I like Mary. You know, the woman who came to a dinner party and dumped a insanely expensive pound of perfume on Jesus feet and then bends low to wipe his feet with her hair. Jesus had rescued her from a church stoning social so that would explain the radical gratitude. You know the thing I find most interesting about this story? Jesus never asked her to do this, and yet, (pause, think) He praises her act of love and even solidifies it as a moment that will shape history.

There is a base level of being a Christian where we learn to live as decent people in an indecent world becoming neither an asset to light nor a threat to darkness. Then there's a level we could call servanthood where the movements of the Spirit nudge us in one direction over another and we have opportunity for compliance. But is there a step beyond obedience? Mary here, offers Jesus an original expression of love, and it got me thinking. How many times have I done something for God only to hear people ask the question, "Are you sure God told you to do that?" As if the end of the Christian life is confined to merely awaiting orders. Thankfully, He invites us from servanthood into friendship. In that place, I can both walk in obedience and exercise the freedom to have an original expression of love. "I'm going to go down and pray while walking the campus." you say. "Did God tell you to do that?" says another. With a smile, you reply, "No, actually He didn't. It's something I thought up on my own." Sound strange? It shouldn't. How about this scene? "Hey, what are you doing?" "Oh, just buying flowers for my wife." "Did she ask you to do that?" "Uh, no. I just did it because I was thinking about her." "What? Are you crazy? I don't buy my wife flowers unless she asks me to. What a crazy way to be married. I mean it's downright foolish to go off thinking of things on your own. Just wait until she directs you and tells you what to do." By this point I would begin to wonder if this guy actually loved his wife or if this marriage was just an arrangement of convenience. There are some things you just don't do without direction, but then there are expressions of love which are strengthened by the fact that they come from you who are using the very arms God created to reach out in a willful expression of worship. Your body is the ultimate example of His design subjected to your desire. His creation at your command.

You are the bride of Christ, in a covenant that's solidified in the reality that we love Him because He first loved us. No matter which way you look at it, the core is love, and love without expression is dead. Basic obedience is beneath the standard of love. A private is not required to love his commanding officer. Just obey. Jesus calls us beyond obedience into radical expressions of love. Don't deny the significance of these moments. You just might make history.