Why this waste?

"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.
  ^'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 14:3-9

Jesus' response has always surprised me.  He seems to be making light of poverty here, whereas at other times, He is full of things to say about "selling all you have to give to the poor."  If I were a disciple in this room, I would be very confused, even ashamed, as in,  'Here I thought I was just speaking up for the spirit of Jesus' teachings, and he rebukes me.  He's always throwing me a curveball when I think I finally get it.'

I heard once that Mother Theresa, confronted by increasing numbers of people in Calcutta who needed help, responded by insisting that her sisters spend extra time in prayer each day.  Why this waste? Some people said.  Why sit and pray more when the poor need help?   

What did Mother Theresa see that is not apparent to me?  After all, the vision that sent her on her mission in the first place was of Jesus saying, "I thirst." She knew that He wanted her to help the poor.  And yet, she was determined to waste time in prayer.  Surprisingly, as the amount of prayer increased, the needed help came, and the greater numbers were taken care of. 

Jesus responds similarly to Martha and Mary elsewhere in the gospels... He applauds Mary for sitting and listening, while redirecting Martha's resentment at her lone servitude. 

What is Jesus trying to say?

I think He is saying, "Waste yourself on Me."

There is pride in my plans of personal action.  True, God gave me many resources - money, health, strength, talents, time.  I believe that He wants me to use these resources to help others, and not for my own selfish gain. 

But, if I take those resources without wasting them before the Lord first, and find human ways, with human vision, to spend them, it can easily become MY good that I am doing, rather than God's good.  The jar of perfume, in human eyes, was to be exchanged for money for the poor, and yet, when wasted before God, He had another purpouse for the jar, which might not suit the same vision.  

I wonder if, once the Sisters of Charity brought their concerns before the Lord, He was able to manage and shift the available resources in a better way to help the poor, other than the ways that would naturally occur to the Sisters without His help.  From a larger vision, a view of the whole, God alone has the vision to bring about the miracle of resources used in the best possible way.  Our good intentions for their use, when placed totally in His hands, are given a power they cannot possibly have in our own.  

Why this waste?  From a first glance, wasting ourselves in God appears foolish.  But from His perspective, maybe it is the only wise way.