 Okay. Welcome back. So we just concluded talking about spiritual worship and fleshly worship idolatry in idol worship and the seriousness of it, the consequences of idolatry, right? The consequences of idolatry, what's the first thing? Immorality, right? Immorality of different forms. It could be sexual immorality and whatnot. Okay. And we concluded the whole session by saying, you know, ask yourself about the idols that you've built. Have you built idols? I'm not saying we are all idol worshipers, but then just examine yourself and whatnot, right? Once you've identified the idols that you've built, can someone read Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 to 6? Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 to 6. We'll end this section with that. Okay. Yeah, thank you. Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 to 6. Okay. Therefore, put 2. Put 2. It's not saying put it to sleep. Let it be under anesthesia for one day, two days. No conversation with sin. Kill it. Put to death. That's exactly what Phineha has did. He took a spear, got a bow. Put to death. No negotiations. No flirting with sin. Like I said, chalta hai. Compromise. Everybody say compromise. That will kill your spirit. Compromise with the ways of the world will kill your spirit and your hunger for God. When you compromise, like what Romans 12 keeps saying, okay, don't be conformed to the ways of the world. That means don't compromise with the way of the world. Don't negotiate. Another modern word is don't flirt. What is flirting? Don't flirt. It's late. Don't sit on the fence. I want to be the said also. I want to be that said also. I want to be holy. I also want to be unholy. I want to do things of the world and whatnot. Don't negotiate. Don't compromise. Once you've identified your idols, okay, kill it. Put to death. Your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry. Okay, so there's no negotiations with that guys and I hope you've understood the difference between spiritual worship and fleshly worship, the importance of both. Are you all with me? Yes, can we move on? Yes, no, maybe we'll move on. So let's move on. The chapel is called becoming a worship or another. We've understood the differences of spiritual worship and fleshly worship, the importance of it. Let's look at a beautiful example of an extravagant worship. Extravagant worship simply means grand expression of worship. We were just talking about expressions of worship, right? Like in the chapter four, I think we speak about expressions of worship, which is about praising and singing, clapping, dancing, shouting, painting, waving off the flags. All of those are expressions of worship. Now we look at an extravagant expression of worship. Okay, let's go to Luke chapter seven. Luke chapter seven. In the last class I mentioned the two favorite encounters of mine from the Bible and both of both their names happen to be Mary. Yeah. Okay, can we read some more scriptures? Can we do that? Can we read more Bible? What guys? I'm asking you all a question. Okay. Okay, those online, can we read some more scriptures? Is that okay? With all the cameras off, I was just wondering what you're doing. Awesome. Awesome. Okay. I hope you guys are also having fun online as in your learning. I'm hoping you're not feeling disengaged or disconnected from everything that is happening here. Someday I hope you all get to meet. Okay, Luke chapter seven verse 36 to 50. Okay, you're there. Luke chapter seven verse 36 to 50. Now, one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. Okay, I want you to begin to imagine with me. As we are reading, just imagine in your head, okay, Jesus is reclining at the table. Okay, then a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume. And 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. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he wouldn't know who is touching him. And what kind of man she is, what kind of woman she is, that she is a sinner. Verse 40, Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to tell you. When Jesus says, calls your name and says, I have something to tell you. Yeah, tell me teacher, he said, two men owed money to a certain money lender. One owed him 500 Dhnari and other 50. Neither of them had money to pay him back. So he cancelled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more? Simon replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled. You have judged correctly, Jesus said. 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. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman from the time I entered has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little. Then Jesus said to her, your sins are forgiven. The other guests began to say something among, say among them, who is this who even forgives sin? Jesus said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Amen. Let's go to Matthew chapter 26. I want to read some more of this from a different perspective. Sorry. So the Gospel of Luke is not chronological. So the story, most of the historians will claim that it is Mary and some say it is not Mary because of the way the Gospel of Luke is written. So if you read Luke chapter 7 and then go all the way to chapter 10, eventually you see that in from verse 38 onwards, Jesus is at the house of Mary and Martha. So he does not disclose names like the writer of this Gospel. So he is