John 12:3-6 ESV
3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

When we read this passage, a lot of questions could come up, but we are going to focus on two:

The first was why was Mary so generous. - it was an extremely extravagant offering.
And two, why was Judas upset?

In this passage, we have two examples of heart postures.

Generous Heart - Mary
Selfish Heart - Judas

Ask yourself “Am I Generous? Am I a generous person?”

When I talk to people, and they ask me, “how do I know that it is God telling me to give?”

The enemy (The devil will never ask you to be generous).
He will always tempt you to be selfish.

There is an enemy to generosity- Selfishness.

You see, it is very easy for you to have a generous heart with someone else’s resources, but many times we come up with reasons why God isn’t asking us to be generous with our own.

James 3:14-16
14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

Our own selfishness is not from God; it is contrary to him in fact, James says it is demonic. It comes straight from the enemy of your soul.

That is why Judas pushed back against Mary’s gift. It was his selfishness.

Selfish desires will cause us to live our lives white-knuckling what we have rather than living open-handed.
It is the influence of the enemy that will cause you to shift your trust away from God onto yourself or your resources and that stops the heart of generosity in our lives.
There is an enemy of generosity, so be on guard!

Extravagance of Generosity.

We see extravagant generosity throughout Scripture when David gave to the temple in 1 Chronicles 29 it was the equivalent to 20 Billion Dollars in today’s economy. That was an extravagant gift!

There is another extravagant gift mentioned in the Bible and that was the widow’s two mites. Jesus himself said that was extravagant.

But how can that be David’s offering was worth 20 Billion dollars and that widow’s offering was 1/8 of one cent?

Because it isn’t about the amount.
It is about the heart.
It’s about the attitude behind the offering.

Mary’s gift was equivalent to a year’s salary. But she didn’t give it so that they could “feed the poor” she gave it to pour on Jesus’ feet. Her generosity was her worship. It was impressive.

Could you give God a gift that would impress Him? Sure you can. You can give him your heart. The Bible says that God rejoices over you in Zephaniah Chapter 3. He celebrates, he takes great joy because of you. But it starts with your heart.

The first extravagant offering you can give him is your heart, but don’t tell me he has your heart if he doesn’t have your resources, your money. If you are holding anything back from him he doesn’t have your heart and that includes your money. Remember it was Jesus who said where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Now there are 3 levels of giving:

Tithes
Offerings
Extravagant Offerings.

Every gift in scripture is in one of those three categories, but most people today don’t even reach the first level.

Barna research group the largest research group that studies church trends reports that somewhere between 3-5% of churchgoers actually tithe (10% of their gross income).

If all regular churchgoers (people who attend church regularly) would tithe (which is the first level) the Church would have 165 Billion Dollars to use to make an impact in the world. Wow!

25 Billion could relieve global hunger
15 Billion could solve much of the world’s water sanitation issues, especially in impoverished 3rd world countries
12 Billion could wipe out illiteracy
1 billion could fund 100% of world missions

Now that is just the first level
3 levels of giving:

Tithes
Offerings
Extravagant Offerings.

Studies show that over 77% of people who get to that first level get to the second and third level because when we are faithful in the first level, it breaks the curse of selfishness and opens the window of heaven over you, as it says in Malachi which compels Christ-followers to give more because those blessings are more than just financial resources, but God ignites His character of generosity in our lives, and we begin to look for opportunities to be generous.

Here’s why you can’t be generous until you’ve been obedient. The tithe doesn’t belong to you; it’s God’s. You can only give generously after you have been obedient. First, give your tithe. When we do that, it sets everything in order. Then we can ask God, “where do you want me to be generous.”

When He opens up the door for you to give extravagantly, I’m telling you, it will be one of the greatest experiences you have ever had. Extravagance is a heart issue, not an amount. The widow with the two mites was extravagant, and it was just a mite.

So there is an enemy of generosity which is our selfish nature.
There is an extravagance of generosity, but remember it is a heart posture.

And there is a reward of generosity.

Mark 14:8-9
8 She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. 9 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.

So that was her reward, just like the widow with the two mites. Wherever the Gospel is preached these two women are talked about, and their generosity is spoken about as an example to everyone.

But Mary didn’t give her offering to receive that reward. She gave because two months earlier, Jesus raised her brother from the dead.

We talked previously that generosity always comes from gratitude.

Generosity is when you give without any expectation of getting anything in return.
God always rewards that heart attitude.

Selfishness, on the other hand, is when you give and think that since you gave, God now owes you something.

Mary didn’t give to get anything, she gave because she was grateful, and God rewarded her.

Hebrews 11:6
6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek Him.

So God is a rewarder but notice it is a posture of the heart here. He rewards those who seek him.

Genesis 12 and really other places in the Bible say that God’s reward for us is Him. It is fellowship with Him.

2 Corinthians 9:10-11
10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

He does bless us with resources, but he rewards us with the greatest thing, which is a deeper relationship with Him. We develop within us a character of generosity as he also increases your resources not for you to keep but for you to give. He hasn’t called you to be a reservoir of blessing, He’s called you to b a conduit of blessing.

Not only that but then for those that receive your generosity, your generosity will point them to God

You see it affects every area of our lives.