The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Zechariah 4:6-7not by might nor by power but by my spirit, the mountain becoming a plain before Zerubbabel, grace applied to the situation
6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, “This is Yahweh’s word to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says Yahweh of Armies.
7 Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’”
main passage read aloud, the woman who anoints Jesus feet at the Pharisees house
36 One of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at the table.
37 Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.
38 Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” He said, “Teacher, say on.”
41 “A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
42 When they couldn’t pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?”
43 Simon answered, “He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most.” He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”
44 Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head.
45 You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
48 He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 Those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
nations licking the dust like a serpent, God casting sins into the depths of the sea
16 The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hand on their mouth. Their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to Yahweh our God, and will be afraid because of you.
18 Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
19 He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
kiss me again for your love is sweeter than wine, take me with you
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine.
3 Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured out, therefore the virgins love you.
4 Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. Friends We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! Beloved They are right to love you.
locating the anointing story near Passover in Bethany, home of Lazarus
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha.
2 It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick.
3 The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, “Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick.”
4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
6 When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.
7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let’s go into Judea again.”
8 The disciples told him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.”
11 He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.”
12 The disciples therefore said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep.
14 So Jesus said to them plainly then, “Lazarus is dead.
15 I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let’s go to him.”
16 Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go also, that we may die with him.”
17 So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already.
18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away.
19 Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
20 Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house.
21 Therefore Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.
22 Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, “The Teacher is here, and is calling you.”
29 When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.
31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
36 The Jews therefore said, “See how much affection he had for him!”
37 Some of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?”
41 So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you listened to me.
42 I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude standing around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
44 He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”
45 Therefore many of the Jews, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him.
46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done.
47 The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs.
48 If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
49 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,
50 nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
51 Now he didn’t say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52 and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
53 So from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim. He stayed there with his disciples.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
56 Then they sought for Jesus and spoke one with another, as they stood in the temple, “What do you…
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
On April 24, 2023, Pastor Brian walked Tribe fam through Luke 7:36-50, the story of a woman who poured out an alabaster jar of perfume on Jesus' feet. The message centered on two different ways a person responds when they encounter Jesus, captured in the title "Kiss the Sun or Lick the Dust." The whole service, from worship through the sermon, kept circling back to the same question: what does a heart look like when it has actually been touched by Jesus, and what does it look like when it hasn't?
What was said
Before the sermon started, Brian shared that driving in that morning he felt the Holy Spirit impress something on him about someone in the room. The image was of a person ramming their head against an insurmountable mountain, whether a financial, relational, health, or logistical problem, and exhausting themselves in the process. He pointed to Zechariah, where the Lord says to Zerubbabel that the mountain will become a plain not by might or power but by the Spirit, and that when grace is spoken over a situation the mountain melts. He prayed for anyone in that place of fatigue, including those watching the livestream.
Going into the passage, Brian set the scene in enough detail that the story would not just slide past familiar ears. Jesus is at dinner in Bethany, just outside Jerusalem, at the home of Simon the Pharisee, who Brian believes was healed of leprosy but not by Jesus. Also at the table is Lazarus, recently raised from the dead, which would have made the room electric. The woman who enters is believed by biblical scholars to be Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha, someone who had a rough past and had been delivered from evil spirits when she encountered Jesus. In those days the table was low, guests reclined on cushions, and so her access to his feet was natural, even if everything else she did was anything but.
Simon the Pharisee watched what unfolded and said to himself that if Jesus were really a prophet he would know what kind of woman was touching him. Jesus answered his thought out loud, which Brian noted Simon could not have anticipated. Brian read Simon's posture as one of pride, someone who felt he had managed fine without Jesus, who invited him to dinner more for the social event than out of genuine hunger, and who deliberately skipped the customary courtesies of water for the feet, a greeting kiss, and oil for the head. He wanted to look too cool for the display that others were giving Jesus.
The woman did the opposite. She wept, wiped his feet with her hair, broke open the expensive perfume and poured it out. Brian brought in the Jewish tradition of the tear jar, a vessel in which tears are collected because they are considered precious, and suggested her alabaster jar may have held exactly that, all of her pain and heartbreak poured out at his feet. The contrast in the room was stark: a religious man who performed none of the ordinary gestures of welcome, and a woman with a disreputable past who could not stop.
Jesus made the contrast explicit for Simon. The one forgiven more loves more. The one forgiven little loves little. Brian connected this directly to why Tribe worships the way it does. It is not cultural habit or a historical pattern of what you do at a Sunday service. It is the response of people who have actually encountered Jesus, been healed, set free, forgiven, and loved. When worship starts to feel like going through the motions, he said, that is religious seasoning creeping into the recipe.
Brian then brought in Psalms 32, Micah 7, and Philippians 2 to frame the two possible outcomes. Those who close their eyes and ears to the truth of God, who refuse to turn their hearts around, will lick the dust. Every person, he said, will meet Jesus either this side of eternity or the other. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess his name, whether in worship or in reluctant acknowledgment. The choice is whether that moment looks like the woman at his feet or like the nations in Micah crawling from their holes in shame.
He closed with an image of an alabaster jar with a cork in it, representing a heart that wants to release affection toward God but feels stopped up. He invited anyone who connected with that picture to raise their hand and prayed that whatever is blocking them would come loose. The blessing he spoke over the room at the end was personal: he named what Jesus had done in his own life, healing a broken heart from a father he never knew, and said Jesus is worthy of a whole life.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
If there is a mountain-sized problem you have been ramming your head against in your own strength, stop and hand it to Jesus this week and ask him to apply his grace to it.
If God's word has felt dry or dead to you, come to the author directly and ask him to give you a hunger for Scripture and to show you where he wants you to read.
Think about what Jesus has specifically done in your life, forgiven, healed, set free, and let that be the reason you worship this week rather than going through the motions.
