Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

Holy Week - Wednesday

 

3 Types Generocity 

Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were coming in just a few days. The chief priests and teachers were scheming to arrest and kill Jesus, and the disciples were a bit clueless, and I had to imagine Jesus was starting to feel the weight of it all. We read in Mark 14 about a wonderful, yet odd moment just before Judas Iscariot left and betrayed Jesus for money. 

“While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” - Mark‬ ‭14:3-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Such a fantastic picture of generosity, yet not everyone saw it that way. The disciples saw this act as wasteful and misguided. We read that they even rebuked her harshly, right in the middle of the act. Can you imagine this scene? This woman, who has literally taken a prized possession worth more than a year's wages and decided to bless Jesus with it, worshiping him. This must have been a very emotional event for her; she walked in and broke the jar and poured this expensive perfume out on Jesus' head. I can only imagine the feeling, pouring out a year's wages as an act of worship, and just before she is done getting blasted by Jesus' disciples. Wow. 

Now, it doesn't stop there. Jesus takes up for her, calling off the disciples and giving them a piece of his mind. As Jesus does this, he says a few very interesting things. 

  • She has done a beautiful thing

  • The poor with always be with you

  • She did what she could

So many different ways to go with this, but here is what stands out to me. Just the other day, I referenced a thought about generosity, and I said this:

“We are not generous out of our abundance; we are generous out of our obedience.” 

I believe this is important, and 2 phases of generous. But, it is missing a critical 3rd phase of being generous, the most important, and the one that was modeled in our reading today. 

  • Generocity out of abundance

  • Generocity out of obedience 

  • Generocity as worship. 

I believe these 3 phases of worship are conditions of our heart. In the first phase of being generous, we give when we have enough. When we feel as if we have enough to offer, then we give out of our abundance. I do not want to diminish this type of giving because it is still giving, and it is still generosity. It is just the first phase and the most basic kind of being generous. 

Phase two of generosity is giving out of obedience. This is a massive shift from phase one, and this becomes a real heart condition of knowing the importance and commandment of giving. This is living in the reality that it is more blessed to give than to receive. This type of generosity fully understands the tithe, and above and beyond the tithe is generous giving. But there is one more phase, one more condition of the heart that is modeled here in Mark 14.

Phase three is generosity as worship. This type of generosity is what Jesus describes as beautiful. This type of generosity is pouring out all that we can in a pure representation of worship, not out of obedience but out of praise and joy. Generocity, as worship looks, feels, and is different. 

Paul, in Romans 12, describes it this way:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” - ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We are an offering to God, our bodies a living sacrifice. Are we generous with our lives out of abundance, obedience, or out of true and proper worship? 

Lord, it is my prayer to live a life that is holy and pleasing to you. God, I desire in every way to live a life that is generous out of an act of worship, not just obedience! 

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storch