Love and forgiveness.
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Intro
Intro
They will know we are Christians by our love.
This was the attitude that Christians in Egypt embraced during the third century, when a terrible plague overwhelmed the famous city of Alexandria.
According to Dionysius the Great, it was the followers of Christ who had compassion on the sick, even at the cost of their own lives.
“Most of our brother Christians,” he wrote, “showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another.
Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy.…
Many, in nursing and curing others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead.”
In those terrible days, the Christians showed a love that surpassed what anyone else was able to give.
Dionysius went on to say this: “The heathen behaved in the very opposite way. At the first onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away and fled from their dearest, throwing them into the roads before they were dead, and treated unburied corpses as dirt, hoping thereby to avoid the spread and contagion of the fatal disease.”
Even the famous physician Galen fled the city in fear.
What made the difference?
What accounts for the extraordinary love that Christians showed to the dead and dying?
Simply this: they had been forgiven.
A life of love is the grateful response of a sinner who has found true forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
This is one of the ideas found in our passage for this morning.
One being with a focus on the Pharisee, and the second being on a woman who ministered to Jesus.
I thought it quite fitting to focus on the second being today is mothers day.
Turn with me and we will read the passage together.
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he 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 wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss 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 are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at 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 you; go in peace.”
This morning I want to really focus in on verse 47
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
The main idea I would like for us to take away this morning is the one who loves, forgives, and the one who forgives, loves.
The common struggle of forgiveness.
The common struggle of forgiveness.
Who was this woman.
Who was this woman.
There are two occasions in scripture when Jesus has his feet anointed.
This is the first, the second is later, after Lazarus is raised. The second woman we know to be Mary.
This woman here though is unnamed.
We know they are two different accounts though because the stories take place in different places, contain different actions, and have different critics.
The similarity comes in the name Simon. One however was a leper, and the Simon in this story is a Pharisee.
All that we know about this woman is what is included in this text.
We all have many sins.
We all have many sins.
As she is introduced, it is not in a positive light whatsoever.
The first thing that Luke says about her is that she was a sinner.
Behold a woman of city, who was a sinner.
Most often in the New Testament, this designation seems to refer to prostitution.
People selling their bodies for money.
At a dinner like this, the house would be open and people could come in and watch. A sinful woman (perhaps a prostitute) would not have been welcome, particularly in a Pharisee’s house; it took courage for her to come.
We share a number of things in common with this woman.
Though our sin may not be the same as hers.
We share the same title.
The same could be said about each of us - behold a man or a woman of the country, who was a sinner.
Each of us is a sinner.
Paul was quoting from Psalms, proverbs, and Isaiah when he wrote.
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
We sin against God
We sin against each other.
Which is where the difficulty begins.
The pharisee in our story struggles with how Jesus can interact with this woman.
Men’s struggle with forgiveness.
The pharisee is again coming at this situation from a position of pride and tradition.
This woman would make him unclean.
Part of the struggle with forgiveness though also comes with how God has created us.
God created us male and female.
Created different for a purpose.
We are truly meant to compliment one another.
When Adam first saw Eve he said
Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
She was created to be a helper fit for Adam.
Not a lesser person, simply another part that brings completion.
In creating us differently, our minds work differently as well.
There are all sorts of marriage books out there that help us to explore this.
One of the clever titles I am sure you have heard - men are from Mars, women are from Venus.
I haven’t read it, can’t endorse it, but the premise is true.
One of the best ways I have heard our ways of thinking described is men are like waffles, and women are like a plate of spaghetti.
Men think in one box at a time, perhaps we can have a foot in each box but that normally doesn’t end well.
Women though tend to think along the noodles, each one touching the other, interwoven, interconnected.
So dealing with forgiveness is different for men and women.
The Pharisee was stuck in the box of this woman is a sinner, she is unclean, she shouldn’t be here.
Jesus was trying to get him to see further.
To see more of himself, which we will focus on next week.
But also to see the need and possibility of forgiveness.
Forgiveness I think can be easier for men because of their tendency of thinking.
We can forgive and leave that box behind.
We may revisit the hurt at times depending on the situation.
But in general, forgiveness can be a done deal when we have moved on from that box.
Women though, as the day progresses and thoughts and situations throughout the day come, that noodle is running through the whole plate.
Touching multiple other noodles.
And each time it comes in contact, the thought, the hurt, whatever it is that needs to be forgiven.
Each time it comes in contact with another noodle, that pain resurfaces.