If you sense something corking up your ability to freely express love and devotion toward Jesus, take a moment alone this week to whisper to him whatever you have been holding back.
Sign up to serve at the Wind River Reservation trip June 25 through 28, giving your time to help lead VBS on the reservation.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Brian described two ways of dealing with a mountain of opposition: ramming against it in your own strength, or putting it in Jesus's hands. Which of those has been your default response, and what has that looked like in practice?
Lissa shared a picture of someone too fatigued to even cry out to the Lord. Has there been a season in your life where you hit that kind of exhaustion? What, if anything, helped you turn your eyes back to Jesus?
El sermon giró en torno a una mujer que ungió los pies de Jesús en casa de un fariseo llamado Simón. Brian usó esa escena para hablar de dos maneras de responder a Jesús: con humildad y adoración desbordante, como hizo la mujer, o con orgullo y autosuficiencia, como hizo Simón. La mujer había conocido el perdón real de Jesús, y eso fue lo que la llevó a arrodillarse sin importarle lo que pensaran los demás.
Una de las imágenes que Brian usó fue la de un frasco de alabastro con un corcho. Ese frasco representa el corazón de cada persona: hay un deseo de expresar afecto y adoración a Dios, pero algo lo tapa. También habló de que hay gente que sigue rambeando contra una montaña grande en su propia fuerza, y que la gracia de Jesús es lo único que puede nivelar esa montaña. El título del sermón, "Besar al sol o lamer el polvo", resume la elección que todos enfrentamos: inclinarnos ante Jesús ahora con gratitud, o terminar haciéndolo de todas formas pero en rebelión.
Varios miembros de la congregación participaron durante el servicio con imágenes y palabras que sentían del Espíritu, incluyendo una sobre el hambre por la Palabra de Dios y otra sobre Dios reescribiendo la historia de alguien. El sermon cerró con Brian dando gracias personales por lo que Jesús ha hecho en su propia vida.
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Pasajes bíblicos mencionados:
Zacarías 4:6-7
Lucas 7:36-50
Juan 11 (referencia al contexto de Betania y Lázaro)
Salmos 32:1
Miqueas 7:16-20
Filipenses 2:9-12
Cantar de los Cantares 1:2-4
Read the full transcript9,723 words
Let's worship together this morning. Jacob, are you ready?
Well, if you're joining us on the live stream, welcome. We got a chatty bunch today.
House, my father's house, declare there's a place for me. I'm a child of God. Yes, There's a place for me. I'm a child of God. Yes, I am.
Let's just sing this song from the top. Just these words are just so great. Just remind yourself of this today. Who am I? Just think of that, how humbling that is.
Who am I that the highest king, the king of kings, the lord of lords would welcome me? And yet he does so freely this morning.
Not forsaken. Declare it, I am who you say I am. You are for me, I am me, not against me. I am chosen, I am chosen, not forsaken.
What does he say
you are? He says you're free. Whom the sun sets free. Oh, it's free indeed. I'm a child of God.
Yes. Forsaken I am who you say I am
chosen
So there's a there's a line in this song about Jesus. What what's his line about the mountains?
It's my savior. He can move the mountains.
He can move the mountains. And on my way here this morning, I was looking up at the Tetons. I was thinking about how big those mountains were. And I feel like the Holy Spirit just whispered to my heart saying that somebody would be coming to church today that feels like they're squared up against a big mountain of insurmountability. Maybe it has to do with logistics or finance or health or relational issue.
I don't know what the issue is, but they're trying to move the mountain by putting on their football helmet and just, like, ramming against it and ramming against it and ramming against it. And that will just turn you into a blockheaded brute. And the mountain will still be there at the end of the day. And then there there's a verse in the Old Testament of Zechariah, and he says this. This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel is a type and shadow of Jesus. And he says, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you? Oh, mountain. Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of grace, grace to it.
And so the idea in this verse is if you keep ramming at this mountain in front of you with your own effort and energy and resources, you're just gonna end up with a headache, and the mountain will still be there. But when you put this problem in Jesus's hands, the mountain, Jesus says to the mountain, who are you, oh, mighty mountain? You'll become as level as a plane when his grace is applied to when you grab a hold of his grace for your life regarding that situation. I don't know when. I don't know how, but he gonna do it.
And I feel like that's the word of the Lord for somebody in here today. I'd like to pray for you, but I need to know who you are. So maybe while I was talking, if you're like, ah, that's like getting me right here. Just let me just see who you are and then I wanna pray for you. Okay?
By raising your hand. Or maybe it's somebody for our livestream family.
Can I just say this? While you were saying that, I got a picture in my mind's eye of how tired you get when you try to ram that mountain in your own strength. And I think sometimes the enemy would like us to just get to the point of fatigue. Because if you can just get us to the point of fatigue, then he's like, we're too weak to even cry out to the Lord. And so I'm not like trying to conjure like if this is for someone but I just see this picture of someone that's too tired to even respond.
Like too tired to even think that there would be another way like, I'm just done. Like, I'm exhausted, you know, after a workout when you can't even think straight and you're just like get in your car and you're like,
what what was I doing again?
Because you're so physically and mentally fatigued. I just feel like maybe that someone in here, maybe it's on our livestream. But if you're finding yourself in that fatigue, don't underestimate that just all you have to do is turn your eyes to Jesus.
So, Mhmm. Let me pray for you. Jesus, this mountain is real it's a really big deal. It's not nothing to us. It's a big deal to us.
But to you, when your grace is applied, it can become a level plane. We've been ramming our heads against this mountain of opposition or difficulty or something we can't quite figure out. We invite you, Jesus, to fill us with your grace. Would you release new strength, new energy? Would you release creative ideas even right now, God?
Would you come minister? Just your healing and your comfort to to those who feel like they've just been ramming their heads up against this mountain. Who are you, oh mighty mountain? Says Zerubbabel. When he says grace, grace, the mountain melts and becomes a level plane.
