A WOMAN'S WORTH - LUKE 8: 1-3

LUKE 8: 1-3 - Afterward he was traveling from one town and village to another, preaching and telling the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary, called Magdalene (seven demons had come out of her); 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others who were supporting them from their possessions.

BIG IDEA: JESUS APPRECIATED THE CONTRIBUTION OF WOMEN IN HIS MINISTRY.

MY PURPOSE TODAY IS SIMPLY TO AFFIRM WOMEN: THE MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS, GRANDMOTHERS AND GOD-MOTHERS, AUNTS AND NIECES, AND SISTERS AMONG US...

THAT YOU WOULD KNOW THAT YOUR PRESENCE IS FELT - THAT YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS VALUED - AND THAT YOU ARE LOVED, SINCERELY AND PASSIONATELY!

When Robert Ingersoll, the notorious ATHEIST & skeptic, was in his heyday, two college students went to hear him lecture. As they walked down the street after the lecture, one said to the other, “Well, I guess he knocked the props out from under Christianity, didn’t he?” The other said, “No, I don’t think he did. Ingersoll did not explain my mother’s life, and until he can explain my mother’s life I will stand by my mother’s God.”

THIS IS WHY PAUL DECLARED, “I RECALL YOUR SINCERE FAITH THAT FIRST LIVED IN YOUR GRANDMOTHER LOIS AND IN YOUR MOTHER EUNICE AND NOW, I AM CONVINCED, IS IN YOU ALSO...

WE ARE ALL HERE TODAY BECAUSE OUR MOTHER’S GOD BECAME OUR GOD! OUR MOTHER’S FAITH WAS PASSED DOWN TO US, BECOMING OUR FAITH! OUR MOTHER’S PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED IN OUR LIVES…DO I HAVE A WITNESS UP IN HERE?

LUKE NEEDS US TO UNDERSTAND AND KNOW THAT JESUS VALUED WOMEN...

NOW WHILE THE WOMEN IN OUR PASSAGE ARE NOT APOSTLES, THEY ARE DISCIPLES!

WHILE WE DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THEM, THEIR VALUE IS OF SUCH THAT THEY ARE MENTIONED (BY NAME) IN SCRIPTURE...

THE TWELVE WERE WITH HIM 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary, called Magdalene (seven demons had come out of her); 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others who were supporting them from their possessions.

THIS PART RIGHT HERE MAY CONCLUDE MY SERMON. AS WE READ THIS SMALL EXCERPT ABOUT THEIR LIVES, WE DISCOVER THAT THESE WOMEN OF WORTH - HAD:

AN ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS CHRIST! (IT’S AN UNDOCUMENTED ENCOUNTER, BUT AN ENCOUNTER NONETHELESS)!

THESE WOMEN HEARD ABOUT CHRIST

MADE THEIR WAY TO CHRIST

AND EXPERIENCED AN ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST...

THIS ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS LED TO THESE WOMEN BEING:

TRANSFORMED BY JESUS!

IT’S UNDENIABLE THAT JESUS’ POWER TRANSFORMED THEIR LIVES: PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY...

MARY OF MAGDALA IS REPORTED TO HAVE HAD SEVEN DEMONS “COME OUT” OF HER BY THE AUTHORITY AND COMMAND OF JESUS CHRIST!

THAT’S TRANSFORMATION...

NOW NOTE, WHILE THESE THREE ARE MENTIONED, IT IS INFERRED THAT OTHER WOMEN WERE ALSO PRESENT...

WOMEN WHO HAD BEEN HEALED - DELIVERED - TRANSFORMED - BLESSED & SAVED BY JESUS!

THEY HAD AN ENCOUNTER - THEY WERE TRANSFORMED…THIRDLY, WE SEE AS A RESULT OF THESE TWO:

THEY WILLINGLY SUPPORTED AND FOLLOWED JESUS!

THE TEXT SAYS, VS. 2 THE WOMEN WERE WITH HIM AND SUPPORTED HIM FROM THEIR POSSESSIONS...

THIS IS MOST PROFOUND...

THEY DIDN’T JUST GET A BLESSING AND THEN LEAVE!!!

THEY RECEIVED THE BLESSING AND THEN REMAINED TO BE A BLESSING...

THEIR LIVES WERE SO IMPACTED BY CHRIST THAT THEY CHOSE TO FOLLOW HIM UNTIL THE END...

IT IS SIGNIFICANT TO NOTE HOW WOMEN WERE VIEWED IN THIS DISPENSATION - WHILE THEY WERE ALLOWED TO SUPPORT RABBIS, IT WAS UNTHINKABLE FOR WOMEN TO TRAVEL WITH RABBIS! BUT CLEARLY JESUS WAS SOMEONE NEW/DIFFERENT!

BELOVED, I’M NOT MAKING THIS UP…THERE IS A CLEAR AND DOCUMENTED VALUE THAT JESUS PLACED UPON WOMEN…HIS PRESENCE AND POWER LEADS THEM TO RESPOND IN A MANNER THAT IS LOYAL AND CONSISTENT...

MOONWALK BACK TO CHAPTER 7, BEGINNING AT VS. 36: Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume 38 and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She wiped his feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the perfume.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—she’s a sinner!”

40 Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

He said, “Say it, teacher.”

41 “A creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii,, and the other fifty. 42 Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave more.”

“You have judged correctly,” he told him. 44 Turning to 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, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You didn’t anoint my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. 47 Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 Those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

THE MORE WE ARE FORGIVEN, THE MORE WE APPRECIATE OUR FORGIVER!

SHE CAME IN “SIN,” BUT LEFT SAVED....

