A Woman Worships

Buddhism has the lotus as its symbol. Judaism, modern Judaism, has the Star of David. Islam has the crescent moon.

Marxism has the hammer and sickle. Christianity has the cross. Many of you are wearing a cross. We have a cross on the roof of our sanctuary to remind us that this is the very focus of our Christian faith. In fact, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is unique.

It is the greatest death that ever occurred. The Apostle Paul, the Apostle John rather, as he begins to write the last book in the New Testament, the book of Revelation, he says in chapter 1 verse 5 regarding our Savior, to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood. How do you know that Jesus loves you? We point to the cross. We think also of the power of the cross. There is no other power in all of the universe that can free you from your sins. You struggle with sin. It pulls you down. You realize if you pursue that line of conduct, young man, your life will be a disaster.

But often you feel powerless. John reminds us that it is the blood of Jesus Christ. It is the cross that not only demonstrates the love of God but frees us from our sins.

Isn't that wonderful? That's the hope of the gospel. And it's only in the gospel of Jesus Christ that we experience this divine love and this freedom from the power of our sins. I think of the Christian faith.

There's much that I don't understand, but I do understand this. It was at the cross where I first saw the light. It was at the cross, as the old hymn says, where the burden of my sin rolled away. Remember in Pelican Progress, the Christian comes to the cross, he's got this terrible burden on him representing sin, and he comes to the cross and the burden of his sin rolls away. And I do understand that, that it is at the cross where we understand the wonder of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the cheapest of sinners can have their sins forgiven and can become new men and women in Christ. And you'll never understand the Christian faith unless you understand the cross.

So what do you think of the cross of Christ? In the passage we're going to read in a minute, we see religious men, very surprising, but on the other hand not so surprising when you think of a religion without Christ. We see religious men plotting to put Jesus on the cross. Yes, they are conspiring to murder Jesus.

We're going to read about it. But in our passage, we see on the other hand, we see a woman, a woman anticipating the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and she does that with an act of sacrificial worship. Now in our study of Matthew, we come to Matthew chapter 26, I ask you to open your Bibles there, and we're now entering the last days of our Lord before the cross. It's the last week of the Lord's life prior to His death. For the last few weeks, we've been looking at Matthew 24 and 25, what we call the Olivet Discourse. It has now ended, it's the last extended teaching of our Lord, and now Jesus is about to be betrayed. Jesus is about to be denied, and He's about to be crucified. First we'll see the wickedness of men, and then we'll see the worship of a woman.

So this is Mother's Day, and we're going to learn, not just women, but for all of us, we're going to learn how to worship from the example of this beautiful woman. But first, verses 1 through 5 of Matthew chapter 26, with an act of wicked hatred, the religious leaders plot the death of Jesus. Matthew 25 then verse 6, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, we saw that expression at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we see it again here. Matthew is now making a good contrast, this extended teaching of Jesus is now concluded. He now says to His disciples, you know that after two days, the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him.

But they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. The opposition by the religious establishment to Jesus is continuing, it's unrelenting, it's ruthless. And now as we come to Matthew chapter 26, we've seen that pattern throughout the gospel, but now as we come to Matthew chapter 26, it's coming to a climax. These verses that we read occur on the Tuesday or Wednesday prior to the crucifixion.

Get the context. The night, the net is tightening. The dark shadows of the cross are looming over our Savior. And the religious leaders, yes, we read it. Verse 3, the chief priests, the elders of the people, they're gathering in the palace of Caiaphas, who's the high priest, and what are they doing there? They're committing a crime. They're conspiring to murder an innocent man. We've seen the resentment, even the hatred of the scribes and the Pharisees and the chief priests against our Lord. They've asked them all kinds of questions.

They've watched them. They've tried to trip Him up. They've tried to trap Him, but they've been unable to do so. And now, realizing that they can't trip Him up, they're conspiring to kill Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, as Matthew has reminded us as he introduced his gospel in chapter 1.