We pray that for those folks that raise their hand here, somebody that's watching the livestream. Release your grace in this situation. We believe that you can do it. We know that you want to. Jesus, we love you.
Amen.
To save forever he rose and conquered the grave Jesus conquered the grave. One more time. Savior. Savior. He can move the mountains.
My god is mighty to save. He is mighty to save forever the author of salvation he rose and conquered the grave Jesus
I was going to hang on to this but Last night, the lord woke me up and he said, this morning, right now, in this service, that he he will be rewriting someone's story. And I don't know if it's one or multiple people. But he's saying right now, if you sense the spirit in you or upon you and Jesus is doing something. Submit. Let it go.
Relax. He says, rest in me,
my
children. Rest in me. I will not leave you. I will not forsake you. I will take you through whatever it is.
This challenge that you face, I am rewriting your story. And if you submit to me, you will see. You will see. Jesus, thank you. Holy Spirit, thank you for dwelling in us.
And we ask that you would descend upon us, spirit of
the living
God, enshroud us, cover us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, father God, for your son, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus, that you came. Thank you that you're alive. Thank you that you're real. Thank you that you're working. Thank you.
Thank you spirit of the living God. Thank you holy spirit for the work that you are doing in our lives individually and corporately. Amen. Amen.
Let's just cry out to him. We 're the We're
midst
going in the We're midst my own destiny. I wanna put it in your hands.
I can't control than here in your love. Here in your love. No place I would rather be. Yeah. No place I would rather be.
No place I would rather be
Just be still before him for a moment. See what the Lord wants to do. We just come before you. We just admit to you that without you we're weak, we're wretched, we're poor, or just we've got nothing in our own strength. But in you, we can speak to that mountain move and it will move because of the power of who you are and that you conquered death, hell, and the grave.
I just keep all morning, I just keep seeing this picture. I don't know if it it's something someone's crying out or it seems odd, but I just keep seeing this picture of like a book reading and someone sitting in a chair and they're the author of this book and everyone's come to ask the author questions and everyone no one in the room that's asking the author questions perceives to know more than the author that wrote the book. Like, it's the author's book. He made up the characters. He wrote the plot.
He decided what went where. And I just keep seeing this picture over and over. These people sitting in a room hungry to hear this author, a worldly author who wrote a book to just pick his brain. And I just feel like I saw that, like, first thing when we started worshiping and it just kept coming up and coming up and then we were singing, you're the author of salvation. And I'm just gonna pray this over this because this is why I feel like the Lord's given me an interpretation of that is that there's someone in here that just does not hunger for God's word.
They want to, they just when they open God's word it's it's just dry or they don't know where to go or it's just a book of words and they just have never really hungered for it and they see people who clutch their Bible and love God's word and they wonder, And I feel like the Lord was showing me that picture because if you don't know the author then it's hard to love the book that he's written. And I feel like that picture was the Lord just saying, why don't you ask me for a love for my word? Why don't you ask me about my word? Why don't you ask me where I want you to read? Why don't you ask me?
Why don't you come to the book reading because I'm there, like it's not just you reading the book, like I'm actually there in the book alive. Like his word is living and active, the bible says. So if the word seems dry or dead to you, ask the author why. Maybe there's something that's keeping you from letting his word come alive. Maybe there's sin.
Maybe there's just there hasn't been a spirit of revelation upon you yet for a love for his word. Maybe you're not saved. I don't know. May like, you know, I mean, it's hard to read God's word and when the spirit the holy spirit isn't living inside you yet. So Lord, I just pray that over anyone in this room if that picture is for someone around the livestream who just has not hungered for his word.
And I remember when I got saved and responded and your Holy Spirit came inside me, all of a sudden your word came alive. And we go through seasons where we take it for granted, but Lord, I just pray right now for anyone in this room who they just don't have a hunger for God's word, they just don't have a hunger for your word, God. Would you give them the courage to come to you as the author and say, okay, Lord, we're gonna read this, your book together. Show me. Reveal to my heart and show me what it would be if there was anything in me that would keep me from just feeling your presence through your word.
Having that spirit of revelation in Jesus' name, I pray that over anyone who that might apply to.
It's so it's not funny. It's it's obviously the Holy Spirit because I've been discussing this with a friend this week about and you don't have to not be saved. I think Christians are as guilty as anybody about not stopping stopping and and reading reading the the word. Word. And I have been so convicted about I make time for everything else, but yet not getting in the word distance yourself from him.
It's like the longer we stay out of it, the further we get from him. And she was telling me that a friend of hers that mentored her years ago here, Joe Bronk. I don't know if you're familiar with that name. But Joe told her that when you feel like you're distant from God, just look at him. Turn your head and look to him and go back to him.
And we've just gotta stop and do it. But, yeah, you don't have to be not saved, and you can think you're right where you need to be, but, oh, that conviction gets you every time. Mhmm. So look to him.
That's right. That's good news. Oh, we're gonna get into God's word. We just ask you, Lord, which by your Holy Spirit, would you reveal to us what you wanna speak through your word today? We wanna be changed by your word.
You left your word for us to know you. Your holy spirit and your holy word. Thank you for it. Where would we be without it? Where would we be without your sacrifice?
We praise you and we thank you today for who you are. Give us a spirit of revelation today. Convict us, speak to us, change us. In Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen.
Well, fill up your coffee, greet somebody if there's someone that you don't know their name, can't remember their name.
Yesterday, we went over to the Pierre's Hole Theater in Drig Victor yesterday, and we saw some elementary, junior high, high school students do a what what would you call that? A Recitation. Recitation. I I knew it wasn't resuscitation. A recitation.
So they, like, memorized, like, a big thing and then, like, shared it from the stage. Right? Does that you can picture that? And there were a number of of, young people from tribe that did part of it. And even though I've never raised them or gave birth to them or parented them, I just felt so beamingly proud of all of the students that that tribe represented at last night's event.
