It really has been a pretty great year here
at Elevation Church. I don't mean we haven't had struggles. I don't mean we haven't had challenges. You've had yours, and I've had mine. We'll talk about it sometime, but today we
came to appreciate that God brought us full circle, that he brought us through. If I could pick any weekend for a first-time
guest to come to church, this would be the weekend. It wouldn't be Easter. It wouldn't be Christmas. I would pick this one. I guess people can sing just about anything
they want to sing. Sometimes you sing along with songs on the
radio you don't even know the lyrics to or haven't thought about them. I reckon when we sing about our love for God,
that's one thing. That is great, and I think we can highlight
our Bibles and all of that, but this weekend you will see John 3:16 in action. "God so loved the world he gave his Son." When you really love something, you give. In just a few moments I am going to preach
a little bit. With or without your permission, I am going
to preach a little bit today. I have this bad habit when I preach. I'll be preaching and I'll say, "Can I preach
a little bit?" I'm not really asking, okay? It's a rhetorical question. But I am just going to preach a little bit
today. It will be a little bit shorter, because we've
set aside time to bring our year-end Beyond offering. The offering on a practical level... That blows my mind that instead of crossing
their arms when I talked about giving, people started clapping their hands, excited and
delighted to do it. I love it. God loves a cheerful giver. With big smiles, we're going to bring an offering
to God today. I've been praying for someone who would give
$1 million. I have. I've been praying that someone would give
$1 million today. I've been praying that someone would give
$100. Maybe the $100 in God's eyes might be a bigger
sacrifice for that person than the $1 million. We're not looking for equal gifts but equal
sacrifice. I want to come around that word sacrifice
today. I won't leave you standing for the whole devotional
thought I want to share today, but I do want you to stand for the Scripture I want to share. The Lord was reminding me of Mark, chapter
14, as a picture of sacrificial giving. In Mark, chapter 14, we read about one woman's
sacrificial gift in the context of a larger gift that we're still experiencing today. Really briefly I want to share these verses. Mark, chapter 14, verse 1: "Now the Passover
and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests
and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 'But not during the festival,' they said,
'or the people may riot.'" I just read that to give you the setting. Here's the story. "While he was in Bethany, reclining at the
table in the home of Simon the Leper..." That's a rough nickname. They wouldn't have been in his house if he
still had leprosy, but he was still known by what he used to have. I wonder if he was one of the ones Jesus healed. Maybe so, and maybe out of gratitude for the
gift of healing he had received he wanted to host Jesus in his own home. Anyway, just a thought. When God has done something for you, when
God has been good to you in a tangible, specific way, something inside of you ought to want
to make room for God to use you, to see what he can do through you...not just for you but
through you. All this is going on. "A woman came with an alabaster jar of very
expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on
his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly
to one another, 'Why this waste...'" Literally, in the language of the Bible, "To
what end this waste?" The literal translation. "To what end this waste?" Just hold that thought. "'Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's
wages and the money given to the poor.' And they rebuked her harshly. 'Leave her alone,' said Jesus. 'Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.'" When I give, when I praise, I'm not doing
it for you. In fact, even when I give I'm not giving it
to the church. I'm giving it through the church to God. "She did a beautiful thing to me. Mind your own business. She did a beautiful thing to me. Besides, the poor you will always have with
you, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." "...you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to
prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached
throughout the world..." Even in 2016 at Elevation Church. "...what she has done will also be told, in
memory of her." We're still talking about that woman. The scent of her sacrifice is still in the
air today because she gave it. I want to spend a few moments talking about
Making Sense of Sacrifice. Father, bless your Word. Bless your people. In Jesus' name, amen. It's funny how we immediately take the woman's
side when that Scripture is read. We immediately want to tell the disciples
who didn't understand what was going on in this story how wrong they were. I actually identify with the disciples more
than I would like to admit, these people in Jesus' inner circle who should have probably
rejoiced at this woman's sacrifice. You didn't get it in Mark's gospel, but it's
recorded in three different gospels. Matthew, Mark, and John record this incident. This one woman makes the pages of the eternal
Word of God. Although Mark doesn't specify, we're told
in the other gospel accounts that the perfume she poured on Jesus was so expensive it was
equivalent to a year's wages. This isn't something you put in a stocking. This is not Cool Water. (I just took it back to 1997 and y'all didn't
even know it.) It was pure nard from the Himalayan mountains,
and it was a root fragrance. It filled the air. I was taught by one of my Bible teachers to
read the Bible with all of your senses, to try to get in the scene and feel what different
