Christ Forgives

"ME”

Show how the sermon relates to them personally

I need to share something that’s going to come as a shock to some of you. It’s going to catch some of you off guard, but I need you to see past this shocking revelation and love me in spite of my imperfections, OK? Are you ready?

I don’t have a lot of hair.

Whew. That feels good to get that out of my system. You guys still love me? Can we still be friends? That’s awesome. Thanks.

So, if I’m being honest, I’ve always had a big forehead. My friends in college called it a “five head.” It’s just genetic. It runs in my family. But I used to have great hair! Here’s a picture of me from 9th grade to prove it. (show yearbook picture). You can’t see it there, but it was RED HAIR, too!

Somewhere starting in college, things began to thin out a little bit. That hairline crept back a little further and the top kept getting thinner and thinner. Mostly on top. I have a little bit of a “Captain Picard” situation going (NERD REFERENCE), where the back and the sides are ok…but the top is on an away mission.

FINALLY, I had a choice to make. I could keep trying to cover up the hair loss and do the whole “comb over thing,” or I could just go for broke and shave it! Well, if you can see me, you know the choice I made - I shaved it! AND I WAS SO NERVOUS! I was afraid my head would look more like a raisin than a melon, and I didn’t know what to expect. Pam wouldn’t even come with me to the barber because she was nervous, too. But, PRAISE GOD, I was gifted with a normal noggin, and I’ve never looked back. What I used to cover up with ballcaps or different hairstyles, I admitted my flaws and allowed change for the better to happen.

“WE”

“WE”

Broaden out the examples so that everyone in the room can relate - build tension

Have you ever tried to hide something you were embarrassed about? Maybe it was a weird cold sore that popped up on your lip. Maybe it was a pimple that erupted on your nose on picture day at school, so you did some funky pose? It could be a little holiday weight that you cover up with a bulky sweater or a jaunty little cardigan. Maybe it’s your husband, who knows? Or maybe there’s some real baggage in your past - OR YOUR PRESENT - that you’re worried about people finding out about, or worse, trying to hide from God.

TODAY, we’re going to look at a woman who had some baggage, but wasn’t afraid to take it to the feet of Jesus. Turn with me to Luke, Chapter 7, verses 36-50 (page 58 if you have one of our Luke journals).

GOD

Teach through the Scriptures to reveal the truth that applies to the tension

BACKGROUND - what’s the story behind the story?

REMEMBER THE PURPOSE OF LUKE: Luke wrote his gospel initially to tell his friend Theophilus to answer the question, “Who is this Jesus?”

THEOPHILUS - not much is known about him, other than that he seems to be a man of prestige or high position, and perhaps he was Luke’s patron - Luke was his personal physician, perhaps.

Luke had carefully researched the events he wrote about so as to ensure their accuracy. He had already shown Jesus as:

a healer - 7:1-10

having power over death - 7:11-17

and the promised Messiah of the Scriptures

Now he steps in to show another aspect of Jesus - the God who can forgive sins!

THE TEXT - what does the text say?

READ

One of the Pharisees: Jesus was willing to meet with anyone. High society or on the “most wanted” list. No one is out of the range of His love.

Reclining - at this particular type of dinner (either a special feast at which Jesus was an honored guest, or a Sabbath dinner where Jesus was invited to dine as a guest rabbi), the guests would lay down on low couches or cushions propped up on their left arm, eating with their right hand, and with their feet facing away from the table. Their sandals would have been removed before lying down.

Woman…sinner: the context of this verse means that this woman was likely a prostitute. Alabaster was a limestone derivative that was perfect for keeping perfumed oils in. ESV translates it as “ointment,” but that’s not the best translation. This was a perfume, not a medicine, and it was likely very costly.

Simon the Pharisee gives himself away a little bit here. He was likely just hosting Jesus out of obligation or status, not because he was a true believer, as his internal dialogue starts to reveal.

“If this man were a prophet…what sort of woman this is…etc.” The implication is that Jesus is NOT a prophet, because a prophet would never let this kind of woman touch him.

THIS NEXT PART IS SPECULATION - Jesus didn’t have to be a prophet to know what Simon was thinking.

SCIENCE OF BODY LANGUAGE:

Simon is giving himself away here. The thoughts we have recorded show his feelings, even though he probably tried to hide them.

Have you ever heard of “microexpressions?” There is a whole field of behavioral science dedicated to the study of body language. One of the most unique and interesting parts of this field of study is the area of “microexpressions.”

Put simply, microexpressions are INVOLUNTARY flashes of emotion across the face that reveal what you’re truly feeling. They’re VERY BRIEF - ranging from half a second up to four seconds.

They express the seven universal emotions of: DISGUST, ANGER, FEAR, HAPPINESS, SADNESS, SURPRISE, and CONTEMPT.

They truly are universal. One study even sought to see if these expressions were learned by taking a group of children who were blind from birth and had never seen facial expressions and exposing them to different stimuli to see what their facial reactions would be. They were exactly the same as those of people with normal eyesight.

They’re very hard to hide. Most people THINK they can hide them, but these expressions always flash up, even if just for a fraction of a second.

Since Jesus CREATED humanity, he knew exactly what look flashed up on the face of Simon the Pharisee. Simon was feeling DISGUST, and I’m 100% certain it flashed across his face. You don’t have to be the Messiah to spot disgust!