I was I was just so proud of them that that they took the time to, like, memorize this. Some people did, like, a poem. Some people did a presidential speech. Some people did a lengthy passage of scripture, like all of James chapter one or Genesis chapter one verse one through 28, the entire story of creation. I mean, it was impressive.
And so Acts, it was it was it was really cool to see. And so I just wanted to share, like, a proud dad moment that I had for those students and for the parents. And thing number two is I felt I'll say it off of the cuff like I say most things, but if you've ever wondered about the vibe of tribe, we believe that we are not the only beings in the universe. We believe in a transcendent, supreme being who has a personality with attributes, some of which are difficult for us to even wrap our minds around like infinitude. But there are other attributes that he possesses and demonstrates that can conceptually and interactively be known by us.
Attributes like compassion, attributes like mercy and tenderness and wisdom and strength. We believe in the God of the Bible. We believe that this book is not just another piece of literature that we read. We believe that this book is alive and this book reads us. We believe that God can be known, that he seeks to be known, and that the fullest expression of his nature and character was given to us two thousand years ago through his son, Jesus of Nazareth.
We believe that he was a real man. We believe that as a real man, coming from the Father, he emptied himself of all of his divine attributes and lived as a human: runny nose, stinky feet, sleepy, had emotions, laughed, interacted with mankind, and came for the purpose of acknowledging the sin that is in every single human being. As cross movement says, sin is fatal long before the cradle because it creeped in through your navel. And that Jesus, as an innocent man, went to the cross to pay for the sins of the entire world and for me and for us. And that that experience of forgiveness is available to anyone who would turn their cat around and bend the knee of their heart and invite him into their life.
We believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that he is alive today. He sits currently like, where's Jesus? Like, on, like, snap maps. If you're looking for him, I only know this because of a teenager and so on, you were to be like, oh, where's Jesus? Oh, currently, he sits at the right hand of the father.
But before he left, he said, It's better for you that I leave planet Earth because when I leave I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, and he will guide you into all truth. We believe that at the moment of salvation or regeneration, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within the life of every believer and that he leads, he guides, he instructs, he reveals Jesus. He works in us, but through the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are in scripture, he works through people to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a lost and dying world that's around us. We believe that Jesus can be known. We believe that Jesus can be interacted with.
We believe that Jesus speaks. We believe that Jesus moves. And because we have encountered him, not just read about him, not just learned about him, not just because it is historically part of American culture to do this on a Sunday, but because we have met with him, we have encountered him. We have, as a result, devoted our whole lives to following him and being led by his spirit and interacting with him through this book, I could give one rip about the cultural tradition of church. I would much rather be spring skiing.
I would much rather run a a thousand foot extension cord up Wilson Canyon and, with a hairdryer, start melting off the rock so that I can climb it, that would be a much better use of my time than to just do the tradition and the culture of church. As a man made institution, a man made institution, that of religion, It is by definition of religion empty, void of power, religious. It might make you feel good a little bit being able to check the box. I went to church. I I opened up my bible.
I put some nickels in the offering plate, which, I mean, does anybody even have nickels anymore? Like, we don't even have an offering plate. But the religious motions are a complete and total waste of time for me. And I love going to this church because I get to be around a group of people who have either encountered him and are therefore lovesick and or and or are hungry to know more about this God that we devote our mornings to once a week and in our private lives time every day with him. And so we believe that every time we gather collectively, that he invades this meeting.
We believe and we seek for an encounter with him that would change our hearts and change our lives. And I understand that if you've come from a church tradition where religion was emphasized going through the motions and saying the right things and doing the right things, maybe even out of a well intentioned heart that this could be a little bit abrasive or offensive or unusual, but I just want to lay it all out there. You've come to a community of people that actually believe a 2,000 year old carpenter from backwoods Nazareth in Judea is the most significant figure in the history of the world. And our lives are oriented in such a way that we believe and live with an eager expectation that he will return to planet Earth. Because
he said would.
He was the first person to say, I'll be back. Luke chapter seven. Luke chapter seven. Now you know.
Are we doing a membership membership signing? Signing?
No. I just I just felt like that needed to be said. Maybe that was just by the spirit of the Lord and for somebody. I don't know. Maybe it was just for me.
Luke chapter seven. It's been said better by other creeds, historical biblical creeds, but I like what I said.
We're thankful.
I like it too, Marty.
Thank you, Isaiah. Luke chapter seven. If you're taking notes this morning, you can write at the top of your notes. We're not going to have a keynote up, but we'll have this graphic up. If you are taking notes, you can write at the top of your notes the title of this morning's conversation.
The title of this morning's conversation is Kiss the Sun or Lick the Dust. Subtitled, The Choice Is Yours. If you are not familiar with where we have been for the last couple of weeks, this graphic explains everything. There was a pastor that we sat under in Oklahoma, and he was full of good Southern colloquialisms. One of the things that he would say when he would deliver a challenging or hard or difficult biblical truth, he would say, If this rubs your cat the wrong way, just turn your cat around.
Meaning, God lives and operates and expresses his nature and character in a variety of ways, but it's always one way. He doesn't change. The Bible says that there's no variation with him nor shadow of turning, and that's a reference to an old school sundial. That that that as the sun moved, the shadow would move with the sundial so you could tell time. Right?
That's not how God is. He doesn't move. The Bible says, I am the Lord. I change not, to quote Yoda. What we've been talking about for the last couple of weeks is this idea that we have an invitation from the Lord whenever we encounter his ways, his truth, and it is contrary to how we've been living or how we want to live or how we think.
There's an invitation to turn our cat around so that when the Lord pets us, when he interacts with us, when he deals with us, it doesn't rub our fur the wrong way, making us uncomfortable. But the end result, when we turn our cat around, the end result is this. That's what we're going to focus on today, this right here. You might be thinking, Okay, the cat's purring because he's being petted the right way, but what does that have to do with the title of this week's conversation, Kiss the Sun or Lick the Dust? Well, you're just going to have to stay with me and find out.
