Title: Let's Do a Good Thing
The words of this text are recorded in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
While Jesus was eating with his disciples at Simon the leper's house in Bethany, a woman came with a valuable olive, broke the alabaster alabaster and poured it on Jesus' head to commemorate his burial. When the disciples said, "Why are you wasting this? You could have sold it for a great price and given it to the poor," the Lord said, "Stop it. Why are you tormenting this woman? He has done a good thing for me." This will be the title of today's sermon.
Guys, what's good?
First, it is a good thing to give the most precious thing you have. In verse 7 of the text, this woman brought an alabaster jar of very precious perfume.
It's not a cheap perfume that I usually get. It is a valuable perfume. Valuable means rarity. It's hard to find and that's why it's expensive. It is precious. It is said to be worth 300 denarii. A healthy man's daily wage is one denarius, so 300 denarii is the price of a year. An alabaster bowl of very expensive perfume was poured out on the Lord's head. This is a good thing.
Second, in verse 12, the Lord said, “I have poured perfume on my body for my burial.” In the book of Proverbs it is written, “It is better to go to a house of portraits than to go to a feast.” It is said that the wise man's heart goes to the portrait house rather than the feast house. It is good to help a banquet house, but it makes more sense to help a portrait house. It is good to go to a banquet house to help, but it is more meaningful to go to a portrait house to help. Moreover, there is nothing more meaningful than commemorating the burial of the Lord.
In the Bible, there are people related to the Lord's burial, and Simon of Cyrene is one of them. He carried the cross of the Lord instead. Joseph of Arimathea also appears. He placed the Lord in a newly dug tomb. Mary Magdalene also appears. Early in the morning, I went up to the tomb to anoint the Lord's body with oil.
In the text, a woman brought a jar of perfumed oil. This is a beautiful story to commemorate the Lord's burial. What you do for business is something you don't want to overdo, and you can't expect much in return for it. After Jesus died, what can be expected of pouring out a jar of three hundred denarii worth of perfume?
Carrying reliefs to the banquet hall is a complex calculation.
'If I leave the envelope at this house, how much will I bring to my son's and daughter's wedding?', 'Last time I saw the party at our house, how much did I bring, but I have to pay back how much I'm taking.' that is laid out.
Now Jesus is going to die on the cross. Jesus himself said the same thing. On the one hand, the plots of the priests were progressing steadily. In such an extraordinary situation, this woman brought an alabaster jar filled with perfume oil and broke it. It's a case where you can't expect anything in return. If Jesus' brother or parents have passed away, you can do this with the expectation that Jesus will say thank you several times. But Jesus himself was on the verge of being executed, so no matter how good you are, after he died, wouldn't it be nothing? Therefore, this is loyal service without asking for anything in return.
Third, according to verses 3 and 5, this is the time when the high priests and elders were discussing to arrest and kill Jesus. This is when the conspiracy goes on. But in the second half of John 12:27, the Lord said, "For this time, I have come at this time." The Lord cherished this time very much. In the midst of such a bloody atmosphere, a woman appeared. This is a good thing.
This woman appeared when Jesus was sitting in the house of Simon the leper. He appeared in front of Jesus who went to the house of the common people who were neglected because of their low status. This woman appeared in front of Jesus at a time when Peter denied that he knew Jesus in front of him, and Mark also threw off his linen and fled, and even the disciples who were close also abandoned him.
That's when it matters.
There are times. When you're very hungry, a bowl of food is worth much more than the delicacies when you're full. Therefore, for example, when helping the poor, we should help at the very moment when our hearts are touched. There are times. There are times when it is very necessary.
Fourth, working for the Lord is a good thing. Judgment must have standards. If the gangster is good at swinging his fists and playing well with the gang, the boss will like it. Because it does a good job for the boss. So it's for the devil.
If you tell the North Korean secrets, that's what Kim Il-sung likes. Good things are also good. But you must know that working for the Lord is truly a good thing.
How reasonable are the disciples' words? 'Why are you pouring that out? Wouldn't it be great if you could sell that and get 300 denarii to help the poor? It's a sensible thing to say. But the Lord did not say it was right. That's not to say it's bad though.
It is not a bad thing for us to help the poor in the name of the Lord. It is something that must be done. But the Lord said that it is better to do things for Him directly than that. Works for the Lord are good things related to Him.