LET’S PRACTICE DISGUST TOGETHER (SHOW SLIDE)! Try to make this face with me: (1) upper eyelid is raised, (2) lower lip is raised, (3) nose is wrinkled, (4) cheeks are raised, (5) lines show below the lower eyelid. It’s the same face you make when you taste your Great Aunt Martha’s Tuna Casserole! You’re grossed out.

THIS IS THE FACE that Simon is flashing. He KNOWS who this woman is. He KNOWS her reputation. And he can’t BELIEVE Jesus is letting her touch him.

HOW DOES JESUS RESPOND: A question and an action

What’s in Simon’s heart is written all over his face, no matter how he tries to hide it. Simon is disgusted this woman is even in his house.

Jesus could easily start wagging his finger at Simon and demean him for looking down at this woman. After all, she’s done a beautiful thing and Jesus was honored by her sincere devotion. But that’s not what he does, is it? He uses this as a teaching moment to lean in and show this man what forgiveness is really all about.

Simon answers Jesus question about who will love the moneylender more with a begrudging answer, because he knows the story is really about him. “I suppose the one who was forgiven more.”

Then Jesus gives Simon a breakdown of what SHOULD have happened - the woman showed Jesus the treatment that Simon should have shown Jesus as an honored guest. Simon did not wash his guests’ feet, greet Jesus with the customary kiss, anoint him with oil - the woman did. Someone who crashed the party treated Jesus better than the host.

To Simon, Jesus was another feather in his social cap. To the woman, Jesus was her only hope of for meaning.

To Simon, Jesus was just another party guest. To the woman, Jesus was the only man who would see her as more than a toy to be used and tossed aside.

To Simon, Jesus was a visiting rabbi. To the woman, Jesus was life!

THE STATEMENT JESUS MAKES NEXT IS HUGE! He says to her, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you, go in peace.”

It serves two purposes. (1) It sets this woman free. (2) It makes a statement. Jesus is God. Only God can forgive our sins. I can’t forgive you on God’s behalf. You can’t forgive me of my sins. Only God can forgive me, and when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven,” it’s him making a statement.

“I am God, you are mine, I love you, and you are now made right in my eyes.”

THE POINT - what does everyone need to takeaway?

THERE ARE TWO THINGS I want you to take away today. That’s all. No “five ways to a better life,” or “eight steps to glory” or anything like that. Two things. Are you ready? Here they are:

Jesus can forgive anybody, even you. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, what’s been done to you, what sins you have in your past. All that matters is that you trust Jesus for the future and ask him for forgiveness for what’s in the past. Jesus can forgive anybody, yes - even you!

For those of us that are Christians, we need to stop judging people far from Jesus and start loving them better. All too often, we Christians get up on our holy high horse and start holding people to standards that aren’t theirs. We can’t blame people who don’t know Jesus for acting like people who don’t know Jesus!

Let me ask a question - WHAT IS MORE EFFECTIVE: us silently condemning those people, or us reaching out to them and loving them because the only thing that’s different between us and them is Jesus?

We have a saying in my house - it’s stupid, but it’s effective. When one of us, myself included, gets a little too high and mighty about ourselves and starts talking about how other people are living, we look at that person and say, “You have on your ‘judgy pants’ today, don’t you?” It’s dumb, but it’s a reminder that we have no place in being judgmental, because we’re no better than anyone else.

As Christians, we are far more effective for the gospel when we seek redemption for other people instead of justice.

Do you have on your “judgy pants” today?

“YOU”

Give specific application so people know how to live truth out in practical ways

So, what can we do? How can we go and live this out? There are really just two things I want you to walk away with today, and really only one thing, depending on which category you fall into.

If you have judgmental tendencies as a Christian, I’m going to call it what it is - it’s sinful and it’s distracting from the gospel.

ACTION STEP - ask God to reveal the areas where you tend to be judgmental and beg him to give you a softer heart, the kind of heart you want other people to have towards you when you are “less than perfect.”

If you are in this room and you struggle with knowing if Jesus could really forgive you, stop beating yourself up. The world does that enough for you. I want you to hear me say this: Jesus can forgive you, so you can forgive yourself and start living for Him.

“WE”

ACTION STEP - ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins - your conscious choices to live apart from His will - and then ask Him to give you the strength to stop beating yourself up so you can live for Him.

“WE”

Cast vision for what it would look like if everyone listening applied this truth

IMAGINE What the world could look like if we all leaned into this!

What could our neighborhoods look like if we stopped judging our neighbors from behind the window, and instead walked across to their driveway to introduce ourselves?

STUDENTS: How different could our schools be if we quit trying to be the cool kid and instead were known as the student who every wants to be around because they are the most loving person in the cafeteria?

HOW MANY LIVES COULD BE CHANGED if we stopped beating people over the head with the gospel, but instead lived it out SO BEAUTIFULLY that people were desperate to know what makes us different and how they can have what we have?

THAT’S THE KIND OF STUFF THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD FOR CHRIST, AND YOU CAN BE PART OF IT!

INVITATION - CLEAR GOSPEL PRESENTATION

GIVE GOSPEL:

God created the world in perfection and harmony.

Mankind’s sin has broken that beauty, and now we are separated from God.

God provided a way to restore us to Himself through Jesus.

Jesus, being God in the flesh, came and lived a perfect life, free of sin, and then took on the punishment WE DESERVE on himself on the cross. He did this because He loves us and wants us to belong to Him and live for Him.

Then He rose out of the grave in His power so we would have a God who not only conquered life, but also conquered death, and we would have nothing to fear from this world.

The question is this: how will you respond?