It’s Not About Me Anyway | Cornerstone Church

Do you ever struggle to keep the right perspective?

Maybe you’re blessed but you don’t always feel like it Maybe you’re living in something now you prayed for 5 years ago, but it’s still a chore
Maybe you have some people around you that you take for granted, instead you focus on who left you
10 people can tell you good morning when you walk into work but you’re offended by the one person that didn’t look up to tell you
You can have a great conversation with someone and walk away thinking about one thing they said that offended you

It’s easy

To lose sight of what we have
To focus on what we’re missing
To forget and lose sight of what life is all about
to get discouraged by the mistakes you make
to be offended by little things people say

Today, I want to challenge us… this isn’t an easy message, but an important one

SET UP: John 12

This is the final week of Jesus’ life and is kind of the climax of his ministry and why he came
Jesus knew that the Jewish leaders were about to arrest and kill him
He knew that, but he still returned to Bethany – only 2 miles – from where his enemies were

Why?

So that he could spend some time with his friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus

Remember them?

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11 In fact, some assume that they are hosting Jesus as king of a “Thank You” for raising Lazarus

Let’s pick up the story in John 12:1

John 12:1-11

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

In typical fashion, Mary

MADE IT ALL ABOUT JESUS

She was so in awe of Jesus that she took this expensive perfume, poured it on his feet, and then wiped his feet with her hair. Not practical, but purposeful

This is a telling thing Mary is doing

It’s probably the most humble act of reverence we see in the New Testament

In this culture, her undoing her long hair in public was a sign of vulnerability something Jewish women did not do

In Judaism (and in many other cultures in the ancient world), hair was associated with woman’s self-worth and respect.

She’s essentially placing her self worth at his feet – becoming nothing for his sake

She’s really taking the position of a slave

She’s coming to Jesus, and she’s saying…

I know who you are
I know what an honor it is to be in your presence
I’m serving you and will do whatever you ask
I know this isn’t about me

The perfume is also significant

We read that today and we think… ahh, it’s $50-75

that’s expensive, but not that big of a deal

In reality, This expensive perfume would have cost about a year’s worth of wages ($25-30k)

It could have been her entire life savings

And she’s willing to offer it to Jesus – no practical purpose

The presence of Hesys will cause us to do some seemingly impractical things

she would have had to break this jar to get it opened

important because this is permanent – it shows her commitment to worshipping him
It shows that she’s all in

It’s a spontaneous, sacrificial, lavish, and personal act on her behalf

She gave her most valued possession.

Here’s a question… What do you value most?

Your home
Your work
Your money
An accomplishment
A relationship
A possession

If you’re a believer, Would you be willing to give it away if Jesus asked you to?

>And I don’t know if you noticed, but did you see the effect it had on everyone in the room?

(Vs. 3)

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

The fragrance filled the entire room

Here’s what I’ve come to learn

Not necessarily from my own example, but from others who are much better at it than me

When you live in full commitment to Jesus – realizing it’s about him and not us it changes every room we walk in

It changes your environment
It changes your home
It changes your place of work

People can feel it when someone that has this kind of relationship with Jesus is around

Have you ever met those people?

People who you see and you just see God all on them

It’s not because they tell you
It’s not because they carry a Bible everywhere
It’s not by their T Shirt that has a fish on it
It because they use big words
It’s just them

If you were to ask her what’s different about her, she wouldn’t even know what to say

What it is, is a life lived in response to the person and love of Jesus

he has changed her motives
He has changed how she looks at the world
He has changed her priorities
He has changed the speed at which she lives life

Can you imagine…

A life lived with an awareness and humility that says,

It’s not about me anyway… it’s about him. I’m just gonna walk with Jesus and see what happens

Can you imagine the freedom that would come from that?

You wouldn’t have to impress others
You wouldn’t have to be concerned with getting recognized
You wouldn’t be fighting for what’s ‘yours’

This isn’t the only time we see Mary take this posture… Remember the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10?

Another time, Jesus comes to their home
Martha is doing what many of us would do and is working to make sure things are perfect while Jesus is there
Mary is seated at Jesus’ feet, listening to him teach
Martha comes to Jesus and tattles on Mary and says, “Tell her to do something to help me and quit sitting here!”

