WASTE
by Watchman Nee
Reading: (Mark 14:3-9 NAS) "And while
He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table,
there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard;
and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly
remarking to one another, "Why has this perfume been wasted? "For this perfume
might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the
poor." And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you
bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. "For the poor you always have with
you, and whenever you wish, you can do them good; but you do not always have Me.
"She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.
"And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, that
also which this woman has done shall be spoken of in memory of her.""
The Lord has ordained that the story of Mary anointing Him with the costly ointment
should always accompany the preaching of the gospel. We know the story well. Judging
by the story in connection with her brother's resurrection, we know that the family
was not an especially wealthy one. The sisters had to work in the house themselves,
and one of them, Mary, had an alabaster box with three hundred pence worth of
ointment in it, and with a stroke she broke it and poured the whole of that costly
nard upon the head of the Lord. According to human reasoning it was altogether
too much, even for the Lord. That is why Judas took the lead with the other disciples
in thinking that Mary was wasting something (John 12:4-5).
Now we
come to the word which the Lord wants to emphasize at this time, the word waste.
What is waste? Waste simply means giving too much. If a shilling will do and you
give a pound, it is waste. If two ounces will do and you give a kilogram, it is
a waste. A waste means that you give something too much for something too little.
A waste means that the one who is receiving the something is not worth so much.
Yet we are dealing here with something the Lord said was to go out with the gospel,
wherever the gospel should be preached. With the preaching of the gospel the Lord
is out to have a result that corresponds with Mary's action here: that is, for
people to come out and "waste" themselves on Him. That is what He is after.
Now
we must look at the question from two angles, that of Judas, and that of the other
disciple. They all thought it to be a waste. To Judas, who had never called our
Lord the Lord, everything that was poured upon Him was waste. Even water would
have been waste. To the world, the service of the Lord, and our giving of ourselves
to Him is pure waste. "Such and such a man would have made good in the world if
he were not a Christian," is a sentiment that is frequently expressed. For anyone
with natural talents to be a Christian, to serve the Lord, is deemed to be pure
waste.
So thought Judas, "We could manage better with the money;
we could give it to charity; we could do some social service, we could help people
in a more practical way. Why pour it down at the feet of Jesus? As to yourself,
can you not find a better employment of your life?" That is what Judas was thinking,
and that is what the world is thinking. It is too much to give yourself to the
Lord! But no! When once our eyes have been opened to the worth of the Lord, nothing
is too good for Him.
But it is upon the reaction of the other disciples
that I want most to dwell; for they affect us more than does Judas. We do not
mind very much what the world is saying, but we do mind what those other disciples
are saying who ought to have understood, yet did not. We mark that they said the
same thing as Judas; and not only so, but they were moved to indignation, saying,
"To what purpose is this waste...?"
Now here is the whole question
of waste, and of what the Lord is after. Today, even amongst Christians, there
can be found much of that spirit that wants to give as little as possible to the
Lord, and yet to get as much as possible from Him. The prevailing thought today
is of being used, as though that were the one thing that mattered. That my little
rubber band should be stretched to the very limit seems all important. But this
is not the Lord's mind. The Lord wants us to be used, yes; but what He is after
is that we pour all we have, ourselves, to Him, and if that be all, that is enough.
It is not a question of whether the poor have been helped or not, but of whether
the Lord has been satisfied. The question is not one of working for Him, my friends,
but of service to Him, of ministering to the Lord. That is what He is after; that
I should give Him my all, even though people should say, 'You are doing nothing!'
My service to the Lord is to please Him. There is many a meeting we might take,
many a convention at which we might speak, many a campaign in which we might share,
but this is not the first consideration. That my usefulness should be brought
to the full is not what the Lord is after, but His concern is rather with my position
at His feet and my anointing of His head. What I have as an alabaster box, the
most precious thing, my whole life. I give it all up to the Lord. It seems as
if it is a waste, but that is what He is after.
May I tell you something?
One thing some of us have come to learn is that in the divine service the principle
of "waste" is the principle of power, whereas the principle of "usefulness" is
the very principle of scattering. The real usefulness in the hand of the Lord
is "waste." The more you think you could do, the more you employ your gifts to
the very limit--and perhaps beyond the limit--that you will find to be the principle
of the world, and not the principle of the Lord. I knew a sister in the Lord,
now in His presence, who was very greatly used of Him. But my first concern about
her was that she did not seem to be being used. Every time I said to myself. Why
did she not get out and take some meetings, get somewhere, do something? It was
a waste to live in a small village without anything happening. Sometimes when
I went to see her, I almost shouted at her: "No one knows the Lord as you do.
You know the Book in a most living way. Do you not see the need all around you?
Why don't you do something? It is a waste of time, a waste of energy, a waste
of money, a waste of everything, just sitting here and doing nothing!" But
she was the one who he lped me most of all., The highest thing is not just to
be moving about. I do not mean to say that we are going to do nothing, but the
first thing is the Lord Himself, not the work. That is what He is after.