like a person trying to cover the identity, like for the dignity of the person. So it's approached from that perspective. But then when you dig deeper into the history and whatnot, many claim that it is not Mary because the chapter 6, it says Jesus was in Galilee. And when you come to chapter 7, it talks about this one. And so they think, okay, Galilee is up way up in the north. Bethany is way down in the south. But then when you understand that the Gospel of Luke is not written chronologically, it means it's not in order. It's everywhere, like linear. Okay, so Matthew 26 verse 6, it says, while Jesus was in Bethany in the home of known as Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When disciples saw this, they were indignant. Why this waste? They asked. This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor. Aware of this, Jesus said to them, why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me, the poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth verse 13, wherever this Gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. Okay, I'll pause here. So that last line, you kind of got my attention, whatever she did, you know, will be said in memory of her. Jesus, first thing, wanted her to be remembered. Can I say that again? Jesus wanted her, this woman, what she did to be remembered. Why didn't he say the same about say Peter or John or any other disciples or Apostle who writes 70% of the New Testament? But her, she mentioned like three or four times in the Bible. Yeah, I mean, it's just a simple act of love and worship, right? So let's begin the story. This is like in their culture, in the Jewish culture, right? This is what is known as what we will call it as an open house. Open house means when you say a rabbi is coming to your home, everybody in that neighborhood is welcome. That's an open house, right? Like everybody, you know, all of you are just welcome, you know, it's an open house. Your neighbor, the fifth neighbor, third neighbor, person opposite the street, your house is open, especially when a rabbi is coming. Okay, so he was invited and now Jesus is coming and he's reclining at the seat. If you've been to a Middle Eastern restaurant or actually there's a Rajasthani restaurant next to a church office, the seating is low. Okay, it's not like fancy chairs like this. The seating is low. Everybody will be reclining like this. They'll be resting on their hands, like, you know, on the right hand or the left hand. So they'll be reclining that with the right hand, they'll reach the bread and they'll dip it and, you know, kubus or whatever. And so it's a very chilled atmosphere. So there are a lot of people, a lot of people. Yes, the Pharisees who are watching who was always following Jesus is like, what is this man up to now? Then there are these disciples. Okay, and all these normal people. So out of nowhere, this woman must have got the news saying Jesus is coming. While he was reclining verse 37 in Luke, it says that when he was reclining at the table of women who had lived a sinful life in that town, learned that Jesus was eating other Pharisees, she brought an alabaster. Now, so she heard the Bible is very diplomatic. He's saying she lived a sinful life. Okay, what is it saying? She lived a, say it, she lived a sinful life. That's a very diplomatic and a nice way of saying she was living an adulterous life. A life of a prostitute. You can use the word prostitute. Let's not polish anything. Shall we? It's not whitewash. We speak the thing as it is. Yeah. She had lived an adulterous life. Right. So what did they do? How do prostitutes make their living by selling their body? Yes or no? Yes. For sexual pleasure. Right. So everybody in the town knows who she is. Everybody in the village or town knows who she is. Everybody knows what kind of life she is living with. Are you with me? I want you to put yourself in her shoe. Can you do that? I want you to put yourself in her shoe. For the story, I want you to be her. Can you do that? I want you to be this woman. Okay. Imagine how hard her heart must be beating. Right. She, everybody knows, what am I going to do? She brings this alabaster jar of perfume, a pure nard. Every step she was taking must be so hard. If I go there, I know I'm going to be judged. Right. If I go there, okay. And then she's there. I mean, I'm just imagining, maybe she has to knock on the door or whatnot. It's like her part of her is saying, don't do this, go back home. But she doesn't care. She goes, she sees Jesus. Right. And she goes all the way and she breaks the alabaster jar. And she stood behind him, 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. Now, if you look at this chapter from the beginning, like from verse 36, all the way down to verse 50. Okay. She doesn't say a single word. We'll get to that in a second. She doesn't say, forgive me, Lord. Nothing. But let's pause. Okay. Now, so she brings this alabaster jar and she breaks it. So one of them says, why is this waste? Right. In other stories, why this waste? That is one year's wages. What does that mean? One year's salary. One year's annual income to buy this. Let's imagine pretend this is the perfume, right. This perfume, you have to save for one year. Okay. So again, if you just dig a little deep, study or do your research on this nard, pure nard. It is exported back in the day from the foothills of Himalayas, border