Stewardship

Stewardship; a means of sacrifice or a means of gain

"Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray Him, asked, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”

Did you know that stewardship is never neutral? In John 12, we are told the tale of two types of stewardship that could not have been any more different – on one hand is Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus and on the other hand is Judas Iscariot. Both are in the same room with Jesus, but their hearts toward money and possessions reflect a major contrast.
Mary takes a jar of very expensive perfume (worth nearly a year’s wages) and pours it on Jesus’ feet and devotedly wipes them with her hair. To some in that room, what Mary did seemed inappropriate or even irresponsible, but for Mary, it was the most reasonable response to the one who raised her brother from the dead and to the one who was soon going to give His own life for the whole world.
Her stewardship was not about hoarding or preservation; instead, it was about sacrificial love. Mary took a huge risk with what she had: her perfume, her hair, her reputation. She held her resources loosely and used them to glorify Christ, showing us that true stewardship is not merely about managing money well but about aligning our finances, our stewardship with our worship.
Judas, on the other hand, looks at the same act and in his disgust, sees waste. He complains that the perfume should have been sold, and the money given to the poor. At face value, Judas’ words sound decent and orderly, even somewhat generous. However, Jesus knew the truth and John lets his readers in on the truth about Judas, he did not remotely care about the poor.
Judas was looking out for himself, as he regularly stole from the ministerial coffers. While Mary practiced sacrificial generosity, Judas was consumed with worldly gain. Judas’ poor stewardship revealed his true heart, a heart enslaved to greed and self-focus. In time, this perspective would lead him to his greatest downfall - betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (personal gain).
The contrast between Mary and Judas is striking. John uses great imagery: Mary’s gift filled the house with fragrance, while Judas’ words filled it with tension. Mary left behind the aroma of sacrificial worship; Judas left the stench of self-serving gain.
The example of Mary and Judas reminds us again, that stewardship is never neutral. It reveals what we truly treasure as seen in the words of Jesus, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Faithful stewardship as seen in the example of Mary means generosity, sacrifice, and an overwhelming willingness to use what God has given us for His glory. Bad stewardship disguises selfishness behind practicality and decent words and values personal gain more than Christ Himself.
So where does this leave us? The question is not only whether we track our expenses or save wisely; those things are wise to practice, but stewardship goes deeper. The real question is whether our financial lives reflect love for Jesus. Do we give Christ and His church our first and best, faithfully and sacrificially as Mary did, or instead, like Judas, do we keep our resources to ourselves?
At the end of the day, what we do with the resources God has entrusted us with will either leave behind the pleasant fragrance of sacrifice or the disgusting smell of gain.

P.S. I would be amiss if I left out the irony of Christ’s words in Matthew’s gospel regarding Mary’s sacrifice in contrast of Judas’ behavior “Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.”