Elder Ee Yang began the sermon by sharing from Mark 12:28-34, 38-44. Jesus was asked about which was the most important commandment, as the Jews had the Ten commandments, 613 sub-commandments, the Talmud and Torah etc. Jesus gave the two most important commandments – to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” and pointed out the differences in the offerings of many rich people and a poor widow.
The biggest priority of our life is to love God (v28-30)
Elder Ee Yang shared from the verses Deutoronomy 6:4-5 and Matthew 6:33 – he exhorted us to put God as the first priority of our lives, following which it will be our spouse, children, work/ministry and friends. If we do, we should give the best to God and guard against distractions which can derail us. However, there are times where our priorities are misplaced, and we place our friends and work ahead of our family and God. Is God enthroned in our lives?
The process of doing it
How do we make God our priority? We are to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength (Mark 12:30). Elder Ee Yang shared a chart about how external behaviour is linked to our internal realities. The world focuses on the external behaviour but Jesus challenges us to bring our internal realities in line with God’s heart!
|
External Behaviour |
Internal Reality |
|
You shall not commit murder |
Everyone who is angry with his brother commits murder (Matthew 5:21-22) |
|
You shall not commit adultery |
Everyone who looks at a woman with lust already committed adultery (Matthew 5:27-28) |
|
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy |
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44) |
It is important to love God with our all, and not to be hypocritical like the Pharisees and teachers of the law (Matthew 23:27-38). The root word for hypocrite is “hupocrites” (Greek) – an actor or stage player. The Pharisees and scribes were hypocrites (Luke 11:42-52) – they focused on the minor above the major, reputation above character, rituals above reality, respectability over receptivity and knowledge over wisdom. Elder Ee Yang also shared about a case where a licensed moneylender was unscrupulous in their actions towards a businesswoman, and was called to task as the lender violated the spirit of the law even while following closely to the letter of the law.
The importance of posturing our hearts to love God (vs 38-44)
There was a huge contrast between the postures of the teachers of the law (Mark 12:38-40) and the poor widow (Mark 12:41-44). Jesus said that the teachers of the law would be punished most severely while He saw that she gave her all, however small it was. True worship is not dependent on the size of your gift but the purity of your heart. We are made pure and righteous in God (Isaiah 1:18, Revelation 9:18, Matthew 5:20) and we have access to the Kingdom of God through His righteousness.
Elder Ee Yang also shared about pride and humility. Andrew Murray wrote that God “gives us life moment by moment, with a constant working of His mighty power. Humility – the place of total dependence on God – is our primary duty and highest good… Pride, or the loss of humility, is the root of every sin and evil.” Jesus invites us to find rest in Him (Matthew 11:28-30) and He will give us a new heart and new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26) as we seek Him.
Discussion Questions
1. Read the passage (Mark 12:41-44) on the widow’s mite and share your thoughts on what spoke to you. [10 min]
2. What are the priorities of your life? How do you rank these priorities, and are the external behaviours reflective of the inner realities? [15 min]
3. True worship is not dependent on the size of your gift but the purity of your heart. How is your heart’s posture before the Lord? What has God put in your heart to surrender to Him? [15 min]