Then Jesus responds to her…

Luke 10:41-42

But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Mary consistently lived with this awareness that it just wasn’t about her.

It was about this King
She lived undistracted

Let’s continue the story…

4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

While Mary made it all about Jesus, Judas

MADE IT ALL ABOUT JUDAS

Do you have any of these people in your life?

Who always seems to promote themselves and make everything about them?

It always comes back around to how great they are or how much of the victim they are

They see someone else succeed and turn the conversation to themselves

Some of these people are one-uppers

Someone did something good or accomplished something
And they come back and say “Yeah, I remember when I did that, except better!
Someone is hurting And they’ve hurt more
People who get offended by other people’s success?

Joy tip:

Cheer others on. There’s enough success to go around. God blessing them doesn’t mean he’s out of blessing

That seems a little bit what Judas is doing here…

He’s seen Mary love Jesus in a lavish real way and he seems offended

But why?

This wasn’t about him – this was about Jesus
I think that’s a valuable lesson we can learn here…
Many times, we make it about us, but most of the time, it’s not about us
Seriously, we have a good ability to always think it’s about us…

We have an offense-first culture

Do you know what the core of Judas’ outburst is here?

Mary hit on something he knew was a problem in his own life
She was doing something that he wished he had the heart to do
He knew he had a greed issue he knew that ultimately, he should be doing the same

That’s often were offense comes from, isn’t it?

It’s not necessarily what someone says or does, it’s how we view it through our own insecurities and shortcomings

It’s pretty clear that Judas already knew that he would betray Jesus here

He would sell Jesus for about $300
You know, be the one to point out to the Jewish leaders who to arrest and crucify

So in this final week of Jesus’ life, he sees Mary doing something that was a priority of hers and he gets offended

And uses the excuse… what about the money!

Because he has an issue with money

Offense doesn’t produce any fruit that we want to have…

Offense shrinks your joy to the size of what offends you.

If correction offends you, you won’t be happy at work
If bad language offends you, you’ll miss the fulfillment of sharing God’s love
If being passed on the interstate offends you, you’ll be an angry driver
If someone not speaking to you offends you, you’ll be offended everywhere you go
If truth offends you, church won’t be a joyous place
If broken people offend you, you’ll be mad everywhere

Offense produces

bitterness
resentment
mean-spiritedness
anger
insecurity
retaliation
coldness
a critical spirit
A “it’s about me” life

None of those things lead to a joyous life

And he says, “Mary, you’re wrong! We should give that to the poor!”

Did you know that these are the first recorded words of Judas in the Gospels

and they are him reprimanding someone Jesus is about to praise

This account happens in Matthew 26 as well

I think it’s clear that…

A life about Jesus fills a room

AND

Life of Offense spreads → When we’re offended, we’ll typically try to get others on our side

“See what they did?”
“See what they said?”
“You don’t like them either, do you?”
“You should be offended, too!”

Offense happens when we perceive our character or flaws are being highlights

Here’s the thing though…

We all have flaws

We’ll all have moments where we’re offended by what someone says or does

But a person who is trying to make it not about them…

think through how they feel
try to understand the heart of the other person
remember, it’s not about them anyway

In fact I’d say that being offended is human; living offended is a habit

And here’s Judas arguing that the faithful lady who made it all about Jesus is doing something wrong

Judas’ name is now synonymous with being a traitor
Whether you’ve been in church or not, you’ve heard of being a “Judas”

Why? Because he would go on to betray Jesus

Because he never dealt with his issues

Having issues is normal, but refusing to deal with them is reckless

Jesus responds to this

7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Jesus isn’t saying the poor aren’t important here

He’s actually making this statement to Judas
He knows Judas is throwing out this idea as a cover up for the fact that he really wants the money
He wants the money.. he doesn’t want to give it to the poor
he’s a thief and Jesus knows this
Jesus is telling him “So leave her alone!”

A life lived for Jesus will cause us to understand more about Jesus

We can tell a lot about ourselves by what we’re willing to give to others

How generous are you?

With your time
with your money
With your encouragement
with your priorities
with your willingness to serve

So the question we have to ask ourselves

Do I live life with an “It’s not about me” mentality or do I focus my life on myself

Remember: It’s not about me anyway I’m gonna be like Mary. At feet of Jesus. Eyes locked