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The Greatest Love Story in Literature

Message preached on February 19th, 2012 by Dr. Haddon Robinson.

From Hosea chapter 3, Dr. Robinson talks about the prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer. Their story is a picture of our own relationship with God. The love story between God and His people IS the greatest love story in literature.

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To get your copy of the FX Take Out Menu for February 2012, choose from one of the following options:

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FX Take Out Menu – February 2012 (PDF)

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Read the thoughts below on generosity and consider them as you watch two videos:

1. Search “Miracle in Franklin” on Youtube or go to this link: Miracle in Franklin
2. Search “Miracle in Franklin: The Rest of the Story” or go to this link: The Rest of the Story

Note where these principles are illustrated in the story.

• Generosity requires an intimate walk with Christ

• Generosity is vigilant for needs

• Generosity is persistent (It’s not always easy to give. Sometimes folks have a hard time receiving!)

• Generosity is missional

• Generosity is knowing the heart of God

Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-11.

In his explanation of generosity Paul uses the analogy of a sower and seed. You reap what  you sow.  If you sow little, you reap little. If you sow much, you reap much.

What are you supposed to sow, and what is the desired fruit to reap? For what purpose does God “enrich” followers of Christ?

Final thoughts on generosity…

• Generosity is not so much an act of will, intellect or even heart. It is a response to the gospel–the good news that Jesus was infinitely generous in his grace extended to those who would trust in him.

• Generosity defined:  Looking for opportunities to express the grace of Christ.

• Stewardship Defined:  Faithful and wise management and use of the resources God gives you. The better I am at stewardship, the more margin I have for being generous.

“Come now, you rich” There are two important things to know about financial wealth. First, the Bible does not condemn it. It is not a sin to be wealthy and successful, nor is it a sin to plan, invest for the future, or buy insurance. The Bible often describes financial wealth as blessings from God. Second, you don’t have to have a lot of money to be “rich,” because it’s not your money that’s at issue here — it’s how you regard your money. You can have a lot of money and still live for God. Or, you can have virtually no money at all and still live for money. It’s not about how much you have, it’s about who you live for.

What James describes is the final outcome for those who plan and run their businesses, finances, money, and lives as though God didn’t exist and as though this life was the only one they had. It’s pretty clear that James is describing unbelievers here. He also tells us something we already know, right? “You can’t take it with you.” From the pagan perspective, that means either to spend it all on yourself before you die, or to at least plan carefully as to who gets it when you do. Christians have another option. We can make an investment that will produce rewards we can still see after we die.

One distinguishing mark of these foolish rich is they hoard money. James says they “laid up treasure” in verse 3, and because verses 1 and 2 tell us this treasure has rotted, corroded, and has been eaten by moths, we can know this was treasure in this world. Jesus talks about this in Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6:19–21 (p.1370) — 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:24 (p.1370) — 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus explains the entire matter, right there. It’s not a treasure issue, it’s a heart issue. God doesn’t need your treasure, but he wants your heart. Where you invest your treasure (which would be more than just money: also your time, your care, and your effort — but it would include money as well) doesn’t merely show where your heart is, but it also helps to direct your heart.

Proverbs 6:6-8 give us the example of the ant as industrious and wise, saving in times of plenty to provide for lean times. What is the difference between saving and hoarding? Perhaps the answer lies in the clothes that James describes. Clothes that are being regularly worn will never be moth-eaten. Only clothes that are packed up and stored, never used, will be subject to moths. Saving so that you have enough implies a plan for using what you have saved. Hoarding is something very different.

God wants us to plan wisely, so we may have enough to meet our needs and the needs of others when times are difficult. God wants us to have hearts that are with His people, generous and kind–not packed away in a box in some attic, waiting for the moths to come.

In this week’s passage (Mark 14:3-9), we read about an anonymous woman from the town of Bethany who anointed Jesus in preparation for his death and burial. This woman took an alabaster jar of very costly perfume and poured its contents upon Jesus’ head. When the apostles saw this, they challenged the Lord: “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” In response to their question, Jesus not only defended the woman’s actions. He issued a stunning command to ensure that this particular woman would be forever honored by His church. (Mark 14:9)

What an amazing tribute of honor from the lips of our God! This begs the question: What made this woman’s worship so precious to the heart of our Lord? What can we learn from her?

