SMALL GROUPS

INWARD PRAYER

QUESTIONS:

1. What stood out to you tonight in the message? Why do you think that was especially a highlight for you?

2. Jesus seems to honour people who we don’t typically think of, in this case through accepting hospitality but then honouring this woman who would have been seen as beneath the men in the room. How do you think Jesus recognizes these moments and gives honour without hesitation?
3. Honour, as said, “should help them see that they were valuable enough for Jesus to give His life for.” What does Jesus honour in the woman and how does this differ from encouragement?
4. What does honour look like in your context?
5. Where do you struggle with the idea of honouring people?
6. Practice the challenge below.

Challenge:

Work through this challenge as a group, and then ask your youth to practice this for the next week, checking in with them. A good place to start is honouring their parents.

Step 1: Honour comes out of a place of worship to God. Because of what God has done, we have the freedom to honour others. First thing is aligning yourself back with God. Put God first.

Step 2: Ask God to identify in your life places where you may not be honoring those around you. Ask God for clear opportunities to do it.

Step 3: Open your eyes and recognize those around you. Pull out the God given qualities they possess, encourage them, lift them up and honour them.

Step 4: If pride or arrogance seep into your life, ask Jesus to remind you of the price he paid for you. Often we need to calibrate our heart back with his.

Step 5: Honour Honour Honour… with no expectation of receiving it back. Give freely.

OUTWARD PRAYER

Week 4 | February 19, 2020

Follow the Leader: Honour

WHAT’S THE MAIN POINT?

Following Jesus doesn’t simply mean knowing about him or doing things now and again to please him. Being a disciple of Jesus, literally means apprenticing under Jesus. Living lives where Jesus is in the driver’s seat. And our daily lives start to look radically different from those around us.

Jesus exemplifies the practice of “Honour” as part of his yoke (how he lived)

If Jesus exemplifies this, then his apprentices should also.

WORD UP:        

Mark 14:1-11

Honour is a word that we don’t use often in day-to-day conversations. It’s usually brought out when someone graduates with “honours,” when a bride asks her friend to be a maid of honour, or when someone maybe honours the life of someone who has passed. A recent example would be the honour that poured in for Kobe Bryant. The bible speaks about honour directly a number of times for different types of people.

God includes it as part of his Top 10 rules for his people in Exodus 20:12.

“Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Not only does God say to honour parents, he also says in Romans 13:1-7 that God, in his sovereignty, has placed people in positions of leadership. In this context, verse 7 says that you should.

“Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.”

And finally, along with honouring your parents and those in positions of authority… God also says to honour your pastors (Chris, Joel & Jasmine really like this scripture) 1 Timothy 5:17:

“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”

But in today’s passage as we continue the theme of being apprentices of Jesus, we understand that an apprentice does what their rabbi does. And honour is something Jesus does, often very subtly, and often to the people not mentioned in the list above (parents, leaders, pastors). Let’s read Mark 14:1-11.

This is an interesting passage which happened just before Jesus was arrested. In one way it was prophetic of what was about to happen, in that, the oil used to anoint Jesus would have also been used as burial anointing oil. But there are a couple amazing moments of “Honour” which we, as followers of Jesus, can really learn from and do in our lives. Let’s look at them!

1. Jesus Honours Simon the Leper

Throughout Jesus’ ministry he spent time in lots of different people’s homes. You can read about them as you read through the gospels. Spending time in someone’s home said more about you than the person who welcomed you in. Accepting hospitality in Jesus’ day defined your character and what people thought about you. One author once wrote that “Jesus killed himself by the way he ate.” Meaning that because of the people Jesus honoured by spending time in their homes, it built a reputation against him and inevitably led to his death. In this instance Jesus is hanging out at Simon the Leper’s home. In this story Simon was probably not sick as he was managing to host people in his home, and there were many people there (you would not go to a leprous person’s home under any circumstance). However Simon was probably one of the many who had been healed by Jesus, yet still had this label over his head. Once a leper, always a leper. For Jesus to spend time in this home was firstly a sign of honour.

