Desperate House Lives 04 - Women of Faith

Desperate House Lives

Women of Faith

Text: John 12:1-8

I. Introduction

Geico* commercial:

Male: I am actually a man speaking about women but not a woman. So, to help tell the story, I have hired a real woman to interpret for me. *

Male: A women goes to bed at night

*Female: A woman picks up the family room, stops in the kitchen to get a glass of water and puts the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and sets it to run, hoping that her husband will remember to start it when he finally goes to bed, checks the calendar one last time to see what needs to be taken care of tomorrow, and finally heads into the bedroom to begin the nightly rituals of getting ready for bed

Male: But she is irritated at her husband

Female: Because he’s been rude and inconsiderate and doesn’t even realize it.

so she decides for once in her life to pray,

she picks up where she left off in her prayer before she got up to go to bed

and this is what she said

Female: So, she poured her heart out in gut wrenching prayer.

Male: "God give me tolerance for my husband’s stupidity,

Female: Lord God, you created man in your image and yet due to the sin of the man not protecting his wife in the Garden that sin has marred your image in man. Never more so has that been evident than in the man you gave me for my husband.

give me wisdom to understand him,

Male: Only you dear Lord knows what goes on in that head of his.

give me forgiveness to forgive him of his ignorance,

Female: Give me forgiveness in great abundance for I know he will do this again!

Male: but please God I beg of thee

Female: Oh great and awesome God, I call upon you as a merciful and gracious God (and no woman would ever say ‘Thee’)

Male: don’t give me strength cause I’ll kill him!"

Female: Give me strength, dear Lord, to not use my CSI knowledge to send him your way very soon!

Illustration: Top 10 Things Mom Would Never Say

"How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?"
"Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too"
"Just leave all the lights on ... it makes the house look more cheery"
"Let me smell that shirt -- Yeah, it's good for another week"
"Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I'll be glad to feed and walk him every day"
"Well, if little Johnny's mom says it's OK, that's good enough for me."
"The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It's not like I'm running a prison around here."
"I don't have a tissue with me ... just use your sleeve"
"Don't bother wearing a jacket - the wind-chill is bound to improve"
“I would rather be comfortable and look fat in these pants than dress to impress!”

Potential verses that could be used on Mother's Day: 1 Peter 3:6 – Thus, Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him ‘Lord;’1 Corinthians 14:34 – women should be quiet in the churches; 1 Timothy 2:15 – women will be saved through child-bearing

Read John 12:1-8

Give background on text

II. Key truth: A woman of faith is extravagant towards God

Quote: An extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife.

Extravagance is beyond what is reasonable or required. Extravagance toward God is going beyond what is expected. But not in a way as to prove you are spiritual or holy, not in a way as to try and get something or some response from God but simply as your response to a loving God. To have any other motivation, does not make it extravagant but meaningless.*

The value of the gift was about a year’s wages. This was not even a bottle of Chanel No. 5, this was a very costly gift. A year’s wages is expensive for every giver, no matter how much you make. Imagine what it would be like to give away a year’s worth of pay in one beautiful act of love.*

The actual value of the gift is not as important as the relative value of the gift. The value is not in what it costs but what it costs the giver. You see someone could have given the same gift, but it would not have been extravagant. The gift was great because it cost her a great deal. It is reminiscent of the widow who gave a mite to the Lord. It was all she had and therefore it was extravagant. For a rich person, a mite was very little. A rich person could have given the same gift and it would not have been near as meaningful or costly.*

Now this is not to say anything against rich people. In comparison, we are all very rich compared to who we are talking about. It has to do with a heart that is not content giving the token amount or the requirement to God. It is giving more because out of love, the minimum required is not enough.*

This is where the heart and love take control. *

The actual value of the gift is not as important as the value placed by the giver on the recipient. God placed great value on mankind when He gave extravagantly. Our response to God’s extravagant giving is to give extravagantly to Him.

*What does it mean to be extravagant towards God today?

I must give myself to God first. The greatest example of being extravagant to God is giving yourself to God. It means letting go of all you are and all you have and all you desire and all you fear, and letting God have it all.*

This includes your money, your time, your job, your family, your spouse. It means we must give in faith, which means we must give beyond what we reason we can give. Love means giving in faith to God and to others.*

Illustration: article “Men are from Mars” Countdown! newsletter: Love is an exercise in frustration. You leave the window up when you want it down. You watch someone else’s favorite TV program. You kiss when you have a headache. You turn the music down when you like it loud. You learn to be patient without sighing or sulking.

Love’s doing things for the other person. In marriage two become one but the one isn’t you. It’s the other person. You love this person more than you love yourself. This means that you love this person as she or he is. Acceptance. We ask ourselves frankly what that impulse is that makes us want to redesign a person. It isn’t love. We want the other person to be normal like us. But is that loving the other person or ourselves? Love brings out the best in people. They can be themselves without artificiality. People who know they are loved glow with beauty and charm.

III. The result of extravagance towards God: the house smelled of its fragrance – the environment of the home is fragranced by the woman’s extravagance towards God.

What this means is that when someone gives extravagantly to God, the impact of the gift impacts the home in a powerful way.*

Illustration: Smelly diaper, we light a scented candle. Baking cookies or bread during an open house to have quicker success in selling a home.

IV. Conclusion