Before examining her worship, it would be helpful to identity this woman and to provide a brief biblical sketch of her life. While Mark and Matthew opted to leave the woman anonymous, the Gospel of John informs us, “It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.” Indeed, this was Mary of Bethany — the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

Among all the biblical heroes who passionately worshiped the Lord, few people matched the intensity of love and devotion shown by Mary of Bethany! As you review the stories involving Mary of Bethany, you discover that this woman felt most comfortable at the feet of Jesus.

When Jesus first entered into the home of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42), we learn a beautiful lesson. As Jesus taught in their home, Martha was slaving to make preparations to serve her guests, but Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.” She loved His words of life too much to be distracted by housework — much to the annoyance of her older sister. When Martha confronted Jesus to request Mary’s help, Jesus defended Mary. “Mary has chosen the good portion…” (Luke 10:41-42)

Later after their brother Lazarus died, Jesus returned to Bethany in order to raise him. When Mary was told that Jesus had arrived in her home town, she ran to meet Him.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled…. Jesus wept. (John 11:32-35)

Not long after raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus once again returned to Bethany, which is only two miles outside of Jerusalem, in order to celebrate the Passover. In order to prepare the Lord for his impending death and burial, Mary of Bethany anointed his body — from head to toe. The Gospel of Mark informs us that she anointed his head. Then the Gospel of John tells us:

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

This picture of worship is stunning! A denarius was the equivalent of one day’s wage. In one single moment of worship, Mary was pouring out almost one year’s wages to adore Jesus. This would have been a very big deal — especially for a household run by women in first-century Israel. To gain perspective, this would be like making a one-time gift of $40,000. And while this gift was surely stunning, it was not enough for Mary. So she knelt down on the floor, poured her perfume upon his feet, and began to wash and anoint them with her hair.

Caring for a person’s feet was the lowest of tasks reserved for the lowest of slaves. When John the Baptist confessed that he was unworthy to untie the strap of Jesus’ sandal, he was admitting that he was not fit to serve as the lowest slave of Jesus. Why were feet so reviled? The Judean landscape is overrun with rocks and dirt. Most men wore open sandals and walked everywhere. You can just imagine how utterly filthy Jesus’ feet must have been as he entered Bethany.

Yet Mary stooped to the floor, poured out her expensive perfume upon these dirty feet, and then used her hair to scrub and wipe the muddied filth from his feet. Such a sight would be stunning today, but it would have been even more shocking in the ancient world. As the Apostle Paul later wrote, a woman’s long hair was “her glory” (1 Cor. 11:15). Even more recently, Cosmopolitan magazine published the results of a study, revealing that a woman’s hair is the first attribute noticed and judged by men. So Mary not only worshipped the Lord by pouring out her wealth for His sake; she then humbled herself and worshipped the Lord by forsaking her own glory in order to love and glorify Him. This is genuine worship — forsaking self to advance Christ!

So why did Jesus seek to memorialize Mary’s actions? For one, her worship was costly and selfless. But perhaps more importantly, she provided an amazing picture of love. Only days after his feet had been washed and anointed by Mary of Bethany, Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and he washed the feet of his disciples. He asked them, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” He then explained, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). We may not be able to physically wash the feet of our Savior, but He has called upon us to love Him by washing the feet of our brothers and sisters.

Jesus and Mary set a beautiful example of selfless love and adoration, and Jesus now calls upon his disciples to follow in their steps — pouring forth our wealth and glory for His sake.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns” (Isaiah 52:7).

What could faith-based generosity do to change Fort Lauderdale, South Florida, and the world? Dan Hall from Generous Church brings us the message.

Our study guides are PDF files. If you don’t already have it, you will need the free Adobe Acrobat reader to open or print them.

To receive the Sermon Audio for all our messages in MP3 format, you can subscribe to our iTunes podcast, or you can use the RSS feed directly from our web site with the podcast software of your choice.

Generosity: A Kingdom Encounter

Message preached on February 12th, 2012 by Dan Hall.

From Mark 14:3-9, the story of Mary’s anointing of Jesus gives us an example of a generous heart. Why is generosity such a rare event today? God wants us to be generous, but why? Generous living can break chains you don’t even see are holding you down!

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2 Corinthians 8:7 (ESV) — 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

Paul is writing to the church at Corinth and telling them about the churches in Macedonia. Corinth was a city-state on the Isthmus of Corinth, about halfway between Athens and Sparta, in the southern part of Greece. The region of Macedonia lay far to the north, and is generally regarded as being part of Asia Minor. It is not likely that these churches would have had much contact with one another, outside of Paul. In those days, distance was far more isolating than it is in our modern era of planes, trains, and automobiles.

