An Indelible Act of Worship

About this sermon

Worship is about worth. Worship is about treasure. We worship is what we treasure. Where your treasure is, Jesus said, your heart will be also. ESV Luke 12:29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor abe worried. 30 For aall the nations of the world seek after these things, and ayour Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, aseek bhis1 kingdom, cand these things will be added to you. 32 a"Fear not, little bflock, for cit is your Father's good pleasure to give you dthe kingdom. 33 aSell your possessions, and bgive to the needy. cProvide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with da treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 aFor where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Whatever we consider to be of greatest value, greatest satisfaction, worthy of our time and efforts and energies and attention, whatever it is that we count to be of greatest importance — THAT is what we are worshiping. And everyone is worshiping. There is true worship, and there’s false worship, but there’s no such thing as no worship. But the sad truth is that most of the human race — THE VAST MAJORITY of the human race — is engaged in idol worship. Since Adam’s fall, man’s heart is an idol factory. We INVENT things to worship in the place of God. A sinful heart is not satisfied with God, and doesn’t have the moral and spiritual capacity to BE SATISFIED with God, and so it is on a never ending search — a futile search — for satisfaction. Whenever the true God is not worshiped, anything and everything else is worshiped. It might have you in the place of greatest importance. It might have your spouse or children there. It might have your job in that place. It might have your hobbies, or pleasures, or money, or a whole host of other things in that place — that place of what you value the most —but the rightful owner of that place has been displaced in your life. Or to say it another way, you have something or someone other than God in the place of what you SERVE. No one can serve two masters, and you have the wrong master. ALL OF THIS IS A FAITH ISSUE. There is no true worship apart from faith. Our worship reveals what we really believe. When you worship God, it’s because you believe God. Worship is believing God about His greatness About His worthiness of your devotion. And you are demonstrating that belief by what you actually live for. You demonstrate a worshiping faith by what you count worthy of your energies, your thoughts, your affections, and your choices. Well in the section we come to today we SEE AN ACT OF GENUINE WORSHIP. We see a woman who was a genuine worshiper. And, we are meant to remember her. JESUS SAID THAT SHE WOULD BE MEMORIALIZED. She engaged in act of worship, and that act of worship pleased Christ. Her devotion was put on display by action. Her FAITH was put on display by action. From a practical point of view, this section explains why the religious leaders of the Jews acted in a way that they had determined not to. Remember, they didn’t want to murder Jesus during the time of Passover. So, how did those plans change? Well, they changed because Judas brought them an idea that they liked. This section explains that. But this section is about much more than the ugliness of Judas’ betrayal. It’s about the beauty of Mary’s believing devotion. Mark doesn’t tell us, and neither did Matthew, that this is Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus. But John preserved that fact for us. What see here is also accounted in Matthew 26, and in John 12. There’s a similar anointing, but a DIFFERENT ONE in Luke 7. This morning, as we walk through this passage, I want to share ten observations about Mary’s act of worship. As we remember her, we learn from her. What do we see?

Topics

• Worship