If you were given the choice to either feed all the people in the world or worship God, what would you choose? Would you deny God worship and feed the hungry? Or would you give Him worship and deny the poor?
In Mark 14:3-9 a woman offers worship to Jesus through an act of humility and generosity towards Him and is met with criticism from those who believed she should have directed her generosity towards the poor:
"While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.” -Mark 14:3-5
The parallel passages reveal other details that add to our understanding of who this woman was and who her critics were.
John identifies this woman as Mary Magdalene. And Luke adds that she was known for living a sinful life in that town.
John also identifies one of her critics as the disciple Judas Iscariot, who would later betray Jesus. It says he was only concerned because he was a thief, and as keeper of the disciple’s money bag he would help himself to whatever he was entrusted with. It was in his interest to have Mary sell the perfume and give the money to him.
Luke identifies another critic as a Pharisee who had invited Jesus. In his self-righteousness he did not view Mary as worthy of even touching Jesus. He was hopelessly blind to the mercy of God.
But Jesus saw this act of love and affection as something to be commended:
"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”" -Mark 14:6-9
"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” -Luke 7:47
Jesus forgave her many sins because she loved Him much. Then pointed out that those who have been forgiven little often do not love as much. We can assume this was directed at the Pharisee and Judas, who trusted in their self-righteousness and looked down upon Mary.
Those who criticized her did not honor God by recognizing Christ as worthy of worship. They made the mistake of placing charity above worship of Christ. But Jesus saw the heart this woman had and knew she was offering true worship to God.
God desires our worship first and foremost. He doesn’t want us to neglect Him in order to focus on charity. Our good deeds are nothing but filthy rags in His sight (Isaiah 64:6) and can cause us to not love as much if we do not understand the depths of our depravity before God.
Thankfully we do not have to choose between the two if we prioritize God first, because God’s heart is for the poor and needy:
"He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death." -Psalm 72:13
And the Bible says that we honor God when we are kind to the needy:
"Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." -Proverbs 14:31
But our service to those in need cannot be an excuse for withholding worship from God.
So if you only had one choice, I hope like Mary Magdalene, you would worship God. Because no good deed is more valuable to God than a humble heart of worship.