Being on the water, Corinth was a major trading center. They took part in the first naval battle recorded in history, and actually developed the trireme, a type of galley with three banks of oars on either side, favored by Phoenician sailors. In short, Corinth was powerful and wealthy. The region of Macedonia, and especially the Macedonian churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, were impoverished by comparison.

“for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity…” This was Paul’s description of what took place in the Macedonian churches. They didn’t have much money, but what they had in abundance was joy. What makes us joyful? We all laugh at the old line “money doesn’t buy happiness…but it buys the things that make us happy.” It’s clear from this example that it shouldn’t be money that brings us joy. We often look around at people who appear financially successful and think generosity is somehow their responsibility. “He owns his own business. He can afford to be generous! Me, I’ve got nothing.” What did Jesus tell His disciples about the widow’s offering?

Mark 12:43–44 (ESV) — 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Paul has many good things to say about the church at Corinth. That church had many spiritual gifts operating within it. (1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14) In our text today, he commends them for their faith, knowledge, earnestness, and love. He says they excel in all those things, now he wants them to excel in this also. Why is it that we who have money, who are by the rest of the world’s standards fabulously wealthy, are always slowest to be generous with it? Like the Corinthians, we excel in many character aspects. At Rio, you’d have to be blind to miss all the wonderful things that are happening. Individuals and families are making real commitments to follow Jesus, lives are being changed all around us, and God is powerfully at work transforming us. Some of us are also incredibly generous, and are already excelling at this act of grace. However, there are some of us who could be generous, but are not.

Paul was also very plain on another point. “I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.” Generosity must be voluntary. We cannot compel it, we do not wish to pressure or “guilt you into it.” If your joy is abundant, if you excel in many ways, search your heart and seek to excel in this way also. Be excellent in your generosity!

This week’s passage concerns a woman who anoints the feet of Jesus with perfume, prior to His death. We will begin by spending day one in a careful reading of the passage. Read Mark 14:3-9. If you already have a system of journaling that you are comfortable with, go with that. If not, let me recommend what is called the “SOAP” method of journaling: Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer.

If you have your Reformation Study Bible, make use of the notes. You will notice some interesting cultural references, such as they reclined at the table. In that culture, at that time, tables were low to the ground. You did not sit on chairs, you reclined next to the table.

The RSB also notes that the perfumed ointment in this story was incredibly expensive, costing what was the average worker’s wages for an entire year. The study notes also explain why she “broke the flask.”

This story also marks the point where Judas Iscariot launches his plot to betray Jesus into the hands of chief priests who wanted him dead.

The study note on Mark 14:6 references the anointing of Aaron the high priest and sends you to Psalm 133 for more information on that. Once again, if you don’t already have a good study bible, or even if you do and just want one that is more in line with the teachings of our reformed theology, you can pick up an RSB from the Information Center.

Enjoy your time reading and journaling. Don’t rush it. Travel the side roads and explore!

Over The Last Week:  What did God teach you as you studied His Word?  What treasures were uncovered?  What did you learn about God?  What did you learn about yourself?  In what way did you become or commit to become more like Christ as a result of spending time with Him?

Mark 14:3-9   3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Ice Breaker Question:  When you want to give a special gift to someone you love, what do you look for?  Are you practical, frivolous or does it depend on the situation?

Question 1: Why do you think Mary spent a year’s wages on perfume and then poured all on Jesus – was this an act of humility or one of show-boating? If you were present how would this action have struck you?  What would you have said to Mary?

Question 2: Why were some present indignant?  Can you think of a time you have been accused of being generous to a fault?  How did you respond?

Question 3: Did Jesus dismiss the needs of the poor in verse 7?  What does Jesus say about the needs of the poor elsewhere in scripture?  How was Mary’s act justified by Jesus?

Question 4: What did Jesus mean in verse 8 when he says that Mary did what she could?  Why did Jesus credit her for preparing him for burial and then memorialize Mary’s actions?

Question 5: Do you think those who were indignant understood Jesus’ response?  Why do you think this was this the last straw for Judas (v10-11)?  What is the contrast in the action of Mary and the response of Judas?  What warning does this suggest for us?

Question 6: What beautiful thing would you like to do for Christ that some might see as wasteful?

Assignment for the week ahead:  Complete the Study Guide and continue to journal.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will prompt you to minister to others and honor God by pouring out your life generously for the sake of His kingdom.