“Jesus Christ: Our Response to His Gift”
Matthew 26:6-13
Intro:
“Who of you has ever said to someone, “I owe you one”? Most of us have been in that position. Someone, a close friend or family member, helped you out of a tight spot and you felt grateful for the help and let them know that you plan on repaying them somehow. To help illustrate my point let me tell you the story of 2 young men who found themselves having that type of conversation, but that’s only part of the story.”
illustration: story of Johnny and Billy
(note - this is a completely fictional story and should be changed as needed)
*Billy moved in 3 houses down from Johnny when they were only 6
*they were immediate friends and spent as much time together as possible
*from summer camps, to every other weekend sleepovers, and everything in between they never were separated.
*they went to school together all the way through high school and took as many classes together as possible.
*they played the same sports, dated the same type of girls, and sometime even the same girl. they were always competing with one another but it never got in the way of their friendship. Are you getting the picture yet?
*after high school, Billy decided to stay in their home town and get a job a the local factory, but Johnny decided to go off to college and pursue grand adventures.
*Billy quickly settled down by finding a wife a before too long he had a couple of kids and a nice house just 2 blocks from his childhood home where his parents still lived
*Johnny excelled at school and graduated with honors. He moved to the big city with dreams of starting his own business, and before too long his dream came true.
*a few quick years later Johnny’s business began to fail and he sat on the edge of bankruptcy. He decided to make a long overdue trip back home to get his mind off of things.
*As Johnny and Billy spend one evening on the back porch of Billy’s house, Johnny began to talk about his problems.
*Without being asked for it, Billy gave Johnny as much money as he could knowing how tight it would make things around his house, but he did it out of love.
*Johnny took the many and said “I owe you big time”. He returned to the city and used the money to get his business back up and running and turned it into a profitable success.
*Johnny got so busy with his life and career that he neglected to keep up with his family and with Billy even though he had saved his business. He neglected Billy’s gift.
Read: Matthew 26:6-13
1. Acceptance of a gift
A. the best gifts come out of love
1. gifts for Christmas and birthdays are nice, but a gift given in the attitude
love is the best kind to receive.
a. personal illustration - I love it when my wife comes home and tells me
that she got a little present for me for no reason. Those usually make me
feel better than any birthday present ever can.
2. no one can tell me that Christ going to the cross for my sins wasn’t done
out of love.
a. John 3:16 (paraphrase)
B. you must choose to take it
1. sometimes a gift can seem to big to be able to accept
a. if I tried to hand you $50,000 with seemingly no reason you might
not feel right accepting it. Others of you would grab it and run.
2. most of you have already accepted the gift by receiving Christ
a. to deny the gift of accepting Jesus Christ is to forfeit your chance at
an eternity in Heaven. There is no other way accept Christ.
b. John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father accept through me.”
2. Remembering the giver
A. dedicate what you do to the giver
1. in other words, show them your thanks for what they’ve done for you.
a. if one of my friends gave of their time and energy to help me pass a test,
I would make sure to recognize them when I told others about my success
2. God loves to hear how thankful you are for Jesus Christ.
a. let Him know about it in you prayers
b. let others know about by how you live your life.
B. don’t separate yourself from the giver
1. don’t forget the person or persons who got you to where you are
a. always remind yourself of the love through which it was given
2. don’t ever forget Jesus Christ
a. don’t neglect reading the scripture or having a daily quiet time
b. He has never forgotten about you
3. Repaying your debt
A. if the gift was given in love, you must choose to repay it
1. unlike a legal contract or a loan, a gift given out of love means that you
understand that you may never be repaid
2. you can never do enough to repay Jesus Christ for what he did
a. our salvation is based on faith, not works
b. that doesn’t mean you should do as much as you can
B. don’t repay just some, but more than you need to
1. when repaying a gift of love it isn’t meant to be returned in the exact manner
or amount in which it was given - always strive to give back more
2. The woman in our scripture reading gave to Jesus as much as she could and
probably was concerned that she wasn’t given enough - that is how we repay
C. become the giver
1. When you receive the ability to give something back - do it
a. illustration - movie “Pay it forward”
1. When the opportunity arises for you to change someone’s life by sharing
Jesus Christ with them - take it!
Illustration: What if Johnny one day received the chance to repay Billy with a gift of love? What would you do in that situation? Would you walk away or choose to show love?
Conclusion:
“You’ll notice that in every point I made this evening I stated a way how this was relevant to our earthy relationships and also with our relationship with God. I believe that is how our focus should be. Listen to what it says in Matthew 22:37-39.
Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the laws of the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
It couldn’t have been said any better than that. We are supposed to be showing our love to God with everything we have and doing the same for those we know here on earth. How are you responding to God’s gift? Are you so grateful for it and awed by it that you have become a loving and joyful giver to others? Does it show in your daily life, or have you neglected it and continued to watch out for yourself?”
In the book “The Case for Christ” Lee Strobel tells the story of his daughter coming to Christ. 6 months after his conversion his 5 year old daughter one day stated to her mother, “Mommy, I want Jesus to do for me what He did for Daddy.” This little girl witnessed a very real change in her father. Strobel writes, “and even though she had never interviewed a scholar, never analyzed the data, never investigated historical evidence, she had seen up close the influence that Jesus can have on one person’s life. In effect she was saying, “If this is what God does to a human being, that’s what I want for me.” Trust me, Lee Strobel was living out his love for God in his life to where others could see it. Are you doing the same?
The faith factor - believe + receive = become
Invitation:
In the last sermon I preached I talked about how Christianity was based on commitment and not convenience. I wanted tonight’s sermon to be entitled “Jesus Christ: Our Response to His Commitment” but I just couldn’t do it. There’s no doubt to the fact that Jesus Christ make a commitment that took Him to the cross, but it was much more than that. It was a gift. And better yet, it was a gift of love. So tonight we must look at “Jesus Christ: Our Response to His Gift”, because that’s what it was.
If you are here tonight and have already received the gift of Jesus by accepting Him as your personal Lord and Savior than I am rejoicing for you. But I must ask you if you are responding to that gift as you should be. Does it show in your daily life? Are you constantly seeking the Lord through prayer and devotion? Are you giving of yourself to others, even when you don’t have too? If the answer is no than something has gone wrong. You need to this very night recommit how you are leading your life. Whether it is by just praying and confessing that to God right where you are seated or coming forward and letting us talk, counsel, and pray with you over what needs to be changed, don’t hesitate to get things straight with God. And remember, this means choosing the harder road. Forcing yourself to go farther, work harder, and do more, but if you are serious about this commitment than it will all be worth it.
“If you are here tonight and you know that you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior than I am worried for you. Let me be very straightforward with this. You will not go to heaven without accepting Christ. You may not even understand how important this is or why we say Jesus Christ is who he is, but if you want to have an eternity in Heaven, come forward here in just a few moments and there will be someone waiting to share how you go about accepting Him. Don’t wait any longer. If you are waiting until you fully understand Him and everything He did, than you will be waiting a long time. Come forward and be willing to believe, receive and become. Let us pray.”
