Ignore Your Inner Judas

So if you would turn to the Gospel of Saint John, chapter number 12.

The Gospel according to Saint John chapter number 12.

I'm going to read eight verses for you, and then we'll get into what I feel like the Holy Spirit has given me.

John chapter number 12.

Starting at the first verse, here's what it says.

A dinner was prepared in Jesus' honor.

Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him.

Then Mary took a 12-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair.

The house was filled with the fragrance.

But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, That perfume was worth the year's wages.

It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.

Not that he cared for the poor.

He was a thief.

And since he was in charge of the disciples' money, he often stole some for himself.

Jesus replied, Leave her alone.

She did this in preparation for my burial.

It's a good passage.

If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down.

Here's the title of this message, the final message in this life-giving series.

Ignore your inner Judas.

Ignore your inner Judas.

Before we get into the Word, would you bow your heads?

Let's pray over the Word before we get into it, okay?

Holy Spirit, help us to ignore Judas.

Amen.

I pray quick.

I'm the one you won at Thanksgiving dinner.

We will eat it while it's hot.

John chapter number twelve is uh one of my favorite chapters.

Uh, it is an extension of what has just gone on miraculously from uh John chapter number 11.

This incredible moment where we see Jesus come to the aid of his friend and raise him from the dead.

It's amazing how Jesus uh walks with us in relationship.

Uh he doesn't uh always come when we want him to, but he seems to be right on time.

It's interesting to note that uh uh Lazarus was Jesus' friend.

They had a relationship that extended ministry.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had a bond.

And so when uh Mary and Martha gave the call to go get Jesus, when he received the call, he said, I'm going to show up, which probably brought relief to the messenger to go back and tell Mary and Martha.

Uh, but he shows up four days late.

Is there anybody beside me that's ever had a problem with Jesus' timing?

Let's be honest.

Right, you called him and and and and and you got a word that he's coming.

And and and you're looking through the blinds, like, hurry up.

I thought you said you were coming.

And and and and you called when Lazarus got sick, and and Lazarus' health started to decline.

And and you're saying, come on, God, show up.

And he's like, I'm coming.

And you're like, Yeah, you need to hurry up.

We're your friends.

We we have a covenant relationship with you.

And Lazarus dies.

This has happened before.

Little girl died.

But within an hour, it seems like Jesus was there to say to Letha Kumi, little girl, arise.

There's a little boy that was in a coffin already that was being carted off to his final burial place, and Jesus touches the coffin.

Doesn't even touch him, he just touches the thing that's touching him.

Little boy gets up.

So maybe after a few hours you're thinking he'll be here.

But then one day turns into two, two turns into three, and three turns into four.

Jesus finally shows up.

And I love how Jesus shows up because he shows up casually.

Just walks in.

I'm here.

Martha looks at her watch.

Mm-hmm.

You're here, alright.

Should have came earlier.

Mary, same thing.

If you would have came earlier, my brother Lazarus wouldn't have died.

Jesus has to remind them what this whole thing is about.

It's for my glory that this has happened.

He says, Where did you put him?

I said, We put him in the tomb.

And they said, Well, he said, Well, let's go over there and get them.

Go roll away the stone.

And one of his sisters says, Oh, no.

It's been four days, sir.

He stinks.

You should have came when the problem was fresh.

I don't like stinky situations.

I put stinky situations away.

I've compartmentalized all the areas of my life that are rotting.

I've put them away.

I'd rather you have showed up when it was when it was fresh, but now that it's stinking, I I don't even want to talk about it anymore.

And he's like, that's exactly why I wanted to show up.

The things that you call rotten, I say still have life.

If you're bold enough to open up and let me in it.

I don't know who that word is for.

But you've sealed away some areas of your heart.

And God is saying, I need you to roll away the stone that you've put in front of it because I want to bring resurrection and life into those areas that you think are dead.

So they go over there and they roll away the stone.

And when they roll away the stone, Jesus does something miraculous.

He calls a dead man.

Now I'm a literalist, and I see everything people say, I see everything that I read, and I'm trying to figure out how did Lazarus hear him?

Because he's dead.

And he didn't like call him four or five times.

Lazarus! Lazarus! Lazarus! He only called him one time.

Lazarus, come forth.

And this guy gets up, bound in grave clothes, with a death napkin over his face.

Nobody goes into the tomb to walk him out.

He has to get up by himself.

This seems rude.

Jesus, you came to deliver me.

I need you to come all the way through.

He said, I called you and I want you to come to me.

I'm not coming in to where you are, I want you out to where I am.

And Lazarus finds some way to get to his feet.

