He Is Good | The Widow's Offering | Mark 12:41-44 | Coleton Segars

We are in a series and have been for uh almost two years uh in the Gospel of Mark and titled it He Is Good because Mark titles his gospel This is the beginning of the Good News of Jesus.

And so we've been talking about this for uh a while, uh, but today we're finishing up chapter 12, and this is chapter 12, verses 41 through 44.

This is the teaching text.

It says that Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.

Many rich people threw in large amounts, but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, Truly I tell you, this poor widow, she has put in more into the treasury than all the others.

They all gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything, all she had to live on.

This is the word of the Lord.

Um if you're like, came to church the first time, brought a guest, and of course we're gonna talk about giving today.

We're not talking about giving today.

It's close.

I mean, there's a little bit in there, but we're not really talking about that.

Um but there are a number of things in life that uh serve as like object lessons, like things that you can look at in order to learn from.

And you just you call it an object lesson, and that's what it is.

Like, for instance, like a scoreboard.

You don't, it's not saying anything, it's just an object lesson.

You can look at it and it tells you something.

You can learn something for uh from it.

So, for instance, I have a couple of scores here I just wanted to point out.

I just chose these at random.

But uh it's just this is just something to but you see that it you learn something from it, right?

Something about dominance.

And um, anyways, it's an object lesson.

Um I uh always want to keep sports and God separate, but this was a perfect illustration, and it happened yesterday.

But truly, it's an object lesson.

All right, get it off the screen, go back because I get struck down up here.

Um but it's an object lesson, those things work as that.

The reason I say that is because Jesus uses this woman.

The disciples are not around staring at this woman.

They're we don't know what they're doing, but Jesus has to be like, hey, fellas, please come over here.

And then he draws all of their attention from wherever it's at and draws their attention to this one woman and uses her as this object lesson, like you need to learn from her.

There's something about her life that you need to see and be made aware of, and you're not looking at her, and there's something that we can learn from her life.

And so, what I want to do today is I want to uh look at three reasons why Jesus is trying to focus the disciples' attention on this on this woman.

Three reasons why he's like, look at her, learn from her, ways that she's an object lesson to teach us things in our lives.

And so, three reasons.

The first, Jesus points to this woman and points out this woman and draws our attention to her.

Because not only for the disciples, but also for us, he wants us to be obedient with the seemingly insignificant stuff.

He wants us to be obedient with the seemingly insignificant, the small things that you're like, what's that gonna do?

What's that possibly gonna do?

He wants us to be obedient like that because that's what this woman does.

Verses 41 and 42, Jesus sits down and he's watching these people put these things in.

Many rich people are throwing in large amounts, and people are probably going, That, that's some strong obedience.

That money is gonna do a lot.

And then this little widow, this poor widow, came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a few cents, actually, less than a penny today is what she's tossing into the temple treasury.

The temple treasury was this place where you could bring your love offerings, your gift offerings, but most of it was used for the day-to-day stuff in the temple to like make sure stuff continues to function for repairs and all the rest of it.

Like you would use it to like make sure the temple functions correctly.

And you have to imagine that when all these large amounts are being dumped in, that everybody's going, that's gonna, you see that gift being given, and you're like, ooh, now we can go buy this thing.

Now we can go repair that thing.

And then this little lady shows up and she drops in two things, and they're probably like, that's what are we, you should have just kept it, lady.

Like, we there's nothing we can do with that.

Those things are probably just lying all over the ground everywhere because they're so so small.

So it looks like it's this insignificant thing.

Mark Strauss in his commentary says this that people would bring their offerings for the temple, put them in these 13 trumpet-shaped boxes, and the widow placed in the box two copper coins called lepta, the smallest coins in circulation in Palestine.

Their value was only a few cents, again, less than a penny today.

Two lepta could almost purchase a handful of flour, almost.

So the idea is like this can't do a lot.

I think we have an image of what the lepta actually looked like.

And so, like, I think like even in diameter, they're less than a centimeter across.

They're very, very small.

But the point that Mark Strauss is making is like, these can't do a lot.

They can't even buy a full, like a one singular meal.

There's just not a lot that you can do with these things.

And again, I think people watching this happen, and maybe even the woman herself, might have thought, this isn't going to accomplish much in like the realm of the temple and what needs to be done.

This is probably not gonna do that much.

But she chooses to give it anyways, even though it's insignificant, even though it might not do a lot, she still she still chooses to give it anyways because she's like, I'm just gonna be obedient.

I'm called to give, I'm called to bring offerings to God, and so I'm gonna do that thing, regardless of what they're gonna be able to do with this in the long run.