Their only hesitation is the timing of his death. Verse 4, they plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him, but they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. Jerusalem at this time is packed. The pilgrims from all over Israel, remember in Israel, ancient Israel, there were three feasts. And during these feasts, the families come from the little towns and villages all over from the north and the south, the east and the west, and they come up to Jerusalem.

They're coming up to the temple. It's the Passover time. It's the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the Passover was on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it lasted for seven days. What was the Passover? It was a commemoration. It was a celebration of the great event in Israel's history. What is a great event in Israel's history? The deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, the deliverance through the Red Sea, the amazing miracle of when God took His people who were slaves under the heel of Egypt, under the power, the mighty power of Egypt, and He delivered them. He'd done marvelous things, and He said, I never ever want you to forget that once you were slaves in Egypt, but now you have been redeemed. You've been saved.

You've been delivered. And the Passover was to commemorate that great event. Isn't it interesting? These men who knew the minutiae of the law, they knew their Bibles. It's the religious leaders who want our Savior dead. There is hostile opposition to Jesus Christ.

It had been in the shadows, now it comes right out. And in all places, in the palace of the high priest, they're conspiring to murder the only innocent man who's ever lived, our Lord Jesus Christ. People today, you know, are still hostile to Jesus.

Particularly, they're hostile to the message of the Gospel, the message of the cross. Today, people are quite happy to talk about their spirituality. They're even quite happy when you tell them that you're a follower of Jesus. That's wonderful.

That's cool, man. He was an amazing person. Wasn't this Jesus? Yes, but when you probe a little bit and you point them to the cross and you remind them that the Bible says that all of us have sins and that the only way of salvation is found in the cross.

It is through the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that there is forgiveness of sins, then the resentment goes up. You see, naturally, we are rebellious. These beautiful little children that stood here, and I'm sure their moms and dads would tell you, they're naturally rebellious.

Right? I said to one of the pastors, you know, preaching is difficult, but dedication is even more difficult because you never know what these little kids are going to do. The Bible says all of us are like sheep. We've gone astray.

Not only have we gone astray, we are rebels in our hearts. We do not want anyone to tell us what to do. That is true in a young child. You never have to teach them to say no, do you? Do this?

No, I don't want to do that. What is true in little children is true in big boys and big girls and is true of each one of us. We want to live our own lives. You want to be king of your own life. You don't want anyone telling you what to do. You're a human being. You're an individual.

You've got your rights. It's up to you to live your own life. Jesus comes and says no. If you're going to follow me, you're going to have to deny self. Take up your cross and follow me. The way of salvation is the way of the cross.

And here we have it illustrated by these men, yes, these religious men who are wanting to put Jesus on the cross. The question is asked, who killed Jesus? And you could say, well, humanly speaking, it was the Romans. It was the Jews. It was the executioners. It was the centurion. It was Judas who betrayed him. It was Peter who denied him. And it was Pilate, this weak Pilate, this weak judge who preferred power and prestige, rather than doing the right thing, and sent an innocent man to his death. They killed Jesus. And at one level, that's true. But the old hymn that said, were you there when they crucified the Lord?

Isn't it true? We don't like to think this because we think we're respectable people. But in our hearts, that's where we are. Crucify Him. I don't want this man to reign over me. Yes, I want a meek and mild Jesus that I can use, that I can pray to in a time of trouble, but I don't want this one to tell me how to live. Do you see yourself? Have you ever thought of this? Do you see yourself in a crowd at the cross with your rebellion against God?

That you are going to go your own way. Alexander White, the great preacher, tells the story of the man who had a dream that he saw Jesus tied to a living post, and the soldier is scourging him. And he looks at the terrible whip, the scourge at the hand of the soldier.

His thick lashes are studded here and there with bits of lead and bone, so that as they are brought down on the back of the innocent Christ, his back, as the Old Testament prophet said, is like a ploughed field. And as the man in his dream sees this, he's shuddering. When he sees the marks on the back of Jesus, and he sees the bloodstains, and as the soldier raises his hand once again to bring the lash down on the back of Jesus, the man in his dream rushes forward intending to stop him.