Jesus looks at him and he goes, You guys lose him and let him go.

Wow, Jesus.

You were really hands-off with this miracle, weren't you?

You wouldn't roll away the stone, you wouldn't unwrap them, and here's what I believe Jesus' strongest implication was.

I only came to do the thing you all couldn't do.

Everything else you can do, you will do.

I came to partner with you on this, not do the whole thing for you.

They start unwrapping them.

The religious leaders get mad.

Jesus goes into Ephraim in hiding, but soon the Passover comes, and this is what brings us to John chapter number 12.

Jesus comes back into town, and he's eating dinner at Martha, Mary, and Lazarus' house, and Lazarus is at the dinner table.

Can you imagine this conversation at the dinner table?

I would have had questions for Lazarus.

Lazarus, what's the last thing you remember?

When you woke up, did you still think he was in your bed?

Right?

How did you get out of there?

How did you get to your feet and hop out?

Were you scared?

I would have had questions.

They're all sitting there having this conversation, and Mary comes in with this alabaster box of oil, cracks it open, the middle of them eating and having a conversation, and just begins to anoint Jesus' feet and wiping his feet off with her hair.

This is incredibly extravagant.

While this is going on, a lot of people think that this is a real moment, but only one person opens their mouth.

And it's the guy you would think would like not open his mouth.

We know Peter has been a brash, bold guy who's always talking.

John, who's close to Jesus, sometimes has some words to say.

Thomas.

No, this time it's Judas.

And Judas seems really, really concerned.

This moment happens.

Judas begins to have these thoughts that he cannot keep to himself, so he actually opens up his mouth and says, Here's what I want to let you know.

Whenever you get ready to give an extravagant gift, you will always have a Judas that wants to speak up about what you're about to give.

So I want to give you the three points that I feel like we're going on with Judas.

I want you to write these down because they're very, very important.

Three things about Judas that I want you to know.

Point number one, please write this down.

Judas sounds prudent.

Judas sounds prudent.

John chapter number 12, verse number five.

That perfume was worth a year's wages.

Thanks, Judas.

You were able to tally that up without even seeing the price tag.

She cracks open this alabaster box, pours about 12 ounces of this expensive oil on Jesus' feet, and here goes Judas.

Carried a one, sales tax, no state tax.

That was about a year's wages.

Amen, Judas.

You listened to the other the other side of Bless Life series.

You want to be a good steward now.

You just came out of Financial Peace University.

We gotta be prudent.

That that that that's worth a year's wages.

That that that extravagant gift is is what our what what two of our vacations were last year.

Do you know how much you're thinking about giving that?

Let's be prudent here.

Let's be some good stewards now.

That's something you're getting a little carried away.

A whole year's wage?

Let's calm down just a little bit.

I mean, I'm gonna fill out the card, but I mean, come on.

We got other stuff that we need to be doing.

Judas sounds prudent.

Point number two, please write this down.

Judas sounds practical.

Judas sounds very, very practical.

John 12, 5 again, it should have been sold and the money given to the poor.

There's better things we could have done with this oil than put it on feet.

Their feet.

The most extravagant thing we've ever seen the master do with our feet was pour water on them.

This is oil.

We could do you know what we could have done with that?

We could have sold it and given it to the poor.

This extravagant gift that God is telling us to give.

Why don't we give that to a homeless shelter?

Or some people in need.

Why would we do what this is this is let's be practical here?

You put water on feet, you don't put oil on feet, and you sure don't dry them with your hair.

Get a towel.

Everything sounds practical, right?

Except that when Mary looks at Jesus, and when Judas looks at Jesus, they're not looking at the same person the same way.

When Mary looks at Jesus, she says, He is worth this.

When Judas looks at Jesus, his thought is he ain't worth that.

I'd rather do something else with this.

You know, I've worked hard for my money and and I want to give to the initiatives and I want to see the gospel go around the world, but but but I gotta be I gotta be practical with that.

I'm not giving that much money in one place.

I'm gonna break this up.

And I'm and and I'll I'll help I'll help the church, but I'm also want to help the television ministry, and there's about 42 wells that that I want to help dig.

And so I just want to be more practical with this because that's a lot for some feet.

That's a lot for Justin.

It's just Justin.

You want to go around the world.

I mean, there's a lot of stuff that can be done here.

You get Mary, who sees it one way, but the inner Judas sees it a completely different way.

Which brings me to point number three.

Please write this down.

Judas is a thief.

Judas is a thief.

John chapter number 12, verse number six.

Not that he cared for the poor, he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples' money, he often stole some from himself.

This is what I love about uh John's gospel.