I don't I'm not gonna give based on how significant my gift is.

I'm gonna give based on the fact that he calls me to do that.

And so she gives with the things that are seemingly very, very insignificant.

And to me, I think Jesus points to this because he wants us to actually think about that as well.

He wants us to be people who give to him, give him obedience, or give to him, you know, financially or sacrificially.

He wants us to be people who offer our obedience to him even when it seems like it's insignificant, like it's not gonna do a lot.

And I think what can happen many times is we we walk into these spaces with God where it's like, I know you're asking me to do this, I just don't think it's gonna do anything.

Like, what is forgiving that person who harmed me or hurt me or, you know, whatever?

What is forgiving them really going to do?

What is prayer really going to do?

You want me to stop and pray?

Like, what is that actually going to accomplish?

What is reading my Bible actually going to do?

It's just reading words off a page.

What are those things actually gonna do?

And many times, because it seems insignificant, it actually leads us into a space of disobedience because it's like I'd do it if it would do something, but it's just too small.

It just looks like it's not gonna do a lot.

And so for us, we have that problem.

It leads us to disobedience many times.

And then also the reason it's an issue is because there are insignificant things all throughout the scriptures that God calls his people to do that are actually that's fun.

Um leaf blower up there, no big deal.

Um but there are insignificant things that happen in the that that God calls people to do in the scriptures, and through those really small, insignificant things, it's like, what is that gonna do?

He does these incredibly powerful things.

And you see this all throughout the scriptures.

And so Jesus is drawing our attention to these things to go, don't let the insignificance of whatever it looks like lead you to disobedience.

Also, remember, I do powerful things through weak things, I do incredible things with the insignificant stuff.

And so all throughout the scriptures you see, Moses, God tells him, raise your hands, take your staff, raise your hands over the Red Sea, just do that thing.

And he he had to be thinking that.

If if the Israelites are watching him do that, are probably like, what's that going to do?

How insignificant is this?

And then all of a sudden, from that little bitty insignificant obedience, like the the split the seas are split in two and they walk through, and the people of Israel delivered.

This happens with Joshua.

How are we gonna take Jericho down?

How are we gonna win this battle?

It's like I need you to walk around the city, do it once every day for six days, and on the seventh day, walk around it seven times.

And it's like, what is that going to do?

Like it's like we actually need to fight.

We should be like trying to tear these walls down.

And he's like, honestly, if you just do the insignificant thing, I'll tear the walls down for you.

And so he does that.

And then you see it with Samuel.

He tells Samuel the prophet, go to Bethlehem and anoint this shepherd boy that his dad forgot he even existed, but he's with the sheep, he'll bring them.

Like, go anoint that kid uh as king over Israel.

And it's like, what's he gonna do?

And then David turns out to be the best king that Israel has ever seen until Jesus.

And so you see these things taking place where all throughout the scriptures, God uses very, very insignificant things in order to do incredibly powerful things.

Jesus does this as well.

He does it with the uh water being turned into wine.

That that miracle, if you remember, it began with, they're like, hey, what should we do?

And he's like, you should take some cisterns, fill them up with water, and that will lead to an incredible miracle.

That will be the thing that actually does it.

But it begins with somebody just being obedient with a really small thing.

Like just go pour water into that particular thing.

He does this with the feeding of the 5,000.

Just grab some fish, grab some bread, tell everybody to sit down, and then just pass it out to them.

Really insignificant stuff.

But what's that gonna do?

It's like, well, it's gonna lead to one of the incredible, most incredible miracles you've ever seen.

And so on and on, like you could just walk through the scriptures and go, when does God flex his arm and do the powerful stuff?

Is it through like these huge acts of obedience?

And it's like, honestly, no.

He does a lot more powerful things through things that seem very, very insignificant.

And to us, because it seems insignificant, like what is that actually gonna do?

It leads us to go, I'm not gonna do that, which then hinders what he actually wants to do because he loves to work through weak things in order to do powerful things.

And so what God is doing and what Jesus is doing in this passage is just seeking.

Please focus your attention on this woman who everybody is looking at that and going, just keep it, lady.

Like, just there's that's gonna do nothing in the long run.

And he's like, I need you to see this.

She's faithful and she's obedient, even in the midst.

That's my time, folks.

We gotta go.

What is happening?

Are y'all able to pay attention?

Okay, because I'm not even listening to myself at this point.

I'm just waiting for the next thing to happen.

Oh, that's so good.

All right.

Somewhere in here.

Hold that in your mind, okay?

It is important.

He does powerful things through insignificant things.

I don't want us to be disobedient, and I don't want us to miss out because, like, honestly, I don't know what that's gonna do.