Luke chapter seven, let's take turns reading verse 36 through 50. We've spent a number of weeks talking about that moment of being confronted by the Lord and given an opportunity to turn our cat around. Today we're going to look at a woman who has turned her cat around and the natural result in her life and the natural result of the human heart when we experience the turning of our cat. Gretchen's got the mic. If you would read out loud into the mic, it won't be amplified in the room, but it's for all of our folks that watch the livestream or pick up on the podcast later in the week so that they can hear what you're saying.
Luke chapter seven, start reading in verse 36.
Okay. After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now, a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.
Where are you reading? 36. Just 36.
Well, I
like the beginning.
Nancy's deciding where to start.
It's the Erwin hour.
Now, Brian, in your notes, it says, but what I'm
gonna read woman forgiven. Forgive that's good blood. He said I'm forgiven. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisees' house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisees' house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment.
And standing behind him and his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering him answering him said, Simon
Take a quick look at verse 40. In your translation, it it doesn't have that language. The grammar's there in the original Greek
Yeah.
But it doesn't quite say it in your translation. But but somebody without the mic, just say what yours says about verse 40.
Jesus answered his thoughts.
Oh, snap.
Oh, he answered his thought.
Jesus, knowing what he is thinking Oh. Went ahead and addressed that.
And he said
Uh-huh. Come
on. Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, say it, teacher. A certain money lender had two debtors, one owed 500 Denari and the other 50. When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both.
Now which of them will which of them will love him more? Simon answered, the one I suppose for whom he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, you have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house.
You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. Does anyone else wanna read?
You're doing great.
Okey dokey. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you her sins, which are many are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven.
Then those who were at the table with him begin to say among themselves, who is this? Who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.
Okay. Let me ask let me poll the audience and ask you. You can answer it honestly. For how many of you, this was a brand new story that you've never heard before? Okay.
Cool. Great. It's a pretty amazing story. Now I want us to for those of us who have read the story before or are somewhat familiar with it, it's just so easy to roll right through it and say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the story. I'm familiar with it.
But one of the things I love about you know that TV series The Chosen? How many of you familiar with that? Oh my goodness. They they do such an amazing job of of adding coloring and and highlights and shadowing and shading to the biblical stories through, like, the through the characters of Jesus and the disciples, and it's about the life of Jesus, that add so much beautiful artistic license details to the story. With my words, I want to try to help get you out of the rut of what you may think about this scene, to try to fill in a few details, to bring out the vividness and the power in this scene so that you can put yourself there to be able to better appreciate the response of this woman.
This is one of few stories that are told in each of the Gospels. Not all of the stories that we can read about in the Gospels are written about in each of the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is one of the few stories that's in every Gospel. In this story, we see Jesus if you go back to verse 36, it says, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him. So Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.
Now we're gonna we're gonna take just a a quick look at John chapter 11, and if you want to turn there, you can put your finger there. But in John chapter 11, we see that this story takes place just before Passover, just before Jesus is crucified. He is at this man's house. He's been invited for dinner. We see in the Gospel of John that this story takes place at this town called Bethany.
Bethany is like a suburb. It's an actual modern day suburb of Jerusalem. It would be the equivalent of Jackson and Wilson. Bethany was just outside of, connected to Jerusalem. Bethany is the hometown of Jesus' friend Lazarus.
Lazarus has two sisters, Mary and Martha. It is believed through biblical scholars that the woman who anoints Jesus' feet is this woman named Mary. She had a rough and sordid past. Another detail in another Gospel account is that this woman who had opened herself up to all kinds of junk When she encountered Jesus, she was delivered and set free, the Bible says, from evil spirits. And now in this scene, we have Jesus reclining at the table, and it wasn't a table like this.
In those days, they sat on the floor and the table was down low. Is that part of your mental picture of the scene? Yeah, yeah. They're sitting, there are rugs, and there are cushions. That's what it means that he was reclining at the table.
It's a
low
table. It's a family style, so people are reaching their hands in, and they tear off a piece of bread, and they scoop up whatever it is, and everybody is talking and laughing. It is a very, very big deal that this Pharisee invited Jesus into his home. Do we have the man's name in the story of Luke? Simon.
There we go, Simon. We know that the Pharisee's name is Simon, and it says in John's account that Jesus had gone to the table of a man who was healed from leprosy. You're like, Oh, there's sometimes a little bit of confusion like, Wait, did they mess up their stories? If you look closely at it, and we don't have time to go into this kind of detail, but all the facts reconcile and check out. This man Simon was a Pharisee, and we get an additional detail in John chapter 11 that he was healed of leprosy.
Now who healed him of leprosy?
Jesus.
Somebody had to. Somebody had to swing at that. Alright. To be fair, it was a little bit of a setup. It's not said in the text who or how he was healed.
It could have been one of the disciples. There is textual evidence that people were healed miraculously, or through medicine and treatment, apart from Jesus' intervention in that day and age. We know that because Jesus was doing his thing in church one day, and Jesus was always disruptive in church services. And the and the the pastor comes up to him and says, hey. There are six days for working miracles.
Like like like, go and, like like, have that stuff be done at your church, not on a Sunday. And so there's there's evidence of either through medicine or treatment or miraculous, there's evidence of people being healed. My take on the story between Luke chapter seven and John chapter 11 is that this pharisee was healed Mhmm. But not at the hand of Jesus. We see that there is an element of contempt in the Pharisee's heart.
When look at verse 39. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She's a sinner. She was a prostitute. She was hooking up three nights a week, bringing home boys from the cowboy bar.
Then Jesus answered his thoughts. Simon, I have something to say to you. Was he scared? I mean, what was the was that emotion like? Jesus had already raised Lazarus from the dead.