John, John lived to be uh uh the oldest out of all that we know of of the uh uh original disciples, and that he could write this in his old age and still have fresh in his memory the type of person that Judas was.

He's over the treasury.

I remember him saying this, I remember him saying that, but I also remember that dude is a thief.

And he wanted it to be on record, to be canonized for all time.

I just got to make sure this is in here.

Not only did he betray him, but we knew he took a lot of money and kept it for himself.

Well, when I when I'm addressing your inner Judas, the side of you that wants to be prudent, the side of you that wants to be practical, I also want to address the side of you that might want to rob you from what God wants to do for you.

You see, uh uh if you are uh a member of Gateway Church, then then you know uh how we feel about the tithe.

You know that if you don't pay your tithes, you're robbing God.

But I want to say something about giving that maybe you haven't uh thought of thought of before.

If if you don't pay your tithes, you're robbing God.

But if you're not a giver, you're robbing yourself.

And you're robbing yourself from the opportunity for God to do a miracle in your heart and see something dynamic happen that you would never be able to see if you weren't a giver.

A couple of years ago, um I was uh at one of my favorite stores uh in the South Lake Square called Czar.

It's not Zara, it's Zar.

They dropped an A and saved me some money.

There's a place uh uh uh right across the freeway called Czar.

I like to go in there and get stuff, and uh a couple of years back, I went in there and uh I was looking at some shirts, and there was a young man that was inside of uh uh the facility that was trying on a suit, and he came out with the suit on and they got his measurements, and this guy looked great in that suit.

And uh John, who's one of the workers there, said, Man, you look great in this suit.

Are you gonna purchase the suit?

And he said, You know what?

I do want to purchase the suit, but I just started a job.

Uh uh, and uh I I want to get my feet settled.

Uh, I just moved down here from a different state.

I want to get settled first, and then I'm gonna come back and get the suit.

And I just thought to myself, man, that's a young man who really has some discipline, who really has his priorities straight.

And as soon it was a compliment in my head.

And as soon as I finished complimenting him in my head, the Holy Spirit said, buy his suit.

And I was like, Well, you listen.

You know, I came, I came, I came for a shirt, like for myself.

He said, I want you to buy his suit.

And I was like, I mean, like, like the whole thing, or he said, buy his suit.

And I said, Okay.

So, so uh I called John over to me and I said, Hey John, I I want to buy that guy's suit.

And he went, you wanna buy his suit.

I say, I I want I want to buy his suit, but I do not want you to tell him I bought it.

And he goes, Okay.

So, so he rings up the suit and and I go into the dressing room.

You've never seen anybody take so long to put on a shirt in their entire life.

I was just, I just closed the door and I was just at my ear to the door.

And John's talking to him, and he goes, Hey, uh uh, we're just blessing you with the suit.

And I was like, Good job, John.

He's like, we're just blessing you with the suit.

And the kid's like, why?

What what are you talking about?

He's like, we just want to bless you with the suit.

Guy walks out, and I come out, and John goes, I have never had anyone do anything like that.

You are Jesus Jr.

And let me tell you something.

This is a Muslim man.

And by me, Giving God did something in my heart, but God also started doing something in his heart.

So here's the thing both he and the owner become the biggest evangelist of me.

It was so awkward.

They kept their promise not to tell him who purchased the suit, but I should have been a little more specific.

Because they told everybody else that came in the store.

Yeah, there's this guy that comes in here.

His name's Tim.

Tim Ross.

Yeah.

Um he bought this guy's suit, the whole suit.

He just comes, he comes over and he's like, buy him the suit.

He just bought him the suit.

Do you know who that guy is?

You guys know?

We love that guy.

He goes to Gateway right across the street.

These dudes become evangelists for Gateway Church.

For everybody that walks through the doors.

Well, this guy came back in, and uh this is about 10 months later.

I happen to be in the area, so I stop by Czar.

I walk in, I greet John, I greet Roy, who is the owner, and I turn around to look at some new stuff that they just brought in, and I hear a voice behind me say, That's the guy that bought me the suit.

When I turn around, Chris is his name, is standing there with his mother, his father, and his girlfriend.

He's like, That's the guy right there.

Like it was an attack that happened to him early.

It's him right there, mom.

Well, they come over, and I'm like, what are the chances of you?

What are you doing in here?

He was like, Well, we were just about to go get something to eat, and then my mom was like, Let's go by that place where the guy bought you the suit.

Ten months later, on this random day, when I was just stopping by, you just decided to stop by.

Well, they all come in, and God does something supernatural for that entire family by bringing them closer to the Lord because I obey God and bought somebody a suit.

