INTRODUCTION:
Play the scene from “Facing the Giants” “nobody wants to say ‘We’re Number 6’”.
Though we might not say it publicly, many people are more than happy being “Number 6”. Many people are happy living in mediocrity. The last two Sundays here at Trinity have been incredible. God has moved in incredible ways in both the morning and evening services. To be honest, the Holy Spirit has been on the move here for the last 8-10 months. Where we go from here is up to us. We can stay content with what we have accomplished or we can allow it to give us an insatiable appetite for more………that “more” being more of JC presence in our lives, more of JC in our opportunities to serve Him, and more of JC effecting our friends, neighbors and our community.
This morning I want us to look at the Passion scene and see the difference between being content in mediocrity versus having an insatiable appetite; specifically an insatiable appetite for JC.
Read the Scripture reference.
I. There are two kinds of people in the world:
A. People who have an insatiable appetite for something.
B. People who are content being mediocre, like the crowd.
1. The beginning of the week they are worshipping and following JC.
2. End of the week they are worshipping and following the Chief Priests.
C. People who are content being mediocre simply follow the crowd without having an opinion of their own or a passion for anything. They simply exist.
II. Some people can have an insatiable appetite but for the wrong thing.
Radio personality Paul Harvey told the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin.
"First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. "Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. "He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the Arctic night. "So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue. Nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own warm blood. "His carnivorous appetite just craves more—until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!"
A. The Jewish leaders had an insatiable appetite for power and tradition.
B. Pilate had an insatiable appetite for power and his (political) career.
C. Barabbas had an insatiable appetite for his cause; he was a zealot.
D. The Roman soldiers had an insatiable appetite for power and brutality.
E. The two criminals possibly had an insatiable appetite for violence; they were probably terrorists because theft is not a capital offense.
F. Do you notice that each of these individuals have a need for power and control? Sin is often like that.
III. JC had an insatiable appetite to serve His Father.
A. He allowed the Himself to go thru a “Kangaroo court”:
1. No binding decision could be made at night by the Sanhedrin so they met again in the mrng.
2. A capital punishment decision was supposed to wait 24 hrs in case there was a witness to be found for the defendant.
3. NO charge could be found against JC that was valid.
B. He endured the spitting, hitting, lashing, and nailing to fulfill God’s purpose.
IV. JC gives people an insatiable appetite to serve Him when they let Him.
A. Simon had an insatiable appetite for JC after carrying His cross.
B. The Roman centurion went from cruel torturer to a believer in JC by simply witnessing JC death. (Even in death JC demonstrated His power and control.)
C. The ladies that followed JC had an insatiable appetite to serve Him. JC had touched each of them in a different way but it had the same affect on each of them.
CONCLUSION:
How about you this morning? Do you have an appetite for anything or have you given up? Have you made yourself content by living in the past? Maybe you have sold yourself short and are content being “number 6”.
If you have an appetite, which of these characters do you relate to? Has sin gotten the best of you? Have you allowed a desire for power, career,lust, tradition or something else to cause you to miss out on knowing the real JC?
Are you like the wolf with an insatiable appetite for sin that has caused you to destroy yourself and now you find yourself where you feel that you are too far gone for JC to reach you?
Are you like the Jewish leaders so stuck on your power and/or tradition that you are missing out on the joy of the Christian life?
Are you like Pilate, your career has so consumed you that w/o it you think you are nobody?
Where ever you find yourself this morning, you can find hope in JC. The Roman Centurion, Simon, these ladies, they were all changed by JC.
He can calm that insatiable appetite for sin or the contentment of mediocrity and be your hope. He can give you an insatiable appetite for Him.
