WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:01.040 You'd be seated. 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:09.039 So last week we had this great story in John chapter 11 about Lazarus and his two sisters. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:14.000 And so I want to review it a little bit because this week ties into last week. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:28.239 Actually, chapter 12 of John begins, NIV takes this word out, which is a little bit of a shame as it says, therefore, which means you gotta remember chapter 11 because this story coming up ties in to what was going on in chapter 11. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:37.119 So chapter 11 is this story about Elizabeth's two sisters, and Lazarus gets sick, and so the two sisters are just distraught, uh, overcome with sadness. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:38.880 Their brother is dying. 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:41.039 They are good friends with Jesus. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:44.479 Jesus has been performing miracles, so they understand him to be a healer. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:46.159 They believe him to be the Messiah. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:48.560 And so they send a messenger to Jesus. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:52.960 Hey, your friend, Lazarus, he's sick. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:54.079 He's dying. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.119 Please, please come, please come. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:06.400 And uh Lazarus dies in the meantime of the messenger getting there, and Jesus doesn't come for a couple days, and during that time, uh Lazarus dies. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:08.959 Jesus eventually shows up. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.400 Uh and when he's on his way first, remember this from last week first. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:17.840 Martha comes out to Jesus, and she is distraught. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:24.079 But she she's she's ready to she's ready to voice some things here, and she's like, You should have been here. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:27.599 You know, you should have, Jesus, you should have been here. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.680 You weren't here, and you should have been here. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:31.280 We we we know this moment. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:34.879 And and Jesus, he he confronts her with truth. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.000 I mean, he just comes right up to her with truth. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:41.599 Okay, so that was first interaction last week. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.480 Um, and and then Martha eventually they have a conversation. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:50.959 Martha leaves and goes back, and then Mary comes to Jesus, and and Mary is completely undone. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:02:00.640 She is brokenhearted, she's distraught, and she sees Jesus and she falls at his feet, and and she says the same thing. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:02.319 Should have been here. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.840 Should have, if you were here, things would have been different. 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:15.039 And but she is brokenhearted and she is on the ground and she is weeping, and we get this great moment where Jesus doesn't give the lecture. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:21.520 He doesn't it's a different conversation than he has with Martha, with Mary. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.680 He just he cries with her. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:29.759 And do you remember the words last week that that Mary's crying was a wailing? 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:36.960 And and Jesus' crying was a silent, quiet crying with her. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:42.800 And eventually they leave that and he says, I'm I'm gonna bring some new life out of this. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.840 And he goes and he raises Lazarus from the dead. 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:48.800 This was this was this was his great miracle. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:52.400 This is what was sending him from this point on in the book of John. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:56.639 From this point on, he is headed toward his own death. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:03.599 So many Jews were starting to believe in him, and the Pharisees and the Jewish rulers said, we're ending this. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.199 We are ending him. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:13.439 And so we get to chapter 12, and Jesus has been saying, Hey, I'm telling you here, I'm here to lay it down. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:15.360 He's been very clear about this. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.520 Nobody takes my life from me. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:18.960 I'm here to lay it down. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:29.120 Yeah, they're conspiring, and they're gonna, but I'm I am laying it down, and he's been saying, this is all headed toward my funeral, so that at your funeral there can be hope. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:34.240 And he's been saying, death is not the end, darkness is not the victor. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:39.919 I have victory over death, so that when you die, you can still have life. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:44.240 And so we get chapter 12, and we get a party. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:59.120 Lazarus has been raised from the dead, new life has come out of darkness, and we get verse 1 six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:07.120 And so he's there, and a meal develops at Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and they're there. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:08.719 And it's a party. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:09.199 Right? 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:13.199 I mean, if someone raises somebody from the dead, you should probably have a party for him. 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:14.159 That would be fitting. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:15.520 Throw the guy a party. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:16.879 But Passover's coming. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.839 So Passover is six days coming. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:27.759 And so Jesus is Jewish, he knows Passover and a little bit of history so we can get an idea of what Jesus is thinking about, what everybody else is thinking about. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:29.759 So Passover, a little bit of history. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.800 Uh the people of Israel were taken, they're enslaved in Egypt. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:39.839 They've been crying out to God, deliver us from being enslaved in this foreign land. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.399 Please take us back to our land, set us free, and and it's just been quiet. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:45.839 God's been quiet. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:49.279 And this has been going on for years and years and years. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:53.839 And finally, finally, God begins to answer the prayer. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:02.399 And in that process, and you can read the book of Exodus to see this whole story, which is just a fantastic story of liberation. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:05.120 It's our story, even today. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:10.560 And so Passover is when God is putting judgment on Egypt for not letting his people go. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:11.920 You remember the story? 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:19.920 And so judgment's coming on the people, and so the firstborn of all the Egyptians, the firstborn is going to die. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:34.480 And so he says to his people, Hey, sacrifice a lamb, put the blood on the frame, the doorpost of your house, and when death comes across this land, I will pass over your house. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:51.519 And so eventually the people of Israel, God's people, they come out of Egypt, they go into the wilderness, and that's Moses leading them out, and then Joshua leads them out of the wilderness into the promised land, and so they get into the promised land, and a festival develops, a remembrance of this. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:58.639 And it was once a year, and it was seven days, and each household would sacrifice a lamb to account for their sins. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.000 See, God is just, sin must be dealt with. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:04.720 We understand this, sin must be dealt with. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:05.680 We're the same way. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:11.920 If we see something going down and it's unjust and it's horrible, we know we should do something about it in the name of justice. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.759 God, perfectly just, he's going to do something about sin. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:21.839 And so each family is sacrificing a perfect, unblemished lamb. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:29.759 And in the blood, the spilling of the blood is life, that the lamb takes their guilt and makes them pure. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:35.360 And so every year, sacrifice after sacrifice, every year you have to maintain this. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:37.439 You have to keep this up. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:40.399 And so Jesus is thinking about this Passover. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:42.160 He knows he's headed toward his death. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:46.959 And what he knows is he knows he is the final sacrifice. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:48.959 He is the Passover lamb. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:51.519 See, Jesus is our Passover. 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:54.160 So death can pass over us. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:57.199 But right now there's a party. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:00.399 Verse 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.959 Martha served while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:15.279 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and she poured it out on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:18.240 And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.240 See, the the the party got weird. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:21.600 It got it got interesting. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:32.720 I mean, this is like this is like when the wacky ant has had too much to drink, and it got really strange and weird, you know, you know, but but Mary hadn't had too much to drink. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:44.480 I mean, I'm sure people were thinking maybe she had too much to drink, because she has just broken open a jar of perfume that is equivalent to a year's salary. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:56.160 I mean, so so think about a$50,000 bottle of perfume, and to break that thing open and to pour it onto Jesus' feet. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:03.759 See, find the most precious, expensive, important thing you have, and you pour it out. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:06.800 The thing that gives you security. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:16.480 The thing that you find meaning in and rest in and security and you break that open in the statement of saying, I don't need this anymore. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:18.639 I've been undone. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.800 I've been undone at the feet of Jesus and loved in that place. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.360 I don't need this for my security. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:26.800 I don't need this anymore. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:30.959 I will pour it out on you. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:34.399 You did all of that. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:36.399 I'll give you all this. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:43.600 If you're here, you've been concerned about maybe the amount of lavish grace that we we like to preach here. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:45.360 You don't have to be concerned about that. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:56.960 See, see, the grace of God, true, unrelenting, salvific, new word, maybe perhaps, salvific grace that causes salvation, that births new life. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:59.200 It creates a response. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.600 And here we have one in Mary. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.960 This week on Monday, we were in Orlando. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:12.399 Christy's parents have a house in Orlando, and so we wake up Monday morning, we're going to Disney World. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:13.600 Big day, right? 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:16.080 Big day for a five-year-old and a three-year-old. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:19.120 Big day for us to watch the five-year-old and the three-year-old. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:22.080 And so we wake up, and of course, I wake up late. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.720 You know, I wasn't awake praying for you, forgive me. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:37.679 I wake up later than everybody else, and then it's kind of rush, rush, rush, and we get in the car, and we're in the car and we're driving to Disney World, and Christie says something like, um, you know Disney World is the happiest place on earth. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:38.159 Right? 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:40.399 I mean, we've all heard Disney World's happy place on earth. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:45.440 And so, you know, me, of course, the realist, the Debbie Downer, I said, and I said, you know, and the girls are like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:54.000 And I and of course I say, Well, I mean, do y'all really think Disney World is the happiest place on earth? 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:56.480 And my five-year-old's having none of this. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:58.320 And she says, Yes, dad. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:00.159 It is. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.120 I have heard it is the happiest place on earth. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:09.200 And it was as if, how dare you come against Disney World today? 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:16.240 And so we get there and we park and we get the stroller out, and you know, immediately there's argument, you know, who's in the back of the stroller, who's in the front of the stroller. 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.960 I'm like, hey, listen, listen, happiest place on earth. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:19.440 Okay? 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:22.159 We're gonna have the happiest day of our lives. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.200 It's gonna be unbelievable, happiest place on earth. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:32.799 And so we get into the park and we're like the first bunch in, and so you're all rushing, you know, you're to perhaps we can get a couple rides without a line, that would be amazing. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:38.240 And so we do a couple rides, and eventually we're back in front of the castle for a show, right? 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:47.679 Some of you remember this, or maybe you've been recently, and so all the characters are up on the stage, and he is there. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:11:04.480 We know Mickey is there, and Izzy's up on my shoulders, and I'm catching a few, my little three year old, I'm catching a few glimpses, and it is he is he is there, and she is wide-eyed, and she's amazed. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:11.840 And I start looking around at the other little kids, and they they're he he is there. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:16.240 There's admiration, there's awe, there's amazement. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:17.919 I mean, it's worship, right? 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.200 I mean, this is what's going on here. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:25.120 I mean, it is, I mean, they are like, I'll give you my heart, Mickey, and anything you ask, I'll give it to you. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:26.399 And why here's why? 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:31.120 Because this mouse, every morning, 7 a.m. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.360 on Disney Channel, he is there for me, right? 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.360 Like, he's speaking love to me. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:41.759 When dad is mean and walks out of the room, Mickey doesn't walk out of the room on me. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:43.519 He is always giving me love. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.159 Mom is demanding, makes me change my clothes. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:48.080 You know, but Mickey doesn't do that. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:53.120 You know, and now we are here, and he is there and he has been so good to me. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:56.000 Like this, this is Mary's moment, right? 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:57.679 This is Mary's moment. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:01.279 Like, Jesus is here, he's been so good to me. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:03.440 I mean, he cried with me. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:07.200 I mean, he brought new life to my family. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:14.559 And Mary, in this moment, at this dinner at this house, she is like the little kids at Disney World. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:18.240 She is wide-eyed, she is absolutely undone. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:21.840 She was just undone before, weeping. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:28.000 And Jesus met her there, and now she is undone again. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:36.080 And what we see here is extravagant worship comes in the wake of extravagant love. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.759 And Mary knows he loves her. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:44.080 She knows she can be weak and beloved. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.759 And worship is a response to that knowledge. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:49.039 But here's what we don't know. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:50.159 We don't know. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:55.360 We don't know that Mary's life was perfect from here on out. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:57.519 Right? 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:03.679 I mean, we have we have to assume, I mean, at her best, Mary was a human, and at her worst, Mary was a human. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:18.240 I mean, a lot of us processing our friend Stuart's death this week, and we go, man, I mean, I knew this about him, I knew this about him, and at best, Stuart was a human, and at worst, Stuart was a human. 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:22.720 And yeah, we saw some extravagant worship from him. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:32.559 That doesn't mean there's not pain, it doesn't mean there's not hurt, it doesn't mean there's not loneliness to deal with and to process and to be honest about and ask for help about. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.360 See, see, life is not a never-ending John chapter 12, verses 1 through 11. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:38.799 Well, would that wouldn't that be great? 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:40.320 That'd be fantastic. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.360 You still get you still get chapter 11. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:44.639 Right? 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:58.000 I mean, it's not like chapter 11 happens and then and then chapter 12 is just the forever rest of your life, and it's an endless, you know, upward mobility to greatness and uh, you know, perfect peace forever, and there's no problems or no hurt or no pain. 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.240 You still have chapter 11's occur. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.720 You still have your your brother die. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:04.240 Like that still happens. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.360 You still have that hurt, and you still have that pain. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:20.159 But we remember chapter 11 because what we remember is even in the hurt and in the pain, that God is the suffering God who is there with us, and that the extravagant love is what bursts the extravagant worship. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:29.360 So perfume is on his feet, it's on the floor, and there's so much that she reached, Mary reaches up and she undoes her hair. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:35.519 Not a big deal to us, but to a Jewish lady back then to unbound her hair in public. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:40.799 I mean, this would have been a display, an undignified display. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:54.720 I mean, if if the breaking of the jar, if the being on the floor, if if all of this was not a scene enough, now she is undoing her hair and she's wiping his feet with her hair. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.200 This is undignified. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:04.159 But people's approval or disapproval is the last thing on her mind. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:12.399 In her mind, she was undone before, and Jesus met her there, and because of his grace and love, she's undone again, and she has such grateful joy. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:18.080 And what we see is we see in her worship, we we begin to see a little bit of the freedom she's experiencing. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:19.919 So we see two things in this text. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.159 We see number one, we see she is free from the control of money. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:28.559 And then we see she is free from the need of people's approval. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:30.320 So let's hit the first one. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:31.519 We'll come back to that second one. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:34.559 Free from the control of money, verses four through eight. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:40.159 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:40.799 Why? 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.399 Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:46.799 It was worth a year's wages. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.399 He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:56.159 That's a keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:01.840 Leave her alone, Jesus replied, it was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:06.399 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:07.679 So we see two people. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:17.200 We see Mary, a person free to give generously without fear, because her identity is not tied to, I need to hold on to that jar. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:21.279 That's that's worth a year's, I got I have to hold on to that, I can't let that one go. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:28.080 And then you have Judas, who is bound by the need of money, to feel important or to feel secure. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:35.200 And she's at his feet, and she can just say, have it all. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:42.480 She doesn't need she doesn't need the monetary to define her. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:51.919 The second thing we see in the text, so we see the freedom from the control of money, and then we see the freedom from other people's approval, that letting the hair down. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.639 I mean, it would have caused such little whispering in that house. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.720 I mean, if I'm in that room and I'm in that situation, I'm gauging the room. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:04.079 I'm I'm gauging the mood, like what's acceptable and what's not. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:14.559 I'm sort of hedging my way of, you know, let's let's give some worship to Jesus, let's let a little bit out, let's, let's, let's really be all surrendered or all in, but I'm also gonna kind of gauge the room. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:15.680 Like, who's here? 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:19.680 Well, you know, Randy from the club's here, so let me play it cool a little bit. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:24.000 He's here, Nancy from down the street's here, you know, Joe the Senator's here. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:26.000 I'm gonna I'm gonna play it a little bit cool. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:26.720 How do I look? 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:28.319 And what are they thinking? 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:29.839 Do they like me? 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:30.640 Do they like me? 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:31.359 Do they like me? 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:32.640 Do they like me? 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:33.519 Right? 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:41.839 When I was at in front of that castle at Disney, none of the little kids are looking at each other like, I'm I wonder if she likes me. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.759 You know, I'm not gonna be too amazed by Mickey up there. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:55.839 I'm I'm really considering, you know, Cindy over there on her dad's shoulders, who I don't know, but for some reason I really care about what she thinks about me, right? 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:57.599 We you know what I'm talking about here. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:58.400 This is what we do. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:17:59.759 Adults do. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:03.039 Mary's not doing it. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.359 She's just going, whatever they think, they'll think. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:06.319 I don't care. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:19.279 Whatever they think about my family, whatever they think about what I drive, or what decisions I make, or how I handle a situation, or what education I decide for my children, or what I wear, what activities I participate in, or the ones I choose not to participate. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:20.400 Whatever they think, they'll think. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:24.720 I don't I'm I'm not gonna live my life based on other people's approval. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:27.200 And if I'm at the feet of Jesus and I let my hair down, that's fine. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:30.000 If people whisper on me, people whisper at me, it's fine. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:37.119 But we see this sense of freedom from the control of money, and then we see this freedom from other people's approval. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.839 See, I listen, this is kind of closing it down. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.960 Listen, guys, work with me on the metaphor here. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.200 You can let your hair down. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:47.680 We hear that all the time. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.920 You can let you you can you can let your hair down. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:19:13.759 What I'm praying is we become more and more aware of how close he is to us, and we will let our hair down, be absolutely unbound by his love and the need of money and the need of people's approval to support our identity, which has become less and less and less. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:23.759 And his secure love for us, which is known in the cross, secured on the cross, would be where we find ourselves. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:30.480 Extravagant worship and freedom come in the wake of extravagant love. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.319 Let's pray together. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:45.119 God, we confess that we use money to support our identities, to feel important, and we use other people's approval, and a lot of times these these two things consume us. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:54.400 We also really wish that life was John chapter 12, but we know that chapter 11 will come back around. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:06.480 And what we know in all of this is we know that we need to rest our hearts and minds and your extravagant love for us. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:14.640 Give us faith to rest in you in greater and greater ways. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:16.000 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:16.640 Amen.