of India and Nepal. So there's like this pink color flowers, you know, the foothills of Himalayas that will be crushed. It's pure nard. It's not diluted. It's thick in essence. And that would be exported to different countries. Now, while this perfume was used generally, this perfume was also used by prostitutes to allure men. Okay. This perfume was also used to seduce and allure men, like bring them in. Are you with me? So that's one thing. Another thing, what we just read was, it was one year's salary. It's a lot of money. That's one thing, right? Yes or no? It depends on next question. How did she earn that money? Say it. Yeah. She earned it by selling her body. Yes. So with all of this happening, it's not just that one expression, guys. So with all this pressure around me, she's not looking at anybody. You know, I'm just imagining, she's just coming and she can begin to hear whispers. She's like, what is this government doing? What is she doing? What is she doing? If she looked up and saw to the left and right, she'll be able to recognize. You came last week. I know you. I know you too. You know what I'm saying? Suddenly people around her became very self-righteous. They're like, what is this woman doing here? Are you with me? So she comes, she doesn't care about who's saying what. One thing have a desire of the Lord. That will I say. So Jesus was whole. One thing. It's like nobody else existed in that room. She entered the house and all she could see was Jesus. Because that's all mattered to her. So she comes, she brings this perfume that she earned by selling her body. It's one year's wages. One translation or I don't know which is the John or Mark or something. She breaks the alabaster jar. She breaks it. Every choice of word is so important. You need to study and read it very slowly. Some translations can say, she poured it. If you just said that she poured it, it could be, this is a jar. She would pour it. But she breaks it. That means if I'm just going to pour, I have control over how much I want to pour. Yes or no? I have control over. This is how much I want to pour. I have control. But when you break it, you have zero control. So what she is saying is, I don't want to have any control over my previous life. I'm not going to give you only 50% of my previous life for a new life. I'm going to give you 100%. I'm surrendering what I used to use for my trade. Trade as in my work, my professional thing. What I used to use it, I'm giving it to you. Are you with me? So she doesn't just pour it. She breaks it at the feet of Jesus. And then the conversation goes... Sorry, yeah. And then Pharis is asking, why this waste and all of that. Verse 44 in Luke chapter 7 verse 44 says, 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 and water. The customary way of greeting your guest who came to your houses, because of the nature of the region, your feet will become dusty. One of the first things that a host of the house will give the guest is, some water to wash their feet and some fragrance oil and greet them with a kiss and whatnot. But none of that happened. But then Jesus goes on to say, you did not put oil on my head, he has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore I tell you, how many sins have been forgiven for she loved much. Isn't it amazing? Again, that she did not make a prayer. She did not use a single word. And how her action spoke louder than words. Yes? But then there's something other interesting thing that's happened. Jesus again says, she wet my feet with her tears and wiped my feet with her hair. Why should that be recorded? Sorry? Why is it precious? Why is her tears kind of thing? She wiped my feet with her tears. It was also recorded. Yes, she did it. But it's something significant about tears. If you haven't... When you worship him with tears, when you're expressing something with tears, it's the only thing that you are giving him here on earth what you can't give him in heaven. Because when you read in the book of Revelation, eventually it says, the day is coming, there will be no tears. So when you worship him, and it's very clear, when you read that in some... We all know the scripture, Psalm 56 verse 8, right? Psalm 56 verse 8, it says, you keep a track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. To him, our tears are precious. He collects them in a bottle. And it's recorded. So when you worship him with an expression of our tears and whatnot, you're giving him something that you cannot give him in heaven. And then he goes on to say that she wiped his feet with her hair. Details, why? Why should that be recorded again, right? So she comes, she does her thing, she honors him, she worships him, she lavishes everything on Jesus, and she goes back. Again, this is my imagination, right? Imagination, all of a sudden, as she's walking back and thinking, okay, people in the room begin to ask, hey, is that fragrance coming from the feet of Jesus or is it coming from her hair? You with me? Is that fragrance coming from the feet of Jesus or is it coming from her hair? I'm just, it's not there in the Bible because I'm business thinking, okay, because as humans, as she's walking out, this is to reiterate what I said in the previous classes is, the world will know when you've been with Jesus. Everybody in that room knew that she was very intimately close with Jesus, right? Paul calls, Paul says in Corinthians that he's a fragrant one, right? So when you've been with intimate worship with God, intimate relationship with him, the fragrance of Jesus rubs off on you. Are you with me? His fragrance just rubs off on you and so that's the beauty of this whole thing. Okay, see if you comment. Yeah, thanks, Nina. Are you guys with me? Yeah. And so her whole act of worship, that is an extravagant act of worship and we can speak about this in detail at much length. But everything about her act is about brokenness. Sri Radha spoke about brokenness this morning. There's something beautiful and significant about just breaking yourself in his presence. He loves that, isn't it? Can we just quickly go to... Wait, John, sorry, yeah. