“The Cost of Glory” Matthew 26:6-11, Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:37-38, John 12:1-4 The meaning of Glory in Hebrew is ‘kabod’ which means heavy in weight. When someone is glorified it signifies that we recognize the importance or valuable uniqueness that they possess. Moses recognized the weight of God’s glory. He wanted to experience a manifestation of God’s presence so Moses said “show me your glory.” God was unable to show Moses everything but what he saw caused him to have to wear a veil over his face after seeing it because the glory was so great. In 2 Chronicles 5:14, the priests were unable to minister because the glory of the Lord filled the house. The Glory of God is not only weighty, but it’s also costly. It will cost to pursue God’s glory. It will cost us opportunities, friends, heartaches and disappointments. The Glory of God will not compete with any other entity for our affection. We will have to give up some things that our flesh wants in order to make God first. The Glory of God is not about being seen. It’s not about us. People don’t need to see us; they need to see Christ in us. Our flesh should not be on parade. It should be about God. When we sell out for God, there will be unexpected costs. If we are truly gonna go after God’s Glory and it cost some things. It is risky. But we must remember that God said he would never leave us or forsake us or see us begging bread. Going after God’s Glory will require sacrifice. We will have to give up some things so we must be willing to gamble on Jesus. Things that do not make sense to us, always makes sense to God. In the passages, the woman with the alabaster box was going after the Glory of God. It costs to be in the presence of God. She had a box that was made from a species of marble. It was light in color and almost transparent. There was precious ointment inside that was rare and difficult to obtain. In today’s terms, the ointment was worth about $6000. Her whole wealth was in that bottle. She brought to the King, everything that she had and everything that she was worth in order to go after the Glory. The woman in the passages was a sinner. She had issues. We have issues. The issues that we have do not prevent us from going after the Glory of God if we are sincere. Jesus will make a way for us despite our issues. The woman wanted to be in the presence of God. All she wanted to do was anoint Him. But it began to cost her some things. Going after the Glory of God will cost us BROKENNESS. The lid on the alabaster box was sealed with cement and had to be broken. Psalm 51 lets us know that worship flows out of a broken spirit. If we are not broken, it cannot happen. Our gifts and talents are not going to be enough to do it. It will also cost us HUMILITY. The woman anointed Jesus’ feet which was an extreme act of humility. It was the custom to anoint the head, not the feet. Lastly, it will cost us OUR GLORY. There are too many of us trying to hold on to our own glory. We act like we are so humble but the spirit of Jezebel wants to control the flow of things. In the passages, the woman finds the man of her dreams. The Bible says that a woman’s hair is her glory. She began to cry and wipe his feet with her hair. She pulled a “bedroom move” and let her hair down. When she used her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet, she gave up her glory. Because of mistrust, misuse, abuse and issues, many of us are afraid to let down our hair and be transparent. We are afraid to let the people know, for Christ I live and for Christ I die. We must go after the glory, but it is going to cost us some things. Are you willing to sacrifice ourselves? Are you willing to take the risk and let down our hair and give God everything that we have? ~Bishop Coleman @ UFCM Holy Convocation 10/5/2014
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 03:32:32 +0000
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