But as he goes forward, the soldier turns around, and the man in the dream sees himself. That's it, isn't it? Horacious boner, the hymn writer writes, "'Twas I that shed the sacred blood. I nailed him to the tree. I crucified the Christ of God. I joined the mockery. Of all that shouting multitude, I feel that I am one.

And in that din of voices root, I recognize my own. Around the cross, the throng I see, mocking the Saviour's groans, yet still my voice, it seems to be as if I mocked alone.'" According to Scripture, although we are held responsible for Christ's death, it was in the plan of God from all of eternity. In John chapter 10, the wonderful passage of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, Jesus says this, and only Jesus, the incarnate God, could say this, "'No one takes my life from me.'" Did you hear that? "'No one,' says Jesus, "'takes my life from me.'"

No human being could say that. He says, "'I've power to lay it down, and I've power to take it up again. This commandment, I've received from my Father.'"

That's wonderful, isn't it? What happened at the very birth of Jesus? Our enemy tried to kill him as wicked Herod put the decree that all little baby boys from two and others in the district of Bethlehem were to be killed. As our Lord is a man, on the occasion, on his hometown Nazareth, they take him and they try to throw him off the brow of the hill when he walks through their midst. John in his writings said several times about the Lord as the people tried to kill him, they said, no, his hour had not yet come. Don't think of Jesus as a victim ensnared in circumstances of men over which he had no control.

Yes, it's true that men are held responsible for Jesus, but beyond that, it's in the wonderful purposes of God that this is the plan of salvation. So on the day of Pentecost, Peter stands up and says that Jesus was delivered up, listen to this, according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. And we read in our study earlier in Matthew that Jesus said He'd come to give His life a ransom for many. And in Matthew, there are four times when Jesus predicts His death. We read of one of them here in verse two.

Did you know this? Here is Jesus saying, you know that after two days the Passover is coming, the Passover being beginning on Friday, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. He's predicting His own death. Now is the time chosen by God from all of eternity in the eternal decrees of God, a time chosen for His Son to die. He is the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. This is God's plan of salvation. Paul's going to say that Christ is our Passover Lamb, and He has been sacrificed.

He is the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world. This is why you cannot escape from the cross of Christ. It is central to the Christian faith.

No, it's not just some nice ornament that you wear around your neck. It is, in fact, the very center of the Christian faith. And so I have to ask you, what do you think of the cross? Do you think of Jesus Christ? As you think of the cross, do you see a Savior?

We sang about a King, about offering a sacrifice to the King. Do you see Him as the King? Do you see Him as the great Lord? Or do you see Him as someone who interferes with your life? Someone who interferes with your plans? Someone, young man, who interferes with your pleasures?

Who's a bit of a spoiled sport? No, He's not somebody who really gives us joy. He's there to take away our joy. Or do you see Him as the Lord of glory, coming to die for your sins? So in the first five verses, we see with an act of wicked hatred, the religious leaders plot Jesus' death. Now, Matthew is a very skillful storyteller. He tells us the story. He tells us the verses about the religious rulers wanting to kill Jesus. Now, we're going to tell the incident about this beautiful woman in an act of worship. And then, as we'll see next week, He's going to talk about Judas, who's all about money. Now, verse six of Matthew 26.

You're following this? Now, when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to Him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment. And she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant saying, why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, why do you trouble the woman? For she's done a beautiful thing to me.

For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she's done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. With an act of sacrificial worship, a woman anticipates the death of Jesus.

Here's a group plotting His death. Here's a woman who realizes that Jesus is going to die and brings an act of sacrificial worship. This woman, we know from John that she's — her name is Mary.

She's unnamed here, but she's probably the sister of Martha and Lazarus. And she worships Jesus with sacrificial devotion. She breaks a costly bottle of ointment, of perfume, and pours it all over the head of Jesus in a loving and sacrificial act of worship. Here is a woman worshiping her Savior. It's Mother's Day.

How many mothers here worship the Savior? Now this was, first of all, it was an extravagant act. Mary had an alabaster stone flask.

