It’s Not Supposed to hurt
John 12: 1 – 11.
Introduction.
Do you ever get notices in the mail informing you that you have just won a multi-million dollar prize? If you read the fine print, you will discover that you haven’t actually won the prize. They are tempting you by giving you a taste of what MIGHT happen if you actually win…
In 1997, the national media carried a story about a “winner” of the American Family Publishers Sweepstakes. The announcement came in the form of a letter in the mailbox of the Bushnell Assembly of God in
The outside of the envelope read, “God, you have just been named one of the finalists for the $11 Million Grand Prize.”
The message on the inside was even better. It read, “God, we have been looking for you. … Imagine how surprised the neighbors will be when they discover that God has won the $11 Million prize.”[1] (I’m just surprised to learn that God receives his mail in
There are several things about that story which make it humorous. First, it is funny to think of someone writing a letter that began, “God, we’ve been looking for you.” Second, it’s funny to think about God winning a contest. If God were in contests like this one, it seems that he would win every time…After all, no one can beat God. Third, it’s funny to think about God falling for such a materialistic marketing strategy. A strategy that is so obviously geared to capture our attention by appealing to our insatiable lust for more money. Ultimately, this is a funny story, because it contradicts our Christian view of money.
There is a big difference between the Christian view of money and the worldly view of money. In the world’s view, money is something people earn because of their abilities. People who are smart make a lot of money. People who are better at what they do than other people, make a lot of money. This money belongs to me, because I earned it by being smart and good. The Christian view of money is different. Money comes to us as a gift or blessing from God. Since my money is a blessing from God, I really can’t claim it as my own. God blessed me with financial resources, so that I can be a blessing to others.
For the past 15 years, I have been hearing reports of an impending crisis for the churches in the
In 1945, World War 2 ended. All of our young men returned from service over seas. They got married, built houses, started families, and joined churches. Since the early 1950’s, the men and women of the WW2 generation have supported their churches with their leadership and their financial giving. The Baby Boomers, Generation X (my generation) and the Millennial Generation have not been as faithful in supporting their churches. And now we are witnessing the death of the WW2 generation. Who will support the churches today and in the future? I once heard it estimated (no citation) that it takes five people to replace the financial giving of just one person from the WW2 generation.
Let’s take a look at our current financial situation at
If the crisis is here, we need to decide how we will respond.
First, we could just cover our eyes and pretend that there is no problem. Honestly, that’s what I think we have been doing for the past 15 years. But ignoring a problem never makes it go away.
Second, we could encourage more people to give to our endowment funds. An endowment is a gift to a church that is invested…The church receives annual proceeds from the fund, but the church never touches the principal. It is reinvested every year so that it continually blesses the church with interest payments. Did you know that we have a little over $1.5 Million invested with the Texas Baptist Foundation? We receive approximately $50,000 annually from this investment. If you want to insure the future of our church, you can make a gift to this foundation or you can contribute through your will. If the church is not in your will, please consider adding the church. Even if you can’t give $1 Million or $500,000, any amount will make a difference for the future of our church.
The third option is the most responsible and most spiritual answer. We must teach every generation to give to the church. Specifically, we must teach tithing.
If Jesus spent part of his time preaching about money, then guess what… It’s not supposed to hurt.
It is like when we experience unusual pain somewhere in our bodies…Stomach pain…Headache…Knee problems… We go to the doctor to get help, because It’s not supposed to hurt. The pain is a symptom that something needs to change. The doctor gives us medicine or performs surgery so that the pain will go away.
We can say the same thing about money. If it hurts to hear a sermon on money and giving money to the church, then something needs to change in your life. Because… It’s not supposed to hurt.
Read John 12: 1 – 11
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at 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."
9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,
11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
(NIV)
This story happened at a time when the Jewish authorities were trying to kill Jesus. The leaders of the Jews were fed up with Jesus, because he challenged their religious and political authority. And more and more people began to follow Jesus as his disciples. Especially after what happened in John 11…Jesus performed one of his greatest miracles by raising Lazarus from the dead. When this happened, people began to flock to Jesus. I think this is one of the most humorous verses in Scripture that we read this morning…Since raising Lazarus from the dead led more people to become followers of Jesus, the Jews decided that they needed to kill both Jesus and Lazarus…Like Jesus couldn’t do it one more time.
One theme that runs throughout the Gospel of John is the theme of time. Jesus was in control of time, and did not do things until it was the right time. He would not perform his first miracle in John 2 until it was the right time. The people tried to stone Jesus and kill him but did not, because it was not yet his time. The same thing was happening here in John 12. The authorities wanted Jesus dead, but it was not yet time. Instead, it was time for Jesus to relax and enjoy a meal in the home of his friends Lazarus, Mary and Martha.
While at this dinner, something unusual happened. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet.
This wouldn’t have been so strange if Mary had anointed Jesus’ head. The head is the place of honor and dignity. To anoint someone’s head indicated that person was royalty or had a special place of service in God’s eyes.
The feet, on the other hand, this is the place of dishonor, filth, even uncleanness. Remember the story of the disciples at the Last Supper? Before they could eat the Passover meal together, they had to wash their feet. And the disciples refused to wash each other’s feet because it was dirty, unclean and it was demeaning. To attend the feet of another person was the job of the lowest slave in the household.
When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet, she demonstrated great devotion to Jesus. She submitted herself as a servant of Jesus. And Mary ultimately demonstrated an act of worship.
