A Sisters Challenge 03-20-2022

Kids-Honor that only God Deserves

In 2nd Samuel chapter 23 there is a story about Davids mighty men.

2 Samuel 23:14 NIV

14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.

2 Samuel 23:15 NIV

15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

Do you know what his mighty men did?

His three mightiest men

snuck down to the Philistine camp

beat them back until they could get a bucket of water from that well

and fought their way back to David’s camp.

Do you know what King David did?

Did he thank the guys and drink the water?

No!

He did not. Why not?

There men had risked their lives

just to satisfy his whim.

Only God deserves that level of devotion.

So King David would not drink it.

Here is what he said to God that day

2 Samuel 23:17 NIV

17 “Far be it from me, Lord, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors.

Let me pray for you kids that you are receiving or giving praise and loyalty to your friends, you will understand proper limits, and never honor them and their wishes beyond your honoring of God.

Still Wanting to kill Him

This morning our scripture passage is in Mark 14, the first 11 verse but I’m only going to read part of the passage to set the stage.

Mark 14:1–2 NIV

1 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

An unexpected anointing

A Dramatization if Mark 14:1-11 related or similar passages Matt 26. John 12

For telling this story, I’ll assume the women is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, even though Mark does not identify her in his Gospel.

. . . .

Hi I’m Lazarus, my sister Mary liked to sit at Jesus feet and hear him talk.

She did it so much that Martha would get angry with her for not helping with the food.

But during the week Jesus was Crucified, Mary shocked us all.

Here is how she would tell the story of anointing Jesus head.

She would say:

I heard Jesus was having dinner down the street that night.

I knew His time was short,

and I wondered,

how can I express my thanks to Him,

For all he had done for me,

for my family and others.

Freeing us from our guilt and shame

Freeing us from our own demons of doubt and despair and self-loathing.

Raising Lazarus from the dead.

We had many valuable things in the house but

what did Jesus need with:

five new outfits or

an ornate bed of ivory?

Then I remembered the ancient Jar of perfume,

Worth more than I laborer could earn in a year.

It was a symbol of our wealth,

passed down to us from our parents

And maybe from their parents before them.

This I could give him.

With this oil,

I could anoint His head and

He would carry that precious fragrance with him,

through all his trials

to his death on the cross and

into his grave.

This fragrance would accompany him everywhere.

Every man near Him would smell the fragrance and know that

Someone loved this man

Someone was thankful for all he had done for them.

Oh what a scandal this will be,

a women,

approaching the men’s dinner table,

without a tray of food

or a jug of wine.

or any other reason to be there

But I will serve Him,

in the best way I know how,

I will serve him with the fragrance of Love and Thanksgiving.

I dress simply, not to draw attention to myself.

I have the bottle with me.

The men, I watch as they come back from Jerusalem,

The dinner is served, and

I wait until a quiet time in the meal.

Then I see my chance

With all the courage I could muster,

I defied custom and approached the men’s table.

I can hear a hush and see the confusion and concern as I approach Jesus.

I pull out my Alabaster Jar

I break the slender neck of the jar

and pour All the this costly perfume on his head

dripping down onto his beard and his robe,

like the anointing of a king or a high priest.

I kept none back. Poured it all on his precious head.

The room is filled with fragrance, everyone can smell it.

It’s almost stiffing it’s so strong!

There is shock in everyone’s eyes and some of them look very angry.

They begin to yell at me

and hurt me with rude words.

They asked “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and given to the poor?”

But it was mine to give,

and my heart was glad to give it to Him

while he was still with us.

Some, I’m sure were sincere in how they could have helped the poor,

but others I wonder if they only were thinking of how they

could have benefited from handling the money if it had been sold.

One of them,

Judas was so mad, he left in anger.

That man scares me.

But Jesus eyes were not harsh

Jesus eyes were not angry.

He was pleased with my action.

He rebuked his disciples and said I had done a beautiful thing.

So beautiful that my kindness toward Him would be told about to the whole world.

And Lazarus continued,

My sister always ends the telling of her tale with

Have you ever been foolishly lavish:

with your thanksgiving,

with your praise

with your honor of Jesus Christ

for your salvation?

What about now?

. . . . .

Did you like that little drama?

Did you stay awake?

Here is how the passage ends

Mark 14:10–11 NIV

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Why did this women have a better grasp on Jesus death than his disciples?

Could it be, they were too trapped by their culture to think outside the box?

I wonder what part of Jesus message you and I miss because we are American,

and what part we don’t miss for the same reason, we are North Americans.

If you had been at this dinner, what role would you have played

Cook/Servant/Server

Outrageously thankful follower

the outraged disciples

Judas the self serving disciple

If I had to place myself in this scene I might see where I could have been a disciple, and inspired by others become upset at this seemingly waste of money.

People like me, need to learn that it’s ok for the church to decorate for holidays

It’s ok to have some really nice things in the church

Just not too excessive.

In the Gospels, we don’t see women coming and breaking thousands of dollars worth of oil on Jesus head daily.

But there is a place for that lavish love, that this women displayed.

What other teaching is here

The poor will always be with you.

How can knowing that help you?

It gives us permission to pace ourselves.

Jesus could have healed all the time, but he also wanted to preach.

He chose times of pulling away, to just be with the disciples.

Jesus said what the women had done was a beautiful thing to him.

How was the women’s expensive anointing of Jesus head a beautiful thing?

It Glorified Jesus

It was an act of pure love

Done at a high cost

Done with preparation and forethought.

If Jesus disappoints you,

doesn’t do what you want or expect,

will you stay Loyal to Him

Or see how you can gain from the situation like Judas did?

. . . . . . . .

Let’s Pray as we prepare our hearts for Communion.

Please recite with me the Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven,

and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy general Church,

the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

As we draw near to God in communion today, consider how lavish

you have been in expressing thanks to God.

Paul said

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 NIV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Take and eat your moral of bread and consider how you have responded in thanks to God for your salvation up to today.

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 NIV

25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

As you have this little take of grape, think on how you will express your thanks to God, in the future.

Amen!

You are dismissed.