I know you're calling me to do that.

I just don't think it's gonna do anything.

You want me to forgive them, you want me to say I'm sorry, you want me to confess my sin, you want me to do that stuff.

It's like that's not gonna do anything, and so I'm not gonna worry about it.

It's like he is trying to work powerfully through insignificant things.

I was reminded of this last week.

We were in New York, and uh, me, Randy, and Teddy went on vacation, and we walked past uh in Times Square, we walked past Times Square Church.

And if you know anything about Times Square Church, or if you don't, I'll tell you.

Uh there was this man named David Wilkerson who founded that church, but before he founded that church, he was a pastor in this small little church in Pennsylvania.

And um, every night, as a pastor, he wanted to watch TV, which I totally get.

Just to wind down, like it's a tough job, it's a weird thing.

And so I just want to wind down and watch TV and uh and then go to bed.

And so that's what he did.

And then one night he felt like God was telling him to stop watching TV for two hours before he went to bed.

And instead of doing that, don't watch TV.

Just pray for two hours.

Just spend that time kind of, just spend it with me.

Don't don't veg out and kind of numb yourself.

Like, just spend that time with me.

And so he's like, okay, I'll do that.

And then what happened is as he did that, he he was praying to the Lord one day and he was looking at Life magazine as he was praying, and um, or maybe he was just vegging out and like, honestly, this is prayer is boring, so I'm gonna read Life Magazine.

I have no idea.

But Life magazine, he sees it and he sees this image here of these gang members that were being um at a murder trial for murder, and um, as he's praying, and he's praying for these boys, he feels the need to pray for these boys, he feels the need to do all that stuff.

And then he just hears God say, like, go to New York and help those boys.

Go to New York and help those boys.

And so, like, he doesn't know anything.

He's he's not he's not a pastor in New York, whatever, but he goes to New York, he ends up helping these boys a ton, starts this street ministry that he's preaching to the gangs and he's preaching to people who are high on drugs and things like that, and he starts this ministry that ends up saving the lives and saving the souls of so many of these gang members.

One of them was Nikki Cruz that began his own ministry uh and doing this incredible thing.

And then uh in 1987, he uh starts this church in Times Square.

And he says in his reports, like Times Square at that point was like not this, it's not what it is today.

Nobody was hosting stuff there, like, bring your kids.

You weren't doing that in Times Square then.

And he felt like God was telling him, like, you should be here planting a church, you should start a church in Times Square, and it's still there today.

And so it's just like one, it's an incredible story.

It's told in this book called The Cross and the Switchblade.

Um, and so you should read it, it's a great story.

But what's interesting to me is like it began with turn the TV off.

Like that was it.

Like, what God, how can I serve you today?

And it's like, could you turn the TV off and just talk to me for a minute?

And it's like, okay.

And so this very small, insignificant thing led to the lives of so many people being changed and transformed, and a church that is still there today, that's still actually doing the ministry of the gospel in the city of New York, which is a very difficult place to do ministry.

And it's just this beautiful testimony of like, what can he do?

It's like he likes to take insignificant stuff, just small acts of obedience and blow your mind and do incredible things.

And I've experienced this in my own life.

Literally just praying one day and saying the words like I'm surrendering my life to you, Jesus, um changed everything about my story and my space where I was going.

I made it just, and I don't even know how much I meant it.

I think I gave him six months.

I was like, I'll give it to you for six months, and then I'm gonna take it back if you don't do a good job.

Um and he did a pretty good job.

But it changed my whole life.

Um, reading the Bible every day, even when I don't want to, reading the Bible every day has been the most formative, life-giving, life-shaping, life-altering thing that I've ever done in my life.

It is the most formative thing that I've ever done.

Going to counseling when I didn't want to go to counseling saved my marriage and and has led it to where we are here today.

And we have an incredible marriage.

But it was going to counseling, like, what is what should I do?

Just go to counseling.

Just go ask for help.

Would you just humble yourself enough to just tell them that you don't know what you're doing?

And maybe she doesn't either.

Like, will you do that?

And doing that thing changed my life.

Turning the other cheek and not retaliating at a difficult time in my family's journey with um extended family, uh, doing that when I was being berated and yelled at, and I just felt, in that moment, I felt God saying, like, just take it.

Just take it and then respond with kindness.

Say something to bless them.

And in doing that, all of the vitriol was poured out on me, and like my next words were not words that I wanted to say, but words that I felt like he was telling me to say.

And I blessed that person, and it just, I mean, it just broke their heart, melted them completely, and a relationship that had been just divided for so many years came back together.

Just by, I'm just not gonna respond in anger.

