Priorities

Introduction

Priorities. We all know what it is like to have to decide priorities. In most cases we probably get it right. But there are those times that we look back and realize that we chose wrongly. At the time, we thought we were moving in the right direction but the outcome convinced us that our wisdom was limited. How different life might have been if we had made a different decision. Deciding on priorities is not always easy. It’s hard to be objective about the choices we make.

Consider Jimmy Johnson. As a football coach, there are very few who can boast about a higher success rate. As head coach at the University of Miami, Johnson coached his teams to national prominence. In the late 1980s, few college football teams were as productive as the Miami Hurricanes. With such success came the opportunity to coach professional athletes. Jerry Jones offered Johnson the opportunity to coach the Dallas Cowboys replacing the legendary Tom Landry. Johnson jumped at the chance. Although the first two years were dismal, eventually Johnson coached the Dallas team to two consecutive Super Bowl victories in 1992 and 1993. How does a coach achieve such success. Lots of time and energy is given to recruiting, planning, meetings, and viewing lots of film so that he could maximize his abilities. The real story is not Johnson’s success but his decision to set his priorities. On the day that Johnson was hired to be the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Johnson took his wife to dinner. At dinner, he told her this “I can either be head coach of the Dallas Cowboys or married to you. I’ve decided to be head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys.” He “fired” his wife that day so that he could pursue what was really important to him.

Why are we shocked by such frankness? Perhaps it is that we find ourselves wondering how a person could be so callous and unfeeling and sterile about what was really important. Don’t assume that such a thing could not happen to any of us. Maintaining priorities in a God centered way is not easy. There are so many things that pull at us and demand our attention. Good things. Useful and helpful things. Things that can make life better, easier, and worthwhile but things that take us ultimately away from God. The world may applaud our choices, but our main objective in this life is to reveal the character and nature of God. In our text this morning we are going to see how different characters set their priorities. Let’s make sure that we refocus our priorities today during our time together.

A Celebration to Remember

Is there any adequate way to express your thanks to the man who brought your brother back to life? How do you adequately express the depth of gratitude for the power of God? You might start with a really good meal. If you want to express thankfulness for the impossible having been accomplished, start with a meal at Ruth’s Chris or Erline Jensens or Chez Phillippe or Folk’s Folly. Start with a really good meal. This is what appears to be happening in John 12. There is a dinner given in Jesus’ honor (v.2). According to verse 9, folks are coming from Jerusalem to get a look at a dead man that is now alive. So we can assume that this is fairly close in time from John 11.

What else do you do to show the man who raised your brother from the dead that he means the world to you? We have Martha serving the meal. This probably means that she has been cooking and preparing all day. She is the one to make sure that Jesus has everything that he needs. She is extremely attentive to him and to the disciples who also get the opportunity to share in this meal. But there is the other sister, Mary. She does something completely unexpected to show her gratitude. She takes a container that holds a very expensive perfumed substance. This perfume would have come from India. It would have been red in color and smelled very sweet. It would have been the consistency of a thick oil. It would have been about 11 ounces or half a liter of liquid. She opens the container and pours the contents on Jesus’ feet. The whole house would have quickly filled with the sweet smell of the oil. And with Jesus’ feet dripping with oil, Mary let down her hair and used her hair as a towel to wipe Jesus’ feet.

This demonstration of love would have been counter to cultural mores. Social convention demanded that a woman keep her hair up. For a single woman to loose her hair and then use it to towel off the feet of a single rabbi would have raised some eyebrows. But Mary’s thankfulness is not to be denied. She lovingly caresses the feet of Jesus with her hair. This tender moment is interrupted by Judas who says Mary’s priorities are all wrong. This perfume should have been sold. A year’s worth of wages could have been amassed from the sale and used to feed the poor. Jesus rebukes Judas for his lack of insight. Jesus is not announcing that they should ignore the poor but that they should recognize that something else takes precedence right now — anointing Jesus for his burial — which is not what Mary has in mind. She is anointing out of gratitude, but Jesus understands that the gratitude is going to soon turn to sorrow. He knows what is coming. He has a few days left before the crucifixion. Passover is the season to remember God’s deliverance. Deliverance will come for sin but the lamb must be slain in order for that deliverance to occur.

There are three different priorities in this story. We have the religious leaders who want to kill Jesus and Lazarus because their priority is to regain their position of power. Too many people are going to Jesus and this must be stopped. If you believe Jesus’ claim are false, then it is the priority of the leaders to stop this exodus. But their motives are not pure. They are jealous. The raising of Lazarus from the dead has brought many to believe that God is at work through Jesus. Kill Lazarus, whose only fault was to die from an illness and to be used as an illustration of God’s power, then they can reclaim their place of the sole voice of God’s word.

The second set of priorities is found in Judas who argues for helping the poor instead of being extravagant for a short time. If John had not given us what was in his heart, then Judas’ argument might have some validity. With John’s insight into Judas’ motive, it is easy for us to quickly bypass his objection, but let’s spend a little time here. Is there a time when short term extravagance is permissible over a long term help? Perhaps what helps us in answering that question returns to the motive of the heart. In some cases it may be easier to see the impure motive over the more pure one but in other cases there is clearly a pure motive for both the short term and long term. We do not look down our noses at couples who celebrate a special anniversary or people taking a vacation or honoring someone. But we may require people to make an unfair comparison or to inflict guilt when none is needed. Jesus’s answer reminds us that there is plenty of good to do in this world, but there is also time to remember and to celebrate. Motives matter.

The third priority is found in Mary who finds that a year’s worth of wages is not too much to spend on honoring Jesus. Obviously, Mary and her family is either extremely wealthy or this perfume was passed down from a previous generation to be used on only the most special of occasions. Mary thought about what Jesus had done for her and she did what she could do to express the depth of her love and gratitude to Jesus. Nothing else mattered. In the purity of her heart, she wanted to give to Jesus.

You want me to give you specific guidelines for setting priorities. Here you go. Where is your heart? If your heart is set on Jesus, and your mind is set on doing God’s will, and if you want what God wants, then whatever you do is fine. You don’t need a law. You need a heart set on God. You don’t need a rule. You need to be converted. This is what freedom means. This is what Paul says in Galatians 5:13ff. We were called to be free in Christ. Don’t use your freedom to follow the way of this world. Instead, use your freedom to serve others. Because everything that matters about this life is summed up in love. So (v. 24) if we live for Christ, we no longer live by our passions and desires. We want what God wants. If your heart is right, then your priorities will be right.

There will be inner conflict. Decisions are not always easily made, but with the right heart, honor God. And then with priorities set don’t worry about what others say and quit comparing yourself to others to find out if you are okay. If your heart is set on winning, your priorities will be wrong. If your heart is set on looking good, then your priorities will be wrong. If your heart is on getting your way, then your priorities will be wrong. But if you heart is set on Jesus and honoring him because like Mary you realize that he has done something for you that only God could do, then your priorities will be fine — not perfect, but intending to honor God. Invitation.

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