The other gospel writers, Mark tells us, it was pure, that was undiluted nard, possibly coming from North India. It was a very expensive ointment. It could have been a heirloom.

It could have been passed down from generation to generation. This was something very expensive. Mark tells us, through the voice of the critics, that this could have been sold for 300 denarii.

Now in those days, if you worked all day, you got one denarii. So 300 denarii is almost a year's wages. Anyone here is going to take a year's wages and present it to Jesus? That's a lot of money, isn't it? Verse 7, it was very expensive. The gospel writers want us to understand that this was a very extravagant thing she did. Worship.

I remember being taught this as a little boy. Worship is costly. That is true worship is costly. Love for the Savior doesn't count the cost. This woman held none of the ointment back.

She gives her very best in this act of extravagant love. Mark tells us, in fact, she broke the flask. It doesn't have that nice little top on it, and you could pour a little bit on Jesus and then keep most of it for yourself.

Isn't that what you would have done? That's not the point. She breaks it. All of it is poured out on her Savior. That flask of ointment could never, ever be used again.

In one loving gesture, she pours the whole bottle, the whole flask over the head of Jesus. It was extravagant. You're very extravagant in worship. You're a very frugal kind of individual. You're saying, well, I'm keeping this for the rainy day.

When's the rainy day ever going to come? Have you ever done anything extravagant for Jesus? Or are you always so cautious, so conservative, so calculated, so measured in what you do? Yes, you want to worship Jesus. You want to serve Jesus, but you want to play it safe.

You want to see where to hedge your bets. Learn from Mary. Use what you have in your service for Jesus. This was an extravagant act. Someone broke in and spilled out just for love of you, Jesus. My most precious treasure lavished on thee, broken and spilled out and poured at your feet in sweet abandon.

Let me be spilled out and used up for thee. It was an extravagant act. Secondly, it was a beautiful act. Notice what Jesus says in verse 10, for she has done a beautiful thing to me. Jesus describes this as beautiful. It wasn't just extravagant.

It was a beautiful thing. John in his account tells us that the whole house is transformed with the fragrance of the perfume. You know, when you worship God, mums at home, you worship God.

That changes the whole dynamic of the house, doesn't it? I was brought up in a very godly home. My dad read his Bible every day.

He knew the Bible. But it was my mother who produced, as it were, the atmosphere of the home. A woman does that, doesn't she?

Particularly a godly woman. And as you go in, there's just something about the house that when people are following Jesus Christ, when they're living for Christ, that impacts the whole house. We had Brooke sing that beautiful song, no one ever cared for me like Jesus. As she sang it, I thought that is a beautiful thing, isn't it?

A young woman singing that. And that transforms the whole sanctuary, isn't it? All of us are drawn in as we think of someone who's worshiping God. Now the critics saw this, verse 8, as a waste. Why this waste? This could have been sold for a large summon given to the poor. Jesus saw it as an act of beauty, a beautiful, unexpected, spontaneous act of worship. Can you picture anything more beautiful than that? Mary pours it out over the head of Jesus.

Not only was it extravagant, it was beautiful. Secondly, it was a courageous act. Here are people who are plotting to kill Jesus. Now this is a male-dominated culture, first century Israel.

And here is this woman. It took tremendous courage with all of these men present for her to come and to anoint Jesus. Here is an act of worship done openly.

Don't do it secretly. It's done in the house of Simon the leper. The apostles are there. The apostles are there.

They're not impressed. And we know it was Judas who was the spokesperson, but he seemed to be representing the other disciples. See, when you worship the Lord, particularly in an extravagant way, in an unusual way, there's always critics, aren't there? There are people who put a price on everything. Ah, this could have been sold and given to the poor. That sounds very, very spiritual, doesn't it? Throughout my ministry in different churches, I've heard us anytime we seek to do anything. Like three years ago when we renovated the sanctuary, people say, oh, that money could have been used for the poor. You say, well, yeah, but how much are you giving to the poor?

People are very generous with other people's money, aren't they? Yes, that's true. It's true what they said, but they didn't understand the priority of worship.