Fasting and praying, you'll know that all that's changed the world around me.

So just small things and all of them, all of that stuff, and probably for David Wilkerson as well, um, you probably experience those small things and go, like, what is this gonna do?

And the truth is, it's like it all feels like that, but you don't experience what it can do until you actually do that thing.

And I think that's where we get stuck so often.

It's like, I don't know what this is gonna do.

It seems so small, it seems so insignificant, so I'm not gonna do it.

And then we don't experience it, and then we go, see, it does nothing.

It's like, but you didn't actually do it.

You didn't actually take that little insignificant thing and give him that obedience in that insignificant way.

And so for us, I think Jesus points to this woman because she wants, he wants us to follow him like that, to like look at the things and it's going, look, I don't know, this seems so small, but I'll do it anyways because you told me to do it.

He wants us to follow him like that, to give him that obedience so that he can work powerfully through the insignificant.

Okay.

During that point, which is my longest point, during that point, 50 things went wrong in the room.

Did y'all hear that?

We good?

You got it?

Okay.

All right, perfect, thank you.

All right, number two.

Jesus points to this woman and points her out to us because he wants us to be obedient and to follow him even when it costs us.

Even when it costs us something, even when it's a sacrifice.

He's like, I want you to be obedient to me, even when it hurts a bit.

And it will hurt to be obedient to Jesus.

And this is what this woman does.

She could have kept one coin for herself.

It's still a sacrifice.

I just gave you half of my possessions.

And she did.

She gave both those things.

She was obedient to God and gave even when it came at a great cost to her.

Verse 44 says this that they all gave out of their wealth, Jesus says, but she, out of her poverty, she put in everything, all she had to live on.

And the words don't do it justice.

It's like she she literally is giving up her life to God.

One of the commentators says this, he says, the final Greek words of the chapter might be paraphrased, she laid down her whole life.

In doing this, she was obedient to God, even when it was like, this might kill me.

This literally might, and we don't actually know that it did, I doubt that it did, but like, this might kill me, and I'm gonna give it to you anyways.

And Jesus points to this woman because he wants us to be willing to follow him like that, to be obedient to him, even when it's like, if I give you my obedience, I don't know if I can live without that thing.

I don't know if I can live with myself if I'm obedient to you in this way.

If I give you this obedience, it's gonna feel like pain to me.

It's gonna feel like it's gonna kill me if I if I forgive that person, it feels like it's killing me.

I don't know that I can do that.

To say that I'm sorry, they need to say they're sorry.

That's gonna feel like it's killing me.

And he's like, I need you to follow me like that.

I need you to be willing to follow me, even when it comes at great cost to yourself.

C.S.

Lewis talking about the actual act of giving generously or charitably, he says that giving in a way that feels like a sacrifice is the only way to know that you're actually giving correctly.

So this is what he says.

He says, I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give.

He goes, I'm afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.

In other words, if our expenditure or comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we're probably giving away too little.

If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say that they are too small.

There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditures exclude them.

And I think that's interesting, just the idea of going like, it's supposed it's baked into what it means to follow Jesus, to actually be in a space where it's like, you want me to do that?

That's gonna hurt a bit.

That's gonna cost me something.

And he's like, that's the way that this works.

It will cost you something.

But it's not just with our giving, it's also with every other aspect of our lives.

It is with just daily, random, faithful obedience to Jesus.

He wants us to give our obedience, not just our money or our tithes and offerings, whatever, but to give our lives and our hands and our feet and our eyes and our mouths, like he wants to give all of those things to him in a way that like even if it costs you, I want you to be obedient and follow me in those ways.

Being obedient to God in all of those ways, even when it costs us something.

And the reason he wants that is because if you choose to stop obedience when it gets hard, or you choose to stop obedience when it costs you something, you'll never actually be obedient to what he's wanting you to do.

You're never actually going to follow him anywhere because I believe every aspect of him asking you to follow him.

He's like, take it, lay down your life and then come and follow me.

You won't actually follow him anywhere if you're unwilling to follow him when it costs you something.

If you're unwilling to follow him when it's a sacrifice, you won't actually be obedient to Jesus.

You won't forgive.

Because to forgive is to someone did you wrong, and a cost needs to be paid.

They need to do something to pay off the cost.

They did something wrong, a cost needs to be paid.

To forgive that debt is to take on that cost yourself.

And so I'm letting them off the hook.

And I guess I'm just gonna have to live with what they did with me.

And I'm called to forgive them, but the cost falls on you, it doesn't fall on them.

And so we'd never, if we're gonna, if we if we only follow God when it's I'll follow you when it doesn't cost me anything, then you're never gonna forgive because the cost has to be paid, it just has to be paid by you.

