Mark and Troy and I were decorating a big Christmas tree last night. It is on the corner of the platform in the gym at church. It is a tall tree. As I was handing the lights to Mark who was handing them to Troy, I said “I still have to write tonight.”

“I’ll bet decorating a tree will be part of it,” Mark said.

And he’s right.

A woman poured perfume on Jesus’ head. He was sitting at a meal a couple days before he died. She came up and poured incredibly expensive perfume on his head.

It was a complete waste.  It could have been sold. The money could have been used for something that made sense, some that was acceptable. It could have been given to the poor.

As we were stringing lights, I thought about what would  count as something incredibly valuable being wasted on Jesus.  What extravagance, what honor, what act of worship.

And then it hit me.

Mark and Troy hanging lights on a tree in a church were giving a glimpse of what that woman did. People will see those lights four Sundays for a total of four hours. Both men had kids at home, school age kids. There were more valuable things they could have been doing.

“What a waste,” some disciples would say. “Why bother?” The time could have been used for something that made sense, something that was acceptable.

But for these two guys, on this night, pouring out their time on something that doesn’t delight them is a delightful extravagance.

Me? I get paid to be there. It was an offering, but not costly. But for my friends, it cost.

They make me think though, the woman and my friends. What am I pouring out extravagantly to honor Jesus?