IMPACT: Worshiping Our God
Luke 7:36-50
IMPACT: Adoring Our God
I. Introduction
A. Acts 2:42-47
B. Worship quote, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not man. When this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever” ~ John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad
C. Worship time is like a cheerleader; he is to turn our entire attention to God, just as a cheerleader is to get the attention of the fans on the game
II. True Worship Has an audience of one
A. Illustration – What if I were to go to dinner with my wife and I were to say to her, “honey, let me go in first so no one will see me with you,” who am I more concerned with, my wife or others. Sometimes we want to worship Jesus, but we want to do it with others in mind and what may embarrass us
B. Exegesis
1. This was a woman who had lived in sin and everyone knew it
2. This was a woman who came and interjected herself in the situation between Jesus and a Pharisee
a) The door to such a gathering would have been open to anyone who wanted to come and listen to the conversation between such notable people
b) The woman took advantage of this opportunity, but as a woman she should have just stayed in the corner, according to custom
c) The woman was a known sinner and under Jewish law, by touching Jesus would have made Him ceremonially unclean
d) Kissing His feet was the ultimate in submission
e) Everything about what she was doing was considered improper to the people around her, but her desire was to worship Christ
C. Application
1. What prohibits you from really letting go and worshiping God with all your heart
2. Do you ever find yourself stopping yourself in worship in fear that someone might see you as different of as a “Jesus Freak?”
3. Present yourself to Christ alone without considering others in your worship
III. True Worship is evidenced by What you give
A. Illustration – When I want to show love I give someone something
B. Exegesis
1. David buying the threshing floor of Araunah in 2 Samuel 24:18-24
2. The woman gave
a) The perfume
(1) It was an expensive item in her day
(2) It was a mark of her past sin
b) Her service in washing Jesus feet
c) Her tears, a mark of submission and devotion
C. Application
1. So often we come into worship hoping to gain something
2. True worship is not gaining a blessing, but being one
IV. True Worship arises from a heart of repentance
A. Illustration – What sets Jesus apart in the heart of this woman? What makes him different from all other Rabbis?
B. Exegesis
1. The tears say it all – She was a sinful woman before a forgiving Savior
2. The lesson of Jesus says it as well
a) Jesus tells his parable about two men receiving pardon
b) Simon the Pharisee is in agreement that the one who is forgiven more should love more
c) Jesus begins to show how the woman was more righteous than he
d) Jesus then drops the bomb by showing that it was the woman who had loved much and was forgiven much and says, “but he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
3. The truth
a) Both were sinners, equally guilty of sin before the Lord
b) For the woman it was obvious and she was repentant
c) For Simon, he could not see his own sin for looking at it in others and therefore could not understand his need for forgiveness
d) Consequently his love for the Savior was not as vivid as it was for the woman
C. Application
1. Many people come to service each week with varying degrees of understanding of their sin
2. We find it easy to see the great sin in others
3. We are reluctant to admit it in our own lives
4. When we understand and admit our sin we begin to have a sense of repentance
5. Then we can understand how much we have been forgiven and can begin to love a lot
V. True worship comes from knowing who Jesus is
A. Illustration
B. Exegesis
1. You cannot worship someone or something that you do not know
2. The Pharisee – saw teacher as another rebellious rabbi
3. The Woman saw him as a Savior
4. You must know Jesus’ true worth in order to worship Him
a) God incarnate
b) Savior
c) Sacrifice for me
5. The woman worshiped him because He forgave her of her sins when no one else would
C. Application
1. have you considered who Jesus is in your life
2. Is he some good teacher, or just a tradition that you have grown up with
3. or is he the savior who loved you and gave himself for you
4. Romans 5:8, “While we were still sinners Christ died for us
VI. Conclusion – Which one are you?
A. The woman who knew her sins and came before Jesus with repentance and sacrifice
B. Or the Pharisee – denying sin, feigning self-righteousness