The bible says earlier in the book of Mark that Jesus could no longer even enter any towns because he drew such huge crowds. There was such a incredible, enormous disturbance everywhere he went. Jesus is the biggest celebrity of the entire region. He comes to the town of Bethany. The Pharisee's like, do you want to come over to my house for dinner?
That's my impersonation of a Pharisee. Jesus is like, yeah. I'll come. If you invite me over, I'll I'll come to your house for dinner. Lazarus is at the meal.
Lazarus has recently been dead, Imagine this Pharisee, maybe it was for social status, maybe it was so he could post pictures on his feed like Jesus at my house for dinner, y'all. It was a huge stir with him just coming to the house for dinner. It says that there are other guests there. All eyes dart back and forth between Lazarus. You were dead.
You were dead. You were dead. And Jesus, you raised him from the dead. You raised him from the dead. And then the host, this man named Simon, who embodied religion of the day.
Simon invited He said yes to Simon. Is he in cahoots with Simon? Does Simon know something we don't? The tension, the excitement in the air at this dinner is palpable. Then we see Jesus confront Simon, and Jesus says, To the Pharisee, who were the rule followers of rule followers of rule followers, who made up rules so that they could follow those rules, to tell other people that they're following rules that they just made up, didn't do the customary traditional easy low hanging fruit of a greeting.
Jesus said, Simon, I have something to say to you. Go ahead, teacher. And then he tells him this story, and then he breaks it down for him and says in verse 44 of Luke seven, look at this woman kneeling here. And he says, you didn't offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears. She's wiped them with her hair.
You didn't greet me with a kiss. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head. So why didn't he do those things? Pharisees always followed the rules. So why didn't he do those things?
Was he trying to break out of his religious shell? Well, no, because we can see that Jesus had to call him out on something. My personal belief is that Simon was too cool for school. He was hosting a dinner party and as the guests were coming, it's Jesus. I'm not going to give All these people are following Jesus around.
All these people are bowing down to him. They're laying palm fronds down. Had that happened yet? People are calling him Hosanna. They're saying he's like, I'm going to play into that narrative that Jesus is as awesome as he says he is.
All the guests are coming, and I'm gonna be in my back bedroom getting my robes nice and straight and crisp. Let these other people kiss his feet. He had no idea what was in store, that there was gonna be a woman who interjects herself, disrupts the whole dinner party with this this this prodigal display of affection. Prodigal means over, abundant, exceeding. Like, here's the cup, and then here's the fire hose.
Way above and beyond. Nobody stopped there. I think they were gobsmacked. What is happening? What's unfolding right now?
Brian,
I feel like you could see the Pharisee's heart posture too and his thought that if he knew this sinner, he wouldn't allow her to touch it. Like, that that to me like strikes me so much. It feels like a doctor. Could you imagine a doctor being like, you're sick. I can't be near you.
You know what I mean?
It just sounds
so counterintuitive. Like, even the Catholic priests would go near sinners.
Yeah. And and think, this Pharisee, he goes, I know something that Jesus doesn't know.
Mhmm.
That's supreme arrogance.
Oh, because he knew she was
He knew that she was a sinner and he because he was allowing her to touch his feet, which women men and women in those days and age did not interact at all, especially out in public and especially at a at a at a private dinner party. This was so culturally taboo. This was so disruptive, and here the pharisee is. He doesn't try to protect Jesus. He's like, I'm gonna let him walk into this.
He does I know the reputation of this woman around town because I've heard stories about her at the cowboy bar. And Jesus doesn't eat look what he's he's allow he he doesn't even know.
The cool thing is
is he
only said it to himself. Yeah. And Jesus still called him out.
You can't even get away. But but Gretchen would like you to say it again.
Love you, Gretchen. Was
Steve Wilson's like, oh, I'm never gonna ask for the mic. Gretchen's gonna get after me.
I love your
tenacity. It says, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself Yes. If this man were a prophet, which is like obviously insinuating he's not, he would know what kind of woman he is touching him.
Mhmm.
And then, it's because he said it to himself that then Jesus answered his thoughts. Like, can't even be in the room with Jesus and have a ill thought and him not be like, who just thought that? Did
you just think it? That's right. Already he already knows.
I subjectively project pride and arrogance, admittedly I subjectively project pride and arrogance onto Simon the Pharisee, because he was healed but not at the hand of Jesus. I can go it alone without him. I mean, that's fine that some of these people need this miracle worker. I was healed of leprosy apart from him. And then in the midst of this, in comes this woman.
We see a few more details in the Gospel of John. She breaks open an alabaster jar full of expensive perfume. She pours it over his feet and over his head. She's weeping. She's crying.
She wipes the tears that are splashing off of her cheeks with her own hair, and Jesus allows it. He he relishes it. He receives her worship, and he honors her for
it. Yes. How did you think she knew who he was?
I believe, contextually, when you look at this story through the different gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, there are various details. Some of them would appear to be in conflict with one another, but I believe this is Mary, who is Martha's sister, who is the sister of Lazarus. Mary, the woman in this scene, knew Jesus. Jesus knew that family.
Didn't they grow up with him? And it shows
him they grew up with him.
Great. Everybody
has chosen his family
after it. So
Now I thought it was interesting what you said, though, that the you know, Jesus couldn't go anywhere without crowds, you know, just mobbing him. Mhmm. They they they knew. Mhmm. And it was like the the Pharisees just wanted to hear themselves, like, you know, the clanging symbol that, you know, they they didn't want to be so much if if Jesus was gonna be in their presence, they wanted it their way.
You know, under their rules.
Mhmm.
And Jesus was like, you know, this ain't about you.
This ain't about you.
That's a that's a southern vernacular there.
