The Greatest Value

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Notes
Transcript
Mark 12:38-44
Focus: Jesus values different things than the world, He values you!
Function: that the hearer will value the relationship of God formed by Jesus and rest in His work.
The Greatest Value
Intro: (Deductive, SD & Narrative)
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. People find value in different things. Some people find value in cheering on the Chiefs as they watch the football game. Other people find value in reading a good book. Other people value tasty food, so they are always looking for the new, best restaurant. But in our lives, if we don’t know what something is, its value can easily be overlooked or go unrecognized. I remember cleaning out my grandparents’ garage, as we where moving them into a retirement home. My family and I we each got assigned a corner of the garage and then we begin digging through boxes to see if there is anything of value or importance to keep. And as we began to go through all of this stuff, we formed a “throw-away pile” of that we thought wasn’t useful anymore. But after awhile my Grandpa came to check-in to see how we were doing, and he glanced down at the “throw-away pile”. And saw this object or that object and he’d hold it up and begin to tell a story about it, explain how to use it, talk about its value. For us, it was easy to throw things away because we didn’t know what it was, or the history of those items. We didn’t know what the items were, so we easily overlooked its value or the value went unrecognized. We see a similar thing happening in our Gospel text this morning.
Trouble in the Text: (Deductive, Explanation)
In our text, in Mark chapter 12 we see the religious leaders, the scribes, and rich people finding value in other things and really overlooking the most important thing, the most valuable thing a relationship with God, with Jesus. The scribes and the rich people found their “true” value from recognition of others. The scribes liked to walk around nice fancy clothes, that no one else could afford. They didn’t shop at the clearance section of JC Penny, they always went to Von Maur (It’s a super fancy clothing shop, Josh)They liked to be greeted by the everyone, they liked to be respected by always getting the front seats at the synagogue and feasts, where everyone could see how the loud they chant, how loud they sing, and how they react to the reading of the Torah. And they even would make long prayers in public, for the response of wow, “These people are really godly, they are truly blessed by God. There is no way that I could ever compare to them.” They didn’t go to synagogue or pray because they wanted to be close to God, but instead they really just wanted to be noticed by others. And also in our text, Jesus talks about the rich people who put large amounts of money in the offering box. They would do so, not to give back to God, but to have others see how much money they could give. They would be looking for the response, “Did you see how much money Moses the scribe put in, there is no way that I could ever give that much!” Both the scribes and the rich people in our text found their value in recognition from others. These people were looked up to, these people were looked at as significant. And Jesus says about them, “Beware of the scribes… they will receive greater condemnation.” Jesus says about the rich people that a widows gift of two coins that make a penny is more valuable than their gift. Both the scribes and the rich people were so busy chasing down the recognition of others they overlooked the most valuable thing, a true, a right relationship with God. By only finding value in their greetings, front row seats, and riches, they missed out on the only thing of true, lasting value, a relationship with God.
Grace in the Text: (Inductive, Narrative)
And in the midst of all this attention, focus, and praise being given to the scribes in their long robes sitting in the front seats of the synagogue and the amazement of all the money that the rich people are putting into the offering plate, Jesus does something counter-cultural. He notices a poor, widow who was overlooked by everyone else. A widow who everyone else thought that she had nothing to bring to the table. Her clothes aren’t like the fancy church clothes that the scribes wear, but instead her clothes are torn, holy - not the good kind - and covered in dirt. She isn’t dressed in “the Sunday best”, she is dressed in all she has. She goes to the offering plate holding two coins, which would have been viewed as worthless to others. It’s the kind of loose change that you tell the waiter or cashier to keep because you don’t want to be bothered by putting such coins of little value back in your wallet. Jesus could see the hesitation on her face, because she’s not sure if she is going to be able to buy food for this upcoming week. And Jesus calls His disciples to Him and they watched as she puts in two copper coins that make a penny. And Jesus tells the disciples that this poor widow gave more than those rich people because she gave all she had, all she had to live on. Everyone wants to be valued by others. Jesus He valued the widow and He valued her gift, not because it was a great gift, not because with her gift the temple building project was going to be finished, not even for the fact because she gave all she had to live on, but Jesus valued her when no one else did. Even in her poverty, she already had the most valuable thing, lasting relationship with God. Her gift of a penny was recognized, she was noticed by Jesus even when she was overlooked by everyone else. She wasn’t noticed or valued because of something within her, she wasn’t noticed because she was poor, but Jesus saw her out of His mercy out of His love and compassion for her.
