The Response

Have you ever recieved a really good gift?

I am not talking about the N64 you got the Christmas of 96 although that is an awesome present.

Because a chance

I am talking about a present that completely changed your life.

I mean when you recieved this gift you knew that your life was going to be different.

You know when I proposed to my wife Arika she recieved a ring and and she knew that the ring she recieved was going to change her life and mine

I do not know if she knew what she was getting her self into when she married me, but both that was truthfully a gift that for both of us changed our lives for the better.

Another example was when Liam was born. Because when Liam was born I was not just ugly crying.

I am pretty sure I was scream crying. and I am glad that you all are not here because you can’t ask Arika about it.

But when Liam was born that gift I recieved it changed my life completely.

And My life looks so different then it did 10 months ago and I love it.

Just one more example: I remember not to long ago I was reading an article of a man who was homeless and he was stuck in the cycle of poverty

But there was someone who found out about how he was stuck in this place and what ended up happening is they gave him a car with some gas money.

And because he could drive he was able to get a job at a production company

And as I am sure you can imagine this gift changed his entire life.

But you know each of us has probably think of a gift that we have recieved and it has completely changed our lives as we know them

And so today what we are talking about is really ways God has moved in our life and gifts God has given us and we are going to be looking at our response to those gifts.

And so we are going to be in and in this passage actually takes place shortly after where we were last week.

And if you missed last week basically what happened is there was a guy name Lazarus who ended up getting sick and he actually got so sick that he passed away because of the illness.

And really we asked ourselves where is God is that?

And really where is God in the middle of situations in our lives that we go through.

But in the story something crazy happens because in the middle of Lazarus passing away Jesus does something crazy where he brings Lazerus back to life.

And He does it in a way where even what the enemy intends for Evil, God uses it for good.

And so like I mentioned the passage we are in today takes place shortly after this happens and they are looking at How God moved and now we see what there response is.

So once again we are going to be in and it says:

John 12:1–8 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.”

(ESV)

So like I mentioned in this passage this is right after Lazarus was raised from the dead and in the first

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

So like I mentioned in this passage this is right after Lazarus was raised from the dead

Because they are having this dinner and

And they are having a dinner in honor of Jesus because of what He did.

And th

And it says that Lazarus is actually at this dinner reclining and eating with them.

And there are two things on the front of their mind

The first is they are reflecting on what happened with Lazarus.

They are probably thinking this is amazing how could this man of been brought back to life.

But then there is no doubt in the room that the reason this was able to happen was because of Jesus.

And you can just picture them looking at this way that God moved and just being amazed!

And the first point I want you to get is actually a question.

It is what gift has God given you and in what ways has He moved in your life?

And it is easy to look at this passage and think well… What gifts has God given me what ways has He moved?

You might say well I didn’t have a life or death experience

I am assuming not many of us have a loved one thats been brought back to life

and you might not have this amazing miracle story either (though I know some of you do)

And you are

But if you are watching this God has given you a gift that is better then what happened in this passage.

Because miracles are neat

But what is even better is the gift that God gives us through Jesus.

Because we talked about this a little last week, but without Christ we are stuck in our sin and there is no way to get out.

It is like if you were stuck in quicksand.

if you have seen movies and Tv shows I feel like a common issue is they get stuck in quicksand.

And you all know how quicksand works, right?

Because you try to move and you sink lower and faster

And it is a scary thing because the only way you are able to get out is if someone is there pull you out.

But you know whats amazing? That is what Christ does to our life when He dies on the cross and saves us from our sin.

Because we are stuck in our sin with no hope,

its looking darker and darker,

and the only way we can get out of the sin we are stuck in is through Christ.

And He takes us out of this pit that leads to death and puts us on a path where we are free from our junk that is holding us back and weighing us down

and we are now on a path that leads to life through Christ!

And can I just say Christ has done this for every single one of us. He has given us this gift and all we have to do is say yes!

And maybe today you have not said yes to that or you did a long time ago but have strayed away, I would invite you right now to private message our Facebook page or if you can’t figure that out you can also message me or my wife.

And we may not reply immeadiatly, but you can just send a message letting us know you are ready to accept that gift or reaccept it

and you can do that now.

Well look what in verse 3 because it says

Pause r

Mary therefore

Pause right there!

Because whenever you see the word therefor in the Bible it means that it is a reaction to what happened just before that.

So they are reflecting on how God moved and because if this we see Mary Take this pound of expensive perfume that was worth actually over a years wage

Just to give you some prospective on how expensive this was the median household income in Berrien county is $44,701 a year

So it would be like he having this 44 thousand dollar perfume in her hands and she actually opens it up and just pours it out on Jesus’s feet and actually uses her hair to clean his feet.

Kind of an odd message right?

but what Marry is doing is she is not just waisting perfume or waisting money, but she is recklessly responding to what Jesus did in her life.

and how she responds is not just her giving this expensive give, but it represents something that is much more costly.

It represents her pouring out her life for Christ.

Jesus moved here therefore Mary responds like this.

and can I just say that everysingle one of us has a therefore, because God has given us this gift and has moved in our life in an amazing way,

and now there is a therefore, infront of us where we have to decide how am I going to respond to this?

am I going to keep living life the way I have been or am I going to do what Mary does in this passage.

And can I just be honest for a moment? And I want you to hear this out of love,

But a lot of us would say well yeah I have given God every part of our life, but if we took an honest look at our lives our priorities might not reflect that.

It would be like if I said I love Nascar! And I am telling you all about just how much I love Nascar.

But then you asked me a question that every Nascar fan should know and I said I have no idea

Then you come over to my house and I have nothing in my house that shows my love for Nascar

And you finally look at me and say when was the last time you even watched a race?

And I said maybe a couple years ago

And you would probably say wait a minute… you cant love Nascar that much other wise it would show in your life!

Church can I just say this is the issue for many Christians lives.

We say we love God, but if we looked at our life it might not reflect that.

God wants us to live a life centered on Him.

and that doesn’t mean we cannot have hobbies, or make money or any of that, but it means that when it comes down to it, nothing is placed higher then God.

And that is up to you all to look at your life and see if there is something higher then God

And like I said I am saying this out of love because a life lived for God is the most life giving life you can live.

And this might make people look at you and say what is wrong with them?

Thats what happens in this story, because Judas goes what is wrong with you! And Judas has bad intentions,

and truthfully it is easy to read this story and side with Judas and go yeah what is wrong with you Mary?

Because that money could have been used for other things, but this is an expression of Mary pouring out her all and that is why Jesus tells Judas to bug off

But this morning I wonder, how many of us have parts of our lives that need poured out.

You know in some of us might be at a place where we need to respond to that gift we were talking about this morning,

P

But others of us might be in a place where God is asking us to do what Marry did which is surrender every part of our life to Him.

And maybe you have done that maybe not, but if you have I want you to reexamin your life and ask God is there an area I need to surrender.

Because what happens in my life is I will say okay God I am giving everything to you but then God will nudge me and say Brendan did you give me that?

And God may want you to do that this morning.

But I want us to end differently then how we usually end because I am going to pray for us and if you are comfortable I want you to posture yourself like this with your arms out

And this is just a posture of surrender and saying whatever it is God I give it you you.

So lets pray

I surrender