A demonstration of extravagant worship by this woman who had encountered the healing, saving, delivering touch, personal touch of Jesus. She had encountered, because of her lifestyle, being rubbed the wrong way. She turned her cat around And this right here is this moment of extravagant worship.
Weren't we just talking about the importance of tears at that time and how valuable they were considered?
She loved me a softball. In Jesus' day and in certain religious Jewish circles, they have what's called a tear jar. Have any of you ever heard of a tear jar? A tear tear jar, t e a r j a r.
He said in Harry Potter.
Oh. Oh. Is there a tear jar in Harry Potter? And they catch it. Oh, well, see, got it from the Jews.
And the Jews got it from the Bible. There's a verse in the Bible that says, I have collected all of your tears. I remember there's not one single tear that can ever fall from your eyes that I don't remember, and they are precious to me. And and today, culturally, Jews cry over the loss of the temple in Jerusalem, and so they go, Pring, pring, pring, and their tears are collected in a jar. I don't think it would be inaccurate to say that it was an alabaster jar of perfume, and perhaps she mingled them with fresh tears, but her tear jar that she was saving was poured out on his feet.
The idea is all of her pain, all of her loss, all of her suffering, all of her misery, all of her heartache, all of her heartbreak, disappointment, she poured it out and let it go on his feet.
I love that she was not inhibited by all the socialite people Yeah. Yeah. You know? She worshiped him and praised him and could have cared less about who was watching her. And can you imagine if we did that?
You know, I mean, this place is so inspirational anywhere. Here you go, and it's like, oh, feel God here. I mean, and you just wanna praise him, but yet we're like, oh, I saw some hikers back there. Better not do anything. You know?
But she didn't care.
She didn't care. I got a
question though.
Okay. The Jewish the Wailing is it the Wailing Wall? Mhmm. Is that does that as far as tears and what have you, is that relevant?
Have any of you ever been there to the Western Wall? It's it's it's it's pretty amazing it's a pretty amazing scene. Women are separate from the men. Sometimes Historically, is that
well, where does the name come from?
Mean, like, tears and white
Oh, the wailing yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I was about to give a long answer, but thank you for stopping me.
I think it that is interesting in, like, our co I think that is interesting in our culture as young people. They glorify the idea of pride. And, like, this lady had to really humble herself to come to Jesus and be like, I'm dealing with this. And I think that as young people, that's where we made we make mistake.
Mhmm. So so you are and you are, and this is where I'm trying to go with weaving together my sermon today, our conversation, is is you're getting there. You're getting there. We see two different responses to life change. One, by the Pharisees, and he responded self righteously, indignant, ungrateful, and I did this myself.
The other response is that of the woman. And she knew exactly who set her free. She died to her pride. She had great humility. She brought him a costly gift, and she kissed his feet.
The bottom line is she worshiped him. That is why every time we gather, we don't sing songs because it's the historical pattern of what you do at church. We worship him because there are a collective group of us that have experienced justice, and this is what we wanna do at his feet. It's easy to get in a habit routine pattern and for it to become religious. You'll know that a little religious seasoning is creeping into your recipe if you're like, oh, this song again?
I've sang this song like, for we've been doing this song the last four weeks. When we ever go as if it were really about you. We bring offering of worship to him because we've encountered him. We've been healed, saved, set free, delivered, forgiven, loved, cherished. He's spoken our name.
Fill in the blank. So there are two responses. You can either kiss the sun or the second part of the sermon title is lick the dust. Write these verses down. Psalms 32 verse one says, oh, what joy for those whose disobedience has been forgiven.
When we turn our cat around, whose sin is put out of sight. Oh, yes. What joy for the record the Lord has cleared of their guilt. Whose lives are lived in complete honesty. That's what we see of that young woman.
Just complete honesty. She's not coming in trying to be like, like, I'm not not doing that anymore. She's like, oh, here's where I was. Micah chapter seven. You can write this down.
You don't need to turn there. Micah chapter seven verse 16 through 20 says this, the nations shall see and be ashamed of all of their might, their own self effort energy. They shall put their hand over their mouth. Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent.
They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of you. Who is a God like you? Pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression of remnant of his heritage. He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy.
He again will have compassion on us and will subdue all of our iniquities. You will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. You will give the truth of Jacob. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old. Here's the idea.
Those that close their ears, those that close their eyes to encountering the truth of God, who refuse their to turn the cat of their heart around, will lick the dust. Last verse in Philippians chapter two verse nine through 12. Therefore, God has all has highly exalted him. This is Jesus. And given him the name which is above every name.
That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and on earth and those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every single one of us within the sound of my voice this morning, listening to the podcast in the future or watching the livestream, you will meet Jesus Christ face to face either this side or the other side of eternity. You will bend the knee of your heart to him. You can't deny it, dismiss it.
You can reject him. But even in your rejecting of him as savior and lord, you will still say, dear Jesus Christ, the king of the universe. I reject you, but I can't deny you. Every tongue will confess his name. You will you will bow before him to either kiss the sun as this woman did or to lick the dust in your own rebellion and suffer the consequences thereof.
I really wanted this to be like worshipful and happy and exciting. This is why this is why we sing. This is why we devote our lives to him. For those of us that have done this and experienced this, let us be a people known with our lives. Well, I'm not very expressive.
I'm kind of reserved person. I'm not I'm not telling you to be a certain way. What I'm inviting you to is to express the way that God made you with your super curly hair and all. To express love and affection and devotion towards Jesus because you have encountered him. Let us have that woman be an example to us of unabashed, unafraid, unapologetic, fully recognizing what who Jesus is and what he's done for our lives.
And let us express our thankfulness and our gratitude towards him in the way that God has made us. This is why we sing. This is why we raise our hands. This is why we we are hungry. We are a people that are known by our hunger for him.
Then then then see. You're trying to play me out
like at
the Grammys.
I'm not playing you out. Like,
Brian, you got us there. Let us just you got us there. Let's just worship.
