1-15-22 Kasey Campbell: Hearing with Purpose

The last few weeks, we’ve been talking about how hearing God’s voice and deeply listening to Him should be the foundation for all we do and the way we walk out our salvation. As we looked at Luke 10:42, Jesus said that one thing is needed, and it’s to focus deeply on what God is saying, on His voice, so we can walk out His will. I’ll quote Jack Hayford: “To learn about God may bring intellectual (head knowledge) through information, but to hear God’s voice will bring experiential knowledge through transformation.1” In other words, we can learn a lot about God and understand much about His ways and His works, but if we aren’t hearing Him deeply; if we don’t have a relationship with Him where He gets to talk to us, and we’ll listen with an open heart and a willingness to follow Him, we’ll be transformed into His likeness, and we’ll grow into His image. Romans 8:29 NIV For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. God foreknew (or knew ahead of time) everything that would happen before He even created anything. He knew humans would sin. He knew He would need to send His Son Jesus to rescue us, but He also knew a huge number of people would respond to His call and come to salvation. He was able to look forward throughout all of history and see who would repent and believe. He knew how weak and frail we are, He knew what temptations and trials we would go through, and He knew we would come to Him damaged, in need of much healing and discipline. So God decided that He would use all the events of our lives, even the negative, painful, and difficult ones, to transform us until we looked exactly like His Son Jesus in character, attitude, and conduct. 1 Hayford, Jack. Living the Spirit-Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship P34. Baker Publishing Group, 2017. Listening with Purpose | 1 He committed Himself to be so persistent and consistent in our training that as time passed and we listened to His voice, we’d learn how to think, react, and serve just like Jesus would. Of course, there will still be a lot left to refine when we get to heaven, but God loved us and decided He would start this process the very moment we choose to come to Him. You see, God created us for a relationship with Him. He designed us and made us in His image because He wanted to interact with us as friends. John 15:15 NKJV No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. And God did this, made us capable of being His friends because His great loving heart wanted a bigger family. It’s not because He needed us, because God has no needs. He simply desired to share His love with more and more people. God’s most essential characteristic is love, and love rejoices to love more, to delight in the unique beauty of each person, and let them delight in Him.2 But all of this is dependent on hearing God’s voice. Which is actually how we started our walk with Jesus in the first place. Most of us can remember hearing from God somehow when we came to Him. It may have been through circumstances; it may have been through an internal, overwhelming sense of need for God; it may have been through failure or discouragement. Maybe we heard God through a person, through something on TV or radio, or through a dream or vision. But we started our journey with the Lord by hearing from Him. Hearing God’s voice is how we began our relationship with Him, and it’s how we continue to walk with Him.3 2 3 Schell, Steve. Study Verse by Verse with Dr. Steve Schell: The Book of Romans, P87. Federal Way, Washingtom, Life Lessons Publishing, 2015. Hayford, Jack. Living the Spirit-Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship P35. Baker Publishing Group, 2017. Listening with Purpose | 2 C.S. Lewis wrote, “the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day.”4 What may be the most difficult part of the Christian life is shoving away all the other voices in our heads so we can hear the voice of Jesus Himself. Every single time the phrase ‘he who has ears to hear, let him hear,’ occurs in the Bible, it’s Jesus talking. Mark 4:9 NKJV And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” It’s not just a nice saying or a casual expression or a proverb. It’s the Divine Son of God saying, don’t ever close your heart or ears to what I’m speaking and your need to be taught by Me. My voice is the key to growth, fruitfulness, and the outflow of God’s blessing in Your life.” His is the power; ours is the blessing. And how we choose to listen will determine it all.5 And I’ve titled the message today ‘listening with purpose,’ because as we look more at some actions Mary takes, we’ll see that because she listened to Jesus deeply and understood Him, she was able to go deeper into worship, sacrifice, and the new life that’s found in Jesus. Let’s pray before we take a look at the story in John chapter 12. To give you some context, before we jump into the story here, it’s the Friday before Passover. In other words, Passover will start the next week, on Thursday. Jesus is headed up to Jerusalem for Passover, knowing that He’ll be crucified. 4 Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. HarperCollins, 2009, P203. Scribd, https://www.scribd.com/book/163586253/Mere-Christianity. Accessed 13 January 2023. 