Place your values correctly

Introduction

John 12:1–11 NIV

1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

Misplaced values lead to misplaced priorities

John 12:3 NIV

3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

I don’t think people really put into real life perspective how actually costly this was for Mary. The Bible here tells us in the other gospels that this bottle of perfume cost about a years wages. In our day and age that would actually equate to about $20,000. Could you imagine? Mary goes into her room or wherever this jar was sitting, brings it out and breaks the top and pours it on Jesus feet. This perfume could have been a family heirloom. What the Bible makes clear is that it is extremely valuable and despite its extreme value Mary breaks it and pours it all out on Jesus feet and in the other gospels they actually also include head. She was anointing Jesus.

Why does it seem so easy for Mary to commit this act towards Jesus. I believe it is because her value was place correctly. Because Mary saw Jesus as her highest value she was able to prioritize all else to revolve around the person of Jesus Christ. If we have misplaced value then we will have misplaced priority. Jesus actually desires that we have Him as the most valuable thing in our lives. Jesus actually desires to be at the top of our priority list and that means all of the commandments that Jesus gives. That means all of the callings placed on our lives by Jesus. That means all of the worship that belongs to Jesus are the priorities of our lives and if they are not it is because he hasn’t become the supreme value of our life.

The question then becomes well how do we make Christ the most valuable center piece for our life. If you notice one thing interesting thing that Mary did is she always seemed to make time to be in the presence of Jesus sitting at his feet and spending time with Him. While Martha cooked and prepared she sat and learned. I believe this was the focal point for her value placement. If we take this model we can also see Jesus as our supreme value. The word and prayer are not useless, but allow us to spend time with Jesus in a way where we can completely learn intimacy.

Misplaced values lead to right actions with wrong motives

John 12:4–6 NIV

4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

This one is evident. John tells us right away that while it seemed like Judas had good intentions on the outside, internally his motives were completely off. We think, but Judas was constantly in the very presence of Jesus. Judas was learning directly from Jesus how could he not reflect that in His life? You see while Judas walked with Jesus he never allowed that intimacy with Jesus to fill his life and because of that Judas did not see Christ as the most valuable aspect of his life.

Misplaced value also leads to actions that seem right to us but our motives are completely off. I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine within the last few years and I was just opening up to him that sometimes ministry wise I was burnt out. I love what he told me to do. He said go back to the root of why you are doing what you are doing. Why are you doing ministry. Why are you serving the church? Why are you sacrificing time and energy for it. At that moment I realized that my values were shifting in a way that I didn’t like and I know God didn’t like and because of that my motives were ministry were off. I had to recenter Christ as the priority and allow all things to recenter and come back home. We see in the life of Judas that he was never able to do that and it ended tragically for him after it was all said and done.

I truly believe that Jesus had so much more intended for Judas but because his values led to wrong intentions and misplaced priorities he missed the anointing over his life.

Misplaced values lead to missed anointing

This whole story in and of itself is about anointing. Jesus head and feet were anointed. Anointing was very important to the Israelites because essentially something was being consecrated or set apart mainly in regards to holiness. When the kings of Israel were anointed they were being set apart by God to lead well. Jesus anointing though was completely different. He was being set apart, but his anointing was one of death and the grave. Mary also anointed Jesus feet which is an interesting fact because the feet symbolized destiny. The perfume was most likely some sort of Myrrh Jesus’ destiny and being set apart was the cross, but because he stepped into His anointing you can now step into the anointing that God has for your life.

But I do want to say this. Misplaced values can lead to a missed anointing. King Saul is a great example of missed anointing.

1 Samuel 13:8–14 NIV

8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. 11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” 13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

Saul was anointed for more, he should have done more for God but because his values were misplaced the Kingdom was removed from him and given to a man who had a heart after God’s own heart. Meaning his values were aligned with those of God’s.

This is what I want to tell you today. God would love to use you mightily. God wants to use you mightily. I truly believe in my heart that there is a group of people in here today who are anointed and set apart to be a part of something powerful and that is contributing to the Kingdom of God , but we cannot allow our “expected” anointing to be something that just comes to us all willy nilly. We must align ourselves with the values of God so that we are then aligned with the Will of God.

Jesus knew this as he sat praying in the garden strongly not wanting to go through this brutal death. But his values and priority were aligned with the Fathers rather than his own so that he was able to step into His anointing properly.

Grab paper and align our priorities.