Wednesday - An Extravagant Giver And A Ruthless Taker Series

A. We might oversimplify things by saying that the world is made up of two kinds of people: givers and takers, but there is some truth to that statement.

B. I love hearing stories about big tippers and I try to be a good tipper myself.

1. A man named Greg Rubar was a waiter at D'Amico’s Italian Market Cafe in Houston for 16 years and had been regularly waiting on one particular couple at the restaurant for eight years.

2. Then one day, the customers handed him fifty $100 bills ($5,000) as a tip.

3. The man told Greg, “I’m not going to be giving you a tip for a while. Take this money. Go buy yourself a car.”

4. The instructions to buy a car weren’t just random - the couple knew that Greg had recently lost his car when it was flooded in a thunderstorm a few weeks earlier.

5. The waiter had been taking taxis and borrowing his restaurant’s catering truck just to get to and from work.

6. Greg tried to return the money, but the couple refused, insisting he get a car with the cash.

7. That husband and wife were great tippers – extravagant givers.

C. But sadly, there are far too many stories of ruthless takers, robbers of all kinds.

1. The most famous benevolent robber is the legendary heroic outlaw named Robin Hood, who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

2. I think that its ironic that there is a new investment app called Robinhood and people joke about it:

a. What’s the difference between Robin Hood and Robinhood?

b. Robin Hood is apt to steal while Robinhood is app to steal.

3. Unfortunately, most of the takers of this world are not benevolent, but are selfish and ruthless.

a. Like the robber who, when I was 10 years old, stole my bicycle, and did it while I was at my father’s funeral.

b. The culprit was never brought to justice at the time, but their time is coming.

D. Today, as we continue our sermon series: “Final Week, Eternal Lessons” about the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, we come to Wednesday – the middle of the week, hump day.

1. Actually, the biblical record of what took place on Wednesday is pretty scant and silent.

2. Unlike the other days of Jesus’ final week, today we aren’t going to focus on what Jesus did, rather we are going to focus on what was done to Jesus.

3. I want us to focus on what two people who were close to Jesus did to Him – one was an extravagant giver and the other was a ruthless taker.

4. We know for sure what they did, but we aren’t certain about when they did it.

5. The stories that I relate to you today, may have happened late on that Tuesday night, or may have happened on that Wednesday of Jesus’ last week – it is hard to be certain.

6. Matthew and Mark place these events two days before the Passover.

7. There can be confusion about how many different anointings of Jesus took place in his life.

a. I believe that there were two anointings of Jesus during His life.

b. One that took place a year or more earlier and is recorded by Luke in Luke 7, and it took place at the home of Simon the Pharisee.

c. And the second anointing took place during the final week of Jesus’ life and took place in Bethany, at the home of Simon the Leper.

8. So it was Wednesday, which means it is T-Minus 2 days until the crucifixion and T-Minus 4 days until the resurrection.

E. As we pick up our exploration of the events of that Wednesday in the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, we notice that Matthew and Mark both introduce the day’s happenings by letting us know that the Passover was approaching and the Jewish religious leaders were looking for a way to arrest and kill Jesus without causing a riot.

1. As has been Jesus’ practice all week, He spent the day in Jerusalem and the evening and night out in Bethany.

2. Let’s pick up the story in Mark’s Gospel: 3 While he was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head. 4 But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they began to scold her. (Mark 14:3-5)

3. This special dinner in honor of Jesus took place at the home of Simon the Leper.