“A Blessed Reflection”
Matthew 26:6-13
Our response to God’s love is a reflection of our understanding of the redemption he has provided.
Sunday Morning Sermon
02.11.07
Intro: (Start with title and text)
Sometimes life draws up pictures – The astronaut driving 900 miles to end the life of another astronaut brings one picture – here’s another, if you didn’t follow the story – she wore a diaper the whole way so she wouldn’t have to stop for bathroom breaks. Can you see this – she arrives in Florida ready to kill another woman, but because she didn’t stop for bathroom breaks – she doesn’t smell very good. I can see this – Danny taking a family vacation – first stop – Walgreens! The family has 10 minutes to pick out diapers, because it’s going to be a long trip, and they could save time, by not stopping for bathroom breaks. That’s crazy!
I don’t mean to make humor about tornado devastation – it’s not funny. But being from Oklahoma, I know that they always stick the microphone and tv camera near the person who talks a lot. This young girl was on the Radio and she was describing the sound of the tornado and the warning she had, here’s what she said: “I woke up, Mom was yelling Jesus!, and Dad was yelling TORNADO.” I get this picture in my mind about these two people who should be moving themselves to safety, arguing over the source of the trouble that is about to come. Certainly, you would prepare for a tornado differently than you would the second coming.
We often get the chance to draw pictures for people – Someone told me that the human mind is more of a museum than a debating hall – we see things in pictures.
Discussion:
We are so blessed to have the word of God give us pictures of Jesus in different situations. We see him at a wedding, in the temple as a child, we see him showing compassion, teaching on the lake, feeding those who were hungry and offering water to a woman at a well. We see Jesus healing and forgiving, we see him at his baptism, we see him weeping in sorrow, and showing his power over death and hell. Excellent pictures come to my mind when I think of the life of Christ. I see pictures of love, holiness, God’s glory, and God’s wisdom.
Our text this morning shows us a picture of something else – we see a picture of the blessed redemption we have. If you have your Bibles with you, please turn to
(Advance)
Matthew 26:6-12 (read)
I see two pictures this morning – you are going to fit into one or the other – regardless of where you are in your Christian walk, or your relationship with God.
(Advance)
I. A Reflection of Redemption
A redeemed person will give a reflection of that redemption to those around them. Let me say it this way – if you have been saved from something – you will act like it.
Simon, the leaper, was no longer a leaper – he was healed. Leapers were not allowed to be around non-leapers, so this inviting Jesus for a meal was a response to his healing. Martha was there too – She’s the sister of Lazarus, who was also there. Lazarus was brought back to life. John says that Mary was there as well – Mary of Bethany. Luke gives us insite to Mary he says this.
(Advance)
Luke 9:39 -- She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.
Mary comes into the house – she sees in Jesus something very personal – something we can all see.
a. Power over Sin – She sees her redemption
i. She sees her salvation
ii. She sees in the person of Jesus someone that is worthy of worship and praise
So she begins to worship – Instead of singing all 6 verses of Amazing Grace, she knows that her worship is a small sacrifice if it is not joined with action. She has this jar of perfume – a very expensive jar – like $35,000 worth of perfume – possibly the most expensive thing she owns.
What would you do if you have this jar of perfume, you want to give it to Jesus but you know a little will do. Certainly you don’t break the jar, and you might not dump the entire thing over his head. She does both of those things. One commentary says this:
“In that adoration testimony of love and honor Mary poured out her soul in worship even as she poured out the perfume. Being absolutely controlled by adoration for her Lord, she lost all sense of restraint and economy.”
b. Wouldn’t it be neat
i. To realize the blessing of absolute worship?
ii. To look into the eyes of Jesus – and see yourself – not fractured, not broken, not with eye problems, or ear problems, or money problems – but to see yourself whole and healed?
I know sometimes the worries and struggles of life become overwhelming. I know life will hand you situations you didn’t ask for and wouldn’t wish on someone you don’t like. But
c. If you want complete healing – complete wholeness
Your only response, my only response is to come to the feet of Jesus and worship him with our words, with are mouths, with our time, with our energy – with all of who we are – regardless of the cost. (Advance)
Hebrews 10:21-22 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
God doesn’t want something that doesn’t cost you anything. If I made a commitment to stop cussing today – that sounds really good, preachers shouldn’t cuss. But it doesn’t cost me anything, because I don’t cuss. I haven’t cussed since 6th grade when my step-mom thought I said something bad and she washed my mouth out with soap – I have had a clean mouth ever since. Giving God my cussing – while it’s possibly a step in the right direction, doesn’t mean anything. The holier you think you are, the harder you will hold on to the things you should give to God.
i. Give to God something that costs you something
What about your time? What about your excellence – not just doing something for the sake of doing something, but doing whatever it is with excellence. Not just leading – but leading with excellence; not just singing – but praising God with everything you have – not just teaching, but putting yourself in a place to grow through the lesson as well.