He's asking you to take on the debt and to let them go free.

And he's asking you to do that because that's what he did for you.

If we won't follow him when it's a sacrifice, we'll never admit that we're wrong.

It will cost me my reputation.

It will cost me making me look bad.

I have the upper hand here.

It will cost me the upper hand if I tell them that I was wrong too.

I have leverage right now, I can't lose my leverage.

And so I'm not gonna say that I also played a part in this.

I'm not gonna say that I was also wrong in this, because I can't lose that.

That comes at a cost.

And so you'd never admit that you're wrong.

You would just live with your pride, not sacrificing your pride.

You can't do that.

We won't serve the poor, not my fault they're poor.

Why should I why should it cost me my time and my money?

It's not my fault that they're poor.

Why should it cost me anything?

And so we won't serve the poor.

We won't live with within our means, we'll just go into debt.

And you're like, I can't, I can't sacrifice my need or my wants, and we call them needs.

I can't sacrifice what I desire.

Like, I can't do that.

That will cost me not getting what I actually want.

And so then we'll spend beyond ourselves and then find ourselves in a ton of debt.

But you could keep going in all of these different things.

It's impossible to follow Jesus if we're unwilling to follow him and we won't actually do it when it costs us something.

It's impossible to follow him that way.

Because you won't actually follow him.

It'll cost you too much.

And if we're unwilling to do things that cost us, you'll have a terrible marriage.

You're like, I'm unwilling to do something that costs me.

Then your marriage is gonna be, it's gonna suffer.

It's gonna be really bad.

I know, reigning me, um, I know in any argument that we're in, I can win.

I know I can win.

Um, because when we got the fight or flight, when that was Divi Dow, she got flight and I got fight.

I'm ready to throw down.

Not literally, but like I'm like, bring it.

I'm ready to, and I know all I have to do, I just need to get a little louder, I need to get a little bigger, I need to plant my feet and make sure that she knows that she is not going to, I'm going to get my way.

I know I can win every argument.

I can get my way in every argument because she has flight and I have fight.

And if I choose to live into that and press into that and not sacrifice and not do something that costs me, if I choose to like, I could win, or I can have the conversation.

If I choose to press into that, I can get everything that I want and not sacrifice, but I will lose my relationship with her.

Like it'll just die.

It'll kill it, it'll crush it, it'll crush her.

I'll get everything I want, not sacrificing, not gonna, not gonna take on any cost, but I'll lose her in the process.

You'll have terrible marriage if you're unwilling to sacrifice.

Be terrible parents.

It would, if when Teddy was born 10 years ago, if I was like, I still want to live like I'm in my 20s, like he just needs to join my life.

Like just join into my life, do my thing.

I'm gonna keep going, doing all the stuff that I want to do.

You need me to read to you?

Come on, dude, read to yourself.

It's fine, you'll be fine.

Like I'm like, I'm not, I have stuff to have goals and plans and desires, I have a dream and a vision for my life.

Like you can try and get into my thing, but I'm not changing anything, anything to help you grow up and develop.

I'm not going to do that.

You can jump into my thing, but I'm not coming down to your level and trying to help you in any way.

If I did that, I would still, I would have everything that I want in some ways.

I would have all these different things.

And I'm like, this is great.

I just live, I yeah, I got a kid, it's great.

But I kind of do my own thing.

And then he would suffer for that from neglect, and then she'd probably divorce me because I'm a terrible father.

Like, that's that's just the truth of it.

I'd be a terrible parent if I didn't do things that cost us.

Because raising kids is a sacrifice the entire time.

And you're doing that so that the other person can flourish.

And that's what Jesus is trying to get us to do, is like, y'all think we all do, I'm Jesus is like, you all think I'm asking you to sacrifice, I'm asking you to do things that cost you, and you think if you do it, it will kill you, but actually it's killing you not doing it.

And if I'm I'm trying to save you from yourself, I'm trying to get you into this space where you don't get everything that you want and lose the things that are the most valuable.

And so when he's asking us to do that, and he's pointing to this woman, and he's trying to show us like she gives, even when it costs her, I want you to do the same thing.

I want you to live inside this space where you were just able to look at me and go, you're asking a lot of me.

This is gonna cost me, this is gonna sacrifice, but I'm gonna do it anyways.

That's what he's trying to get us to do.

Um I've used this image before, but we were at the um uh City Museum, go to the next slide, uh, and Teddy got stuck, and uh we were we were there for like we've been there for three seconds.

It was like, and then immediate tears.

This is parenting.

Um but and uh I snapped a photo because it was just the perfect illustration and moment, uh, and then I helped him, but photo first.