characters would have felt and smell what they would have smelled. So I smelled the food they had just finished
eating. Over top of the fried chicken, here comes
this root perfume. What's happening? Here's this crazy woman who busted up on this
party and just started pouring... "Wait a minute. Is that pure nard she's pouring? That's pure nard she's pouring." Immediately, I'm trying to calculate, because
my mind always wants to make sense. How many know that every time your heart tries
to have faith your mind will try to make sense? The two will often be in contradiction. Here are some people saying, "This doesn't
make sense." You know when you give to God on a sacrificial
level, if it's really a sacrifice you will hear a voice telling you, "This doesn't make
sense." If you really give God a good gift, you will
throw up a little bit in your mouth. You will at the very least feel a little bit
queasy about it. You will second-guess it. I mean, I'm telling you, when I dropped my
gift the first time I gave a gift... I remember how many zeroes I put on it. I never thought I would give a gift that big
in my life. It was easy for me to give to God, by the
way, when I didn't have much, because what did I have to lose? "Here's a Hail Mary." You know, if you're down 56-0, what does it
hurt? But when you have a little something and God
calls you to give a little something... This is a year's wages for this woman. Do the math. It doesn't make sense. I remember one time telling one of my youth
group leaders who had just had a baby... I was only a teenager at the time, so forgive
me for what I'm about to say that I said. I would not say it now, but I said it then. It was where I was at the time. I said, "I don't know why anybody would ever
want to bring one of those into the world." Shut up. I hate when y'all do that to me. "Haha, you're supposed to be a pastor. Jesus said, 'Let the little children come
unto me.'" But I'm not Jesus. I was like, "They spit on you. They yell at you. I just don't get it." My youth group leader said back... He said this little line that parents say,
and you don't get it until you're a parent. "It's different when they're yours." Making sense of sacrifice. I guess a lot of the things we do in church
wouldn't make sense to someone who was just coming in as a spectator. "Why do they lift their hands? Does someone have a gun? What are they reaching for?" Then maybe you come to a point in your life
where you go through something and the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you
want to get it off and you say, "Hey, God, you're real big and I'm real small and I surrender
all to you, because I can't do it on my own. I need you, Father," and all of a sudden it
will make sense. Surrender makes sense. Surrender only makes sense when you've been
through enough. It may not make sense to people why you even
come to church. "On your day off you go out there to that
church and watch that preacher on the screen? On the screen! On the TV screen!" "Yeah, but it's HD." "But still! Really?" "Yeah, because God speaks to me there. I'm not really worried about whether or not
the man is in the room. I just want to hear the Word of God, because
the Word of God can come to my house..." Jesus didn't even have to show up at the centurion's
house. He just spoke a word, and the word carried
weight. It's going to be a good day. We're about to
sacrifice to God. I know to some it makes no sense. I know that even in my own life sometimes
it's hard to have faith and make sense, and I know these disciples. They were having a hard time making sense
of this woman's extravagance. I call it the ex- factor. She was extreme, extravagant. She was taking it too far, but maybe she had
a different appraisal and appreciation. Maybe we're not crazy to give to God. Maybe there is something that happens when
we give. Maybe there's an ex- factor. I was thinking about the example. Write these three things down if you would,
because I really want you to be in a state of gratefulness, appreciation, and anticipation
as we give today. Even if you're not giving, think about the
example. We've been talking a lot in this series about
full-circle moments and how you don't really see the circle while you're still in it. The disciples can be forgiven, if you ask
me, for having a hard time making sense of this woman's sacrifice, because, well, the
cross hadn't happened yet. Think about it. We have the benefit of the knowledge of what
Jesus was about to do. We know, if we choose to study, that it would
be just hours from now that Jesus would be riding into the city of Jerusalem (Bethany
is only a couple of miles away) on a donkey in fulfillment of the prophecy, and the people
would lay down their palm branches and say, "Hosanna, hosanna," knowing that their "hosannas"
were only a prelude to "Crucify him!" because we see the full circle. We know this was this woman's opportunity. We know this was her window to do something
significant for the one whom she considered her Savior, because we see all of that. The disciples didn't know it yet. In fact, it's significant that it happened
during the Passover feast. The Israelites would have understood this. We don't celebrate it the same way they did,
but they had been brought out of slavery. They had been brought out of Egypt with a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm. When the plague came upon Egypt, God instructed
the children of Israel to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood on the doorposts. "When I see the sacrifice, I'll pass over
your house. I will not visit you with their punishment." If you've ever had God pass over a punishment
that you deserve in your life, you understand something about the celebration of sacrifice. They were having a dinner. They were having a celebration, but this woman
had a sense of sacrifice. They're all reclined at the table. Peter just burped. Remember, you have to read the Bible with
all of your senses. Here comes this woman. She's only following the example of the one... What they couldn't seem to see, what they
couldn't seem to understand, what they couldn't seem to sense is that this whole thing was
winding down. For three years he has fed people. For three years he has healed people. They've been there for that, but now this
thing is winding down, and the hour is approaching for him to do the very thing he was born for. It was headed to a cross all along, but they
couldn't see it. At this moment, this woman knows not only
is this the Passover season but the Passover Lamb is sitting at the table. Jesus was the Lamb who was slain from the
foundation of the earth. What the blood on the doorpost signified was
now sitting at the table, and they didn't even see it. But she did. "If he could come and die for me, the least
I could do is break a vase for him." "If he could stretch his arms wide enough
to accept me, to welcome me, to restore me..." I get happy when I preach the gospel, because
I realize that in the shadow of his sacrifice it's a privilege for me to give to him. It's a privilege for me to praise him. It's a privilege for me. It makes sense. It couldn't make sense to the disciples. The cross hadn't happened yet, but now it
has. What's your excuse? "This is a little extreme, don't you think?" That's what that little voice tells me when
I write that check. "This is a little much, don't you think? You could buy Holly a really nice..." Then I think of the vehicle. "...with this." I think all that stuff. It doesn't make sense. It didn't make sense for the spotless Lamb
of God to give his precious lifeblood for sinners like you and me. You want to talk about what doesn't make sense? What doesn't make sense is that God would
freely welcome us into his kingdom and freely give us all things. It doesn't make sense. We get too comfortable and complacent. We lean back at the table like we belong there,
and then when the opportunity to sacrifice comes we scoff at it. If you really remember what God saved you
from and if you really appreciate what he is to you... Somebody shout, "It's no sacrifice!" It makes sense. It makes sense for me to give to him. Everything I am I am because of him. He's my example. I wish I knew more about this woman. That's one thing that bothers me about the
Bible. It's not the Bible's fault, but in the time
it was written they didn't put a high value on women, so even her being in the room didn't
make sense. When you get women in the Bible, sometimes
you don't even get their name. Same thing with a lot of poor people. You wouldn't know their name; you would just
know their condition. I wish I knew who this woman was, because
I think if I could know who she was, if I could understand more about her story, I could
understand more about her sacrifice. There must be more to her story. She didn't wake up that morning and decide
to break a vase and pour a year's wages on the Master's head. Something must have happened in her life to
bring her to this point. I wish I knew what it was. Mark doesn't tell me who she was. Wait a minute. Hang on; give me a second. Okay, that's right. John tells the same story in his gospel, chapter
12. My Bible has a cross-reference. It says John tells this story in chapter 12. Okay, all right. Chapter 12, verse 1, of John's gospel. Let's see if we can understand her experience. That's the second ex- factor: her experience. I want to understand her experience so I can
understand her extravagance. I want to make sense of her sacrifice, so
I need to know her story. What would bring her to this point where she
would want to give a year's wages? Okay, let's see what John has to say. Maybe he'll help us out. "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came
to Bethany..." Oh, this is getting good now. "...where Lazarus lived." I remember Lazarus. He was dead. In chapter 11 he was dead. Now he's living. That's pretty cool. It's chapter 12. You usually don't see that kind of stuff. "...where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised
from the dead." I don't have time to preach about Lazarus. I wish I did. I wish I had time to tell you about how Jesus
didn't come when they wanted him, but he showed up on time. Sometimes he'll be late on your schedule so
he can reveal something about his character to you that you couldn't have known if he
had come when you requested him. He couldn't have revealed to you what you
needed to know that you didn't know that you needed to know. Sometimes he will leave you in a situation
a little bit longer than you want to stay there. Hold on now. "Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served..." I remember her. She's the one who cooked for Jesus. That's why Jesus liked to come through Bethany. Remember now, this is the same story Mark
is telling in chapter 14. John has just given us a little different
vantage point, a little different detail. We know it's at Simon the Leper's home, but
this family is there with this guy named Lazarus whom Jesus loved who was dead and now is alive,
and that's such a miracle they wanted to do something to honor what Jesus had done for
them. So they get Simon the Leper's home. "Simon, you used to be a leper, and then Jesus
touched you and now you're cleansed, so you open your home and I'll cook the meal." Watch this. "Martha served, while Lazarus was among those
reclining at the table with him. Then Mary..." Oh, now I've got it. This woman wasn't just any woman. "Then Mary," the one who saw her brother get
up from the grave. "Then Mary," the one who knelt down at his
feet and said, "If you had been here, Lord, my brother wouldn't have died." The one who took him to the place and watched
as his word... I'm excited, because I've been there before. I've seen dead things come to life. I've seen one word from God transform a situation. It makes more sense, because it was Mary. It makes more sense, because she had a personal
