Discovering Divine Love in Acts of Unbounded Generosity with Pastor Chris May | Matthew 26:1-16

Pastor Chris May joins us with a heart-stirring personal anecdote that sets the stage for a deep exploration of love's intertwining with sacrifice and true commitment. His narrative, rich with emotional resonance, seamlessly weaves into the Biblical account of Jesus at Bethany, where a woman's act of anointing with an alabaster flask emerges as a poignant symbol of love's profound irrationality. As Chris draws from his college years' sacrifices for love to illuminate the scriptural stories, we're invited to ponder the cross as the ultimate emblem of love, a seemingly mad act that is, in truth, an extraordinary expression of the divine.

In a world that often prizes productivity and practicality over presence, Pastor Chris challenges us to reevaluate our priorities. He contrasts Mary's lavish act of anointing Jesus with Judas's criticism, urging a reflection on the condition of our hearts and our tendency to value busy work over being present with those we love. Recalling King Edward VIII's historic abdication for the sake of love, Pastor Chris calls us to consider what it means to truly prioritize love in our lives. As we close in prayer, we're inspired to cultivate a 'crazy love' for Jesus, one that shines authentically and beckons others toward the transformative power of faith.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky. We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May.

Speaker 2: 0:16

Beginning in verse one, we will read through verse 16. If you haven't seen it, amen. And now, when Jesus was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of expensive ointment on my body. She has done it to prepare me for burial and truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. This is the word of the Lord, and you may be seated I'm getting a low hum up here, ready for that.

Speaker 2: 1:01

Today, in which we celebrate love, particularly romantic love Class, I'm dating a college woman. You know she was a girl, she was a woman, right so. So Nikki went to Moorhead State University and she came home every weekend to spend time with me. But listen, those five days without her weighed so heavy on my heart. To not see her for five days in a row would crush my little heart. Okay, let's say it that way.

Speaker 2: 1:32

And so what I would do is is, week after week, I would, at least once or twice a week, I would. I would drive after school, I would drive about 45, 50 minutes from my house to see my bride to be. Now. That was crazy for a couple of reasons. Number one, I had an older Mazda B2000 little pickup truck and it. I loved the truck, I was grateful for it, but probably was not the best to drive to Moorhead every week. Secondly, I had a lot of commitments throughout the week and so I really, you know, when I was still living at home, I had a generous but curfew, but a curfew nonetheless, and so when I would make the trek to Moorhead to see Nikki after driving all that way, I would only have about 45 minutes to spend there before I had to turn around and come back. And can I confess something to you this morning, if you get three more minutes with my, with my girlfriend, who is now my wife, let's fast forward to the next summer.

Speaker 2: 2:35

I was accepted and given a generous scholarship to Georgetown College music scholarship. It was my dream to, to, to, to, you know, to major in rational thing I could have done. I dropped out before I even started. It's not funny. And to make it worse, nikki dropped out too.

Speaker 2: 3:01

Because guys listen, you know this I thought all we need is love. All we need is love. As you can imagine, we broke the news to our parents and they were thrilled, thrilled, way to go. We raised you right. I mean, this is the wise and great decision. No, that wasn't their response, to say the least.

Speaker 2: 3:26

We got married less than a year later and fast forward, you know, a few more years. We had two children and I realized, yeah, love, having love is great, but it's also great to have food on the table. I mean, that's the benefit. And by that time I knew I was called the ministry and so I had to go back to school and, and you know, while I was working full time and raising young children, and it was tough and I thought many times, why in the world did I not just, man, go when I had the scholarship and could have just gotten through college, when I had the choice? And there's one answer, one reason because love makes us do crazy things. And I just want to say my wife is sitting back there. It was worth it.

Speaker 2: 4:07

All right, it was worth it. You know people, people looking around us. You know our parents and friends. They, they thought it was crazy, but at the time, to me it wasn't crazy, it's just what you do. You do those kinds of things for people you love.

Speaker 2: 4:27

So I say all that to point your attention to this text, because in our text we find two different acts of love. Christ and Jesus says oh, you're blessed, you're Peter. Upon this rock I'll build my church. That's really good. But then, the very next passage, jesus says oh, by the way, I'm gonna be crucified in a while. And Peter says but Matthew says Peter rebuked Jesus and says no way. And what did Jesus say to Peter? Get, get behind me, satan.

