CIRRHOSIS OF THE GIVER: How Much for Jesus?

Chris McCurley: Thank you. So good to see all of you this Mother's Day, this Lord's Day. I realize Mother's Day is kind of a mixed bag for some people. Some of you may not have had a great relationship with your mother. I would be one of those and I regret that. But I think we could all agree that by and large we love our mothers. We value our mothers and we're thankful for our mothers. So happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers. And also to our graduates, happy Senior Sunday. This is great, you made it. And your world is about to be opened and larger than it's ever been. And that's a good thing. Just remember where true north is. Just remember your compass. God and His word, and stick to that, and you'll be great. Appreciate you being here this morning as we start a new series. We're talking about giving over the next few weeks. Now series is entitled, Cirrhosis of the Giver, and I wanna start this morning with this idea of Jesus and his worth to you. And I wanna start with a multiple choice question. So here it is. If you could be any one of these four people, who would it be? Pick one. You could be the wealthiest person in the world. You could be the most famous movie actor in the world. You could be the greatest athlete in the world, or you could be a starving orphan in Africa. Which one would you choose? And my guess is most of you would have no problem with being either A, B, or C, but D, you'd probably steer clear of. But let's reframe it this way. You could be A, B, or C, but you couldn't be a Christian. Or you could be D and be a Christian. It's a question of value. Is being a Christian more important to you than being wealthy? Is being a child of God more important than all the accolades in the world, all the recognition in the world. And is it a hard choice? So that's what we're focusing on this morning is how much do you value Jesus? How much is he worth? And we're looking at Mark chapter 14. I'm not going to put it all on the screen, so if you want to follow along in your Bibles, Mark chapter 14 is about a lot of things, but the overall theme is this. How much is Jesus worth? And in Mark chapter 14, starting at verse one, this is what we read. Now the Passover and unleavened bread were two days away. and the chief priest and the scribes were seeking how to seize him by stealth and kill him. For they were saying, not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people. So to the chief priest and the scribes, Jesus was worth more to them dead than he was alive. Keep reading verse three. While he was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard and she broke the vial and poured it over his head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over 300 denarii and the money given to the poor and they were scolding her. And so to the woman, the alabaster vial of perfume, the very expensive vial of perfume was not as costly to her as being in the presence of Jesus. And she used it to anoint him to poured over him because she recognized that he was the Messiah. Now to the others, they thought that she was just wasting it. However, I seriously doubt they were thinking, well, we could have used that money to give it to the poor, right? I doubt that was really their motivation for wanting to spare the alabaster violet perfume. Let's keep reading, verse 10. Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the 12, went off to the chief priest in order to betray him to them. They were glad when they heard this and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray him at an opportune time. 30 pieces of silver. That's how much Jesus was worth to Judas and the chief priests. Keep reading verse 30. And Jesus said to him, truly I say to you that this very night before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny me three times. But Peter kept saying insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. and they all were saying the same thing. So for Peter and the rest of the apostles, denial was not an option. Peter spoke up and the others all agreed, even if it cost them their lives, they were not giving up on Jesus. They were gonna stand firm in their allegiance to Jesus. By the way, verses 30 and 31 fit into the greater context of the Lord's Supper, which is a meal commemorating the place. that the soul of sinners has in the redemption process and in the kingdom, the price that Jesus paid for you and me. Verses 32 through 42 is Mark's account of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. His soul was deeply grieved to the point of death. He was sweating sweat drops that were tinged with blood. And yet in this moment, when the cross loomed in the foreground, his inner circle of Peter, James and John couldn't even stay awake. To them in that moment, sleep was more valuable. Verses 43 through 52 tell of Judas' betrayal and the subsequent arrest of Jesus. Jesus meant so little to Judas that he was willing to sell out. He actually kissed him and called him Rabbi. It was a disgusting display. If you look at the original Greek there, that kiss there was open-mouthed. I mean, it wasn't