My inner Judas was working overtime.

Be prudent, be practical, and buy your shirt.

But if I had to purchase my shirt and not obeyed God, I would have been robbing myself.

From God doing something supernatural in my heart.

I want you to ignore Judas's voice today.

I want you to listen to God's voice.

I have one point.

I gave you three things about Judas.

I want to give you just one thing about Jesus, okay?

Just one point that I want you to have about Jesus.

Here it is.

Do whatever he says.

Just do whatever.

Do whatever he says.

I love what Jesus says.

Jesus says, hey, listen, the poor you're gonna have with you always.

But I'm not gonna be with you always.

Here's what Jesus is saying.

Hey, listen, I'm not saying uh uh uh that that you should ignore the plight of the poor.

What I'm saying is there's not a lot of opportunities that you have to do something as extravagant as the opportunity that you have in front of you.

If we don't write down a statement, here's what I really feel like Jesus' strongless, strongest implication was.

You'll always have an opportunity to do that.

But you won't always have an opportunity to do this.

You're always gonna have an opportunity to be a blessing to somebody, you're always gonna have an opportunity to give to the poor, you're always gonna have an opportunity to give to a charitable organization, but there's not many opportunities like the opportunities we have at Gateway Church to give extravagantly and it impact the entire world.

Literally the world.

Abroad and at home, what gets done here affects people everywhere.

And that includes me.

September of 2015.

Uh Pastor Robert and the elders uh richly blessed us and sent us out to plant Embassy City Church nine minutes down 114 on the other side of the airport so that we could reach that community.

Uh we had quickly grown to about 550 people uh at the church uh in the first four or five months.

Uh, but we were we were meeting, uh we we were uh spending$20,000 a month to meet one day a week.

And we knew we had to change some stuff.

And so there was a church that was about three miles from the high school that we had started the church in, and uh we asked them could we could we use their facility on a on a day and a time that they weren't using it.

So they allowed us to use their facility uh uh on Saturdays at 5 p.m.

So we went from about 550 people, adults and kids, uh uh through March of 2016.

But that first uh weekend in 20, uh the first weekend in April of 2016, when we went to Saturdays, we had 200 people that left our church.

And for the next eight months, uh our our our average adult attendance was about 250 adults.

But these people didn't just double down, they triple down in their giving.

So much so that we were able to give uh in 2016, with eight of those 12 months being on Saturdays, with an adult attendance of 250 people, we were able to give away as a church$253,000 to people that were in need to other churches and to expand the kingdom of God.

That's miraculous from 250 people.

The place that we uh uh were releasing from, the church that we were leasing from six months later, from the time we moved in, uh uh uh uh could not keep the building.

So they came to us and they said, uh uh, listen, we can't keep the building, but we would love to keep this building in the kingdom.

Maybe you can make a run at it.

Uh they they approached us with this offer the week of our one-year anniversary.

We were at one year old church, no S behind it.

Year.

Okay?

I said, Well, we don't have any money to do that, and I guess we're gonna have to go back to the high school.

So I came back uh to an elders' meeting uh the third week of September, and I said, Hey, I just wanted to give you all an update on the church.

Everything's going well, but we're gonna have to move out uh of the place that we've been leasing because um uh they're going into foreclosure and we can't afford it, and so we're gonna go back to the high school.

And in that elders' meeting, Pastor Robert looks at me and he goes, Do you want that building?

And so I said, Um, I do feel like God gave me a word that he was gonna give us the building, but I don't know how he's gonna do it, so we're just gonna go back to the high school until we can figure it out.

And he goes, Okay.

He said, uh, can you please recuse yourself from this meeting, please?

And I thought, what did I say?

I'm just trying to have faith.

So I walk out of the room and I'm out of the room for about 15 minutes.

Then they call me back in.

When they call me back in, uh uh I sit down and and and Pastor Robert looks at me and he goes, Well, Tim, you know how he is, very matter-of-fact, buddy.

We love you.

And you're our son, you're our spiritual son, and you moved out of dad's house and you found yourself an apartment.

I'm like, where is this going?

He said, But you found yourself a nice starter home, but you don't have enough money uh uh to purchase it, and you don't have enough money for a down payment, so the elders and I are in an agreement, we're just gonna buy the building for you.

And they gave me$2.5 million to go purchase the building that we are currently in.

I I I just want to let you know, our little church had given$253,000, and God gave it back to us 100-fold by giving us$2.5 million.

And through that extravagant gift, we were able to anchor ourselves in this community and provide healing and restoration in the city of Irving.

I'm telling you, giving is living.