Sozo: God’s Power to Save

Sin is fun… until it isn’t.

Sin is fun… until you begin to realize that what you’re doing is doing something to you. That it is shaping you in ways you didn’t intend or foresee.

Sin is fun… until you begin to see that the cost is more than you want to pay.

Joshua Brooke grew up in a small California town. His mother was 16 when she had him. His father, though living just down the street, wanted nothing to do with him. The abandonment of his father drove him to achieve. He was a great student, a standout athlete, and eventually became a well-trained actor and model. His relentless pursuit of being enough for an absentee father was his driving force.

He eventually ended up in Hollywood to pursue an acting and modeling career. He worked with some regularity, but it was never enough. A few years into his career some women approached him from the porn industry about doing a film. He saw no good reason not to. But he had no idea the cost of that decision.

Once his first film was released, his main-stream agent dropped him. He could no longer find regular work. Soon after he faced the deepest shame in his life when his mom found out about his involvement in porn. But it seemed that this was all he had available to him. He ended up making several award-winning films, but he was personally trapped in a downward spiral of shame. He had pocketed millions of dollars, but all of the accolades could never overcome the inferiority complex stemming from his father’s absence. This thing that had been “fun”, that had offered him a promising future, was ultimately a stone around his neck. By 2013, he had decided the only way out was to take his own life. But then God intervened.

I don’t know about you, but I have experienced the “fun” of sin. The first time I got drunk I was 13. It was fun. For a shy kid like me, it was liberating. When I was buzzed my inhibitions melted away and I felt like I could be myself. But over the next several years, it required more and more to achieve the same high. I was never addicted to alcohol. But I was addicted being accepted by my peers and to the lack of inhibition I experienced. Yet that lack of inhibition led me into some dark and humiliating experiences. In the end, I discovered that this thing I was doing was doing something to me.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. Sin is fun… until it isn’t and you began to see that there was a high cost attached. Jesus said that whoever sins is a slave to sin. That thing you use begins to use you. And in the end what you’re left with is crushing guilt and shame.

This is the last week in our series SOZO: Healing for Body, Soul, and Spirit. We’ve been studying the Greek word sozo in the NT, seeing that it can be alternatively translated to heal, to deliver, or to save. We’ve looked already at sozo as healing and deliverance. Today we finish the series looking at the story of a woman crushed under the weight of sin and shame and her experience of Sozo: God’s Power to Save.

Pray…

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Luke 7:36–50 (NRSV)

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved [sozo] you; go in peace.”

Jesus has gone to eat at a religious leader’s home. Odd, since the Pharisees seemed to have the most problems with what Jesus was saying and doing. Apparently the normal niceties offered to guests were not offered to Jesus. He wasn’t giving the customary kiss of peace when he entered. He wasn’t offered water to wash his feet. None of the customary signs of welcome or respect were extended to him. Jesus, without words, is being put in his place.

Then a woman barges her way into where they were eating. She is a woman of the city, and a sinner. We don’t know what her sin was, but apparently it was notorious enough that the religious leader felt he would be defiled if she even touched him. Maybe she had a reputation as being morally loose. Perhaps she made her living through prostitution. Whatever the case, she had reached a point where her sin had become crushing. In agonizing shame, she knelt as Jesus’ feet, weeping on them, wiping them with her hair, anointing them with oil. She had utterly humbled herself before Jesus.

The religious leader looks on with condemnation. Jesus regards her as well, and in some way, her life is now in his hands. How he responds to her will likely set the course for the rest of her life. A rejection by Jesus would send her back into a life that she would probably never escape, that would finally kill her in the end. What would Jesus say to this sinner?

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“Your sins are forgiven”

The Bible points to many things we need sozo/salvation from - enemies, oppression, famine. But the one thing it most points to is our need of salvation from the effects of sin.

We tend to think of sins as things we’ve done wrong either through commission or omission. This is true.

But Bible sees sin as much more serious that breaking a rule. It sees it as a condition. We don’t just sin. We are sinners. We have a condition that we are unable to heal. Paul says the wages of sin is death - it carries a death consequence. And the result of our condition is death 100% of the time.

