opposition of these religious leaders. They were plotting. They were scheming. They had their own designs. But God would destroy them in His purpose. Now, coming to verse number three, we look at this second statement here in this chapter. And it is, of course, this record of this special offering that was given by Mary. Notice, if you will, in verse number three, we note the devotion of Mary. It says, while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask, the ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. This familiar story of Mary we have read This story, perhaps since our very earliest days in Sunday school, several things about this offering, this act of generosity and devotion that I think we should see here this morning. First of all, it was a very extravagant act of devotion on the part of Mary. We are told here that it was a flask, an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard. Now, what exactly is pure nard? Well, pure nard is a perfume from the dried root of a plant that grows in the Himalayas. This was a very costly, rare perfume that she had. Indeed, if you'll turn with me over to John chapter 12, one of the parallel passages, we're giving more detail in John 12 concerning some of what we have in this event. If you look in John chapter 12, just pick up reading here. I'll read the first nine verses, first seven verses as we note this story in its record by this narrative here. John chapter twelve and verse one is six days before the Passover. Jesus, therefore, came to Bethany where Lazarus was whom Jesus had raised from the dead. This tells us, by the way, just by way of comment that this story is inserted by Mark at a different point of chronology for the emphasis of the story. It actually was six days before the Passover. You remember what we read in Mark chapter 14, verses 1 and 2, that that story of the plotting of that sinful opposition was two days. So we have here something of a clarification of the chronology. It says, so they gave a dinner for him there, for Jesus. Martha served and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary, therefore, took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. And we read, of course, the opposition. It says Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, He, who was about to betray him, said, Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? And he said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, Leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you. But you do not always have me. We are told more information about this extravagant act of devotion on the part of Mary. We're told who it was specifically by name here in John's account. It was Mary. We're not specifically told that in Mark's account. We're told that she had this this pure, this expensive perfume, the dried root of a plant of the Himalayas. We are told the amount of it in verse number three of John twelve. We are told here that it was a pound of it. Now, that was approximately twelve ounces, exactly eleven and a half ounces. So you need to think in terms of a perfume bottle with about twelve ounces of perfume, very strong perfume. It was it was the the oil. And so it was stronger than the kind of colognes or perfumes that you commonly buy in the store today. A very strong perfume. We are told here that it was so rare and so costly in verse number five, as we have also recorded in Mark, that it could have been sold for 300 denarii. Now, 300 denarii was one year's wage. So if you can imagine having a perfume that one bottle of it was worth an entire year's wage. You have something of an idea of the extravagance of the act of devotion by Mary. You go down to Neiman Marcus and you can buy a one ounce bottle of of Clive Christian cologne and one ounce of that will cost you about three hundred dollars. Pretty expensive. You can buy a two and a half ounce of Creed cologne from the Creed House of France and spend two or three hundred dollars on that. And people do as a luxury item that they enjoy. But can you imagine a twelve ounce bottle that was equivalent to a year's earning? That's how costly this perfume was. She, Mary, certainly was not a part of the royalty. She certainly was not someone who was a place of great standing socially, and yet she had this expensive perfume, and there was nothing uncommon about her owning that. Very interesting in the details. Indeed, it's interesting that the Bible actually talks a lot about perfume. You may or may not be aware, but if you would, turn back with me to Proverbs 27. Just as is true today, so it was true in the Bible days. Perfume and cologne is something of an enjoyment and a blessing that people greatly enjoy using. And we read in Proverbs 27, verse number 9, a statement about that very reality. Proverbs 27 and verse 9, it says, oil and perfume make the heart glad and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. We are told here about the biblical attitude towards fragrance, perfume, and cologne. We are told that according to the writer of Proverbs, it makes the heart glad. It's something to be enjoyed, something to be used to those who enjoy it, and it is something that is very much a blessing in its use. You say, Pastor, why are you saying all of that? That kind of seems to be beside the point. I have actually met Christians who think it is un-Christian to wear aftershave or fragrance, if you can imagine that. That somehow it is not spiritual to wear cologne. And yet we see the Bible's attitude as being very different. And here was Mary. She had this extremely expensive perfume, twelve ounces of it, and this extravagant act was indeed an act whereby she sought to honor the Lord with that prize possession that she had herself. Turn back with me now to Mark 14. We see that