After all...Jesus is a people watcher and he is watching us. Can't you imagine... Jesus is sitting next to our Father in heaven. He leans over and says to the Father, "Abba...check that out...what is doing."
I trust this message will be helpful to you. After all, Jesus is watching.
“Check that Out!”
** Jesus is a people watcher…
…to hide away in a corner, somehow, to watch how
people lived.
Mark 12:41 – “Jesus sat down opposite the
place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money
into the temple treasury.”
Note: Not to make you nervous, but Jesus watches
us…he’s watching now…
** And in the course of this people watching,
Jesus made a few observations about what
he saw and SHARED THOSE OBSERVATIONS with the people who would listen.
Check
out the blindness of the religious…
** The teachers/rabbis/scribes/Pharisees were all
highly educated… prepped for their careers…obsessively dedicated to the Jewish
traditions… on paper - incredibly committed…
…YET…
…they were completely wrong about Jesus…
…they were completely spiritually BLIND because they
were TOO religious.
Mark 12:35 – While Jesus
was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “How is it that the teachers of
the law say that the Christ is the son of David?”
Point:
Dedicated…but to a “FORM” of religion, not faith…leads to a false sense
of Security…
…blinds us from what God is doing,
especially when God is doing something NEW!...
…it robs us of the ONE THING
that helps us get closer to God.
App Truth: It’s a relationship that
makes us close to Jesus, not religion.
Recap: Jesus is
basically saying to the average person at the Temple – “Check out those
teachers…
…so religious, yet so far from God.
Check
out the destructiveness of the pedestal…
** The teachers of the law claimed to be so holy/righteous/pure
according to the Law…
…yet behind closed doors
– they were despicable humans who preyed on the weakest of their day: the
Widows…
Mark 12:38 – As he taught,
Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law…”
“Devour”… to
consume…
ILL: Flesh eating bacteria… long, slow,
painful death.
…and the worse thing…they
didn’t even fathom they were phonies.
Application: Seek the attention and approval
of One.
Recap: Avoid the temptation/destructiveness of the
pedestal.
Trans: After people watching…Jesus denounces the
teachers of the law for their religiousness and phoniness…
…but then he said -
Check
out the full commitment of the widow…
Mark 12:44 – “…she [gave]
out of her poverty, put in everything –
all she had to live on.”
Can I tell you what I think is the the best thing
about this story…she didn’t even know Jesus
was watching.
Note: She was NOT impressed with her gift as the rich
giver was about his…
…but JESUS WAS IMPRESSED!
Point: I want to apologize for what the
church has taught you about giving…
…(not this church, but the American
mainline church)…
Application: Beware of the “tipping
God” syndrome. God notices the generous
giver.
Note: Here’s the
good news… if you would take God seriously, like the Widow did by giving
“Everything”!
Point: You/I cannot out-give God
CONCLUSION
** If I had to summarize the point of these three,
back-to-back teachings by Jesus it would be this:
1.
Jesus is looking down on his church/on Royal Palm
Church/on each person sitting in your pew/on each person on the chancel…
…and he
leans over to the Father and says,
“Check that
Out…”
2.
When the Father “checks us out” does he see the
religious phonies – simply “Playing Church” -
that are like the teachers of Jesus’ day?...
…of does our Heavenly Father see the Fully Committed
that was the Widow of the Temple that Jesus observed?
Note: You know…
…to be the Fully Committed…
…you don’t have to be rich…and you certainly don’t
want to be religious…
** To be fully Committed starts
with a genuine Relationship with Jesus…
…that leads us to be faithful even with the LITTLE
things we have.
FINAL THOUGHT:
So, when Jesus says to our Father, “Check that one Out”…
…what does he see?
PRAYER
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