Judas The Coin Collector

If we are going to enjoy life, we have to have a sense of humor. God has a sense of humor. I know some folks have the idea that God sits up in heaven and never cracks a smile.

But I do not believe that, I sincerely believe God looks down upon what He has created and has the same kind of joy that we grandparents have as we watch our grandchildren.

Illus: God has to have a sense of humor:

• Just look at a giraffe, hippopotamus, or a monkey and tell me that God does not have a sense of humor. Anyone who would create something as strange as these critters has to have a sense of humor.

• Just look how God gave children this unlimited energy, knowing that it is our job as adults, who do not have half the energy, to try and keep up with them and to watch over them to keep them from killing themselves.

Yes, God has a sense of humor.

Illus: There used to be a television program in the 50’s starring Art Linkletter, that was called “People are funny”. All of us who have watched it did so with much laughter.

But you really do not have to watch that television program any more to get a laugh. Some of the best laughs we have are found at the local malls; just watch people. For example:

• Look at some of these young boys walking around wearing blue jeans that are ten times too big for them. They are constantly trying to pull them up. They act like they can’t figure out how to solve that problem.

• Watch some of these young girls wearing their little sister’s blue-jeans that are ten times too small for them. It makes you wonder how they ever got them on and how they will ever get them off. They will have to call 911.

• Look at some of the haircuts that these young people have these days. I can remember when if you went to a barber shop and came out looking like some of these young people, you had a good law suit.

• Look at these men and women with tattoos all over their bodies. Didn’t anyone tell them that those things don’t come off?

• Look at these people who have earrings every place imaginable on their bodies.

Art Linkletter was right … PEOPLE ARE FUNNY! But sometime they are downright RIDICULOUS!

It would be fun to be able to look in the MIND of some folks and see what they are using for a brain. They say there is no such thing as a perfect vacuum, but I am not sure that is true anymore! We can’t look into the minds of people, but we can look at their life, and their life tells us what is important to them.

Let’s look at the lives of three people in this sermon, and you may see yourself in one of them. Let’s look at-

I. THE WOMAN

Look at Matthew 26:6-7. We read, “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.” There has been a great deal of speculation about where this took place.

Many make a great deal of WHERE this happened. The thing that is important in our text is not WHERE it happened, but WHAT happened!

WHAT DID THE WOMAN DO? The Bible says, “There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.”

WHY WOULD SHE DO SUCH A THING? It could only be for one of two reasons:

A. SHE LOST HER MIND

This happens to some people, in fact, I think I know some who have lost their minds. When people lose their mind they do some dumb things.

Illus: Three men die and are waiting at the Pearly Gates when St. Peter tells them that there will be a slight delay, but not to worry, he will have Albert Einstein visit with them during their wait.

• Albert arrives and introduces himself to the first man and asks, "What is your IQ?" to which the first man answers, "241." "That is wonderful!" says Albert. "We will talk about the Grand Unification Theory and the mysteries of the Universe. We will have much to discuss!"

• Albert introduces himself to the second man and asks, "What is your IQ?" to which the second man answers, "144." "That is great!" says Albert. "We can discuss politics and current affairs. We will have much to discuss!"

• Albert goes to the third man and asks, "What is your IQ?" to which the third man answers, "51." "Excellent!" exclaims Albert. “We can talk about NASCAR!"