just a peck on the cheek. It was a disgusting display. And of course, then they take Jesus And Peter, you know, cuts off Malchus's ear, the soldier's ear, because he's fiercely loyal. Notice verse 50. And they all left him and fled. So evidently, all this talk about dying for Jesus was nothing more than lip service when push came to shove. As Jesus is going to be crucified and he's led away all those who swore that they would follow him faithfully. turn away when the threat of persecution comes upon them. Jesus' accusers didn't think much of him. The high priest, the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, the council, they all sought to obtain testimony so that they could justify their death penalty. Many went so far as to give false testimony. Verses 64 and 65 give you a clear indication as to how much they value Jesus. It reads, and they all condemned him to be deserving of death, some began to spit at him and to blindfold him and to beat him with their fist and to say to him, prophesy. And the officers received him with slaps in the face. And then chapter 14 closes with Peter denying Jesus three times. The Saint Peter who walked on water, the Saint Peter who said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of life. The Saint Peter who cut off the soldier's ear when they came to arrest Jesus. The Saint Peter who swore his allegiance to him. When push came to shove and his life was on the line, he thought he walked away. He turned away from him. And so that's what we have going on in Mark chapter 14. We have a play, if you will, and the major characters are Jesus, of course. You have the religious leaders and their cohorts. You have an unnamed woman. You have Judas and the other disciples and the plot of this drama zeros in on the value of Jesus. Some felt that he had little value, which is why they wanted to have him killed. Others, like the woman who poured the expensive perfume over his head, believed that he had astronomical value, infinite value. And then Judas believed that his value was about 30 pieces of silver. Of course, in reality, Judas was valuing his own soul. at that price. And then Peter and the rest of the disciples placed a premium on following Jesus until following him started costing more than they bargained for. And so the question comes back to how much is Jesus worth? And the question for us, how much is Jesus worth to us, to you? How much is he worth? How much do you value our Lord? And I think it's easy to say, well, he means everything to me. Theoretically, or in the abstract, that sounds right and good, but when it comes to practical application, how much is Jesus worth? You know, any religion has to answer two questions. Any religion has to answer two questions. You will not buy in, most adherents will not buy in unless a religion can answer these two questions. What is life and what is death? And many different religions answer these questions in many different ways. For some life is about karma and then death is about reincarnation. For some life is about, you know, maintaining a scrupulous diet and taking a pilgrimage and you know, death is about going to be with God in paradise. For some ⁓ life is about just living it up while you can because tomorrow you die and you just become worm dirt. Most do believe in some concept of an afterlife. But these two questions, what is life, what is death, must be answered effectively before any logical or reasonable human being is going to buy in. While living in Missouri, we were really close to Branson and you know, Branson has these shows that you could go to and one of them featured this comedian. You may have heard of him, Yakov Smirnov. He was from Russia and he liked to talk about how Great America is compared to his country and he talked about how he went through the grocery store one time when he first got to America and he saw all these products like powdered milk, just add water and you have milk. Powdered orange juice, just add water and you have orange juice. And then he saw baby powder and he thought, wow, what a country, right? So somewhere along the way, think. I think we have assumed maybe and I say we I'm not necessarily talking about us in this room. think Christians in general many times just assume that Christianity is easy and convenient. You just add water and boom you have a Christian you have a disciple. But you and I know that it's it's more than that. You've got to answer these two questions. What is life? What is death? And I love love how Paul answers these two questions. We've been talking about this a little bit lately as we unveiled. our new kind of mission statement, our motto, to live as Christ. Notice how Paul answers the question, for to me, to live as Christ and to die is gain. what is life? Answer number one, what is life? Christ. What is death? Gain. And sadly, much of the Bible has become nothing more than coffee mug theology. Have you noticed this as you scan the religious landscape? So much of the Bible has become you know, bumper sticker theology. We see a verse plucked out of context and slapped on a t-shirt or maybe tattooed on the body somewhere, which is all fine and good, except that we lose the greater context so often, or we actually turn the verse into something that it was never intended to mean in the first place. Give you some examples. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can hit that home run. I can get that dream job, right? For I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord. plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope that was written to the exiles in Babylon. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. And this one, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Christians in our culture many times turn the Bible into one verse theology and Americanized Christianity is rather selfish, it's about consumerism, it's all about how church and religion and God and Jesus can serve me. And so it's only natural that we would pluck certain verses out of context and slap them on a t-shirt or on a coffee mug or on a bumper sticker and treat them like pithy little sayings rather than God-breathed words. And so rather than reducing Philippians 1 and 21 down to a trite little religious saying that sounds good and theoretically we need to wrap our minds around what Paul is saying here. He's under house arrest. He's chained to a Roman guard. He's about to face the Roman Emperor Nero. Do we know anything about Nero from history? Yeah, we actually know a lot. For instance, listen to what Tacitus had to say about Nero. Besides being put to death, the Christians were made to serve as objects of amusement. They were clothed in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs. Others were crucified. Others were set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open his grounds for the display and was putting on a show and a circus where he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer and drove about in his chariot. All this giving rise to a feeling of for it was felt that they, the Christians, were being destroyed not for the public good, but to gratify the cruelty of an individual. And that is what Paul was staring in the face. This is what a life lived for Christ brought him. And yet, he was still confidently proclaiming to live as Christ and to die as gain. Death was intimate. It was the result of living for Christ. Paul had made it his goal to be as close to Christ as possible. And you can't get any closer to him than when you get with him in paradise for all eternity. Death would accomplish that ultimate goal. You'll never be nearer to Jesus than when you're with him for eternity. And when the rubber met the road in Paul's faith, when his head was on the chopping block, that's when Paul valued his faith the most. To him, it was priceless and it was worth losing everything. including his life. sorry guys, I tried it. I can't do it. It's just... It's just way too hot. I think those lights probably make it a little worse. think it's interesting when you consider Paul's words here and you consider how Paul viewed the purpose of life very differently than how we often view the purpose of life. He saw life as a means to an end. We often see life as the end, like it's all about this. And again, I say we, not necessarily us. but across the religious landscape. That's how you see it. Even in the secular world, this life is all there is, so you better live it up because there's not much after this, if anything. But Paul saw drawing closer to Christ as his goal in this life, and therefore to be by his side for all eternity. Whatever it took for him to get there, persecution, whatever it took, it was well worth it. And for us, we often look at life in terms of if only. If only I owned, fill in the blank with whatever possession it is that you desire. If only I had blank to love me, fill in the name of the person. If only I could blank, fill in the accomplishment. If only I looked like blank, fill in the dream description of what you think you should look like. If only I could have blank amount of money. I would be happy, fill in the blank with whatever the amount is. You know, we tend to operate in if only, and our prayer life tends to reflect our if-onlys. The problem with if-onlys is that they don't typically deliver on their promise. They leave one unfulfilled. The people who change jobs, who change cities, who change spouses, who change noses perhaps, I mean, they still struggle on the inside. mean, a PhD doesn't necessarily leave you fulfilled. Swelling bank accounts don't equal contentment. You realize that even in paradise, Eve asked the question, if only. If only I could eat from that tree. So Eve in paradise wasn't content. She had it all. She had paradise and wasn't content. She still defaulted to if only. So instead of looking at life from the perspective of if only, how about we saw things through the lens of better than. Instead of if only, better than. Is blank worth blank? Is Jesus better than blank? And fill in the blank. It doesn't matter what you fill in the blank with. Jesus is always better than whatever it is you can fill in the blank. How many of you have ever seen the movie The Passion of the Christ? It came back, I think it was 2003 that it came out. And the