Speaker 2: 5:04

All that to say that the disciples is Often, as they were with Jesus, as much time as they spent with him. Listen, they could not grasp the necessity and the significance Of the cross. They could not understand why a messiah, a deliverer who came, would actually Would, it would actually die Particularly in that way. It made no sense to them. But Jesus, jesus came to save his people from their sins. Romans 5 8 says that God shows his love for us in that, while we were yet sinners, christ died for us all, the the apostles, that the disciples didn't get it at this time. Why would Jesus do such, in their mind, a crazy thing? Paul tells us in Romans God shows his love for us that, and while we were yet sinners, christ died for us. What the disciples saw is crazy. Jesus did not give a second thought to. It's an act of sacrifice, an act of love for his people. Now that this is the, the cross is the apex demonstration of love in the bible, I think. Do you agree with that? It's the apex demonstration of love and we're going to talk about that as we continue through Matthew For the next several weeks. But today I want to focus on this second act of love that the disciples See as crazy. Love makes us do crazy things, and this second act comes by a woman who who walks in this dinner, into this dinner party where Jesus is at it's Simon the leper's house, and she takes this. It seems like a bizarre story to us. She has this Flask of perfume, very costly perfume, and she she breaks it over Jesus head and and and pours it out onto him. And the disciples are appalled and they think you've lost your mind, lady. This is excessive and it's extravagant, but I love this man, I love this story. I love this story because Jesus says oh, it's not, it's appropriate, leave her alone. He says what she's done is what beautiful. And here's where I want to go today.

Speaker 2: 7:39

The essence of Christianity you might remember from Matthew 20 22 is is loving God with all of our being. That is the essence of Christianity. It is to treasure the Lord Jesus Christ above all things. Now, if I were to ask most of the same story, he tells us that this is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. And so we have this great example in Mary of truly what what it looks like to love Jesus with all of our being, to treasure him above all things. And so my goal today is simply this man.

Speaker 2: 8:18

I'm hoping that this story will encourage us and again amplify our love for the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we would be encouraged to daily pour out this kind of affection upon him and to serve him in this kind of a profound way that people would look at us and go man, that person's crazy, the way this person acts towards Jesus. They're crazy Because love makes us do crazy things, amen. So I want to just move us through this text by offering two qualities, two qualities of this kind of love. You can call it crazy love, you can call it true love, the real love for Christ. Two qualities of that love, and the first is simply this true love is costly. So Jesus is at this home and, and it's Simon the leper's home, and presumably Jesus has healed this man with leprosy. The town Matthew refers to him likely still has a leper, simply because that's how the town knows him, and it become his identity. It had become his identity. But Jesus most scholars believe he's healed this man and so he has invited Jesus out of great, great marks.

Speaker 2: 9:40

Account of the. The gospel mark tells us that this perfume Was actually worth 300 denarii listen to this which is a years. It was in that day a year's. But she gave what she had, she poured it out. Here's what I love about the story. She does it without hesitation. There's no preacher up there. Unless it is a joy, sacrifice and a long face go ill together. Can I read that one more time? No sacrifice is worth the name unless it is a joy. Sacrifice and a long face go ill together. Mary, she didn't regret what she was about to do. She just joyfully, worshiply, gave Jesus what she had as an act of love in worship, and I want to point your attention to these words she poured it out. She poured out, she poured out this perfume. We're not here to worship you. Yes, do we receive something when we come to church? Absolutely, we receive.

Speaker 2: 11:08

Many brought an opportunity to portray Jesus. What's interesting is here, from the outside, looking in it, it appeared even in the upper room. It still appeared to the you know Jesus closest followers. And from the onlooking crowd, it appeared that both Judas and Mary were real followers of Jesus. The Lord would have said oh you, judas has followed him step by step. Oh, he loves the Lord.

Speaker 2: 11:42

But Judas did not give his heart to Jesus. He might have given him his steps at times, but but Jesus did not have his heart. His heart was full of greed. He had a divided heart. And Jesus said you can't serve God in, money Can do it. And Judas tried. And Judas, all he wanted was to take in, take in, take in, but Mary, not even one of the 12. It's not what Paul said in Philippians three, verse seven but whatever gain power, prestige your mistake.

Speaker 2: 12:22

And Jesus said in 10, 38, matthew 10, 38, whoever does not take up his poured out the perfume on Jesus. They were indignant this year's worth of salary on Jesus. And they're like Mary, you could have like brought him a cup of tea, or mating Dean is brownies or you know, or something Like why, why pour out a year's salary? They thought this was excessive and way too extravagant. Why would you do something like this? Beloved love makes us do crazy things. They said. You could have given this money to the poor. Did you not just hear Jesus talking about how important that is, oh, bringing of a cup of tea, a cup of coffee made with love, and give that money to the poor.