Bringing with it renewed pain, anger, sadness.
The problem comes in that we process things differently.
It makes understanding and forgiving one another difficult.
Forgiveness can be difficult in all situations of relationship.
Spouse, children, friends, co-workers.
Jesus though, in speaking with the Pharisee gives a typical example and example regarding forgiveness.
Those who are forgiven, love greatly, and those who love greatly, will be forgiven.
The connection between love and forgiveness.
The connection between love and forgiveness.
There is a connection between love and forgiveness.
Back to our passage in Luke
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
C.S. Lewis wrote
“Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”
Perhaps the most painful and courageous part of forgiveness is when we must absorb the cost of another person’s sin.
The pain of being sinned against doesn’t go away quickly.
Words spoken, money lost, vows broken—these pains get stuck on “repeat.”
As Jesus points out here though, there is a direct connection between love and forgiveness.
Biblical forgiveness absorbs at least two costs.
First, in loving another person we must say, “I’m not going to punish you.”
For forgiveness to happen, we must deny our instinct to throttle a debtor and release him or her from punishment.
Second, in showing love we must say, “I will pay the debt for this sin instead.”
Debt doesn’t just mysteriously evaporate.
If I loan you $10 and you refuse to pay, the money doesn’t magically appear back in my wallet.
Someone has to eat it.
This often trips up reconciliation.
We want to forgive, but we assume it shouldn’t cost us.
We feel that sheer willingness to not retaliate is sufficient.
We instinctively react to the injustice of absorbing a debt: “You did it! Now I pick up the tab?”
To treat others as their sin deserves (with anger, withdrawal, or emotional punishment) seems more fair and equitable.
But when you do this, you’ve forgotten just how much you’ve already been forgiven.
You’ve forgotten the debt Christ paid for you. You were forgiven a great debt. Marriage often means doing the same.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
How much does God love?
We all know John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
There is a basketball player named Chris Paul.
In 2011, Paul was playing for the New Orleans Hornets who were in the playoffs against the Lakers.
While significant, the more intriguing thing that came about at that time was a backstory about Paul.
The story begins back in Paul’s senior season at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, North Carolina.
Paul was having an incredible year, averaging 30.8 points, 9.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds, and 6 steals per game.
But the most memorable moment of that storied senior season was a missed free throw.
The day after Paul announced he was committing to Wake Forest, his grandfather, whom Paul called his best friend, was brutally beaten to death by five youth.
Two days later, in honor of his grandpa, a grief-stricken Paul scored one point for every year his grandfather lived—61 points for 61 years.
Paul was fouled on the shot that gave him his sixty-first point, but he intentionally missed the free throw and took himself out of the game even though the state high school scoring record of 66 points was well within reach.
Years later, in a conversation with Rick Reilly, this grandson of a slaughtered granddad, said:
These guys were 14 and 15 years old [at the time], with a lot of life ahead of them.
I wish I could talk to them and tell them, “I forgive you. Honestly.” I hate to know that they’re going to be in jail for such a long time. I hate it.
Whenever there are reports and testimonies of the likes of Chris Paul forgiving the murderers of his granddad,
or around that time as well there are some remarkable stories of forgiveness that surrounded the Amish school shootings,
These things are meant to point us to God and remember the forgiveness he offers freely though Jesus death on the cross.
To be wronged and violated and then not only forgiving those who wronged you but fighting for their betterment and good is the glory of proper imaging.
Jesus fought for this woman.
Because she showed great love, her sins were forgiven.
Who might you need to fight for today?
Who might need to feel forgiveness through your love?
Perhaps someone sitting in this room with you now?
Perhaps a family member.
Perhaps your mother?
The other side that Jesus presents at the end of the verse should cause us to greatly consider our own love and forgiveness of others.
But he who is forgiven little, loves little.
We must not say “I can’t believe they did that to me!”
I would never do that!
These thoughts reveal our hearts.
We really mean, I may be a sinner, but I’m not that bad!
This is a subtle lie. We remove ourselves from the sinner category.
We fail to see how desperate and needy we are for the forgiving grace of God every moment of every day.
In short, we are self-righteous!
We have done far worse things to God than anyone has ever done to us. We need to consider the state of our own hearts when someone sins against us, though this self-appraisal does not come naturally.
It is a spiritual battle to remain humble in the face of being sinned against.
When we can remember though, just how much we have been forgiven, we can love others.
When we truly love others, it also makes us easier to forgive.