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Sorry, guys. I just want to read from John chapter 11. Okay, John chapter 11. Verse 28, okay. John chapter 11 verse 28. Alright, thank you. I think I'll just read a few of the scriptures. Okay, let's rewind a little bit. John chapter 11. I'll read from verse 21. Okay, verse 21. Lord, Martha said to Jesus. Okay, now the context. What is the context? Jesus died, right? He's dead now. So that's the context and Martha and Mary were apparently waiting for Jesus to come, right? So the first one to come and greet Jesus is Lord, Martha said to Jesus. If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection in the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? Verse 27. Yes, Lord, she told him. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has to, who was to come into the world. Verse 28. After this, she said to, she had said this. She went back and called her sister Mary aside. The teacher is here, she said, asking for you. So that means in all this conversation between Jesus and Martha, somewhere, he is asked, where is Mary? Right? When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out. They followed her. Supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. I mean, Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, was deeply moved in the spirit and troubled. Where have you laid him? He asked, come and see, Lord. So Martha, the first thing when she sees Jesus is she asks a question. Right? In the first attempt, as soon as she sees Jesus, Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here. But Mary's first act was fall down before him, bow down before him. And guys, the reason I'm mentioning all of these things, it might not seem like, okay, you know, Martha starts with a conversation, Mary falls down. That's the first act. All of these small nuggets are diamonds. Okay, like everything is recorded for a reason. Every action is recorded for a reason. Right? And when you read Luke chapter 10, there was a very end of Luke chapter 10, we know the story about Mary and Martha. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus. Martha is working. You know, we all know that story. You know, Mary is saying Mary is choosing the right thing is just to sit at the feet of Jesus to receive from him. While Martha was keeping herself busy. In our journey of becoming a worshiper, I'm ending by the way, this is the conclusion. So in our journey in becoming worshipers as leaders, as ministers of God, we can easily get very busy doing ministry and not have any surrender or brokenness and whatnot. But God is just gently reminding us I think through her story saying, am I precious to you? Do you think I'm worthy enough for you to break yourself over me? Now today my question to you is what is your alabaster jar? What is that one thing that you're holding very close to your heart? Once again, the last class I asked you only you can recognize the idols that you built. Now I'm asking you what is your alabaster jar? Second question are you willing to break it at the feet of Jesus? Are you willing to surrender that's something that is so precious to Jesus? And that's the question for you guys as well online. Right? So yeah, that's a beautiful expression of worship and I leave that with the thought and I want to encourage you to go back and just re-read this passage. Let it speak to you. That's the beauty of letting God's word speak to you is don't just read it once read it multiple times because every time you read it something else will stand out. Right? So I want to encourage you for this week at least for this week just meditate on this Luke chapter 7 36 to 50 onwards and see what God speaks to you. Yeah, all fine everybody online doing okay? Great guys. So let's conclude. Let's pray and we'll close this session. Father we we are so grateful Lord we are so grateful that you don't judge us whereas your word says as far as the east is from the west you have separated my sins from me as high are the heavens above the earth so great is your love for me. And so Father thank you that you accept our worship thank you that you embrace our brokenness as a Holy Spirit I pray that you would enable us to to identify our alabaster jar and help us to surrender it at the feet of Jesus anoint the anointed one our praise and our worship on the anointed one let the fragrance of the fragrant one be all over rise God we give you all the honor and glory in Jesus name I pray Amen Amen awesome Thank you everyone for listening. Thank you everyone online for joining in and listening the lecture God bless you have a lovely rest of the day and beautiful week see you guys bye bye