Speaker 2: 13:29

How does Jesus respond to that? Again, what's he call this act of worship? He calls it beautiful. He calls it beautiful and then he says these words you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. He's getting ready to be crucified. He does not hear diminish the importance of almsgiving, of charity, of giving to the poor, does he? He doesn't do that in the least. He has spent his earthly ministry feeding the hungry, healing the sick, bringing in the outcast, giving hope to the hopeless. So he doesn't diminish here, he can't be diminishing the importance of giving to the poor. But what he says is this there's always going to be opportunity to do these things that the poor. There's always going to be poor people who need these resources. But you know what, mary? You have chosen what is supreme. You've taken an opportunity to do something that you might only be able to do in this moment.

Speaker 2: 14:46

Maybe think of another story with Mary. You remember when Jesus went to Mary and Martha's home and Martha was serving, and that was a great value in that day. I mean hospitality and service. And so Jesus is in the home and Mary is cooking and cleaning and trying to make sure everything is perfect, just like you would want to do if Jesus were to walk into your home. And she notices Martha. Martha notices that she's the only one doing these tasks. He looks around and Mary is nowhere to be found and she thinks where'd the world's Mary? She on the couch eating Cheetos, what's she doing? And she goes in and Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus and Martha says this, paraphrasing. But she says Jesus, tell her to get busy. Do you not see that I'm doing all this work? She's just lounging around. And Jesus, again, he's not diminishing hospitality or service, or hard work. He preached about those things, but what he says is Martha, martha, you're anxious about all these things. Mary has chosen to do what is best. Sitting at my feet, she's listening. What an example we have with Mary, the sister of Martha. It's what she's doing again. She could be busy, busy eating herself, with many things, but what she does? She could be using this perfume on many things good things but again she chooses that which is best. It's as if she were sitting at his feet again. I say all that to say that, mary, I'm sure she loved the poor and loved giving to the poor, but true love has to prioritize.

Speaker 2: 16:49

King Edward the eighth became the first monarchy to voluntarily abdicate, step down from the throne. He fell in love with an American divorcee. He actually she was twice divorce. Her name was Wallace Warfield Simpson and he had intended to marry her. Do you know the story? He intended to marry her and the church of England said no way, it's not befitting for a king to marry this woman. The public renounced that decision and the government renounced that decision. And so Edward had a choice. No doubt he loved being on the throne. He'd been on the throne less than a year. But then, in addition to that, he loved this woman, and so he had to make a decision which love is going to take priority, the throne or this woman? And so, on December 11th 1936, he gave a radio address explaining, quote I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of a king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love. In quote in the next day, he abdicated the throne and proclaimed his brother King. George. The sixth is King.

Speaker 2: 18:22

And we love many things in life, don't we? Good things? I hope you love your spouse. If you're married, if you have children, I hope you love and adore your children. We love sports. It's Super Bowl Sunday. We love sports. I think sports are a gift from God. We love music. We love hopefully you love your career and hard work, and perhaps camping or hunting, whatever it might be. We have many things that we love. Chick-fil-a. I got you awake.

Speaker 2: 18:52

But see, those loves must be prioritized. For instance, it's Super Bowl Sunday and I heard actually with Steve Harvey the other day and one of his guests on Family Feud talked about something. Somehow it came up about men going to church on Super Bowl Sunday, and Steve Harvey said men don't go to church on Super Bowl Sunday. That's a misprioritization, right. So the thing is this there are people all over America today who aren't I'm not talking about who have tickets to the Super Bowl, I'm talking about they're preparing for the party tonight at what 6.30 is kickoff. There are men all over hopefully none here, you know that are missing because of this, but men all over America today who are not in church because of a Super Bowl.

Speaker 2: 19:47

Been wrong with loving to watch the Super Bowl, but I think there might be reason to pause. If you'll miss Sunday morning worship. If you're able to go, because of a football game that's going to happen in several hours, I'm not going. You know I love spending time with friends, but if it were my anniversary, I'm not going to say honey, you know how much I love my friends, I love you too, but I'm going to go out with them tonight and we're not going to celebrate. That wouldn't go over well. So what I've got to do, what we've all got to do, is constantly prioritize those things that we love, and as Christians hear me, we are to love Christ most. We're to loving most. Matthew 10, 37 through 39.

Speaker 2: 20:32

Just listen to these words, let them pierce your heart. Whoever loves father or mother more than me, jesus says he's not worthy of me. Did you hear those words? Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life from my sake, we'll find it. And you hear these words of Jesus. Some of you. Jesus says you got to love me more than your kid and you go wow, that sounds tyrannical, sounds narcissistic. It's not. Let me tell you why it's not.

