Mark 14:1-8 – He Hath Done What He Could – Bible study

Mark 14:1-8 He Hath Done What He Could I wrote this message almost three years ago. It was on November 30, 2007. Our family had finished celebrating Thanksgiving with family here and decided to go to Angels house in Sioux Falls for a few days. We were coming back on Friday night to meet Christopher and Odessa in Nashville, before getting back here Saturday night to preach on Sunday. As we were driving, we checked the voice mail at the house and heard that Danny Junkins had passed away. I decided we needed to come on back that night and while Kathy drove, I wrote this message, which I thought I would preach either Sunday or maybe at Bro. Dannys funeral. But the Lord never gave liberty to preach it at either. I have turned to it several more times to preach it, but I never felt that I should. Here are the words that I wrote as I begin the message: "Danny Junkins passed away this past week. We were driving back from a family gathering at Sioux Falls. As we drove, I began to think about Dannys life, especially as it intertwined with my life, the lives of my family members, and our church. I would say of Danny, he hath done what he could. Let me share some thoughts with you this morning." I. The phrase implies a limitation. A. As this woman sat in her house, praying and considering the things of God, the Holy Spirit revealed to her what was going to happen to Jesus. 1. He was to be arrested. 2. He was to be ill treated. 3. He was to be unjustly murdered. B. However, she was a woman who had limited resources. 1. Having understood what was going to happen to Jesus, her first instinct may have been to try to stop His execution. a. But no husband is mentioned. b. She, being a woman, was limited in what she could physically do. c. If the thought crossed her mind, she would have soon concluded that there was nothing she could do to stop what was about to happen. 2. So instead of trying to stop it, she decided to demonstrate her love for her Savior instead. a. But still, she had no real wealth that she could give. b. Most of her possession were things she used, not things that would have made a decent gift. c. She found the one thing that she had and it was aptly appropriate. d. In those days, a person who wanted to have any spices or embalming done when they died would have to furnish the ointment. Most did not. This woman had saved a small box worth of such ointment. She took her box of burial ointment to Jesus, broke it open, and poured it on Him. e. Others questioned why she "wasted" such an expensive ointment on Jesus, but He understood what she had done and was very pleased. 3. So we see the fact that she did what she could implies there were limits to how much she could do. C. You and I likewise have limited resources. Everyone does. 1. You have only so much money. 2. You have only so much intellect. 3. You have only so much ability. 4. You have only so much time. 5. You have only so much opportunity. D. Before I leave this point, let me say this is not the most important point. 1. Too many spend entirely too much time looking at their limitations. 2. While it is important to know everyone is limited, it is equally important to know that every child of God has Christ. 1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 3. Having Christ, every child of God can do much more through Christ than they have ever imagined. a. We have prayer. Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. b. We have faith. Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. c. We have Christs strength. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. d. We have grace. 2Cor 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christs sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. E. Those who will spend their life looking at what they cannot not do will not be doing what they can! This woman did what she could despite lifes limitations. II. Life is not about how much you do but about how much you do with what you have. A. The Bible gives us the examples of many who used a little to accomplish a lot! 1. Moses had only a shepherds staff. 2. Jael had a glass of milk and a tent stake. 3. Samson had only the jawbone of a donkey. 4. David had only a sling and 5 smooth stones. 5. The widow woman had only a handful of meal and a little oil. 6. Elijah saw a small cloud the size of a fists. 7. Esther had only a title and access to the kitchen. 8. The young lad had only 5 loaves and 2 fishes. B. The question becomes what are you doing with what you have? 1. What will you do with the time you have left. a. Danny Junkins died at 53. 