this was a very extravagant act. If we can get our minds around how expensive this perfume was. Secondly, we know here that this act of Mary was not only an extravagant act of devotion, It was an unrepeatable act of devotion. Notice in verse number three, again in our text, it says that she took the alabaster flask of ointment of pure lard very costly and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. You see, in that day, the kind of flasks, the kind of translucent alabaster jars in which perfume was kept in. It was sealed with a lid which you had to break the lid off in order to use. We think about the colognes or the fragrances that people enjoy today. They either come in a spray or you have a top on and you screw that back down, using it very carefully not to spill and only using a little bit. But in that day, it was very different. The jar, this alabaster flask, as we are told it described to be, was to be broken. And once it was broken, you used all of the contents of that flask. You didn't screw the lid back on again. It was broken and it was all to be used, saved back for a very rare special occasion and all to be used at once. So you see here, the act of Mary in this story, not only was this an extravagant act of devotion, but this was an unrepeatable act of devotion. She couldn't screw the lid back down once she did what she did. She used all of it. All that she could, as Jesus says, all that she had. she presented in this extreme act of devotion to the Lord. All of this prized treasure was to be used, and nothing held back in this act of devotion. It was extravagant. It was unrepeatable. Thirdly, it was a demonstrative act of devotion. If you're here in Mark 14, I want you to turn back again to John 12 We're kind of going back and forth and comparing the two narratives as we get the full picture of what went on in this act. And we read in John chapter 12 that Mary not only did she pour this very expensive perfume on Jesus head, but it says she took this pound verse three of expensive ointment made of pure nard and anointed the feet. of Jesus and white his feet with her hair. House was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. You can imagine how the whole house was filled with the fragrance of twelve ounces of this very strong, rich and rare perfume. So there is no contradiction between the two stories. She poured some on the Lord's head. She poured some on the Lord's feet and then in this very demonstrative act of self-humiliation, of humility, of devotion to the Lord, she took her hair, the crowning glory of a woman, and she used her hair to wipe in and to anoint the Lord Jesus' feet in this act. This was an incredible display of devotion of public act of allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, it's really amazing when you think of it because of the kind of interaction that men and women commonly had in Jesus day. Women just did not, as a rule, go up and speak to men. Not to speak of taking their perfume and pouring it on their head and feet. And so this was a very unique, incredible, demonstrative act publicly of her devotion to the Lord. Fourthly, this was, I would describe, as a very appropriate act of devotion. You say, why is it appropriate? Well, what was she doing? She was anointing the Lord. And who is Jesus? Jesus is the Christ, isn't He? And that title of Christ means what? The anointed one. The anointed of the Father. And so there is a symbolism in her act, because what she was doing was a demonstration of whom she was serving. She was anointing the anointed one. She was identifying with the one who had been sent from the Lord, who had been prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures as that Messiah. the Anointed One from God, the Christ. And here she did that which was appropriate in anointing by that physical act demonstrating her understanding of who He was as Jesus the Christ. Fifthly, I believe this act of devotion was a very prophetic act of devotion. For you see, this act by Mary was not only identifying with who He is as the Anointed One, but as Jesus clearly explains, she was doing it and there was this prophetic significance to it. It was pointing beyond that moment to His act of atonement and death. If you're in John chapter twelve, you'll notice in verse number seven, Jesus responds this way. Leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. You see, this kind of expensive perfume and cologne, it was certainly used to the enjoyment of people making the heart glad. But that kind of rare oil or ointment or perfume was also used in the preparation of a dead body before it was buried. It was a means of dealing with some of the natural realities of dealing with a dead corpse. You would put perfume on it in order to make it more pleasant before the burial. So here we see in this act of devotion, not only was she identifying with who Christ is, She was pointing by way of this action to what Christ would do for his people. Now, turn back with me to Mark chapter fourteen. We see this devotion of Mary very extravagant, unrepeatable, very demonstrative, appropriate and yes, prophetic. And now notice, if you will, in verses four and five, the criticism of the disciples, the criticism of the disciples. It says there were some who said to themselves indignantly, why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor. And they scolded her. What was the reaction of the disciples? Well, the person of this criticism we read in John chapter 12, it was instigated by Judas Iscariot, wasn't it? The great betrayer, the one who was a pretender, but not truly a possessor of saving faith and religion. And yet it is also true by way of comparing the stories here that it wasn't only Judas who was making this criticism. For his evil spirit had