They were bean counters, small-minded people. And we know, of course, that Judas was a thief, and he would have loved to have sold that flask of ointment and kept back some of it for himself. You know, when you're worshiping, don't allow the legalists, don't allow the critic to stop you from worshiping God. This was a courageous act. Worship takes courage. Students praying in the dorm, going to a secular university and making it known that you're a follower of Christ, that takes courage, doesn't it? Speaking up in the classroom when the professor is attacking Christ, that takes courage. Coming to worship here today, for some women, when your husband, your father, your brothers are against you worshiping and ridicule you and try and stop you coming, that takes courage, doesn't it? Witnessing for Jesus takes courage.

It was an extravagant act. It was a beautiful act. It was a courageous act. This woman had courage, didn't she?

Oh, she's quiet. She's unassuming, but she's strong. She understood what Joshua said, be strong and courageous. This woman is courageous. It was also a timely act.

Mary seizes the opportunity. A flask of ointment dating back to the first century was found near the Dead Sea. It was wrapped in palm leaves and it was hidden and had lain there for almost 2,000 years. Someone had it, perhaps the same kind of ointment as Mary, and someone hid it and said, oh, I'll need that for a rainy day. I'll just keep that. I'll hide it.

Never used. But Mary, in a very timely act, at the right moment, breaks it and pours it over the head of Jesus. Never again would she have the opportunity to do this. Jesus is about to die. You say, what point are you making, John? I'm saying this. When prompted by the Holy Spirit to do that act of worship, to do the act of service, to give that money, to step up and serve the Lord, to tell your neighbor about Christ, take that opportunity. Do it and do it now. Too many of us are too guarded. Too many of us are procrastinators. We put it off. Oh, another time. I'll do that another time. No, tomorrow you may not have the opportunity. All of us here have regretted, missed opportunities, haven't we, for worshiping God, for serving God? No.

Use what you have in an act of sacrificial love when prompted by the Spirit. You say that sounds foolhardy. Was this woman foolhardy? Do you not think God was well able to take care of the future of Mary?

Of course He is. It was a timely act. Next, it was a significant act. Jesus says in Mark chapter 14 in the parallel passage, says something beautiful about this woman. He said, she did what she could.

Don't you like that? She did what she could. She did it in generous abandonment. God doesn't expect you to do what you can't do. You can't help the whole world, but you can help one person. You can't share the gospel with everyone. That's true, but you can share the gospel with someone in your family, your next door neighbor, the person the next cubicle at work.

You can do that. See, this was a significant act. Mary held nothing back. What gives significance in the Christian life in worshiping God? Doing the right thing at the right time. That's what it means to be led by the Spirit, isn't it? To sense God has placed me here at this point of time to do this act, to help this person, to shine for Jesus Christ, to be kind to this person, to give this money, whatever it is, I'm going to worship God because all of my life as followers of Christ, we believe that all of life is to be lived for the glory of God.

It was of course, as Jesus says, it was a memorable act. Verse 12, Jesus is saying, don't worry about the poor, you've always got the poor. Jesus is not saying that we shouldn't help the poor. We should, there's plenty of scriptures on that, but that's not the point. There's something of a higher priority. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.

Think about it. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she's done will also be told in memory of her. She goes down in history for this act of love for her savior. She had special insight into the mission of Jesus.

This act was a memorial of his death. She knew that he was going to die. How did she know that? She had sat at the feet of Jesus. She had listened to Jesus. And she knew what seemed to have escaped the apostles, that Jesus was going to die. He was going to be buried. Can you imagine as she poured that on the head of Jesus and went right down to his feet, were told that the fragrance of the ointment must have been on Jesus clothes during these days of his passion. No, he didn't go home and change his clothes.

No, he would have worn that. During the betrayal, during the trial, that he's finally stripped of it, and it's going to be divided by the Romans. It was a memorable act. So look back on your life. Have you done anything that's memorable? A lot of our life is based on trivialities, isn't it? And I realize in life, most of it is routine. Most of it is humdrum, although that is still to be lived to the glory of God.