53 years does not seem like much. b. If God gives you only 53 years, what will you accomplish with them? Remember, the Father gave the Son only 33 years! c. But we dont work by the year, we work by the hour. (1) Every day has 24 hours, every week 168 hours, every year has 8,736 hours. (2) How many of todays 24 will you invest into Gods kingdom? (3) How many of the 168? How many of the 8,736? (4) Do you tithe off your time? (a) Most do not, but it is not a bad idea. (b) Time is one of your most valuable resources. i. Time if far more rare than money. You will only get a certain amount of it. ii. Once spent, you cant recoup it or add to it. (c) As a matter of fact, some who are always saying they cant afford to tithe off their money could tithe off their time. 2. What will you do with your influence? a. One of the reasons God commands every Christian to witness is because you have influence on some that no one else has. b. You may not be called boss, or parent, or even dear or darling, but someone listens to you. c. Are you using your the influence you have over others for good? 3. What will you do with your abilities? a. Again, in lieu of your money, you could tithe your specialty. b. This summer, our teenagers found out that people need help with dishes, yards, errands, C. Understand that the plan of God is that all of us work together to accomplish a great global work for Him. 1. God calls very few to full-time service. a. He calls a few. (1) There are missionaries, evangelists, some pastors, some para-church organizations that might work to feed the poor or take care of the sickand that is all that they do. (2) But they are relatively few in number. b. Then He calls many more like myself. (1) Many of His workers are bi-vocational, working one job to help finance the work they do for the Lord. (2) In my lifetime, I have been offered some pretty good jobs, some of them could have been very lucrative. (3) Ive turned down those offers because my first priority is, and has been since I was eighteen years old, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. (4) I have heard people scoff at the ministers who make thousands of dollars a week, and in some cases a day, to "just speak a couple of times each week." (5) People need to understand that for every preacher who gets paid an adequate salary to work full-time in the ministry there are probably a few thousand that do not. c. What God does more than any other is to use people a few hours every week. (1) Get that – He wants to use EVERYONE a FEW HOURS each week. (2) Sadly, many do not surrender to be used and what ends up happening is the few that willing to volunteer get buried in trying to do the work that 3 or 4 others ought to be helping them do. 2. Such was not the case with this woman. a. She could not do everything but she could do something. b. What she could do, she did; and the Lord took note of her. c. Have you done what you could? III. This compliment would mean far less if it were not given by the Lord. A. Our tendency is to under-estimate our abilities and over-estimate our contributions. 1. Yet our Lord sees things very accurately. 2. Perhaps you remember the widow woman who dropped two mites in to the offering. a. Mites were some of the smallest tokens of currency in that day, similar to our pennies. b. Yet, the Lord told the disciples that she dropped in more than all the rest. c. They, knowing that others had given more money, were dumb- founded by Jesus statement. d. He explained that while others had given of their abundance, she had give all that she had. e. Jesus saw what others did not see. 3. Most of us give our left-overs. a. If we have any money left over, we tithe. b. If we have any time left over, we go to church. c. And if we do those two things, we feel we have done enough. 4. The question we need to ask is, "What does Jesus think?" 5. Remember, we are working to hear our Lord say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. B. Two things I have observed. 1. Too many people think that they are going to heaven who arent. 2. Too many people think they doing a work for Jesus and they havent. C. Both of those statements may sound judgmental, but the truth is that just because you go to church, that doesnt mean you have done a work for God. 1. Going to church is worship. It is something you should need and enjoy. 2. Let me give you some more bad news. a. If, for you, going to church is your work, then you probably neither worked nor worshipped. b. This woman did not feel like what she was doing was a labor. c. It was a love! Now let me close by telling you why this verse came to my mind when I thought, and think, of Danny Junkins. 1. Bro. Danny did not have a lot of money, but he had to gifts. 2. Danny could cook and Danny could sing. 3. Danny worked in the kitchen of Bessemer Caraway Hospital (UAB West), but he was injured a few days before the church called me as pastor. Danny was the first hospital call I made. They were going to work on his back and hopefully, he would be okay; but something did not work, and he came out of the surgery will paralysis in his leg. He was never able to use his legs properly again. 4. Danny could have taken disability, but he wanted to work. He was retrained in another career, but he began using his gifts more and more. 5. Anytime we needed anything cooked for the church, we could call on Danny. a. He could fix an item or he could fix a meal. b. When our girls got married, two of them in the same summer, he gave himself as his gift to them. He catered the wedding, even providing the food, for free. c. He did what he could. 6. Danny sang in the church often, but he also sang at funerals. a. For years, he was Frek and I was Frat. b. Hed do the singing. Id do the preaching. c. He did what he could. When Danny died, the many memories of Danny doing what he could stood out in my memories, and I cant think of a better eulogy for any believer than for it to be said, he (she) did what they could. Will it be said of you?