5 Hayford, Jack. Living the Spirit-Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship P50-51. Baker Publishing Group, 2017. Listening with Purpose | 3 He comes into the town of Bethany (a sleepy little town at the foot of the mountain - the last stop before Jerusalem) and Mary, Martha, and Lazarus provide a special meal for Him and His disciples. They didn’t host at their house in this instance; instead, they were all at Simon the Leper’s house. Mark 14:3 NKJV And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. I know I have a strange sense of humor, but I think that’s a horrible nickname. Simon the Leper. “Hey guys, we have two Simons here…ok, we’ll call you Simon and you Simon the Leper. “That was two years ago guys, and Jesus healed me from that!” “Yeah, but they haven’t invented last names, yet so you’ll just have to be ‘the leper.’ ‘OK.’ Plus, why not get everyone together at the leper’s house? The germs are probably gone by now. Enough silliness. But seriously, I do think it’s a commentary on the sheer healing power of Jesus. Simon, a leper who would have been a social outcast as long as He had the disease is now back in the community, and He’s hosting the Passover meal for the most famous person in the world! It’s amazing how God can heal us and transform us into whole and holy people as we follow Him. Anyway, they’re at Simon the leper’s house in Bethany before Passover. John 12:1-8 NKJV Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And Listening with Purpose | 4 the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” At this point, Jesus has been talking about His death to His disciples. He’s been trying to tell them that it’s time for Him to go up to Jerusalem and die for the sins of the world. But they aren’t listening. Not really. They don’t want to hear that; it’s too painful. Mary listened. We saw that in our passage the last few weeks. And so did John. He’s the writer of this Gospel, but he seems to be a better listener than the other disciples. He seems to have heard the spiritual meaning of what Jesus was saying here. John remembers things the other gospels don’t record. He shows miracles and encounters the other gospels don’t. And He remembers the teachings in the upper room the night Jesus was betrayed (John 13-17). John was with Jesus from the earliest days of His ministry. He was a disciple of John the Baptist before He started following Jesus and for the entire two and half years of Jesus’ ministry, he got to be there and watch and learn. He was one of the three disciples Jesus picked to go with Him into some intense spiritual moments, like the transfiguration or the raising of the little girl from the dead. He was personally allowed into the high priest's courtroom and listened to the trial. He was actually the only man to be at the foot of the cross during Jesus' crucifixion. He was there with four brave women. Except for those five, everyone else faded into the crowd and watched from a distance. Jesus asked John to care for His mother, and John was close enough to Listening with Purpose | 5 the cross to see blood and water flow from Jesus’ side where the soldier thrust the spear. He personally entered the empty tomb and saw the linen wrappings and face cloth, and he was in the locked room when Jesus came in, let the disciples touch His scars, and see that He was real and alive. He also spoke in tongues and was there at Pentecost. He’s a trustworthy witness who walked with Jesus for a long time. And the challenge John always puts to us is this: will we, like John and Mary, deeply listen to what Jesus says? Will we recognize His signs and wonders and understand how they reveal His character and desires for us? Will we follow and obey even when others abandon the way? Too many people in John’s day missed the point. They tried to fit Jesus into categories that made sense to them instead of listening deeply to what He said and the meaning behind what He did.6 So John and Mary sat at Jesus' feet and deeply listened to Him. And Mary and John were actually prepared for Jesus' crucifixion because they listened to Him. Matthew 26:1-2 NKJV Now it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” And one way mary prepared for Jesus' death was by worshipping Him. John 12:3 NKJV Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. The room was filled with the fragrance of Mary’s oil. It’s the anointed of the Holy Spirit coming on Jesus as Mary pours out her praise by her action of anointing His feet. 6 Schell, Steve. Study Verse by Verse with Dr. Steve Schell: The Gospel of John, P12-13. Federal Way, Washington, Life Lessons Publishing, 2021. Listening with Purpose | 6 It’s the worship borne by a heart willing to spend an entire year’s wage just to ensure Jesus' body was prepared for His sacrifice. Jesus probably still smelled like this oil as He hung on the cross. And what Mary did was an act of worship. By anointing Jesus with oil, she, by her worship, was preparing the offering for the altar. She was preparing Jesus' body for His death and burial. When we offer true worship from our hearts, born out of sacrifice and willingness to listen, love, and follow Jesus, we’re preparing an offering spiritually, and it smells good to the Lord. It has a soothing, sweet smell in heaven. Genesis 8:20-21 NKJV Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. The fragrance of your true worship touches the Lord’s heart. And when it does, He still rebukes the curses in our lives because we’re covered by the blood. We’re protected from the destroyer. Spikenard, the oil Mary used, was sweet-smelling, and it’s made from the roots and stems of a plant that grows in the mountains of northern India. It was worth about a year’s income. But Mary understood what David did about worship: that it always costs something. You may remember the story about David; He was trying to stop a plague from destroying Israel. And even though He could have had the altar for the sacrifice for free, He knew that if worship didn’t cost Him something, the smell wouldn’t be sweet; it’d be foul. 2 Samuel 24:18-25 NKJV And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing Listening with Purpose | 7 floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded. 20 Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.” 