You'll know when I'm playing you out.
Yeah. It'll get really loud.
Who turned the volume down? Listen, listen, listen. In Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, it says, the young woman says this, kiss me and kiss me again for your love is sweeter than wine. How fragrant your cologne. Your name is like its spreading fragrance.
It gets everywhere. Take me with you. No wonder all of the young women love you. No wonder the people act the way they do when I go to tribe. Take me with you.
Come and let us run. Kiss the sun or lick the dust. I think I'd rather kiss the sun. Look at me for just a second because I'm gonna because I wanna tell you to close your eyes. So go ahead and close with me.
Just wanna make sure that you're with me. So close your eyes. And while we're singing, I felt like I saw a picture of an alabaster jar with a a cork on it. That alabaster jar represents your heart. There is a desire in your heart to release affection, devotion, and worship towards the Lord, but there's a cork in the jar, something preventing you.
Like, oh, I I want that, but, like, I I feel stocked up. I wanna if you connect, it resonate with that picture. I wanna be able to release the affections of my heart in a new and deeper way, but I feel like there's something stopping it. Because nobody's looking around right now in this moment. Would you raise your hand?
And I wanna pray for you. Then, yes, I see. That's good. That's good. Praise the Lord.
Okay. For those people that raised their hand, Jesus, would you do a wonderful miracle? Would you unstuck that cork, whatever it is? Maybe they need to confess something or tell you something. I don't know.
But would you just, in your tenderness and your mercy, just that cork out. Now watch what flows as you and the rest of us, if you agree with it, just whisper loud enough for your own ears to hear you. And you don't have to whisper this if you don't believe this or agree with this, but just whisper over and over, Jesus, I love you. Watch the fragrance begin to come out. Jesus, I love you.
Jesus, I love you. Thank you, Jesus.
As we transition into our next form of worship, I wanna invite you guys
to just see
this picture with me. I this process of weeping and crying, it's like it's not just like one tear and it's over. Like, this is like that uncorking that PB talked about,
like, it is pouring out.
And I just got this picture of, instead of, like, a $100 bill, like, you take it to the bank and you cash it out for a bunch of ones. And with our giving, instead of just, like, giving a $100 bill or whatever, it's just like you're laying it down, like, one by one, like,
kiss me, like, kiss me again and again and and
you just keep going until
You have to go to the bank again?
Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Yeah.
It's just like a process. Like I think about like Dave Ramsey, he's like, oh, like use cash because you can, like, feel it. And that's like that's like what the tears are like. Like, with every tear, it's just like,
man, like, is you're just giving it all away. That's good, Jay.
I just invite you guys to see that picture with me as we pray over the offerings, if you don't mind bowing your heads. Lord, we just come before you on our knees and we give it all to you. Our time, our talent, our treasure. Just soften our hearts to to be generous and then counter you and to, yeah, just give it all. We ask that you bless this tithe and offering today.
It's in your son's name we pray. Amen. If you don't know the different ways to give, you can either head to website, tribegh.com. There's a little donate button or give button in the top right hand corner. There's also a black safety cash box or for check right outside the door of the TMC.
You can see that. It's on the outside. Some people are like, oh, I didn't see it downstairs. It's on the outside of the building. And then the last way is just texting to 84321.
If it's your first time, you'll just plug in your information. That's as easy as texting a friend. Couple announcements for you guys are we got Wind River coming up June twenty fifth through twenty eighth. We are gonna head over to the Wind River Reservation over there and we're gonna serve. We're gonna help lead a VBS and I think that's such a tangible way to give besides just giving like a lot people just think it's your money like no, like it's your time like using your precious PTO or taking an unpaid day off, right, to go and serve with your time.
Giving being generous with your time. What a cool way to give and to serve. We also have some meals and some dish duty.
I think I see
Brian and Lissa are doing dishes up there on May 2.
Brian's getting
super busy. What a cool way to serve.
Right? Especially if you
just come to Sundays and you're never really Easter is an awesome opportunity to see our whole tribe fam together, but there's a whole another group of us that come on Tuesday nights. What a cool opportunity to just come, hear the same message again,
just and and, you know, clean
clean more stuff out of it. Right? Yeah. Just just hits different the second time. Right?
But you get a meal, you get to love on a bunch of young adults, as well as have an opportunity to cook a meal or do some dishes. There's sign up on the fridge right there. If you guys another great way to give and just connect with tribe members are Leah is going through a business class right now and she has a business pitch that she's needing to practice for her course. So if you would love to give her some feedback and help her out with that, feel free to connect with her after service. Leah, if you wanna raise your hand so people know who you are.
Awesome. So that's an awesome way that you guys could help her out. And I think that's it for announcements unless you guys got any more. Cool. Alright.
Phoebe, come back up.
Our young adults doing life group next week, not this coming Friday. Every Would other
that be alright if I prayed for you today? Stand up. I'd like to pray a blessing over you. I'm just so I'm so thankful for this tribe fam. I'm especially thankful for Jesus.
If you if you if you knew me before Jesus, I was a I was a sinner, chief among sinners.
Still climbing.
I was gonna say.
Climbing rat, a dirty dirtbag climber, ski bum. I'm still those things, but Jesus has set me free. He's given me a love greater than the mountains. He has realigned my passions. He has forgiven me.
He's healed my broken heart from a dad that I never knew. He's become a dad to me. He's my leader. He's my champion. He's he's for me, and he's not against me.
He's worthy of my whole life. And father, my prayer over our tribe fam today is that each and every person would encounter the real and genuine Jesus of of Nazareth. That we pour out the affections of our life at the feet of Jesus and that we would kiss the sun. I command a blessing over each and every member of our tribe family here today and those that are watching our livestream and those that are traveling abroad in Turkey today. I command a blessing over their lives.
In Jesus name, the strong son of god. Amen. I love you guys. I want you to have a great week. Be safe.
