The Convenient Hour: To Serve or Betray
December 4, 2022 · 2:03:22 · Watch on YouTube ↗
These notes - summary, key points, and highlighted thoughts - were generated by AI from the recording and are not the preacher’s exact words.
Summary
Gathered for the Lord's Supper, the church is first reminded that all who do the will of God are Jesus' true mother, brothers and sisters - one family bought by the blood of the cross. From there the message turns to Matthew 26, where two people share one evening yet make opposite choices: Mary pours her costliest perfume over Jesus in extravagant love, while Judas slips out to sell his Teacher for thirty pieces of silver.
The preacher draws out the painful contrast. The same hour offers each person a convenient opportunity, but one seeks a chance to do good and the other a chance to do evil. Mary's gift was worth far more than Judas' payment, yet her sacrifice brought her honor while his profit became his ruin. Betrayal cuts deepest when it comes from someone close and trusted, and Judas even chose a place of prayer and a kiss of love as the cover for his treachery.
Christ, by contrast, turned even the cross into His own convenient opportunity - a deliberate chance to prove His love and fulfill the Father's will. As the congregation breaks the bread and shares the cup, they are urged, in the words of Galatians 6:10, to do good to everyone while there is still time. Communion binds them not only to Christ but to one another as His body: Jesus has proved His love, and now the choice to serve or to seek our own gain belongs to us.
Key Points
- Everyone who does God's will is part of Christ's family - brothers and sisters joined by His blood.
- One evening, one opportunity, two opposite hearts: Mary served Jesus while Judas sold Him.
- Mary's costly gift outweighed Judas' payment - good is never cheap, and selfish gain becomes ruin.
- Betrayal from someone close and trusted wounds far more deeply than betrayal from a stranger.
- Jesus turned even His suffering into a chosen opportunity to show love and obey the Father.
- While there is time, look for the chance to do good to all, especially the household of faith.
- Communion unites us to Christ and to one another - good children of a good God love each other.
Devotional
Every day sets the same moment before me: a chance to bless or to betray, to give or to grab. Mary looked at Jesus and emptied her treasure on Him; Judas looked at a price and emptied his own soul. Before I take the bread and the cup, let me ask whose interest I am really chasing - my own advantage, or the good of the One who gave everything for me. Lord, make my heart the kind that pours out love while there is still time. Help me seek not to be loved, but the opportunity to love.
Mary thought of Jesus; Judas thought only of himself.
Christ has proved His love - now the turn belongs to each of us.
While there is still time, look for every chance to do good.