Trouble in the World:
I think it’s really easy to hear this text read in church and say to ourselves, “well yeah Pastor Sean those scribes, those rich people, they just didn’t get it. How could they miss it? I’m not like them, it’s Jesus and me, of course that’s the most important thing, of course that’s the thing I put my most the value in!” We may say that we value Jesus and a relationship with God the most in our lives, but our actions don’t seem to back that up. Some of us I think are more like the scribes and the rich people than we would like to admit. We just like the scribes and rich people of that day, try to find our “true” value in other things besides our relationship with God. Maybe for us, it’s like the scribes, we over-value our appearance in front of other people. So we spend hour after in the weight room trying to sculpt our bodies to look just like they do in Hollywood. Or we try that new diet that we saw on Facebook that promises that we are going to lose 20 pounds. Or maybe we so focused on appearance that we go the store and buy that fancy new sweater even though its over our budget to look hip and cool. And we spend little or no time in God’s house worshipping Him. Maybe for some of us, we are completely comfortable how we look, so instead of finding value in our appearance maybe we find our value in our career. We want people to notice the hard work we put into our jobs. We want our co-workers and our bosses to look at our work and see the blood, sweat, and tears we have put in. And when you get home after a long day of work, you are thinking about that one problem that caught you off guard or that one problem that you couldn’t figure out and it complete consumes you because you want to be the best; you want to be that CEO one day. And we spend little or no time reflecting on God’s Word and what it says for our lives. Or maybe for some of us, we are comfortable with our appearance and we have a healthy work and home balance, but instead we find value in our time. We find our value in being able to choose what we want to do with our free-time. Maybe its sleeping in when you are off the work clock, so you intentionally plan your weekends around your sleep schedule. Or maybe its adjusting your free time to binge that new Netflix show that you always wanted to see. For you, you find value in being able to do what you want with your free time, you find value in your freedom. And we spend little or no time talking to the Lord in prayer. We often say that Jesus and relationship with God is the most important thing, but we fail to live that reality out. We often can chase after other things that we think give us value and we overlook the most valuable thing, a relationship with God given to us by Jesus, just like the scribes and rich people in our text.
Grace in the World:
And God, He saw us chasing after the things of the world to find value and clinging to the things that don’t bring us true value, just like the scribes in our text. But in response He sent someone valuable to Him, Jesus, to come and chase after us because He valued You; Because He wanted You. Jesus came to this world in a humble way often overlooked, often unnoticed by the people around Him. Many of the words He taught and said about God were overlooked by the people listening. Jesus, just like the widow, He gave up everything He had, all He had to live on, to give you life with God. To give you something extremely valuable that can’t be earned; God’s love, His mercy, and eternal life in His name! Jesus isn’t after your dollars, He doesn’t want your money, Jesus wants you, Jesus values You! He wants a true, right relationship with You! And that is exactly what He has freely given You! Not because you have given so much back to Him, not because you sacrifice your freetime and your money, not because you do anything to earn it, but because He loves You! Jesus Christ values you!
App/ Conclusion:
Now that you and I have been given the most valuable thing, a right, true relationship with God, we no longer have to spend hour after hour in the gym trying to create and sculpt the “perfect” body to find value. Instead, it be scheduling out an hour or two out of the day, some of you might still think that is too much (haha) to exercise to stay active. We don’t have to spend 24/7 thinking about work or school, to the point where it consumes us in a search for value with our co-workers. Instead, it be practicing the habit of leaving work at work to spend important time with your family. We don’t have to try and find our value in our free time, finances or recognition of others because Jesus has freely given you the most valuable thing, a relationship and life in His name. He encourages us to rest in His work, rest in His offering because He has done it all. He has done it all for you because He values you!
Now may the grace of God, the God who values you not because of anything in yourself, may He guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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