Um but what's going on is like he climbed up into this thing and got stuck, and to his left is an exit, and to his right it is is an exit.

Um he just is terrified and got too scared to go left or right, and so he keeps trying to do his thing.

He's like, I can I think this bar can come loose.

Like, I think this is the way we can do it.

And I was talking to him trying to calm him down or whatever, and Rainy was too, and we're trying to calm him down, but he just wouldn't have it.

Strong, strong will, hard head gets those both from me, some from Rain.

Um, but just would not do it.

And hated where he was.

I hate that I'm stuck here.

I hate that I'm trapped in some playground prison.

Like I hate this.

And it was just like he and but he loved that and chose that for a long time.

He loved the prison more than he was willing to actually sacrifice what he wanted to do and do what I wanted him to do.

And so he stayed stuck a lot longer and he stayed trapped a lot longer, and he cried a lot more, and it was like looking at him, trying to explain like if you will just drop doing things your way, if you will just sacrifice your way and do things my way or your mom's way, what we're telling you to do, we are not trying to hurt you, we're not trying to get you more stuck.

This isn't a ploy to get rid of you as our child.

Like, we are actually trying to help you.

If you will just sacrifice doing things your way and go left or go right, you will be free.

Like it's not hard, but it was like this sacrifice to him, like to do things his own way or to set it down and to do things our way.

And I think there's so much truth.

Like snapping that falls, like, this is all of us.

Jesus is going, I'm not trying to hurt you.

I'm trying to set you free.

I did not give my life to imprison you.

I gave my life to set you free.

All of my words, every command that I give you, every demand that I place on you, even if it cost you to sacrifice, it is not a sacrifice unto death.

I died so that you can live.

And so it is a sacrifice, but it will lead you into more and more life.

It will cost you something minor, but lead you into something much greater.

And so for us, he points to this woman and he's like, she is doing something that I want everybody to do.

I just, I want people to look at me and be obedient, even when it costs them something, because I, he knows, he's like, I know that if you will do that, you will actually lose a handful of things that are lesser.

And you will lose those things, but you will actually find greater riches on the other side.

And so he calls us to look at this woman because he wants us to actually give our obedience and give even when it costs us something.

And then the third, he points to this woman because he wants us to trust him, trust him like she does.

This woman has a significant trust in God and he wants us to trust him like she does.

This woman literally entrusts God with her whole life.

I do not know where my next meal is coming from, but I know the God that called me to give is the same God who will then, if he calls me to give, then he's the same God that's gonna protect me and provide for me in the midst of my nothing.

And so if he's asking me to do something, he's good enough to ask, and then he's good enough to actually prepare something for me as well.

She trusts God even when her future is uncertain.

I don't know what's gonna happen, but I'm gonna trust him anyways.

She trusts God when it doesn't make any sense.

And Jesus points to her because he's like, I want y'all to trust me like that.

And he's pointing to the disciples and going, look at this woman.

Y'all are about to enter into a time in just a few days, and in Mark's telling, where Jesus is gonna be crucified and they're just gonna be like, the future is incredibly uncertain.

And he's pointing to this woman.

And then you're gonna be excited when I come back from the dead and you're gonna be a little freaked out and all this stuff, and then you're gonna go into this space, into Jerusalem and all these things, and like you're gonna be completely uncertain.

Like you're supposed to share a message that's gonna transform people's lives, and you're gonna be sitting there going, like, what are we gonna do?

You're gonna walk with me in spaces that are uncertain, where the future is uncertain, where you don't know none of this makes any sense.

And I want you to see her trusting God, trusting my father.

Look at her, trusting me even when the future is uncertain.

And I want you to learn from that.

And so he points to her because he wants us to trust in him like that.

I heard this incredible story um recently of a man named Charles Blondin.

He was a tightrope walker in the 19th century, and in 1859, um, he became the first person to walk across the Niagara on a tightrope like 1,300 feet long.

Um and so one article says this.

I think I think we have a photo.

Go to the first photo of this.

Yeah, there he is.

That's him in the middle of the Niagara.

But one of the articles said this.

He said, 25 people, 20, excuse me, 25,000 people showed up for this stunt.

And most bet that he was doomed to plunge 200 feet to his watery death below.

He set out from the American side shortly before 5 p.m.

And when Blondon was a third of the way across, he sat down on a cable, signaled for the famous mate of the mist to anchor beneath him, and then he let down a rope to the ship and hoisted up a bottle of wine and a table in order to enjoy a glass before getting up and uh going the rest of the way across the falls.

And then we have that photo there.

And so he did this a lot.