So
the Lord said, "Why trouble ye her? She has wrought a good work as to Me. The
poor you will always have, but you cannot always have Me." The whole point is,
What am I going to do to the Lord today? Did those other women who came with their
spices to the tomb succeed in anointing the Lord's body? No! He was risen. Only
one succeeded, Mary, who anointed Him beforehand. It seems as if man will say
I am wasting my time--but Lord, nothing is too good for Thee! He is worthy to
be served. He is worthy for me just to be His prisoner. He is worthy for me just
to live for Him. Let others say what they will. Have our eyes been opened to see
that working for the poor, working for the benefit of the world, working for the
eternal welfare of the sinner, as things in themselves, are not to be compared
with the work we do to the Lord, with our being just for Him. What is your estimate
of the Lord?
Then the Lord said, "She hath done what she could."
It means that Mary had given her all. That was all she could do, no more; and
she did it. The Lord will not be satisfied with anything less. The whole point
is a life really laid down at the feet of the Lord, and that in view of His death,
His burial; that is, in view of a future day. Then it was His burial, now it is
His crowning day that is in view. He will be acclaimed by all in that day, but
how precious, far more precious to Him it is that we should anoint Him now; not
with any material oil, but with that which is deepest and, maybe, hard for us
to break. The Lord get anointing from us today!
Further, the Lord
said, "Wherever the gospel shall be preached, this story shall be told." Why?
Because the gospel is meant to produce this. The gospel is not primarily for the
satisfaction of sinners. The gospel is preached that everything may be to the
satisfaction of the Son of God. Not to sinners first of all, though, praise God,
sinners will be satisfied. But supremely it is Christ who must find satisfaction
through its preaching.
Once more let me repeat. The whole question
for us is simply this: It seems that I am giving too much for too little. That
is waste. Others appear to far better advantage than I, though they have given
up none of the things that I have. As for me, I seem to meet with all the difficulties.
Continual trial and suffering is what comes my way. Now, am I not wasting my time?
If I consecrate myself enough for the blessing, but not enough for the trouble;
if I consecrate myself enough for the Lord to use me, but not enough for the Lord
to shut me up, it will be all right! Are we not found thinking thus at times?
But the principle of waste is that which satisfies the heart of the Lord Jesus.
You can get something for yourself out of your consecration, but often real satisfaction
can only come to the heart of your Lord when you seem to be "wasting" yourself
on the Lord, giving too much and getting nothing back for yourself.
O
friends, what are we after? Are we after mere usefulness, as those disciples were?
They wanted to make every penny of that three hundred pence go to its full length.
They wanted to be used themselves. If only we can please Him, surely that should
be enough.
Now the breaking of the alabaster box and the anointing
of the Lord filled the house with the odor, with the sweetest odor. Everyone could
smell it. Whenever you meet someone who has really suffered; been limited, gone
through things for the Lord, willing to be imprisoned by the Lord, just being
satisfied with Him and nothing else, immediately you scent the fragrance. There
is a savor of the Lord. Something has been crushed, something has been broken,
and there is a resulting odor of sweetness. The odor which filled the house that
day still fills the Church; Mary's fragrance never passes away.
Friends,
we cannot produce impressions of God upon others, impart the sense of the presence
of God, without the breaking of everything, even the most precious things, at
the feet of the Lord Jesus. The Lord would have us here, not first of all to preach
or to do work for Him, but to create hunger in others. No true work will begin
in any life apart from a sense of need. We cannot inject that into others, we
cannot drive people to be hungry for God. Such hunger can be created only by those
whose lives convey vital impressions of Him.
Oh, to be wasted! It
is a blessed thing to be wasted for the Lord. So many of us who have been prominent
in the Christian world know nothing of this. Many of us have been used to the
full--have been used, I would say, too much--but we do know what it means to be
wasted on God. We like to be always "on the go": the Lord would sometimes prefer
to have us in prison. We think in terms of apostolic journeys: God dares to put
His greatest ambassadors in chains. "But thanks be unto God, which always leadeth
us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge
in every place" (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Watchman Nee
A Table
in the Wilderness
by Watchman Nee
David served in one
generation, his own. He could not serve in two! Where today we seek to perpetuate
our work by setting up an organization or society or system, the Old Testament
saints served their own day and passed on. This is an important principle of life.
Wheat is sown, grows, ears, is reaped, and then the whole plant, even to the root,
is plowed out. God's work is spiritual to the point of having no earthly roots,
no smell of earth on it at all. Men pass on, but the Lord remains. Everything
to do with the Church must be up-to-date and living, meeting the present--one
could never even say the passing--needs of the hour. Never must it become fixed,
earth-bound static. God Himself takes away His workers, but He gives others. Our
work suffers, but His never does. Nothing touches Him. He is still God.
Watchman Nee
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Writings and Sermons of Watchman Nee 