infected the other disciples as well, at least some of them. And so taking the cue from Judas, there were some, more than one, who was acting in this kind of self-righteous spirit of indignation and seeing her act as being a waste of an opportunity. Indeed, the pretense that that Judas and some others perhaps were agreeing with him on is that they could take this expensive perfume. They could go and sell it for 300 denarii, a year's wage. And just think of how many poor, needy people you could help. with a year's wage of resources. Just think of how many bellies you could feed, how many clothes you could buy, how many different things you could do for those who are poor if you have that kind of resource. We are told in John chapter 12, of course, that the true reality of that pretense is that Judas was greedy. He was a man who was hungry for money, and while he was talking about wasting money, he was lusting after money. And so, rather than having a real concern for the poor, a real concern for the needy, he said, this is a lost opportunity for me to take some of that to myself and enjoy it myself. It was a very selfish intention, at least by Judas. We're not told that that was true of the other disciples. This was the true purpose of this criticism. Notice, if you will, in verses six through nine, we read the reaction of the Lord. We see the devotion of Mary. We see the criticism of the disciples. What was the reaction of the Lord? Well, in verse number six, he rebukes the critics. He says, leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done A beautiful thing to me. The first thing he did is he rebuked those critics, those who were criticizing, those who were scolding, and he says, you leave her alone. And I'm sure they must have kind of been caught in their tracks stone faced when they probably had no imagination that Jesus would react in this way. After all, it sounded like they were having a very spiritual reason for their criticism. He said, leave her alone. Don't trouble her. What she has done is not wasteful. It isn't foolhardy, isn't some ostentatious act that is extravagant and yet ridiculous. No, it is appropriate. It is a beautiful thing she has done to me. He rebukes the critics. Notice in verse number seven, he answers their objections. He says, for you always have the poor with you and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me here again. You see how the transition here is focusing and moving as Jesus is teaching upon the reality of that coming cross and his ultimate departure, the ascension back to the father. He says you can always do good to the poor. You will always have the poor. But you will not always have the opportunity to act with this extravagant act of generosity and devotion, because I am here for a short while and then I will be gone. And so what she has done should not be criticized, it should be praised. And you should seek to do the same, for I am here but a short time and then I will be gone. Yes, you need to help the poor. Yes, those in need need to be cared for. Yes, we should be compassionate for the needs of those around us. But at this time, at this moment, in this situation, this is very appropriate. And what she has done is not some foolhardy act, but an act that is beautiful, an act to be commended. So he rebukes these critics. He deals with their objection. Notice in verse number eight, he explains the significance of this. So she has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. Again, we see how this prophetic act of Mary Jesus with full explanation makes very clear the significance of what she had done. This was not merely some light-headed young lady with some desire to do something big in public. No, what she did was something that is pointing beyond this moment and pointing to the very purpose of which I have come. I have been with you. I have ministered to you. I have buried my life with you for three years. And now I am about to go and I am about to do that which I have been called to do. And she has acted appropriately. She has done what she could. She took the most expensive, precious, rare treasure that she had. In all of the things that she might have ever attained to or ever accumulated throughout her life, there was this bottle of perfume that was worth a year's wage. And she took that, the most precious thing she had, and she used that to anoint me. And this, indeed, was an anointing of my body beforehand. for burial. Jesus concludes in verse number nine with speaking about the reward that would be hers. Truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her. Here we are 2000 years from these events. And we are telling the story again. And we are remembering this act of devotion centuries later as Jesus had predicted. She indeed acted beautifully, doing what she could. And she is remembered for that act of devotion. Congregation, what do we take away from this story of Jesus being anointed at Bethany? Let me share with you four lines of application this morning. The first thing that we need to see, and this is the sad part of the story, and that is this, how spiritual hypocrites can sound, how spiritual hypocrites can sound. Here was Judas Iscariot, and yet he was speaking words that sounded so spiritual. Oh, why would she do such a terrible act of ostentatiousness? We could have helped the poor. We could have done so much good. And yet she wasted this perfume. You see how spiritual that sounds on one level, how self congratulating it is in a spiritual sense. Oh, we could have done so well with this. And yet we know what a hypocrite he truly was. The sad reality is that hypocrites can sound very spiritual, and that is so very true. They can even praise their own humility. They can even efface themselves in order to elevate