Sermon Tone Analysis

Our Sacrifice – God’s Desire

Matthew 26:6-13

 

Preached at CGEFC

November 4, 2007

 

There’s no doubt that the topic of giving and anything related to our finances is uncomfortable.

It’s uncomfortable for pastors and it’s uncomfortable for congregations.

But God never said that we should be comfortable with His Word, but He did say that His Word would nourish us and sometimes with nourishment and growth come growing pains, and pain is not a comfortable word.

As you have discovered if you have been trekking through our study on the 40 Day Journey To A More Generous Life, God’s Word is laden with messages on the act of giving – on the worship of giving.

So why don’t we preach about it more?

Maybe, just maybe because it hits at the deepest core of our sin – pride.

We’re too prideful – sometimes our thinking is a self-centered way of thinking which goes something like this:  “This is my money.

I work for a living.

I have slaved over this job, put my life on the line, built this career and have earned this position and have been compensated adequately for the work I have done”.

When all along it is truly God’s money.

It is God that opens doors to the job opportunities in our life, not our hard work.

It is God and His will that is in control, not ours.

It is not our hands that bless us, it is the blessing of God’s hands upon our lives (and we praise Him for that).

When we submit to Him and we take hold of the fact that He is the One who blesses and wills, then we will be doubly blessed and we will want to pour that blessing on others, instead of selfishly keeping it to ourselves to build ourselves up and our own glory.

And when we give to others, we do not give ourselves glory, but all glory goes to the One, our Lord and God, who blesses and thus we live a generous life.

God doesn’t need 40 days to make you a generous person – He just needs an open heart and mind.

Sacrificial worship is the topic of this message today.

What do you think of when you hear the word sacrifice?

Is it a bad word?

A good word?

Do you think of something that you what to do or of something that you don’t want to do.

The woman who anointed Jesus understood sacrifice - to a point where she took on a no holds bar attitude toward her worship of Jesus – there was no limit or barrier in regard to how much she was willing to sacrifice to Him.

 

Let’s look at the passage again:

 

6” Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had leprosy,”

 

7” During supper, a woman came in with a beautiful jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.”

\\ The setting is Bethany – a small community outside of Jerusalem and a place that many came to see lodging during the annual Passover celebration – and this would be Jesus’ final Passover.

He is visiting Simon, a man He probably healed of leperousy, and according to John 12, the famous Lazuras, who He raised from the dead, was with them.

These three men are reclining around the table along with the 12 disciples.

Lazuras’ sisters, Martha and Mary, were also in attendance and Martha was at her usual job of serving the food.

John records that her sister, Mary, was actually the woman who anointed Jesus.

I could imagine Mary, excited that her brother’s healer had come to town, probably rushed home and brought back with her this expensive perfume and so this introduces the primary object of this story.

This perfume’s worth is described by the gospel writers as being costly and high priced and John’s and Mark’s account give us the disciple’s estimation:  300 denarii!

Now it is hard to translate what that would be in today’s US dollars, but scholars have done some research and estimate that a denarii translates roughly into $20 US.

You do the math… that’s $6000 worth of perfume.

300 denarii was the approximate yearly salary for a common laborer.

You may think – what kind of perfume is this?

This perfume was made from the oil of an herb plant called nard and was only found in India in Biblical times, so this was a precious import and it could very well have been a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation.

In biblical times, perfume was stored in an alabaster jar and could only be used once.

Once you broke the seal of the jar, it had to be used at that moment, or it would loose its fragrance.

Mary knew that this would be a one time deal.

She was willing to give it all or nothing.

In this day it was custom to anoint the head of important guests, but Mary’s actions were above and beyond.

Using this perfume was an incredible sacrifice on her part and we can see in the following verses that the people around table were not too happy with what she had done.

Continuing on in verse 8 and 9:

 

8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.

“Why this waste?”

they asked.

9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

There are always critiques.

There were in Jesus’ day and there are now.

This woman greatly sacrificed a prized possession – an asset she could have sold off for a large amount of money to help her have a comfortable life in her old age.

She sacrificed this to her Messiah, having full faith and trust in Him that He would care for her needs.

Yet, she was rebuked right there in the house, right after she did it, by Jesus’ disciples nonetheless.

It states in Mark that they scolded her, like a parent scolding a child.

She must have been devastated.

\\ Have you been criticized for sacrificing for Christ?

Have you greatly given of your time, resources and money to His kingdom purposes, yet only to receive a “scolding” from family members, friends, co-workers and~/or classmates?

Have you even been criticized for the way in which you worship?

Even by fellow believers?

I am sure many have been criticized throughout history for their zeal in their worship of the Lord.

One person I know of is King David.

Turn with me to 2 Samuel 6:14:

14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window.

And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord.

18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty.

19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women.

And all the people went to their homes.

20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord.

22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.

But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

Yes, God loves a worshiper with zeal and He has much to say on the way we worship Him.

And in every instance it boils down to one thing: the heart.

God has ordained ritualistic styles of worship through the animal sacrifices and offerings of Old Testament times.

He has ordained singing of our voices, clapping and raising of hands as we sometimes in the Psalms.

He has ordained the playing of instruments.

He has ordained using creativity in teaching as our Lord did so many times through His parables and stories.

He has ordained using freedom in worship as we see Him and the disciples freely singing a hymn of praise at the Last Supper.

He has ordained private prayers and public prayers.

He has ordained the sacrificial giving of His people to the kingdom’s work.

But all of these manifestations of worship do not matter to God if there is no heart behind it.

It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that “heart”.

\\ Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 1, starting in verse 10:

 

10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord.

“I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?

13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!

Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates.

They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood;