What God Wants — On The Money — Rich Wilkerson Jr.

i believe today that today is the start of some surgery happening in our hearts as we speak from this subject on the money and i want to start i want to read two big portions of scripture for some foundation and then we will jump right into it mark chapter 14. let's begin at verse 3 and then we'll flip back to mark chapter 12. mark 14 verse 3 says this while he was in bethany reclining at the table in the home of a man known as simon the leper 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 and some of those present were saying indignantly to one another why this waste of perfume 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's done a beautiful thing to me the poor you will always have with you and you can help them anytime you want but you will not always have me she did what she could that's a power statement right there in the text she did what she could look at your neighbor say do what you can look at your other neighbor be a little bit more like a preacher say do what you can you're like i don't even know that person in the chat write that down do what you can do what you can do what you can she poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial i tell you the truth wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world what she has done will also be told in memory of her sometimes you can just read the passage and you could literally say go chew on that think about that i'll see you next week and let that work in you because it's that good and it speaks boldly and it speaks for itself i want to do my best today to try to observe it pull some truths out for you and i that pertain but before i do that let's go to mark chapter 12 verse 28 this is really going to be our foundational text for the next four weeks that we're going to come back to and draw from starting in verse 28 one of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating noticing that jesus had given them a good answer he asked him of all the commandments which is the most important pretty big question the most important one answered jesus is this hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one verse 30 get ready love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength second is this love your neighbor as yourself there is no commandment greater than these talk about on the money that's the collection we're beginning today and i want to preach from the subject what god wants what god wants a few years back uh this is before i had children i was uh i was hanging out with my family i was with my brother-in-law his name's phil phil is married to don cheri's older sister her name is destiny and phil and destiny pastor a great church in the louisiana area and they actually have four children and a fifth child on the way can we just stop and pray for phil and destiny right now that wherever they're at that the lord would bring peace to their storm um it was before i had kids and so i was talking with my brother-in-law phil and he was explaining to me that at night often frequently most nights his kids end up in his bed now just hear me i was young and immature and i wasn't a father yet i looked back at my brother-in-law phil and i criticized him i said what on earth are you doing letting your kids sleep in your bed i will have you know one day when i have kids of my own no matter what under any circumstance will i ever allow children to sleep in my bed that's my bed with my wife do you know anything about boundaries and my brother-in-law just cool calm and collected he just looked back and said you'll see this morning my apple watch notified me that i woke up 22 times last night you say rich why did you wake up 22 times in the night well there is this three-year-old terror named wyatt wesley wilkerson who lives nudged in between don tri and i and it just so happens multiple almost every night of the week somehow no matter what i say he ends up in my bed and i don't know what it is but i love it [Applause] if you could be sitting there right now all bougie going rich why would you with your silk shirt ever let your kid [Applause] sleep in your bed and i don't have a good explanation i guess my answer is love because i love him and love does crazy stuff so crazy that if i'm really being honest with you i love waking up 22 times in a night with a heel to my rib cage i love this boy and no matter what i said before now that i've experienced this love i can try to explain it to you but there really is no explanation that will suffice those of you have not experienced that all i can say is hopefully one day you'll see love love does crazy stuff and often throughout my life i'm now 37 years of age sometimes i have this question that comes to me and the question is what does god want out of me i know there's people there that are watching online and there's people that are today here in person and maybe you're new to a church experience like this maybe you're new to god's word the bible and you're going okay if god even is real that's even the language you would use if he even if i can even like have enough faith to even say even if he is real isn't he like really big like omnipotent and omnipresent and omni omniscient like what on earth does he want out of some 37 year old guy in south miami who's got problems and who's got issues what could i ever offer god i think throughout my journey when i found discouraged or uncertain or not really sure what it is that god wants out of me there's these words that jesus spoke years and years ago that are very simple but at times they're so profound and it brings me peace in its simplicity jesus one time was quoted saying if you love me you will obey me meaning the love language of god is not a shout it's not a gift it's not simply an expression it's not body language it's not attendance the love language of god is that we would obey him because at the heart of what god wants is god wants your love he doesn't want to force you for his love for your love he doesn't want to make you love him he wants you to want to love him in fact every one of us were created to worship once again you could be a doubter watching today you might not believe in all of this god stuff but every person that's in this room and every person who's watching on youtube or listening on the podcast or seeing this on instagram listen to me loud and clear we are all worshiping something many of us haven't named it yet but we're all bowing down we're all giving our all we're all giving our wonder we're all directing our attention somewhere to something it's those of us that are in christ that we've decided wow he is big and all of my worship belongs to his name that's when you start to find peace satisfaction and even purpose because you're finally doing what you were created to do what does god want god wants your love how do i show god that i love him you obey him okay but rich i'm kind of new to this whole thing like didn't god say a lot of things through jesus the answer is yes as you study god's word there's over 600 different commands okay man well it's like my second sunday where do i begin well why don't we start with one of jesus's most on the money most most accurate most correct statements he ever said they came to him and they said jesus out of all the commands what is the most important and jesus says all right let me tell you what the greatest command ever is the greatest command is to love the lord your god with all of your heart soul mind and strength how do i love god you love god by loving him with all of your heart soul mind and strength this is what god wants this is why jesus gave us the most on the money phrase ever it's precise it's accurate and today rather than trying to convolute it or over complicate it just go back to its simple truth what does it mean to love god with all of my heart soul mind and strength today we're kicking off this collection on the money and what we're going to do is for the next four weeks we're going to try to describe as we're in these last chapters here of mark of practical pictures of loving god in these forms and functions and the way that we're going to do it is we're going to look at four different case studies today we're going to study the one with the alabaster box next week as we talk about loving god with all of our soul we're going to look at the moment when jesus betrayed jesus for 30 pieces of silver the third week as we talk about loving god with all of our mind we're going to go to jesus's power statement when they came to him trying to trap him as they were talking about the tax of that day and jesus says give to caesar what is caesar's in the last week as we close out the gospel of mark we're going to talk about loving god with all of our strength what a bold phrase how do i love god with all of my strength we're going to look at a little widow who had two copper coins and she gave everything that she had to live on now here's what's interesting about all four of these stories all four of these stories that we will study well all four of them are on money see you next week do you know what jesus talks more about money than he does about sex talks more about money it is about heaven or even hell to jesus money is a really important thing in fact this is what jesus says in matthew 6 verse 24 he says no one can serve two masters 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 both god and money what jesus is saying he's saying there's really only one god i am that god but there's a lot of people that put another god they don't know it's a god in their life they don't know it's an idol in their life but it's called the god of money and hear me you can't love both of these gods because when you love both of these gods you will end up loving only one and despising the other meaning if i love money it's not that i'm apathetic towards god it's not that i'm just disobedient towards god it's that i actually hate god wow and what we're going to do in the next four weeks we'll see who comes back next week we're going to use this currency this worldly thing called money and we're going to look at it for a moment and we're going to try to use it as an indicator or as a measuring stick for us to get some level or some indicator as to how my obedience towards loving god with all of my heart soul mind and strength is listen to me money doesn't corrupt your heart it exposes the heart this is important like jesus doesn't want your money what he wants is your heart what does god want he wants your heart and it just so happens time and time again that our heart is connected to our treasure and so today we're gonna do a case study on this woman in mark chapter 14 and i want to give you three things three things that if you're gonna love god with all your heart three things that that will require you ready for this number one i want you to write this down three things the first thing that to love god with all my heart what it requires is it requires uncommon obedience in fact if you're watching right now just put that in the chat uncommon obedience and if we're here in person on the count of three let's say that together ready one two three uncommon obedience as we begin to study mark chapter 14 we read it what you're going to see is this entire scene in setting is unconventional and uncommon to say the least verse 3 says what while jesus was in bethany reclining at the table in the home of a man known as simon the leper let's just stop for a moment right there simon the leper that's quite the nickname anybody thankful that your nickname is not attached to all of your past weaknesses oh there's rich the gossip hey bud now that was like back in the day bro oh there's rich the guy who deals with anger like i don't really want to be labeled or known by my past weaknesses or past mistakes the reason why we know in the text when it says simon the leper we know this is past the reason why we know this is past because if he had leprosy right now how many you know according to god's law back then jesus and the disciples could not have been at this party they would have been declared unclean so we know this man had leprosy he doesn't have leprosy anymore in fact many scholars actually believe that simon the leper was a man who had leprosy but he was healed through the power of jesus isn't that powerful to consider for a moment that this man one day had leprosy encountered jesus but jesus healed the man in fact i've often wondered could this man simon the leper could he have been part of the ten lepers that were healed remember that story ten men had leprosy only one man came back to thank jesus i just wonder is this the one who came back to thank jesus say rich why is it important it's important because what we understand about god's kingdom is more often than not gratitude and generosity correlate like i've never met a generous person who's not thankful take it i'm buying you dinner man no no no when you're generous your generosity is a result of gratitude i don't give for i give from you don't understand i used to have leprosy but then i met jesus and because i met jesus i have been healed and now it just so happens the man who has been healed is now opening up his home that others might encounter that same god that he encountered here's a good question for all of us today when god heals you do you make room for in your life for others to discover the same healing shout out to all the vu crew leaders this past week who opened up their home who opened up a restaurant who got together i love crew leaders because something about a crew leader is somebody who said no i encountered jesus and he healed me now i'm gonna open up my life and serve those around me anybody grateful for a group of people who says i'm not just gonna seek community i will create community shout out to all the servant leaders who got to church early today to say i didn't just come to fill a seat i came to fulfill my purpose i came to make a way that others might meet jesus shout out to every faithful tither who have been given in the shadows for years and years nobody's ever thanked you nobody even knows you you don't do it for recognition you do it out of revelation i don't give to get to heaven i give that somebody else might get to heaven i'm opening up the doors so another miracle can happen my god i feel this message i'm simon the leper jesus come on over i got some friends maybe you'll do in their life what you've done in my life it's not really even about me anymore it's about them and it's about you and i i got my healing i got my miracle i know the end of the story i'm opening up my house that somebody else might meet you it's called uncommon obedience what does god want he wants your whole heart and your whole heart is first seen with an uncommon obedience the scene is unconventional the scene is uncommon because right then and there as they're at simon the leper's house the scripture says a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made out of pure nard she broke the jar and the perfume on his head i just want you to see because this woman shows up unannounced probably uninvited and she does the unthinkable she breaks this jar of very expensive perfume and everything about this scene is uncommon because this woman according to culture is breaking all parts of protocol but there's something inside this woman who says my love for jesus cannot be boxed in and contained to a protocol i have to do it now and i must give him what i've brought him i wondered has your relationship with god just become protocol i'm all about consistency please hear the message we need consistency but as much as we need consistency we also need spontaneity how many know that like it's in the spontaneity that the life comes about my wife and i have been married for 14 years and we're about to give birth here in two months we can't wait having a little baby girl what am i gonna do hashtag girl dad i'm already crying every day and so we're a couple months out and so the other day uh my wife went to bed and when she woke up in the morning there was a letter on the bed that said girl get your affairs in order i'm taking you to mexico in two hours oh i was like oh my god what do i wear when i pack like just so you know smitten how many of you know the spontaneity of the moment created some real romance it opened a door for some crucial conversations to take place friends the same thing is true for your relationship with god we need some spontaneity we need to do some things that are uncommon every once in a while some of you you're like i've been going to the 12 15 service ever since they've been having a 12 15 service and by god i'll be going to the 12 15 service to the day he returns unless he takes me home sooner i love the 12 15. that's awesome but every once in a while someone say shake it up every once in a while you ought to peek in here at seven o'clock at night and say what the heck god actually is moving at seven o'clock at night as well just change the routine up a little bit some of you online are just there at the keyboard this is awesome i'm getting blessed every once well just show up in person i only read my bible at night why don't you wake up one time at 5 00 am and see what god's doing someone say shake it up i only fast social media i've just got it that's cool every once was fast some solid food shake it up i want to build a church that's consistently inconsistent anything can happen at vu church on a sunday and it probably will yeah it's spontaneous it's not just protocol it's got an adventure to it and here this woman this woman says i i can't stop right now i've got to get to jesus and she's drawn to jesus but as she gets to jesus she does this unthinkable thing she takes this jar of perfume and she breaks it it is not any ordinary perfume the scripture says it's extraordinary it was worth 300 denarii a daenery was one day's wage of work these are jewish people which tells us that they worked six days a week and then they rested on the seventh three hundred denarii equates to over a year's worth of a salary she does this unthinkable extravagant act of obedience as she lavishes her treasure upon jesus but she's worshiping god and she's loving god in the way that god wants she's giving god her whole heart for it's in matthew 6 verse 21 that jesus himself says where your treasure is there your heart will be also she says i'm not just going to talk about it i'm going to be about it and i'm going to actually give you a year's worth of salary i'm going to pour it upon you i'm going to lay my treasure upon you why because you can give without loving but friend you cannot love without giving i'm here today to declare everything that i am i surrender it over to you and this extravagant act is because i love you and i worship you here's the on the money question does your treasure submit to god or does god submit to your treasure does your cash sing his praises does your money glorify god because her treasure is submitted to jesus and there's something about this woman it's not part of the protocol it's not the right moment she's a woman she shouldn't interrupt the meal but i'm telling you what interruption gives way to interventions and when i shake it up and when i interrupt the schedule and when i obey god at his word something as i read it it's that she's compelled to get to jesus how many know we live in a day and age right now where it's the do it tomorrow someday syndrome one day i'm going to give to god and one day i'm going to go to the growth track and one day i'm actually going to be a part of a life-giving church and one day i'm going to actually marry that girl and one day i'm going to actually raise those kids the right way and one day i'm gonna start that thing he told me to do and all the while you're just talking about someday someday someday but this woman says no today is the day i'm not putting it off i don't really care what you say about me i don't care how it looks i've got to obey and obedience is always an act of faith while disobedience is a result of unbelief and she says i'm not afraid of my lack because i am in the presence of abundance and so i bring it to you and i break it and i place it upon you i lay my treasure upon you i want to love you jesus in the way that you ask me to love you which is obedience and so i am obeying you with my whole heart yes and those of you that are sitting here today going this is crazy i know i'ma keep trying to explain it but i can't explain it until you experience it first thing that we see if we love god with our whole heart it requires uncommon obedience number two in the chat help me out it's unashamed devotion on the count of three right here in person say that out loud one two three unashamed devotion because what takes place as this woman does this people don't like it in fact pick up the text verse four some of those present were saying indignantly to one another why this waste of perfume could have been sold for more than a year's wages and money given to the paul that's my bougie voice and they rebuked her harshly you could talk about anything in church just don't talk about money church people get funny about money you constipated no we're talking about money okay i just we don't god you god give you everything you want my kids here they are put them on the stage take them god oh you want you want my you want my money i think i'm going to pray about it i'm going to pray about that i'm going to pray about that isn't it funny no one prays about whether or not they should dedicate their child i'm going to pray about if i should dedicate my child no no it's like take them take them jesus they're yours i release them our money i'm praying i'm praying i'm by no means denouncing stewardship or by any means this is not a talk about reckless doing things without accountability that's not the point the point is is that jesus does not refrain from going to these places because he's trying to get to our heart and he's trying to expose our heart and as this woman does this beautiful lavish thing the people around there are watching and they begin to criticize her in fact the word is they rebuke her why is that why do people criticize oftentimes we criticize because we see something inside of somebody else that we ourselves have not attained you ever notice it's like um if you don't get better in life you'll just criticize people who do i can't get bigger so i'm gonna make you smaller i can't go higher so let me bring you back down lower i can't get better so let me make you look worse i'm not growing so let me try and expose you listen to me loud and clear he who throws dirt always loses ground and these people that are criticizing in the moment what they're doing is they're exposing their own heart because how many of you know that criticism is very rarely birthed in generosity but it's time and time again birthed in greed what they're doing is is they're criticizing her generosity in order to justify their grief i love what mark twain said he says if you have no will to change it you have no right to criticize it and i'm just parking here for a moment because this is really really important that you understand this thing because i know there are people that go to this church and there are people in the world around you that criticize you for serving criticize you for giving criticize you for spending all your time you going on saturday to serve the city of miami what has miami ever done for you i was at a party on friday night and this guy walks up and he's talking he's being so nice and he's like yo pastor i want to let you know i'm always defending you when people talking bad about you i'm like yo i'm off the clock right now man i didn't know anyone was talking bad about me what i know is is that people in the surrounding parts of our life can begin to criticize us and can begin to say that what you're doing is in vain it's not worth it it's not valuable but i want to encourage the people of vu church and everybody who's watching online hear me loud and clear if you're going to love god with your whole heart you're going to have to have this devoted unashamed decision to say i don't care what they say let them speak i know why i'm doing what i'm doing what's so cool is this woman doesn't defend herself news flash you don't need to defend yourself you don't need to defend me or to defend our church jesus will defend jesus says in verse six leave her alone someone say leave her alone leave her alone she said jesus why are you bothering her what she's done is a beautiful thing to me and he says this the poor you will always have with you and you can help them anytime you want but you will not always have me these people are like yo she should have taken all that money and given it to the poor they're actually trying to say that she has the wrong value system and jesus is setting the record straight no she has the right value system he's not coming against the idea of serving the poor he's actually quoting the old testament he's just saying the depravity of man the issue with sin is that poverty will always be around us in fact if you actually meet somebody who's given their life to serving the poor what you will find in them is that more often than not their mission is not to eradicate poverty but rather their mission is to serve those in poverty i have family that have been on the third world in in calcutta india serving for almost 60 years on the ground and they just continually faithfully lay their life down generation upon generation and when you talk to them the goal is not to get rid of poverty the goal is to serve those who are in poverty this is what our generation has to learn there's a whole millennial mindset that thinks that we are god's great gift to the earth and so we go and serve somewhere for two years take some instagram photos things don't turn as quickly as we want them to turn and so we give up and so we quit but god is looking for a faithful people who would say no no no my devotion is unashamed i'm not here for anybody else i'm here to serve and i'm here to give because it's my obedience that i'm doing it jesus says you've got it wrong i won't be with you always in fact he's six days away from going to the cross and what she has done is beautiful you see when people were buried those would come with spices and herbs and oils and perfumes to put it on the dead body but this woman in mark 14 she got it right she came before the death she said i'm not going to wait for you to die for you to actually for me to give you their eulogy i'ma live my life praising you and worshiping you and i just want to say to every person in this room today that you have been criticized for loving god i just want to say to every person in this room who goes back to a home that they don't understand why you'd be serving half the day on a sunday they don't get why you're working in the midweek trying to build god's house i want to encourage you that your worship is not a waste i want to tell you that every time you praise god it is the most productive thing you can do on this planet but when you start praising god your praise is a problem for every one of your problems i'm gonna keep on worshiping him and i'm gonna keep on giving them i don't care what they say it's unashamed devotion it's undeterred devotion what does it look like to love god with my whole heart it looks like this woman in mark 14 that even when they're criticizing her and rebuking her she stays committed this woman she pours out one year's salary in a moment upon jesus she lays her treasure upon the king how many know one man's worship is another man's waste i don't get you rich you're extra always up there shouting and loud and challenging people to do such tough stuff man you ought to just stay i know it looks like a waste to you but it's my worship i i know it doesn't seem you don't get it but but it's worship why because my sacrifice without my story will never make sense identity gives context doesn't it yeah you ever notice this it's like oh like oh i met the now i get it uh last week i was in dallas texas and i was going to a round table a round table event with pastor robert morris of gateway church pastor robert is one of the leading pastors in america gateway church is one of the largest churches in america last year alone they gave away 20 million dollars to the poor and to the needy into church but yeah we can just thank god for churches that lead the way robert morris is a hero of mine i was flying into dallas to sit at this round table where we were going to discuss some serious topics as well as be equipped and be sharp and to be encouraged pastor robert morris has been serving there for over 20 years he's in his early 60s and so i was flying there and the first night we were going to be doing a dinner at pastor robert's house pastor robert morris's house and um one of my best friends in ministry for more than a decade lives in dallas texas his name is pastor robert madue pastor robert madue just recently planted a church in dallas it's called social dallas we are supporters of that church we love them the work that they're doing he's preached in our church many times one of my just he's a colleague he's my peer roughly the same age he's a church planter he's my boy you know and so i had talked to robert madue about not getting a hotel and staying at his house and so i told our team i said let gateway know that i'm staying at pastor robert's house and so my team wrote to pastor robert morris's team pastor rich will be staying at pastor robert's house to which the team at gateway was very polite very very sweet in in that dallas texas way i'm so sorry um it's just dinner at pastor robert's house you have to find your own lodging that night to which our team which is very scrappy and aggressive born and raised in the county of dade [Applause] wrote back a second time no pastor rich will be staying at pastor robert's house please make the accommodations and get ready for our leader [Laughter] to which a third time they had to come back three times and be like this is so sweet like if you read the emails you would laugh so it's like uh unfortunately there is no room in the inn you know our team is like our pastors never lie he's not starting now there was a miscommunication around identity identity gives all the context that you need my request doesn't make any sense unless you know i'm talking about staying at robert madue's house not robert morris's house same name both men deserve honor but two totally different people with two totally different contacts identity gives context when i know who the right rob robert is i understand the story so much more so in mark 14 when we see this woman doing uncommon obedience we see here in this moment right here doing this devotion that is unashamed you're saying why on earth would this woman go through all of that and the reason why is because she has a story and you say well what's your story well thank god for the bible we don't just have mark's account of this moment mark's account just says a woman but when you read john's account you discover who the woman is yeah do you know who the woman is it's mary not mary the mother of jesus not marry magdalene but rather mary the sister of martha and the sister of lazarus oh lazarus is a part of this story yeah yeah yeah yeah oh do you know the story of lazarus no i don't think i know that story pastor rich can you tell me really quick cause i'm just curious i want to know i'm kind of finally leaning in and i'm curious maybe maybe god is speaking me what what what what yeah yeah i'm curious what what tell me hurry up get to it your shirt is so distracting come on hurry up lazarus he gets sick mary doesn't know what to do doctors can't solve it medicine can't fix it money can't change it and so she does the only thing she knows to do she sends a letter to jesus in fact her letter is to me is one of the most profound moments in the gospel of john because i feel like she understands how you request things out of jesus she simply writes to jesus and she says jesus the one you love is sick you want to know how you get to the heart of god not by begging not by pleading not by trying to show you're worth god the one you love you love me yes this is how we pray this is how we sing god i trust you you love me i want more of you you you love me i need i need purpose i need direction i need clarity i need calling god the one you love is hurting the one you love is confused the one you love doesn't know what to do next in jesus he writes back don't worry this sickness will not end in death but he said it but the scripture says that lazarus dies jesus delays coming to bethany in fact lazarus dies and he's been dead for four days it's an important number because to jews they believe that the soul left the body after the third day so you know day one day two but day three day four that's dead dead he's gone but jesus shows up on the fourth day maybe to remind all of us that just because you've been delayed four days 14 days 40 days 400 days four years 40 years i don't know what the day count is but you're not denied in jesus jesus shows up and mary's crying and she's weeping and she's like if you would have just been here i love mary because over and over again she loves god with her whole heart it's not just mark 14. you have all these moments of her she's weeping and she's crying and some of you you haven't broken in god's presence in decades there's something about a god that when you know that he loves you that he's for you you can finally be honest with him she says if you would have been here my brother wouldn't have died the scripture says it's the shortest verse in all the bible jesus wept powerful to me that before jesus does a miracle he empathizes with our weakness it's a great truth for every leader in the room today that before you do something great before you fix the problem empathize with the pain jesus empathizes with the pain of mary says take me to the tomb and he gets the tomb he says roll the stone away and when they roll that stone away he doesn't get a magic wand he doesn't give a formula he doesn't offer a sacrifice he just speaks and says lazarus you come forth and out of that grave looking like michael jackson's thriller video comes lazarus [Music] oh she has a story oh this one year of sacrifice that makes sense how much would you pay for resurrection is it worth a year's salary much more two-year salary much more rich resurrection i'll give three years four years salary now you keep playing that game what you will come to is you will say for resurrection it is worth everything all that i have all that i am i offer it over to jesus oh i don't know who forgot but this story is not just mary's story this is my story and this is your story if you are in christ jesus how many of you know we have all experienced a resurrection for we were dead in our sin but when he called us back to life we came out of that grave how many got a reason to praise god how many got a reason to offer under god all that you have always been good to me let the critics talk let the haters not understand i know why i'm doing what i'm doing i know who i'm doing it for i want god to have my whole heart the irony of the whole story is is that if the people there understood who she was doing it for having you know the critique would have changed the critique would have shifted to saying whoa whoa whoa whoa how could you give something so little for the one who's done so very much i'm trying to explain it but the explanation won't suffice until you experience it [Music] you just have to experience his love to understand that anything i give back in return it pales in comparison to jesus jesus was on the money that day when he says if you if you want to know what the greatest commandment is it's to love the lord your god with all of your heart soul mind and strength well jesus what does it look like to love god with my whole heart mark 14 the one with the alabaster box her name is mary she had uncommon obedience she had unashamed devotion lastly as we close she had unrelenting surrender [Music] just an unrelenting surrender i said it earlier but let me just say it again church is about giving up we're going to worship at a moment the reason why you lift your hands you don't just stay there in your pockets it's because you're actually given a gesture to say i give up i give up to give in to you god and this woman over and over again has this track record of just coming to jesus in her brokenness i love what jesus says mark chapter 14 verse 8 she did what she could do what you can when you can do what you can when you can i don't have enough i'm not enough my offering isn't big enough my worship isn't loud enough i'm not qualified i'm not sharp i'm not equipped no no you do what you can when you can she did what she could [Music] but notice the scripture doesn't say that she just poured it out she broke it out mark 14 verse 3 she broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head there's something about our god that he loves when you worship broken the scripture tells us that god is close to the brokenhearted that he blesses the brokenhearted it's only when i'm broken that the world can begin to see what is on the inside of me and what's on the inside of me is the same power that conquered death telling the grave but you'll never get a glimpse of that power unless i'm broken she broke it before she poured it the scripture says in mark 14 verse 8 jesus said she poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial worship broken serve broken give broken show up broken attend broken why because a broken jar still pours and you think you don't have anything to offer and you think that you don't have anything to give no friend even from her broken state from a broken jar she was able to pour the perfume unto jesus you are useful in god's kingdom [Music] what does god want out of you he wants your worship and he wants your love how do i love him you love him by obeying and where do i start you start with the greatest commandment that you first and foremost you love god with all your heart how do i know if i'm loving god with all my heart i don't know have you ever surrendered your treasure in your entire life at some point has something that you're attached to have you surrendered it and given it to god today it might not always feel good but friends it is an indication of our heart broken jar is still poor you are still useful in god's kingdom it reminds me of the apostle paul he says but we have these treasures and jars of clay to show the all surpassing power is from god and not from us i got to be broken so you can see god's power i got to be broken so you can see god's grace i got to be broken so you can see god's glory show up i i carry around this treasure of christ crucified in my body and i'm broken that you might get a glimpse of who he is it's in my brokenness that you get a picture of this god but i am reminded and i am encouraged that i am hard-pressed on every side but i'm not crushed friends i'm perplexed but i'm not in despair i'm persecuted but i am not abandoned and i am struck down but friends we are still not yet destroyed for every day we carry in our body the death of jesus so the life of jesus may also be revealed in our body broken jar is still poor you do what you can when you can jesus he says i tell you the truth wherever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world what she has done will also be told in memory of her how many know that jesus he came true on that promise because here we are some 2000 years later in south miami preaching on youtube and zoom and facebook and right here in this auditorium and people in additional seating and we are talking about a woman named mary who broke her jar and made a sacrifice of praise unto jesus and throughout the centuries people are have been talking about her and will continue to talk about her but what's powerful to me is not the fact that we're just talking about her 2000 years later the other part that's really powerful to me is that six days later they were talking about mary's sacrifice theologians would tell us and you can read through the scholars right there you can read through the writings that when mary poured this perfume on jesus it wasn't like a dab it wasn't like going to the mall and like do you want a little fufu no it wasn't that at all she breaks this jar and from the top of his head to the soles of her feet and john's gospel she's weeping at his feet and she's taking her hair and she's drying her tears that are on his feet with her hair she drenched jesus in this perfume and as she drenched jesus it was six days out from his crucifixion on the cross and what takes place that most scholars believe is that some six days later as jesus was hung high brutalized on a cross strip naked so that we could be clothed in righteousness a crown of thorns on his head the entire time the blood the tears and the hurls of curses towards his body but all the while there was a scent permeating from the cross and the scent was of mary's perfume and people that day said wow i can smell her worship it's a sacrifice of praise isn't this what paul tells us in ephesians chapter 5 verse 2 that christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to god say rich why are you telling me this i'm telling you this because when my uncommon obedience is mixed with my unashamed devotion and is mixed with my unrelenting surrender and when it's mixed and mingled with the ultimate sacrifice of jesus christ i am telling you what there is an aroma that goes into the earth and into the world that people start to get a scent of our praise and ascent of our worship and even in suffering we can witness the glory of god even in the pain we can discover there is a purpose even when we're crying and weeping we can know god is at work and our sacrifice is not in faith it's not in vain today oh come on stand your feet wherever you're at today in additional seating we're going to take a moment right now what does god want he wants our love and he wants our worship and today i want to just give you an opportunity to respond right now i just want to give you an opportunity right now to say god take my heart god i want more of you wherever you're at today whatever you're walking through with holy hands lifted up come on can we begin to sing this out with everything that we are come on ash let's sing it out come on

Channel: VOUS Church

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Keywords: vous, vous church, rich wilkerson, rich wilkerson jr, dawnchere wilkerson, miami, church, live stream, worship, church live, live stream church, sermon, miami fl, miami chuch, preaching, the gospel, good news, the message of jesus, jesus, what god wants, what does god want, sermons about god

Id: tptgPZ6Si_I

Length: 50min 24sec (3024 seconds)

Published: Sun May 16 2021