A CAPTIOUS QUESTION
‘Why was this waste of the ointment made?’
The incident from which our text is taken is distinguished above all others by the fact that Jesus mentions it as one that shall be held in world-wide and undying remembrance (Mark 14:9). What is there said has been realised wherever missions have been established.
But, unfortunately, the obvious moral of the story has not prevented the application to foreign missions of a question, oft repeated and loud sounding, which amounts almost in so many words to the question of Judas, ‘Why was this waste?’
I. Its apparent justification.—(a) In the face of home needs, is it not a waste that millions are spent yearly on missions to the heathen? (b) In face of the great mortality in Africa and elsewhere, is it not a waste to be constantly sending out missionaries to these fever-stricken countries? (c) In face of the great dearth of faithful pastors at home, is it not a waste to send so many capable and trained clergy to places where their services are not appreciated?
II. Its absolute injustice.—(a) The motive of the question is entirely wrong, as shown by Judas himself, who was not concerned on account of the poor, but was a thief (John 12:6). Some opponents of missions are actuated by selfishness, and so ask this question simply out of a spirit of narrowness, not because of their zeal for the glory of God’s kingdom. (b) The very idea itself is wrong, viz. that Mary’s offering was lost, wasted, and thus profitless. The most convincing instance of this is the life, sufferings, and death of Jesus Himself; thirty years in the quiet of Nazareth, only three years of public life, hidden away in a little corner of the earth—what a waste of a beautiful life! But see John 12:24. Through Mary’s example is every similar so-called waste in God’s service justified. (c) The question is especially wrong when asked in connection with missions to the heathen. While the amount spent in this way is compared with other objects of expenditure—war, luxuries, vice—it is a mere trifle, and it must be remembered it brings a fruitful return in increased scientific knowledge, commerce, and colonial extension. The support of foreign missions has a beneficial effect on the Church at home by deepening the feeling of devotion, and the rich blessings of all sorts reflected.
III. Similarly as to the deaths of missionaries in the field.—(a) No one exclaims against a man who accepts a lucrative trade or official appointment to a pestilential climate, or is ordered off on military service to a post of danger. (b) The number of missionary deaths is as nothing compared with the losses in even a minor war. (c) The deaths of missionaries stimulate the devotion of the Church; e.g. How many men and women have been led to give themselves to God’s work at home as well as abroad by such deaths as those of Livingstone, Patteson, and Hannington?