themselves, so long as they keep the conversation about them all the time. And the sad reality is that hypocrites you will always have, and it is often difficult to discern But you have to see the goal of which they truly are acting and truly engaging in the spiritual things they are saying. This was true in Jesus day. It is true to this very day. Secondly, we see in this story how highly Christ esteems service to himself. This is a story about Christ. giving His validation, His stamp of approval on this extravagant act of devotion. Even though it did not have, perhaps immediately, the significance of it in the minds of the disciples or anyone else who were observing, Jesus here was saying, I value this kind of extravagant, unrepeatable, demonstrative, very appropriate act of devotion to me, offering, as Jesus said, even a cup of water in His name will never lose its reward. God indeed approves of this kind of generous extravagance in our service to the Lord. It is really a question of, are we doing what we can do? As she did what she could, are we as well? Are we extravagant? Are we, in this way, public and demonstrative in how we serve the Lord? Christ highly esteems that kind of service. Thirdly, we see here that, certainly in looking at this story, how easily good works can be undervalued and they can be misunderstood. You know, we live in a world where serving the Lord is not always really understood, is it? The world looks at believers and they look at a devoted life, a life that seeks to serve the Lord, a life where you're in the church building every time the doors are open. You make as your priority, I am going to give 10% of my income to the Lord. I am going to read my Bible. I'm going to be a witness for Christ. I am going to seek to draw others to the Lord. They look at that kind of lifestyle and they say, How ridiculous, how radical they must be. You know, well, you know, we want religion, but just a little smidgen of it. We don't want a lot of it. And yeah, oh yeah, I believe in God, but I don't want to get too fanatical about it. I don't want to get irrational about it. Here we see an example of the kind of fanaticism the Lord stamps his stamp of approval on. doing all that she could in this act of extravagance, while the world may look at our service to Christ and say, you're just ridiculous. You just need to kind of get your perspective back. You're imbalanced. God says, no, I approve and long for my people to be so devoted to me that I am indeed at the very center of all that they are and all that they do. That was true of Mary. We must ask, is it true of you? Is it true of me? Is this our testimony? And then fourthly, we see in this story how central the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is in his ministry and life. Again, the focus here is upon that atoning death of Jesus. The focus of this story is not merely the anointing, but the symbolism of what Christ was seeking to communicate. And while Mary may not have even fully understood the implications of her actions, it was declaring the centrality of the cross in the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was an act whereby Jesus was saying, this is why I have come and this is what I am to do. The needy you will have with you always. There will be needs. There will be other things of beneficence and goodness you can do. But this is why I have come. Congregation, we are not saved only by the incarnation of Christ. Amen. We're not saved merely by the teaching of Christ. We can know the teachings of Jesus inside and out. We are saved by the provision of Jesus Christ. We are saved because the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, was nailed to Calvary's cross and died in our place to placate the justice of Almighty God. And the wrath of God was placed upon him whereby we might have, by God's mercy, deliverance from the wrath to come. That's why Christ has come. That's what Christ came to do. And this is what Jesus was focusing upon in this story. And it is the focus that we must have always in our ministry. May we keep before us clearly that we have as our message Christ and Him crucified. Amen? That is our message. And if our message is not that, we are not faithful to the gospel. And while we may theologize and theorize and we may lecture and have all kinds of knowledge, if we're not declaring Christ and Him crucified, that which is foolishness to those who do not know, then we are not declaring that power of God to salvation for those who believe. Praise be to God, He did come and He did indeed lay down His life. And this anointing pointed to the reality that we have one who delivers from sin. Praise the Lord that is found in Christ. Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, as we consider this extreme act of devotion by Mary, it smotes our hearts when we think about how often our hearts are dull and half-hearted. And perhaps even in the worship that we brought to you this morning, Have we done what we could? Have we done that which is extravagant and all that is in us and our service to give to you? Help us, Lord, to learn from this great example of Mary, that kind of devotion you call us to daily. Help us, O God, that we would see as Christ evaluates that work, service, and devotion to You. Help us, Lord, to keep central in that service the message of Christ and His sacrifice. Help us, Lord, that we would serve You even as the world may undervalue, misunderstand, and call fanatical. with the same kind of devotion that is appropriate for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Father, draw to Yourself those apart from Christ. May they turn to Him in salvation. May You encourage our hearts to serve You like Mary. And Father, we ask all of this in Christ's holy name, Amen.