For example, if we decorate the pulpit with flower arrangements or flowerpots, or we present good furnishings to the church as a memorial, or offer a precious gift to God, it can be usefully used for social relief work. However, if it is directly related to the Lord, it is better.
An act of faith for the Lord is more important than salvation. It can be a relief for selfish acts of unnamed evildoers such as almsgiving or patriotism. It is recorded in John 12:6, "Judah Iscariot did not say this because he was thinking of the poor, but because he was a thief, who had the money box and stole what was put into it." He sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Thirty pieces of silver was the ransom for one slave in Tongyeong at that time.
Fifth, the more you feel the grace of forgiveness of sins, the better it is to support. This woman here is Mary, Lazarus' sister, and there is a legend that the owner of the house, Simon the leper, is Mary's brother-in-law. At that time, leprosy was considered a heavenly disease. People considered it a curse.
In Luke 7, it is said that this woman, after washing her feet with her hair in tears, poured out the third perfume. Tears are an expression of the heart, and it means devoting one's heart to it. Breaking the third alabaster and pouring perfumed oil is an offering, that is, a material offering. These three things, if you give your heart, you will be full of joy, and if you give your body, you will be blessed with wealth.
The Lord said to the disciples, "Come, there is a person who owes a debt of five hundred denarii and a person who owes a debt of fifty denarii. If the debt was forgiven, who is more grateful?" I asked. When the disciples answered, “Yes, the one who owed five hundred denarii should be more grateful,” Jesus said.
"Yes. His many sins are forgiven. For he loves much. He who is forgiven little loves little."
There are people who lose their husbands at a young age and never remarry for the rest of their lives. If a husband had been such a good person, would the widow of Cheongsang be thinking of her husband for the rest of her life, raising children, and living without losing faith? Maybe because he was a really good husband. Let's say that such a good wife died first. Then, this time, the husband will bow down, thinking of his wife. Because the dead wife did good things to her husband that he will never forget.
This woman is a woman who has sinned a lot. So, I was waiting for an opportunity to repay my grace, saying, 'Thank you, our God, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, for forgiving my sins.' I waited for the time.
Soon the opportunity came. Someone told me to go to Simon the leper's house now. I didn't think about what to do if I went there and became a leper. Now the high priests are plotting a plot to arrest Jesus and kill him. If we go, we might be caught together. But that was ignored. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to repay the grace of the Lord.
An American millionaire fell ill. The death sentence was dropped. To the millionaire who had given up living and was lying in a bed, a black girl appeared and asked him why he was lying like this, and asked him to get up. The millionaire said, 'I'm going to die soon', so a black girl pushed the bed of the hospital bed. As the millionaire fell, the black girl hugged him tightly and lifted him up. Then he exclaimed, "Jesus is in you. You are the image of God. Get up, get up." Then the Holy Spirit worked on the millionaire. The thought of resenting others and giving up on life has changed due to despair and denial. After clenching his fists and praying fervently, the disease went away, and the millionaire who regained his health lived by dedicating the rest of his material and life to the Lord.
Let's think about it. Why do we give up on life and ruin it negatively? On the first day of creation, God created the sun, moon, and light. It was good in the sight of God. The next day was even better. On the third or fourth day, He created them better and better, and on the sixth day He created man in the image of God, and it was very good in the sight of God. Why do such a human resent Jesus and God, why do they fight because things don't work, just give up, lose their minds, and live their lives doing evil things?
God gave us health and material things to do good, so why waste it?
This woman is the only wealth in her lifetime. Still, I broke this by saying, 'Let's do something good once in my life'. Let's break it too. Let's break the alabaster. Let's give what we're determined to do.
We are the image of God. resembled God. But why do you have evil thoughts? When you think evil thoughts, complaints come out, and evil deeds and bad deeds come out. Let's close our eyes. Put your hands on your chest and listen to the beating of your pounding heart. The pulse of blood is struggling to save the body. Why are you giving up on life? There is Jesus, who came as a servant to save your life and was executed like a robber, and God has made us a masterpiece, therefore, 'I will not reproduce the blood of Jesus, I will not restrain the power of the blood of Jesus. Lira' is the right thing to do.
Let's not give up on the world, let's conquer it. Let's move forward, not retreat to the world. Let's not give in to the devil, let's subdue the devil. Amen. (1991.6.30)