But there's times when we do something, don't we? I trust we do as a church, as a family, as an individual in your business, which is truly memorable. This was a memorable act. Lastly, it was an insightful act. This was a spiritual woman. This is a woman who loved Jesus, and her act anticipated the Messiah's death.

She had done it to prepare me for burial. A deeply spiritual woman who had sat at the feet of her Lord. She had far greater insight than the 12 apostles. One of them, Judas, was concerned about the money.

The other seemed just to be quiet who went along with it. But she realized that Jesus had come as the suffering Messiah, and so she anointed Him for His burial. What spiritual insight?

You see, where did that come from? Sitting at the feet of Jesus. Can we say, she knew her Bible. She read her Bible. She listened to Jesus. An act of sacrificial love anticipating the death of Jesus. A death which is only days away. An insightful act. So, I ask you, what's your response to this? What's your response to Jesus? I hope it's not outright rejection like the religious rulers.

I hope it's not that, but it may be. It may be you're hostile. If that is the case, can I ask you to read the Gospels? And as you read the biblical account, can I ask you to pray to God and say, if there is a God, reveal your truth to me because I'm hostile to you.

Will you do that? Do you have a critical attitude? You know, a critical attitude often conceals our own spiritual staleness and carnality. As these men looked at the women worshiping, you could almost hear them saying, oh, that's a bit over the top, isn't it? Just like Mary, always putting herself in the center of things, always drawing attention to herself.

Can you hear the comments? Carnality, isn't it? No, Mary didn't do this out of a legalistic obligation. She did it out an act of love with spontaneous abandonment.

What an example. Worship for all of us is to be our first priority. It's Mother's Day. Mothers, do you worship with your children? You say, John, that's easy for you.

You don't know what I've got to deal with. Ours is a busy house. Well, I was brought up in a very busy house. And my mother worshiped. You say, how did she do that? Did she stop what she was doing and had a little service every day?

No, she didn't do that. Every night, my father gathered us and opened the Scriptures and read to it. No, my mother did something different.

And, in fact, what my mother did, I think, impacted us even more than what I learned from my father, although I appreciated my father's teaching. My mother had a way that women can have of bringing Christ right into the home. She had her Bible. She had her Bible in the kitchen. It had pieces of butter on it.

It had pieces of grease on it. And she read her Bible. And as long as I remember, my mother always was the first up in the house. Every time I came down, expecting my breakfast to be ready, it's still something I expect.

I said expect. My mother had her Bible. And more often than not, we'd share something of it. She loved Old Testament history. She loved reading about David and the kings.

She shared something about it. As we would leave to go out in the evening, as we got older as teenagers, my mother, and even more my grandmother, who was my mother's mother, who stayed with us during the winter months, would quote what Paul says in the shipwreck in Acts 20 to 27. Paul says that he remembered to whom he belonged and to whom he served. Our ESV says, whom we worship.

The point is, Paul is saying, listen, I belong to Christ and I worship Christ. And in terms of the shipwreck, everything is fine. So as we would go out in the evening, my mother and certainly my grandmother, we used to joke and say it spoiled many a good night. We would be reminded, remember to whom you belong and to whom you serve. That was good advice, wasn't it? Young men going out into the world, going off to university, remember to whom you belong. Ah, you belong to Christ. Remember whom you're serving.

You're not serving the devil. Remember Christ. Keep Him first. Mothers, can you do that with your children? You say, well, I wish I had a husband who read the Scriptures.

Don't have that. Listen, if your husband is not taking the leadership spiritually with your family, you do it. Be courageous. Be strong. God will help you. Don't opt out because you've got a lazy husband or because you've got an ungodly husband or your husband is not even a follower of Christ. Moms, you do it.

And remember that love lavish on Christ is never wasted. She's done what she could. You say, John, I feel very inadequate. Every single mother does.

If you ask my mother, she would say she did a very poor job. But you do what you can with God's strength. You've got a difficult child. You've got a difficult circumstance. You've got some disability. Life is hard.