2. Jesus Honours the Woman

This moment in itself is such a beautiful moment of honour from this woman to Jesus. She pours out this beautiful jar of perfume over Jesus as a sign of her honour and love for him. This perfume jar would have been worth roughly in today’s world about $30,000CAD!! When was the last time you gave that amount of money to God?!

We could simply read this as a story of what it looks like to honour Jesus, and leave it there. But what Jesus does gives us the example of how we should live. As the woman pours out her worship to Jesus, some in the room start to rebuke her and grumble harshly. (One of which is Simon, who is the host!! Recorded in Luke’s account & also because she had a “reputation” for being a prostitute).  Jesus quickly comes to her defense and recognizes that what she did was a beautiful thing. He calls out the godly characteristic in the woman’s heart and elevates her above those standing in the room. He honours her so highly, that he says that she will be remembered everywhere the gospel is preached throughout the world. And 2000 years and 10000km away… we still talk about this woman.

3. Honouring someone has consequences

There are two reactions when we honour people. See honour isn’t simply encouraging someone, or giving a compliment or being nice to somebody. Pastor Craig Groeschel puts it this way:

“We should value others and show them honour, and we should help them see that they were valuable enough for Jesus to give His life for.”

Did you catch that…? Honour has to do with reminding people that they are valuable in God’s eyes, SO VALUABLE that Jesus would die for them. Honour isn’t temporary, it’s designed for eternity.

As Jesus honours this woman, there are two reactions. The first one we read is about Judas. In watching his Rabbi honour this woman who has “wasted” so much money…he leaves the home and goes straight to the chief priests to betray Jesus!

When we honour people and remind them of the value of their life and how important they are to God, some people will respond in hatred. Some people in the room may rebuke or grumble, some like Judas may take things a step further. But Jesus exemplified what it means to honour even though he knew the consequences.

The second reaction is the one of the women. This story is recorded form a coupe, of accounts in Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; Luke 7:36–50; John 12:1–8… but none tell us her reaction. The gospel writers leave us wondering. Which, in one way is probably the best way they could have written the story. It leaves us in the seat of this woman picturing what it would look like to be honoured by Jesus… imagine how you would feel?

WAKE UP:

1.       Share a story in your life where somebody honoured you or you watched somebody honor another.
2.       These videos are some of the ways we see donor expressed in our culture:

Tribute videos, you could also find your own:

Steve Carrell – (Steve Martin Tribute) – FUNNY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWSKf75d8YM

James Corden Pays Tribute to Kobe Bryant – SAD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THx8BiZ2Brg&t=19s

NBA players Honor Kobe in Game – MOVING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36SHDWGbfEY

WHY DO I CARE?

1. Jesus calls his disciples/apprentices to do as he does. Therefore a culture of honour should be normal for Christians.
2. When we honour people, it should remind them of their value to us but more importantly to God. Honouring can be an amazing way to worship God and show people the freedom of a life following Jesus.
3. When we honour, it raises others and humbles ourselves. Jesus lived a life of humility, one way that can we learn humility is honouring others around us.
4. Godly honour requires us to be in tune with the Holy Spirit. Actively listening to God’s prompts to honour others keeps us aligned with the will of God.
5. Craig Groeschel – “Honour lifts up, encourages, and builds. You might think, ‘I’m not going to show this person honour because they don’t deserve it. They’re not honourable.’ But showing honour doesn’t’t work like that. That’s mistaking honour for respect. Respect is earned. Honour is given. This is a crucial distinction. You should honour someone just because of the position where God has placed them in your life. We must show honour freely.”

WHAT DO I DO?

Step 1: Honour comes out of a place of worship to God. Because of what God has done, we have the freedom to honour others. First thing is aligning yourself back with God. Put God first.

Step 2: Ask God to identify in your life places where you may not be honouring those around you. Ask God for clear opportunities to do it.

Step 3: Open your eyes and recognize those around you. Pull out the God given qualities they possess, encourage them, lift them up and honour them.

Step 4: If pride or arrogance seep into your life, ask Jesus to remind you of the price he paid for you. Often we need to calibrate our heart back with his.

Step 5: Honour Honour Honour… with no expectation of receiving it back. Give freely.

Is there a situation or relationship in which you need to restore your expression of honour? Start by identifying it. Possibly a parent, a leader, a friend?