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*The Gospel of John XXII: *
*Worship & Idolatry*
*John 12:1-8*
*/June 28, 2009/*
* *
*Prep: *
· 028 (p2), 35 & 38 in Leftovers
· My journal
· Matt 26:6ff, Mark 14:3ff, Luke 7:37ff and 10:38ff
MAIN POINT(S) OF SERMON:
• Mary displayed an extravagant devotion to Jesus by anointing him with perfume worth $50,000 (one year’s wages).
• We are worshipers by nature.
We will glorify, adore, be devoted to something, either God or else lesser things.
• As God is the source of all that is good and right, we find that we are most happy and fulfilled when we pursue him.
• We become like what we worship.
• Both bad things (like Judas’ greed) and good things (like caring for the poor) can become idols.
\\
OBJECTIVES OF SERMON:
• Inspire the church to become increasingly more passionate in their pursuit of God above all this world has to offer.
Scripture reading: John 12:1-8
Intro
We are back in John – we should never stray too far from Jesus, from this actual words and presence.
John is the most theological of the Gospels, offering not just stories of Jesus life but also rich, philosophical teachings.
It is the both the simplest and the most complex.
Its purpose:
*John 20:31 * 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
That’s the purpose of our series.
Don’t think “may have life” means “get saved.”
That is the starting point, not the finish line.
Without the cross, we would be separated from God, but now the Christian life is a journey of finding “abundant life.”
· My purpose is that we all find more abundant life.
Rhetorical function vrs.
images
There are two ways to look at today’s passage:
*/1.
/**/Rhetorical function (it’s role in the larger story)/*
John is setting the stage for Jesus’ death, not as a victim, but a willing sacrifice, interpreting everything through his goal.
In Matthew and Mark, it sets the stage for Judas’ betrayal.
*/2.
/**/A picture of worship and devotion /*
This story struck a chord in the early church, developing a life of its own and appearing in all the Gospels.
The soul of this story is the beautiful picture Mary’s love and devotion to Jesus.
At its core it is a contrast Mary’s faithfulness and Judas’ faithlessness, between her worship and his idolatry.
· Idolatry seems a strange word for it, not theft or greed, but we’ll talk about that later.
Worshiping Jesus
It is that picture that we will focus on today.
This sermon is a study of worship, but more than a study, it is a call to passionately love Jesus like Mary did, to desire God as more than all the lesser joys we seek.
· We will begin by looking worship and idolatry, then worship as God’s gift to us, not our gift to him.
Prayer: Find your life in John, and learn from Mary about worship.
Help us confront our own idols.
What is worship?
(Indebted to Driscoll’s sermon on worship)
Worship is not the songs we sing before and after the sermon.
As a person who does not “get into” singing, this offer a little comfort.
I am not off the hook – songs inspire worship.
· This isn’t a worship service, it’s “worship training service.”
What is worship?
To love and devote ourselves to something we believe to be of surpassing value.
It means to center your life around something, making sacrifices for it.
Q Do you see how this is not a “worship service”?
Worship means around the clock, 24~/7 devotion and obedience to God, not just 1½ hours once a week.
If it doesn’t happen the other 166.5 hours, it is not worship, any more that a husband that is faithful 98% of the time is concerned faithful.
· It is not without reason that adultery is a frequent metaphor for idolatry – God wants all of us.
The best we can do is encourage each other to wholehearted devotion God, to remind each other that he is the very best thing, that he is worthy of our full devotion and obedience.
Mary’s worship
The first time we hear of Mary, it is of her devotion to Jesus:
*Luke 10:38-42 * As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.
40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?
Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed.
Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Her love and devotion to Jesus is clear.
But even still, this story represents not only love but also sacrifice.
*John 12:3 * 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.
· The feet were dirtiest body part body, lowest servant washed.
· A woman’s hair was her glory (1 Cor.
11:15), typically hidden.
But this also represents a significant sacrifice.
· Nard was an extract of this plant, imported from India.
· The perfume cost a year’s wages, felt value of $50,000.
That’s a lot of money – the only way an ordinary family would have this much was a dowry, without which a woman couldn’t get married.
Again, worship is to love and devote ourselves to something we believe to be of surpassing value, to make sacrifices for it, as Mary devoted herself to Jesus.
We are made to worship
The important point is that our choice is not whether or not to worship, but what we will worship.
We are made to worship and we will worship something.
· The reason worship is part of our nature is that we are made in God’s image and he is full of worship.
Does that seem odd to say? God is Trinity, three parts and within the Trinity there is an outpouring of love, devotion, and honor.
We see this in the way Jesus talks about the Father.
· The Shack gives a great representation of this.
Idolatry = Worshiping the wrong things
We will pour ourselves into someone or something, and the only one worthy of receiving our worship is God.
And when we worship him we find our highest joy.
But ever since the fall we tend to worship the wrong things, which is idolatry.
We think of idolatry as offering sacrifices to little tiki idols, but it simply means to pour yourself into something other than God.
“Bad” idols
Our idols can be something bad, as with Judas:
*John 12:4-6 * 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.
Money was Judas’ idol.
In stark contrast to Mary, he worshipped money more than Jesus.
He served it and sacrificed to it, sacrificing his integrity, his friends, and his Lord.
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