That is true. But you do what you can. Martin Luther said, I've tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all. But what I've given into God's hands, I still possess. This woman takes everything she has and puts it in the hands of God.

Will you do that? It was her most precious possession. What's your most precious possession? What's the thing you value the most? Your family?

Your career? It's your bank balance, your portfolio, your pleasures. Whatever you value the most, put it in the hands of Jesus.

Because if you put that, everything else follows. This woman understand, understood what Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Will you do that? Will you do that today in an act of prayer? Surrender everything to Christ. That's what it means to follow Jesus.

Will you do that? Two or three Saturdays ago, I had an unusual experience. I was at home studying for Sunday, and it was one of these tough days. I was thinking about our son, Christopher, who passed away. It was a difficult day. All of us have difficult days, don't we? Not just with bereavement, but with circumstance. It was a tough day. And even when it's a tough day, I've still got to prepare to preach. And I was at my desk, and the doorbell rang.

I went to it, and there's a man saying he wanted to clean our windows. And I said, oh, and he said, well, my wife actually was in touch. I thought, okay. And I said, well, you know, go ahead. And so we got talking, and he said, well, you've got screens, and we have to take all the screens off first. I thought, okay. And he said, well, let's do that. I thought, you know, you expect me to do it.

I thought you were here to work. So he came in, and we have a lot of windows. I never knew we had so many windows. And we started taking down these screens. And as we're taking down these screens, we got into conversation. And it turned out he was a follower of Christ. And he said to me then, he said, well, do you have any children? And I thought, I don't want that question.

Please. I didn't feel emotionally ready to discuss the death of her son with this stranger, but who now I realize was a fellow servant of Christ. And I said, well, we did have one son, but he's in heaven. And we began to talk. And he shared some of his struggles, and we began, as brothers in Christ do, to have some fellowship. And took down the last screen, and I said to him, well, you've got to go to work.

I thought, you're not expecting me to go up in these ladders, are you? So he did. He came back, rang the doorbell, and he said, well, I finished. And I said, well, I think you've done a good job. But I said, my wife will tell you whether you've done a good job or not. She was more meticulous than I am. So I then said to him, I said, now, how much is that going to be? Because I checked with Goodney, and she said, well, we're going to pay so much a window. And my wife is a terrible negotiator. I embarrass her if I ever start bargaining with people.

I have no such problem. But so I thought, OK, you know, she's made a deal with this guy. So, I said, well, how much is it? And he said, he said, nothing. I said, what? He said, no, he said, we're talking. He said, you said, everything we have belongs to the Lord.

And he said, he said, you've gone through a hard time. And he said, my business. And he was just starting his business. And I was prepared to pay him whatever he asked. And probably would have given him a tip. And I said to him, no, you've just started your business.

I need to pay you. He said, no. He says, I realize that my business belongs to Jesus Christ. And that everything I have is His.

We had talked. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The Lord gave us our son for 37 years. The Lord takes him.

The Lord gave little Samuel for two years. Takes him away, right? It's true of business. It's true of everything we have, isn't it? And to live life, as Luther says, understanding that everything you have, everything that you have achieved belongs to Jesus Christ.

That's tremendous freedom, isn't it? Because I was thinking before he came in, in my sadness, I thought, you know, I always anticipated my son being around when we were even older than we were. Who's going to take care of us? And that very day, here is God reminding me, as we heard saying, no one ever cared for me like Jesus. And I tell you, if you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all of these things will be added to you. You put Jesus Christ first. Follow Him in total abandonment, looking for His strength and wisdom each day. The Lord will bless you and pour His grace on you. Father, help us in our worship. We're easily distracted.

We easily get off course. But I pray that we'll be like this woman. And again, I pray for the mothers here.

Thank you for them. Whoever they are, some young, some older, some strong in their faith, some weak, and I pray that you will help them. We pray for godly homes. I pray for the dads as we honor our wives and our mothers and our sisters and our grandmothers. Above all, we honor you and we know that everything we are and have comes from your gracious hand. And how you remind us that each day you give us our daily bread. May all know Christ. We ask in His name. Amen.