It wasn't just this, like he took a wheelbarrow across one time, and like I think he actually took a stove out there and made an omelette one time, and he did backflips things.

He was really good at it, he did this a ton.

And um at one of the performances, he was always trying to up it.

He was always trying to go a little further, a little further, a little further.

And so at one time he asked anybody in the audience, like, hey, do you think I can make it across?

Yes.

And he's like, Okay, I'd love to carry one of you across.

Does anybody want to go?

No.

Uh and so no one wanted to go across with him.

And so he was like, All right, he looks to his manager.

Uh, his name is Harry Colcord.

He looks to his manager, he's like, Harry, you're up.

And so Harry has to get on his back, and uh, and they're they're gonna go across the Niagara with Harry on his back.

And he says this, which I thought was just an incredible quote.

Blonden says this to his manager before they went across.

He says, Don't look down.

Look up, Harry.

You are no longer Harry Colcord.

You are Charles Blondon.

Until I clear this place, you must be one with me body, mind, and soul.

If I sway, sway with me.

Do not attempt to do any balancing yourself.

If you do, we will both go to our death.

There is only one thing for you to do sway with me.

And after this, and so you have the photos there of them going across.

Uh, after this, Harry uh said this, and he was he was fond of saying it, he said it a lot.

He says, I learned more religion on that wire that day than in all my life.

I learned that the only safe and sane way to live is to sway with God.

I just love that idea of both.

Like Charles Blondin's saying, like, look, don't do any of the balancing yourself.

If you try and help me, if you if now if you would just give your whole life to me, if you would just trust me completely, then we're gonna be fine.

But if you trust me 90% and 10%, you try and help me a bit, we're all gonna die.

Like, I need you to understand that you have no will here.

There needs to be one will.

One way, one will.

I need you to trust your entire life and just give your life to me and let me become you and you become me, and all of a sudden I will get you into that space.

And he says, I learned that the only safe and sane way to live is actually to sway with God.

And I believe that's the kind of trust what Blonden was asking for from Colcord.

That's the kind of trust that Jesus is asking for from us.

Just going, I need you to trust me like that.

I need you to trust me that when I make a decision to lead you out over a cliff, that I'm not going to kill you.

I need you to trust and follow me in the midst of those spaces.

This is what Solomon says in Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

It's probably some of your favorite verse.

Um, but he says, Trust in the Lord.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.

And the implication of him saying, like, don't do the things that make sense to you.

Don't lean on your own understanding.

Meaning, God is going to lead you into spaces you're going to go and where the heck am I?

Like, what are you asking me to do?

Like, I this doesn't make any sense.

And Solomon's going, been there, that's why I wrote this down.

Don't lean on your own understanding.

You will be in spaces that you do not understand.

He will call you to do things that you do not understand.

He will lead you into different worlds and different places where you're like, I don't know how this is going to work.

And he's like, I just need you to trust me in the midst of that.

Do not lean on your understanding.

In some ways, he's saying, do none of the balancing yourself.

Don't try and help me.

If you look at God's plan for your life, for the things that he calls you to, and you're like, hey, I appreciate that.

That's interesting.

Really great.

I have a better idea, and I'm going to like do some of your idea and then some of my idea.

And what Blonden is saying is, Harry, if you do some of your idea and some of my idea, we die.

And what God is saying, if you do some of your idea and my idea, you will not experience the life that I actually have for you.

You will experience the destruction and the death that comes from you.

C.S.

Lewis says that in one of his, we don't have the quote, but one of his books where he says, like, if you hold on to anything that you call your own, like, God, you can have all this, but I'm going to hold on to this one thing.

He goes, anytime you hold on to anything that you would call your own, you hold on to a piece of death.

That's what you're holding on to.

And what God is trying to get us into is to get us into a space where we're like, I'm not going to do any of the balancing myself.

I'm just going to trust you completely with my life.

And so Jesus calls us into that space.

And what he's trying to do for you and for me, what Jesus is trying to do is he is trying to really, he's trying to do what Blonden did.

He's trying to lead you into something that you cannot get into on your own.

Like Harry Colcord, the manager, had never, still to this day, he's never walked across the Niagara.

And if it was just him trying to do it, he never would have done it.

But because he gave his life to Blonden and allowed Blonden to actually do it, he was able to enter into a world and into an experience.

It's like, I could never have gotten here on my own.

And Jesus is trying to do the exact same thing.

The reason it doesn't make sense what I'm asking you to do, or the obedience I'm calling you to, the reason it doesn't make sense is because you can't get here on your own.

You don't understand what I'm asking you to do because you don't understand where I'm actually trying to get you.

I'm trying to lead you into peace and joy and hope and love.