SHE CAME WITH BURDENS, BUT LEFT UPLIFTED...

SHE CAME WITH BONDAGE, BUT LEFT DELIVERED...

MAYBE THAT’S WHY YOU DON’T SHOUT MUCH.

BUT I KNOW TOO WELL WHAT THE LORD HAS SAVED ME FROM, AND IS STILL SAVING ME FROM....SO EVERY CHANCE I GET, I’LL LET HIM KNOW THAT I LOVE HIM - I’M GRATEFUL TO HIM - I NEED HIM...

ARE THERE ANY FORGIVEN FOLK OUT HERE TODAY…THAT ARE WILLING TO BE SEEN IN YOUR GRATITUDE???

LUKE - LUKE - LUKE…OUR AUTHOR IS DOING SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY: HE IS VALIDATING THE PRESENCE OF WOMEN (A WOMAN’S WORTH) FOR THE DURATION OF JESUS’ EARTHLY LIFE AND MINISTRY...

IN OTHER WORDS: LUKE IS GIVING US A GLIMPSE INTO THE RESURRECTION CROWD!!!

WOMEN WERE THERE:

AT THE CROSS

AT THE TOMB

PROCLAIMING HE IS RISEN

WATCHING HIM ASCEND

WOMEN WERE PRESENT AS WITNESSES OF THESE FOUR MAJOR OCCURRENCES THAT MARK OUR FAITH!

AND LUKE WANTS US TO KNOW THAT THEY DIDN’T JUST SHOW UP AT THE CROSS…THERE WERE THERE ALL ALONG!

THEY WEREN’T GROUPIES - THEY WERE DISCIPLES!

THEY WEREN’T JUST ON THE BANDWAGON - THEY WERE A PART OF THE TEAM: SERVING - SUPPORTING - WITNESSING!

AND THIS IS A WOMAN’S WORTH: FAITHFULLY FOLLOWING CHRIST AND SERVING HIM...

DOESN’T THAT RING TRUE FOR MAMA - FOR BIG MAMA...

WORKING THOSE JOBS SO WE COULD HAVE WHAT WE NEEDED (AND AT TIMES WANTED)...

TAKING CARE OF OUR HOMES WITH LOVE AND CARE...

NURTURING AND DEVELOPING US INTO RESPONSIBLE BOYS AND GIRLS...

AND THEN ENSURING THAT WE KNEW THAT JESUS SAVES...

THAT HIS BLOOD CLEANSES...

THAT HIS SPIRIT EMPOWERS....

THIS IS A WOMAN’S WORTH...

THESE WOMEN (IN OUR TEXT) WHO HAD BEEN HEALED OF EVIL SPIRITS AND SICKNESSES ARE HELPING US TODAY...

LET ME GIVE YOU THESE FEW OBSERVATIONS AND I’M DONE:

8:1 - AFTERWARD HE WAS TRAVELING FROM ONE TOWN AND VILLAGE TO ANOTHER, PREACHING AND TELLING THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. THE TWELVE WERE WITH HIM, AND ALSO SOME WOMEN...

JESUS WAS ON ASSIGNMENT! EVEN SAVIORS NEED SUPPORT...

HIS ITINERANT PREACHING MINISTRY HAD (IN ESSENCE) TWO POINTS: THE KINGDOM HAS COME AND I’M ITS KING!!!

AND PARTNERED WITH HIS MESSAGE OF GOODNESS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, JESUS HEALED, DELIVERED, MINISTERED....

AND SO THESE WOMEN OF WORTH....

HERE IT IS:

AS JESUS WALKED - THEY WALKED!

LUKE INTRODUCES THESE WOMEN EARLY ON, AND INFERS THAT AS JESUS WALKED, THEY WERE RIGHT THERE...

YOU CANNOT KEEP BIG MAMA FROM CHURCH!!

YOU CANNOT KEEP BIG MAMA FROM WORSHIP AND SERVING HER KING!!!

AS JESUS WALKED - THEY WALKED!

NOT OVERBEARING, BUT SUPPORTING HIM....MINISTERING. PROVIDING.

SO, THESE WORTHY WALKERS TRAVELED WITH CHRIST, BECAUSE OF WHAT HE HAD DONE IN AND THROUGH THEM....

SECOND, AS JESUS WALKED, THEY WALKED…ALSO,

AS JESUS PREACHED, THEY TESTIFIED!

YOU CAN’T TELL ME THAT WHEN JESUS DECLARED: THE BEATITUDES

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the humble,

for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

AS JESUS PREACHED, THEY TESTIFIED...

THEY HAD EXPERIENCED “FIRST HAND” HIS MIRACULOUS POWER AND AUTHORITY OVER THEIR LIVES…AND THEY SAID SOMETHING!!!

Dr. G. Campbell Morgan had 4 sons and they were all preachers. Someone once came into the drawing room when all the family was there. They thought they would see what Howard, one of the sons, was made of so they asked him this question: "Howard, who is the greatest preacher in your family?" Howard had a great admiration for his father and he looked straight across at him and then without a moments hesitation he answered, "Mother."

I’M DONE…BUT I’VE GOT TO PRESS THIS FINAL POINT: AS JESUS WALKED, THEY WALKED. AS JESUS PREACHED, THEY TESTIFIED…OH GOD:

AS JESUS DIED, THEY CRIED!

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, were you there when they crucified my Lord? (Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nailed him to the cross? Were you there when they nailed him to the cross? (Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble Were you there when they nailed him to the cross? (Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Well, were you there when the stone was rolled away? Were you there when the stone was rolled away? (Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble Were you there when the stone was rolled away?