actor that played Jesus in the film was a guy by the name of Jim Caviezel. And Mel Gibson had offered him the starring role and 20 minutes later called him and tried to talk him out of it. Because he said, you'll never work again in Hollywood. Like nobody's gonna hire you after you portray Jesus in such a moving, touching film. People are not gonna appreciate that in Hollywood and therefore they're not gonna give you another job. And listen to what Jim Caviezel said. He said, all have to embrace our crosses. And he added, Jesus is as controversial now as he ever has been. Not much has changed in 2,000 years. And then you can look this up on YouTube, but he was speaking at a church recently. And Caviezel stated that the destruction of his acting career was a price worth paying. We have to give up our names, he says, our reputations, our lives to speak the truth. For Caviezel, his faith in Jesus was worth more than fame and fortune. Jesus was better than even his job and the riches that came with it. But here's the challenge for all of us. It's easy to talk in terms of what we would willingly give up for Jesus until it comes down to it. I think a lot of us are like Peter. We can say the words and we can stand firm in our allegiance when everything is going well, but when the threat of persecution comes, where do we stand? I think we're all well aware of the problem, right? We all understand that we probably need to be more dedicated, that we all could probably... ⁓ do a little more in the way of our commitment. And maybe as I'm giving this sermon, you're rolling your eyes and thinking to yourselves, yeah, Chris, we've heard this all before. And listen, I'm talking to me as much as I'm talking to anybody else. I understand the eye rolls. I understand the frustration. We know the problem. What's the solution? And unfortunately, The only answers we really come up with most times are pray more, study your Bible more, and come to church. That's the answer for everything. And I want to say it goes past just spiritual disciplines. Yes, those are important, but it goes beyond that. This is war. You understand that, right? This is a battle. A battle is raging for your soul and you cannot be neutral. Whether you want to be or not, you're involved in this fight. When you became a Christian, you were enlisted in the Lord's army. And yet too many soldiers are traipsing around the battlefield as if it's the county fair. This is war. And the wisdom of the world says to live is self and to die is loss. Remember what we said earlier about religion and the two most important questions. What is life? What is death? If the way of the world is a religion and it is, Well, then this life. It's pretty good. In fact, it's as good as it gets. It's all about me. But the death part leaves something to be desired, doesn't it? Because what happens when you die because you're all going to die? I checked the mortality rates for Dixon County. They're 100%. One and one people die. And it's no respecter of persons. We're all going to die. We're all terminal, right? Like the. ⁓ Sports Gal and ESPN said the other day that an athlete was listed as day to day. You're all day to day. You're all listed as day to day. And so what are we going to do about that? The life part sounds pretty good if you follow the religion of the world, but the death part leaves something to be desired. So if this life is about gain, if death is gain, if this life is about Christ, then that's gain. And then the next life is about gain, right? And so only one option makes sense. And Jesus being better than. Means that whatever that I have to endure in this life. No matter how bad it gets. That there is something better. That is why. The Christian is invincible. You can't kill me. You can't kill me even if you do kill me. I win. God is undefeated. Death is better than. My death isn't the end of me. Because I'm going to live on in eternity in the presence of God, my savior. The devil never had a chance. It wasn't even a fair fight. Someday you will hear someone say, you know, Chris McCurley is dead. Don't you believe it for a second? Because nothing could be further from the truth. That is why death is game. And so whatever I have to endure in this life. is gained as well if it gets me to the ultimate goal. I think that's where we fall short so often. The problem is that we don't look at Christianity as a cause worth fighting for. We're not looking for a fight. And we should be. Everything of true value is at stake. We're not wrestling with something that we should be wrestling with. You know, studies have shown that soldiers who return from combat and enter back in society struggle and some of you soldiers understand this they struggle with integrating back into society because in the armed forces they had a clear objective there was rank and file they knew where they stood there was a clear battle plan if they were on the battlefield there was a clear mission and they knew what that mission was they knew what they had to do to execute the battle plan and then they come back into society and And now I've talked to guys who working at the post office or whatever