And I'm trying to lead you into these things that are so beyond your imagination, you don't understand why.

How in the world will this help me get there?

How in the world, what is what is this going to do?

And it's like, it's trying to get you out to this space that you cannot get to on your own.

And so the command doesn't make sense, or my leadership doesn't make sense over your life because I'm trying to get you into a space that you've never actually seen.

And that's what he's trying to do.

The only issue for us is that it takes being trusting or trusting him enough to actually allow him to do that.

It takes us going, like, look, I I don't understand how this is gonna go.

Everything that you're asking of me seems uncertain.

Um giving my life to you feels like, what are you gonna do with it?

Like, what are you gonna do with with my obedience?

Like, what is it?

Just seems uncertain.

He's like, if you will just trust me enough, it'll actually get to that space where you actually experience something you've never experienced before.

That's what he's trying to do.

This woman that Jesus points to trusts him like that and trusts God like that.

Like, I just I trust you enough with my life.

Whatever you choose to do, I know it's better than what I could do.

And so I'm just gonna trust you and follow you in the midst of it.

And Jesus is like, look at her, please follow me like that.

I want to lead you into spaces that you cannot get to on your own.

And so when it doesn't make sense, do none of the balancing yourself.

Just let me get you there.

So, a couple of questions by way of application, and then we'll go.

God wants us to be obedient even with the seemingly insignificant stuff.

And so for you, next slide.

There we go.

For you, where is Jesus calling you to follow him?

But you ask the question, what difference will it actually make?

He wants you to be obedient with the things that seem insignificant.

And so, where is he actually asking you to go?

Like, I need you to follow me in this.

But to you, you're going, is it really gonna do anything?

Is it actually gonna change anything?

I know what the scriptures say, but is it actually gonna make a big difference?

Because it feels like a big change.

But is it actually gonna do something big in my life?

He wants you to follow him with the things that you go.

I don't think that's gonna make a difference.

And so I don't know what that is for you.

And there's probably a billion things, but it could be just offering somebody forgiveness.

It could be actually believing in Jesus and giving your life to him and going, like, man, I've been in church for a while, but I that surrendering thing, like, I need control.

And so I don't know what that is.

But anything that you look at and go, I just don't think it's gonna change that much, those are the things that he likes to work to through to do really, really powerful things.

Second, God wants us to be obedient even when it comes at a cost.

And so, what is God calling you to give even though it costs you?

Even though it will feel like I can't live without it?

What are your two mites?

The things that you're going, if I give my obedience to him in that way, it will feel like it's gonna kill me.

What is he asking you and calling you to give even though it will cost you?

And then third, he wants us to trust him even when it doesn't make sense.

And so, where is he calling you to sway with him?

To move with him.

I'm going this way, and I know it feels like we're gonna fall, but just sway with me.

I know it feels precarious and it feels like this is insecure, and I don't actually know.

And he's like, I just need you to move with me.

I will not drop you.

I am leading you into a space that you cannot get to on your own.

Just move in my direction.

Lean on him and his understanding.

Don't lean on your own.

Where is he calling you to just trust him even when it doesn't make sense?

My encouragement to you is to actually do that.

To trust him, to do all those things, to give him the insignificant stuff, even when it feels like it's gonna do nothing, to give him your obedience even when it's gonna cost you, and then to trust him even when it doesn't make sense, because he has proven, he has proven that he is faithful, he has proven that he loves you, he has proven to you that he will do anything for you, even the cost of himself.

He's the one, like this woman gave you know two of her pennies at the cost that it might kill her.

He's like, I actually didn't lay down my life for you.

I laid down my entire life for you to actually take care of you.

I was the one that gave at great cost, even though it was gonna cost the greatest thing, it was gonna cost me my entire life.

And so he has proven to you, I am willing and ready to take care of you, to provide for you.

I will do things for you that you don't even know that you need, but I have shown you I am willing to do everything possible, even lay down my life, in order to actually lead you into a space that's better than where you currently are.

And so we can trust him with the insignificant and the things that cost us and the things that make no sense because he has proven he is trustworthy, he will care for us.

And so my encouragement to you is wherever you, however, you answer these questions, and however you walk through these spaces and you're going, like, I think he's asking me for this, don't look at it as like this is such a big thing.

I can't believe it.

Like, look at it as like he's trying to give you something greater than whatever that thing is.

He's trying to actually lead you into a space that you cannot get to on your own.

He is not a cruel taskmaster, he's not a cruel villain or some uh domineering dictator.

He is a king who is laying down his life for his people and he's trying to lead us into better spaces.

And so my encouragement to you is to trust him in that.

Thank you for.