The Coolidge examiner., 1938-06-02

PRIMARY TOPIC-Mary's Present TO
Jesus.
JUNIOR TOPIC-Mary's Love Gift.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
TOPIC-The Heart of Christian Service.
The love Of Christ constraineth
us" QI Cor. $40 was the all-suffi-
cient moving force back Of the
greatest life of service rendered by
any man. 1t is this personal devo-
tion to the One whom we love be
cause he first loved us" q John
4:l9, which makes Christianity
different from all other religions.
Christianity alone acts through this
natural and deep hunger of man.
kind with a personalized religion
which can be satisfying JOY and
pleasure. Yet at this point Chris
tians fail the most and make diff
cult the work of serving Jesus. They
see religion as job to be done,
form to be observed, a duty to be
fulfilled (W. r. King.
We need to renew that devotion
to Christ which expresses itself in
true worship. Prayer is too often
asking for things; praise, thanking
for things (unless we become so en-
crossed with them that we forget to
return thanks); and worship, which
e 20 81 80, u
thanksgiving for what He is rather
than what He can give, is forgotten.
Our Heavenly Father wants US to
show love toward Him. The act of
Mary was pure personal devotion
and worship, and its fragrance lives
to this day
1. Wasted-But Eternally Saved
(vv. 3-9).
The dark hours of betrayal and
death were before our Lord. All
around Him was hostility. Even in
the inner circle Of the disciples there
was misunderstanding and bicker-
ing Mary (to be distinguished
from the sinful woman of Luke y
with the quick intuition of an under
standing womans heart knew what
He was passing through, and with
magnificent act Of love stood by Him
in the fellowship Of His sufferings.
DR.. Morgan points out that it was
AN impulSive act born of the
prodigality Of love daring not TO
calculate" In the words Of verse
9, Jesus declared that the gospel
and that which this woman had
done were to stand side by side
with each other forever. That Keen
intuition Of love. that uncalculating
outpouring of love, was Godlike. and
an act in fellowship with the act
of God by which a world is re-
deemed"
Judas, who was thief. said she
had wasted money that should be
used for the poor John 1870. The
other disciples thought well Of his
argument and murmured against
her. But Jesus commended her. To
be thrifty and frugal is commend
able, but there are times when the
heart should speak without being
silenced by the drawing Of purse
strings. Many a home needs to
learn the lesson of Proverbs 1917;
Better is a dinner of herbs where
love is, than a stalled OK and hatred
herewith" Life takes on new
meaning when love is free to ex-
press itself in unmeasured sacrifice.
The same lesson needs to be learned
in the church, where no end of harm
has been done by logical penny
pinching when there should have
been some holy abandon in spend
ing for the Lords work. Mary's
gift seemed to be wasted. but il has
been eternally saved.
III. Saved-But EternaIly Lost
(vv 10, ID.
Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty
pieces of silver. He made" some
money. The fact that he did it by
betraying the Son of God may be
worse in degree but is not worse
in kind than the betrayal Of the
youth of our land by those who make
merchandise of their eternal souls.
A recent news item from England
declared that church organizations
were making money out of proper
ties publicly known as centers of
prostitution. The leaders deplored
the situation, but said they could not
prevent it without losing the income
of the property. Why not lose every
cent rather than be party to the be-
trayal of any man or woman.
III. Bold Words-But Weak Ac-
tions wv. 27-3D.
Verses 1926 tell of the gathering
of the Lord and His disciples for
their last passover and for the es-
tablishment Of the Lords supper.
AS they left the sacred meeting and
went out into the Mount of Olives
Jesus foretold His betrayal and His
coming denial by the disciples.
Peter. quick with his tongue, and
bold in spirit, spake swelling words
of devotion and assurance. Sadly
the Lord foretold his threefold de-
NAL of that very night. Again Peter
and all the disciples declared their
WILLINGNESS to die with Him They