Shammah Temple Fellowship: Sermon of Sunday June 22, 2025
By Alain Nkanira
Theme: How can we give Jesus the respect He deserves?
Reference scriptures: John 12:1-19
When we received Jesus, things changed in our lives. We left our former lives there and came close to Jesus. After Lazarus was risen from the dead, people’s lives didn’t remain the way they were before. From Lazarus’ sisters to neighbors and those around the community gathered to not only see Jesus, but also see Lazarus, who was just miraculously risen from the dead.
Believers give Jesus the respect He deserves
- By offering Him our most valuable assets
Lazarus’ siblings and Lazarus himself offered Jesus gifts. People may say it’s only Mary because she anointed Jesus, but even those who didn’t gift Him physical objects offered Him attention. They opened their hearts to hear from Jesus. Martha was cooking and preparing for Jesus and the guests. Mary was seated on Jesus’ feet, marveling at Him, listening to Him, talking to Him.
Although Martha was not doing a wrong thing, it was not the most valuable offering she would give Him. Jesus appreciated Mary’s presence to His feet, more than any other thing else offered to Him out there, not even the expensive oil she had poured to Jesus.
When we are at Jesus’ feet, we do the right thing at the right time and at the right price. Nowhere else we can know the best time and the best thing to offer our King.
How should we behave while offering Jesus our valuable assets?
- We should give ourselves first to Jesus, before we offer Him any gift
Jesus needs our total surrender before we commit to giving Him anything we own. It’s easier to gift Jesus what we own as soon as He owns us, when we are His.
- We should happily offer Him our valuable things from our hearts
Offering Jesus our assets should first be from our hearts, it should come from the inside, from our own heart and be happy to do so.
- By offering Him from our hearts
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, people were so enthusiastic about His presence. They truly wanted Him to be around, even though the motivations may not have the best. However, they really happily welcomed Him. “… they took branches of palm trees [in homage to Him as King]za and went out to meet Him, and they began shouting and kept shouting ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’” (John 12:13).
Psalms 146 shows how David cried out to Jesus to worship Him and that changed things for Him.
Why should we worship God?
- Because He dwells in His people’s worship
- Because He forgave us, delivered us from death
- By constantly meditating on His scriptures
It is not easy to please God when one doesn’t stay in His word. Hearing from Jesus through His scriptures makes us understand better what He’s expecting from us,
“I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sign against you.” Psalms 19:11
Why should we never stop meditating on Jesus’ scriptures?
- Because it gives us the wisdom to really bond with Jesus
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
(Psalms 119:130)
- Because it gives us the power to bear fruits
“This Book of the Law should not depart from your mouth, but you should read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it…” (Joshua 1:8).
In short, Jesus deserves our respect in every aspect of our life. He has earned it, we have all that responsibility to bless Him back. We should offer Him all our most valuable assets, not just that, but make sure He has our hearts first, and that we keep on meditating on His scriptures, day and night.