Speaker 2: 21:16

Prioritizing Jesus knows this. Prioritizing anything other than Jesus in your life will ultimately crush you and crush those around you. If you love your spouse more than Jesus, you know what you'll do. You'll look to her to be your savior, a weight that she cannot bear. You'll look at her to complete you. That's not what. Only Jesus can complete you, a burden she cannot bear. If you love your children more than Jesus, here's what you'll do. You will place unachievable expectations on them because you're looking to them for your ultimate satisfaction. And if they don't follow your every command, or if they don't maybe get the degree that you wanted for them, if they're not quite as successful, you won't be able to handle it and they'll never feel like they measure up. Never hear this. Whatever you prioritize, it is what you will worship, and Christ alone is worthy of our worship. Having anything else other than Jesus, having idols before him, it will crush you.

Speaker 2: 22:25

The renowned writer David Foster Wallace not a religious man in any way, shape or form in the height of his career bestselling author, he wrote one sentence one time that had over a thousand words in it and it wasn't a run on. He was a genius, brilliant writer. He gave this eloquent speech that made this point about worship that I'm trying to drive home today. It's a famous now famous commencement speech. He gave it at Kenyon College and let me just read an excerpt of what he said. He said these words everybody worships. This is not a Christian. Everybody worships, he says.

Speaker 2: 23:10

The only choice we get is what to worship, and the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of God to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It's the truth. He says worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. When time and age start showing you will die a million deaths before your loved ones finally plant you. Worship power and you will end up feeling weak and afraid. And you'll need even more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being senior, smart, and you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud always on the verge of being found out. Everybody worships. David Foster.

Speaker 2: 24:12

Wallace crafted this speech from personal experience. As successful as he was, it didn't satisfy his heart. His success didn't satisfy him in the least. Two years later he took his own life. But this non-religious man left us with the sobering words whatever you worship outside of God will eat you alive. So when Jesus says, love me more than mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, love me above all things, it's not narcissistic. It's not to crush you, it's to bless you, because he's the only one who can satisfy your heart. The only satisfying way to live is to live like Mary. I'll close, nina, if you wouldn't mind to come to the piano, I'll close with this final verse 13.

Speaker 2: 25:23

In the part about Mary, jesus says to her truly, I say to you, mary, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her. Gospels going to go all around the world. And, mary, what you've done, this moment, this pouring out of this ointment, it's never going to be forgotten. And here I am, 2,000 years later, proclaiming this to you in Richmond, kentucky. Mary's love was costly, it was sacrificial, but it's a sacrifice that will never be lost. So when I'm telling you to pour out everything you have your time, your talent, your treasure, your affections, your love, when I'm telling you to pour that out on Jesus, listen, I want you to understand. It's not a bad thing I'm asking you to do. I'm not saying it's not difficult, but what I'm telling you is it is the most rewarding thing you can do in your life. It is the thing that will bless you most.

Speaker 2: 26:26

A British missionary, ct Studd, wants pinned these words. Listen to these carefully. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life is all we have will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Beloved, every worldly pursuit will one day be forgotten, but our crazy love for Jesus will never, will never be forgotten, will never, will never be forgotten.

Speaker 2: 27:14

Judas took money to satisfy his own heart. He exploited Jesus. Mary poured her heart out. Judas hung himself. You know the story. Mary was blessed and will enjoy God for all of eternity.

Speaker 2: 27:35

If any voice tells you, speaks to you, compels you to be rich, to love anyone or anything more than Jesus, to worship anything else, to put anything else before him, do not listen. He's the only one who can satisfy your heart. And so this week, as we live our lives for Jesus and we pour out our affections and we serve him relentlessly, I mean, people see what we do and we're not doing it for attention or recognition, but may they just organically see what we do and accuse us of being crazy, because love makes us do crazy things. Let's pray. Oh, how we love you, lord and Lord, I hope that. I hope that every person in this room loves you above all things.

Speaker 2: 28:53

If they don't, if there's one in here who's not a believer, perhaps Lord pierce them, pierce their hearts today, call them to you and may they believe upon the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. May today be the day of salvation for them. Father, for those of us who do love you and treasure you even us, like the disciples we at times prioritize other things above you. Let us never do that again. God, by your spirit, give us the strength to not just say we love you above all things, but to live like that. May people see us as Jesus preached in Matthew 5, may they see our good works as we let our light so shine before them, and may they glorify not us, but their Father who is in heaven. May we be accused of crazy love for Jesus Christ. We ask these things in your name, amen 1 PM.

Speaker 1: 30:35

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