experience of the power of God. When I give today, you need to understand
I am giving from experience. God has been there for me. There were times I thought I wouldn't make
it. There were times where I prayed and I didn't
even know if he heard me, but with one word, with one word, with one word, with one word
he called me out of my grave. You don't mind being extravagant when you've
had a personal experience with God. I'm not going to experience the celebration
and resist the sacrifice. You can sit at the table if you want to, but
after what God has done for me... He is the resurrection. He is the life. So even when I give it, it's not gone. You didn't hear me. The example, the experience, the expectation. It's the ex- factor. When a farmer plants a seed, he doesn't have
a funeral for it. Why? He's going to see it again, and it's going
to be greater. I give with expectation. I think if we could ask Mary... Somebody say, "There's something about Mary." Some ex- factor, some expectation. She didn't know we'd be preaching about her
2,000 years later, but somehow she sensed that this was it. She had the ability to hear from God. With all five senses she worshiped him. She filled the room with an aroma. She was willing to be seen. She heard the instruction. She heard that this was her moment. She wiped his feet with her hair. Everybody at the table had tasted his goodness,
but she made a decision to make a sacrifice. Have you ever broken a vase for God? Many of us have never even made a sacrificial
gift, and we don't do it because we're scared. If I really believe in resurrection, if I
really believe that what goes in the ground doesn't stay in the ground when it is planted
in the soil of faith... If I really believe that what Mary did is
still being told, if I really believe that nothing I keep can be kept and nothing I give
can be taken away, if I really believe it's more blessed to give than receive, if I've
really had an experience... It's different when they're yours. Now I get why you would change a kid's diaper,
because I have one I like. I have three I like. What are you talking about? I like all of them equally, especially Elijah. He's been the worst of the experience. It's priceless for me. Do you think I regret anything I've ever given
to this church? We were talking about it before we came over. He gave $70 when we were giving to build the
Banner Years building. Now don't tell him that was my money anyway. He thought it was a sacrifice. It was his expression of faith. It was some money he had had from his birthday. Now he's sitting in the sacrifice. They were sitting with their sacrifice. One woman sensed that this was the moment. When you hear the voice of God speak to you,
you have a choice. Have faith or make sense. Have faith that if I break this vase... The one I'm breaking it for is resurrection. He doesn't do resurrection; he is resurrection. "If I put this perfume on myself it will fade,
but if I put it on him it will not be taken away." We still smell it. I think if we could ask Mary, she would say,
"Thank you very much for your sermon, Pastor Steven. It was very nice, but it wasn't a sacrifice. What he did for me on the cross...that's sacrifice. It wasn't sacrifice. It was my opportunity." In just a moment you have an opportunity,
an opportunity to show appreciation, an opportunity to anticipate what he's about to do. Who knows what will happen when you give? I definitely didn't want to close this broadcast
without extending a special invitation to our online family. This challenge is for you too. A lot of times when we're watching a sermon
on video or listening on a podcast we somehow think the contribution factor doesn't apply
to us. We just get in consume mode. Consume, consume. "Oh, that was good," and then we click off
and go about our business. Let me ask you a question. Could it be possible that God is calling you
beyond just consumption and actually calling you to contribute? We believe in this ministry. We believe we've only just begun to see what
God can do through us. I want to invite all of you who watch online. There are tens of thousands of you, and you
consider yourself family at Elevation Church. Well, as our family here in our local locations
would be giving this weekend, we would want you to have the same opportunity to give as
well. So if you want to go online... Of course, elevationchurch.org has all the
info you need. You can find the "giving" tab and make a gift. Make a sacrifice. See what God will do. We don't want you to just stand on the outside,
window shopping. We want you to be a part of what God is doing
here. Participate. Partner. One of my friends texted me last week after
hearing me preach about giving and generosity. He said, "You know, it's not right. For years, I've been coming to this well and
taking out and I've never put anything back in. No more," he said. "I'm going to get it right." He made a decision to make a sacrificial gift. So whether you give a one-time gift or set
up recurring giving at elevationchurch.org, we would love to include you and your giving
as a part of our Beyond campaign for future expansion, physical and digital, at Elevation
Church. Would you pray about it? In fact, maybe don't even just pray about
it. Sometimes we use that as an excuse. Sometimes we use that as procrastination in
the form of prayer to keep us from doing what we know God is calling us to do. Would you dig deep and give a gift today? Whether or not you ever do, we consider it
an honor to minister to you, but we would love for you to have a part, not just sit
on the front row but actually take your place in the story. We believe God wants to do something beyond
what you could ask or imagine. We thank you in advance for your giving. God bless you as you give.