Because it’s a condition, we can’t just determine to do better. No matter how well we do, the condition remains. If you smoke and develop lung cancer, you can make the decision to stop smoking. Great. But the cancer remains. You have a condition that you must be saved from.

When it comes to sin, something or someone outside of yourself must save you. This is the good news the Bible tells us. That God offers us sozo - salvation - through his Son. Because Jesus took our sin at the cross, he has the right and ability to now forgive us of the death consequence of our sin. In Jesus, your sins are forgiven.

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“Your faith has saved you”

What faith? This woman hasn’t said a word. Yet Jesus sees in her actions the depth of her repentance, the admission of her guilt, her cry for mercy. Kneeling at his feet, he sees the full surrender of her life to him. This is sozo faith - a faith that saves.

What is saving faith?

Begins with Belief - believing that Jesus is who he claims to be - the Son of God - and that he can do what he claims to do - heal us from sin.

Moves to Trust - what we believe in our head moves to our heart. We make the choice to put our full confidence in Jesus as our savior.

Ends in Loyalty - allegiance is maybe the best word to describe sozo/saving faith. It is the bowing of our knee to Jesus as Lord and the full surrender of our entire life to him.

This is the faith being expressed by this woman. It’s the only kind of faith that can save.

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“Go in peace”

I’m not sure there are any better words to hear from Jesus. This woman whose heart is gripped by guilt and shame is given the full remedy for her condition. She anoints Jesus, but in the end it is Jesus who anoints her with the only cure that could heal her condition and restore her heart - his peace.

The peace Jesus offers isn’t an absence of conflict. It is the presence of God’s grace and well-being. It is the peace of knowing that, whatever you might go through, your sins are fully forgiven and you are at peace with God. It is the only peace that soothes the crushing weight of guilt and shame.

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Put all three centered on one slide

Your sins are forgiven

Your faith has saved you

Go in peace

These words took on a whole new clarity for me just a few years ago. I’ve shared before that one of the major obstacles in my spiritual life has been having assurance that I am really saved. At one point I’m sure I’d prayed the sinners prayer hundreds of times. But I always returned to doubting if I was really saved. I was basing my salvation on my feelings.

After several years of learning to walk in the truth of the Bible I was finally able to put this nagging doubt to sleep - or so I thought. Years had gone by where this no longer disturbed my thoughts. I thought I was invulnerable. But then, just a couple of years ago, out of the blue I was attacked again. Those old doubts rushed back in and I felt all over again the guilt and shame of my past, my unworthiness to be forgiven.

I was having my regular morning quiet time, and it just so happened that I was reading this passage. As I read Jesus’ words to this woman, something happened. Jesus was no longer speaking to this woman 2,000 years ago. He was speaking to me, right here and right now.

Your sins are forgiven

Your faith has saved you

Go in peace

And in that moment, I was free.

Jesus is speaking these same words now to you. If you aren’t a Christian, I know the enemy tries to convince you that you’ve done too much bad to be forgiven. But I promise you that there is no depth you can sink to that Jesus won’t pull you out if you ask him to. He is waiting to forgive anything you’ve done. You can leave here today at peace. If you aren’t sure if you’ve ever committed your life to Jesus, would you do that today? Would you put your trust in him, that he will forgive you and save you. The Bible tells us to confess Jesus as Lord. That means to surrender yourself fully to him. If you’ve not done that, or you’re not completely sure, would you make that decision today. How to follow up…

I know most of those I speak to this morning are Christians. Yet you might find yourself in a place where you’ve drifted away. You feel crushed by the guilt and shame of turning away from Jesus. Jesus’ words are for you to. You can never be so lost as to not be found again. The peace that is lost can be recovered. Repent. Be renewed in your faith. Be refreshed in Jesus peace. God loves you, forgives you, and is with you.

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Ministry...

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Communion

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What an amazing time of worship we’ve had today. I’m glad you’ve been a part of it. If you’ve been blessed today, why not invite a friend to join you next week. It will be Give Thanks Sunday and this is always the most encouraging Sunday of the year as we hear people give testimonies of how God has been at work in their lives...

*** Announcement reminders ***

Dismissal prayer

Now as we prepare to take this time of worship into the week ahead, the Lord who loves you reminds you that:

John 14:27 NRSV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

GO BE THE CHURCH!!