22 Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24 Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.” David’s worship cost Him. He wasn’t sure when or how the Lord would stop the plague, stop the death that was covering the nation, but He knew that true worship from a heart of obedience would bring a sweet-smelling aroma to God and that worship changes things. Mary’s worship cost her a year’s wages. She thought it would be the end of the best thing that had ever happened to her. She knew Jesus was about to go die. She was in effect telling Jesus through her act of worship, “I know you’re going to go die because You told me. I love you, but I’m going to lose you forever! I’m going to have to watch as you get violently beaten and bruised and hoisted up on the cross. Listening with Purpose | 8 I’m going to have to stand there helpless and watch as the one person who truly loves me, sees me, knows me, and heals me gets brutalized and whipped and spit on and I won’t be able to do anything. And I don’t know what’s going to happen to Your body either! I don’t know if I’ll be able to bury you, wrap your body in funeral cloth, or even be near You. So I’ll anoint you with oil now. I want to worship You and love You and care for You while I can.” She knew Jesus was going to die, but she didn’t know that she was, at that moment, prophesying. She was expressing her devotion to Jesus, but she was also expressing the Father’s love for the Son. With that oil, Mary was not only announcing that Jesus was going to die soon, but also that the Father cherished Jesus, loved Him, and was well pleased with Him. At that moment as Mary poured oil on Jesus, the Father was honoring Jesus for His obedience and assuring Him that His body would be buried properly. Mary was prophesying and fulling prophecy through her act of worship. Isaiah 53:5-9 NKJV But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. God, through Isaiah, described in detail the way Jesus would die. But in the same prophecy, He also said He would honor His Son’s dead body. Listening with Purpose | 9 He promised Jesus would be buried with the rich at His death. Knowingly or unknowingly, Mary was reminding Jesus of that promise. She was allowing the Father to assure His Son of His love and thank Him for the sacrifice He was about to make. And that sweet-smelling fragrance of the promise of God’s love and favor lingered on Jesus as He hung on the cross, a reminder of God’s love and goodness in His darkest hour.7 When pain, horror, and sin overcame Jesus, and as He took on the sins of all humanity; as He cried out in anguish: Mark 15:34 NKJV And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He could still smell the promise of God’s love, the fragrance of hope, of strength, and of resurrection power. Mary’s act of worship and care was also a prophetic fulfillment of God’s promise, and it’s a message to us about just how wide, deep, and immeasurable God’s love is. He loves you and me just as much as He loves Jesus. He loves it when His children worship Him from childlike hearts. He loves it when we put our trust in Him even when we know things in our lives are headed toward death. There’s a point of contrast in this story, too; Judas. Mary chooses to surrender her life and follow Jesus. She chooses to worship Him with abandon no matter what the outcome is. She chooses loyalty to the cross in the face of death. Judas, in contrast, serves Jesus for what He can get out of it. He gets money. John 12:4-6 NKJV But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was 7 Schell, Steve. Study Verse by Verse with Dr. Steve Schell: The Gospel of John, 223-225. Federal Way, Washington, Life Lessons Publishing, 2021. Listening with Purpose | 10 put in it. Judas chooses to take the fleeting treasures of this world, and instead of loyalty to Jesus, He chooses betrayal. You see, both Mary and Judas are faced with the death of Jesus. Mary embraces it in faith and later gets to be with her Lord. Judas faces it in despair alone. Matthew 27:1-5 NKJV When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. 2 And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” 5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. You see, there’s a purpose in listening deeply to Jesus. As we hear His voice and deeply understand Him, it will lead us to worship Him. And our true worship will lead us to sacrifice our lives for Him. But if we’ll choose to do that, we’ll share in His resurrection. We’ll share in His kingdom. We’ll receive the living waters of new life the Holy Spirit makes bubble up inside of us. And we won’t ever lose sight of Jesus, our Savior, the One who loves us so much that He chose to die for us. I’ll close with this: 2 Timothy 2:11-14 NKJV This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. 12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. 14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Our deep listening to God leads us to the cross, and there, we will find Him faithful to His promise of new life for us. Listening with Purpose | 11 We will find Him to be the Holy God who is faithful and true, loving and kind, and ready to be with us as we grow into the image of His Son, Jesus. Listening with Purpose | 12