Give Financially.
The story began by mentioning Martha…She was in the kitchen finishing up the meal preparations. She was mentioned first, because she was the hostess. It is always the case that the hostess of the party is the one who has to work while the guests & rest of the family are visiting & enjoying themselves.
Of course this is not our first time to see Martha in action. This was what she did best, she was a good worker. She liked to host parties and serve other people. In Luke 10, Jesus attended another dinner at Martha’s house. You remember the story. Martha was in the kitchen finishing the meal. Mary found a place to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen as he taught. Of course, this was more than Martha could take. She told Jesus about her frustrations with Mary. She is just sitting there letting me do all the work. Jesus didn’t take Martha’s side. He defended her, saying “She has chosen a good thing which can never be taken away from her.”
In both stories about Mary & Martha, we learn something about work. Work is good, especially when it is done for someone else. God wants us to serve others…But it is never enough by itself.
In Luke 10, we have observed that learning from Jesus and applying his teachings to our lives are important. They should not be neglected, even if replaced by good works. In John 12, we observe that giving financially is also important…And should not be replaced by good works.
In our society, money is our supreme god. People will do almost anything for the “almighty dollar.” That is why Jesus has asked that we do more than just serve him. If all your commitment can be summed up in a short amount of time every week by coming to church, teaching Sunday School, or serving in some other way, then you can still hold onto the most important thing in our society. Jesus wants you to commit more than just a few hours every week.
I think this is why our money is printed with the motto, “In God we trust.” It is a reminder that we don’t worship money. At least we shouldn’t worship money.
Mary serves as an example for us, as she gave a financial offering to Jesus. She was willing to work for Jesus and serve him. She was willing to sit at his feet and listen as he taught her. And she was willing to give away a portion of the money she had worked hard to earn.
When we give to the church Financially we say something that the world thinks is strange. We say, “God, the world thinks that money is the most important thing in a person’s life. But I believe that my commitment to you is more important than even money.” Giving financially says, “In God we trust…Not Money.”
Give Sacrificially.
I want you to notice something about this story that might take a little digging for us to discover. Mary didn’t just give a financial gift to Jesus. Mary gave something that was a GREAT SACRIFICE.
The perfume that she poured over Jesus’ feet was very valuable. It was worth 300 Denarii. 300 Denarii may not mean a lot to you, but it was a lot of money at that time. One Denarius was the usual wage given to the common worker in payment for one day’s work. The average worker worked 6 days a week for 50 weeks a year. If you multiply that out—6 days times 50 weeks—you will discover that the average worker earned 300 Denarii per year.
In other words, Mary gave Jesus the equivalent of one year’s wages. In today’s monetary equivalents, it would be like Mary’s giving Jesus about $20,000.
Now I do not profess to know anything about perfume. But I wonder, what could make a bottle of perfume that valuable.
It may have been imported from a far away country. After all, the only other known reference to the word “nard” is a plant that was grown in
Or it may have been an investment. Mary had taken her savings and rather than putting it in the bank, bought something that would retain its value over time. So she could sell it and make back her money when she needed it…Her retirement plan.
It doesn’t really matter what made the perfume valuable. It’s just important for us to notice that Mary took something of great value and gave it as a sacrifice to Jesus.
There is a modern day story that reminds me of Mary’s sacrificial giving. A washwoman from
When Ms. McCarty was in 6th grade, her aunt was hospitalized and could no longer walk. So, she dropped out of school and abandoned her dream to one day become a nurse just to care for her aunt. After her aunt died, Ms. McCarty began washing and ironing for
When questioned about her generosity, Ms. McCarty responded, “I just want the scholarship to go to some child who needs it, to whoever is not able to help their children. I’m too old to get an education, but they can. I can’t do everything, but I can do something to help somebody. And what I can do, I will do. I wish I could do more.”[2]
You can do something too. You can’t do everything. But you can give sacrificially to the
Give Worshipfully.
There is one thing that separates Ms. McCarty’s gift to USM and Mary’s gift to Jesus. She gave Financially…She gave Sacrificially…But her gift was not a gift of worship.
It was Mary’s love for Jesus that compelled her to do this. Her love was Extravagant…She gave what was most precious…Love does not calculate the cost in advance. Her love was Humble…She anointed Jesus’ feet, a job reserved for the lowest among the slaves. Her love did not Make Sense…Judas saw Mary’s gift as an “utter waste.” Worship NEVER makes sense to the world.
I say that Mary was worshipping, because Mary had a reason to worship! This story took place in
Conclusion.
Mary is our example for giving to the
When we give to the church Worshipfully, we say something that sounds strange to the world. We say, “God, my giving is an expression of my love for you.”
We should think of our giving as if it were Valentine’s Day…Imagine that it is Valentine’s Day and I have planned all day to bring flowers to Shauna. I stand there with my hand behind my back…I pull out the flowers and say to her, “Well, it’s Valentine’s Day. I had to buy these. It was my duty as your husband.” How will she respond to that?
What if I say, “I love you, and I bought these for you because I love you, and I would do anything to show my love for you.”
How will God react if you and I place our envelopes in the offering plate saying, “God, here is my tithe. I don’t really want to give you 10% of my income, but I will because it is my duty.”
In the same way, Mary teaches us that when we give Financially, Sacrificially and Worshipfully… It’s not supposed to hurt!
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