it is, they really struggle because the world doesn't go by their rank and file system. They don't care that they were ranked pretty highly in the army or wherever it was. And so they struggle with coming off the battlefield and coming into just a secular job. It's very different for them. And you could understand why. Lives were on the line. But then they return home and they're working regular jobs, maybe passing out bulletins in the church. And what we must all realize is that we are smack dab in the middle of combat and this fight is the most noble cause that we could ever fight for. Souls are at stake, spiritual lives are on the line. Chris Webb read it a moment ago, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. I know that Most, not all of you sitting here this morning want to go to heaven. One of my beloved shepherds, Bob Spencer, likes to say, I think most people are trying to do their best. I like to believe that. I think most people are trying to do their best. I'm not trying to come down hard this morning. I'm not trying to be a hammer and hit a nail. The devil's beaten you up enough. Most of us want to be a good little soldier, and certainly I don't mean to suggest. That you're not. I would say this though, the sooner we recognize that this is war, the more focused we're going to be in this battle and winning. But I will say this, this is not a battle you win just with one attack. In fact, you may have one or two victories. That doesn't mean that the devil leaves you alone. It's kind of like in basketball when I was coaching, we'd be down 20 at halftime. What I'd say to the kids is there's not a 20 point shot. So don't try to go get it all back in one shot. Just chip away at it. Chip away at it. And that's what we're doing as Christians. We're just chipping away, right? We're just making incremental strides. I think we often look at Christianity like we have a thousand dollar bill and we throw it down on the table and we say, I'm all in God. This is all I have. This is the money I have. I'm throwing it down on the table. When in actuality, I think it could be described more as God giving you a thousand dollars and you going into the bank and saying, cash this out in quarters. Give me all quarters for this thousand dollars. And you go through life giving a quarter here or a quarter there. You talk to your neighbor, even though you're busy and you have places to go and. You listen to them. You take time to. To be nice to someone that. That maybe hasn't been all that nice to you because you want to show Jesus to them. It's just little incremental things. It's 25 cents here, 25 cents there. I go and visit the nursing home even though I don't like nursing homes and but I love the people there and so I go and visit that's that's. quarter and we just hand out these quarters day by day little by little. That's how the battle is won. I know I've probably used this illustration before anytime I'm repeating an illustration or think I might be repeating an illustration. I asked my wife have I used this illustration before and her response is look if you don't remember these people aren't going to remember that's probably it's probably true. So I read this in a book. I think it was Stephen Covey's book. where he talked about a company wanting to give a lesson to their employees on time management. And so they bring a time management expert in who does a little display. He takes a large mason jar and he sets it out in front of them and he takes three or four large rocks and puts them inside till they fill up to the brim of the jar. And he asks The employees is the jar full? And they all nod yes. So then he takes some sand and pours it in the jar. Filling it up to the brim. And then he asked now is the jar full? And most of them still say yes. Before that, I'm sorry, I think I got that off. He puts some pebbles in. And filled it up, then put some sand and then he takes some water and pours it in the jar. and fills it up to the brim. He says, now is it full? And of course, nobody really wants to respond because they don't know what the right answer is anymore. And he says, now the jar is full. So what does this tell you? What's the lesson here? And one employee's hand shot up and he says, it tells us that no matter how full we think our schedule is, there's always time for one more thing. And the time management expert said, oh no. What it shows us is you better put the big rocks in first. or nothing else is gonna fit. And so my guess is, if you're like me, it's really easy to fill the jar with things that are not eternal. It's really easy to fill the jar with things that are inconsequential in the long run. Hopefully you've got some big rocks in your life. I know you do. And hopefully those big rocks are things like God, Jesus, the church, family, faith. Well, you're going to have to put those in the jar first. Otherwise, nothing else is going to fit. I love you all. So glad you're here today. Can we help you this morning? Steve's got a song of invitation. If we can help you in some way, why don't you come as we stand as we sing.

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