If we can’t break the whole jar on something – I don’t want to do it. If God has called you to do something – doing it half way is a sin, not giving full effort is a sin. Listen, If you have been redeemed – if you have been forgiven, act like it. Show the world a picture of your redemption – show your classmates and your teachers a picture of your redemption – show your co-workers what it’s like to work with someone who has been redeemed.
I’m not the biggest Dr. Phil fan in the world. I was watching him one time and he was listening to the arguments of someone about how right they were – and he said this – “No matter how flat you smash that pancake it still has two sides”. I see something else, the other side, another picture or reflection: It’s not a good one. We all want the first one – but some of us are closer to this one than the first.
(Advance)
II. Reflection of Resistance (8-13)
This comes from the people who have been around Jesus the most. We have snapshots of this Mary being around Jesus – listening closely. But I know every time Jesus taught – his disciples were around, Mary probably wasn’t. They should have been more in tune with what she was doing. Instead of getting mad over something they cared nothing about – they should have joined her in praise and adoration of Jesus.
It comes down to their understanding of where their redemption was.
a. They were upset –
Instead of being fishers of men they had become caretakers of the aquarium. I wonder – do you suppose that the jar of perfume was possibly a focal point for a few of them – and once it was gone, that kind of settled the argument. ‘Cause you know what happens next – The chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus – we already know they had plans to kill Jesus – Judas helps them out for the right amount of cash, of course. John’s gospel says that it was Judas who was upset, but not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a keeper of the cash.
b. We look at Judas
i. We think BAD BAD MAN
You’d name your son, Isaiah, Matthew, John, David or Paul – But you would never name your son Judas. Even in the Bible – there wasn’t a man named Jude who wrote the book of Jude – His name was JUDAS – they shortened it so you would read it, it’s not the same Judas, but that doesn’t matter.
ii. He has the potential to be so great
He falls short because he doesn’t see the power of his redemption in the person of Jesus Christ.
c. Jesus
i. Says –
“Hey, it was good for her to do this. I am going to die, they will bury me, and she’s doing this for my burial.” – Actually another prediction of his death and burial. But they still don’t get it. They will soon enough. All of us were created in the image of God. All of us should see a blessed reflection when we look at Jesus. All of us should see a picture of our redemption.
Conclusion:
I know it’s hard to look in the mirror sometimes and see something beautiful, and see a redeemed person. After all we fail, we fall short – we do things we don’t want to do, no one knows better than you the height of your struggles and pain. We might even be able to look back and see regrets of things we didn’t do, or things we wanted to do better. It’s easy to allow our lives to be run by something other than a redeemed image – Listen to me, Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice for your sins on the cross. Romans 3:24 Says: (Advance) and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
God can’t be around something that is sinful – it’s against his nature. He wants to be around you and me so much, that he gave his one and only son that if we believe in him we will live with him eternally.
Listen, the key to seeing a blessed or a redeemed reflection is living your life consistent with God’s desire. The time to break that jar is now – it’s time to pour out all that you are and can be and give it wholly to the one who will use you and take care of you. He loves you so much – and the truth is – he loves you as you are, but he loves you too much to leave you where you are. He wants to give you the redeemed reflection you were intended to have.
Pray!
Maybe you are here this morning and you found yourself at the feet of Jesus at one point in your life – and something happened, life happened – and you’re not a bad person but you aren’t dedicated like you were. He invites you to come back and give it all back to him. Perhaps you are here and you’ve never accepted Jesus as Lord, you’ve never taken those steps, you’ve never been baptized and made the commitment to live a redeemed life. Maybe you look in the mirror and things don’t look the way they should. Watch 20 minutes of TV and you will see diet pills and diet weight loss plans, exercise machines that they will send to your home free of charge – all to take care of the outside and chance the way you look. God is interested with the inside, and he wants to renew your life right now. This is an excellent opportunity. Maybe you just need prayer – life can get overwhelming at times – we won’t judge you, we won’t gossip – but we will lift you up.
We’re going to stand and sing an invitation song this morning – if you have a decision to make please come as we stand and sing.
