The Freedom of Forgiveness

ere at Grace Point I see that and so just know that you’re you’re part of something special here it’s not the case for every church out there and what the church is to be about amen and when you break it all down it’s it’s about the church existing to love God and love one another and then that’s that’s the goal that’s what it should be about that’s what it means to be more and more like Jesus is to show one another that love that we’re all

hungry for and it’s not just Jesus followers right everybody you meet is desperate to love and be loved you you find this just in the way you look at the world and you’ll see some of the Brokenness out there there’s a lot of people today despite all these little devices we have there’s a lot of loneliness a lot of people hungering for some kind of form of affection some kind of knowledge that they exist from others and people are hungry hungry for love that’s what it

comes down to and so we’re going to look at a passage that talks about this question how do we grow in love Jesus of course is the perfect example of love we’re going to learn from him but we also need to ask ourselves what can we do how can we grow in this love and I think the big idea this morning from Luke 7 what we’re going to look at is that when you know really know that you are completely forgiven in Jesus Christ Christ the

more that that is there’s not a shadow of a doubt you just know that you are forgiven in Christ the more you have that depth of knowledge and understanding and and Assurance the more you will grow in your love for others that makes all the difference so if you would for stand if you if you’re able to stand for the reading of God’s holy and perfect word this is chapter 7 of the Gospel of Luke Luke is is an amazing author in a lot of ways

he’s a doctor and historian and so he pays very close attention to detail I think you’ll pick that up here as we read this story from Luke Luke 7 beginning in verse 36 here Luke writes one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him and he Jesus went into the Pharisees house and reclined at table Behold a woman of the city who was a sinner when she learned that he was reclining at at table in the Pharisees house brought an alabaster flask of ointment and

standing beside behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears and wipe 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 money lender who had two debtors one owed 500 dinari and the other 50 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 canel 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 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 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 thank you you may be seated when we think about that connection between love and forgiveness nowhere do we see this connection I think more powerfully than In this passage here in Luke chapter 7 here we see the woman sinful woman comes and she is in with that knowledge of forgiveness is pouring out her heart and she’s wetting Jesus’s

feet and anointing his feet with perfume Luke begins this passage by telling us that a Pharisee invited Jesus over to his house now at this time Jesus was a pretty well-known Rabbi in Galilee he had been witnessed by the crowds for his his wisdom his Mercy was starting to be well known his power power over disease and affliction Jesus was in many ways his you know we would say he was trending on Twitter he was well known people started to know who this man is we

don’t know why this Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus over exactly but there’s a good chance that as a Pharisee he’s thinking you know this is going to give me some social credit to invite a well-known teacher into my home and if I play host to him this will be acknowledged by other people I think we’ll pick up on that’s what his reasoning was in the same way many today like to be associated with Jesus it’s very very easy for many people to name drop Jesus talk

about Jesus quote the words of Jesus because they recognize this is this is giving me a sense of of I’m a moral person I’m a spiritual person people are going to look up to me because I’m in some way associated with Jesus I think Simon’s thinking that way his reasoning was good people spend time with Jesus I’m a good person so I’m going to invite Jesus into my house and Jesus is going to be with me we have a term for this today it’s called virtue

signaling you know as as humans we we want to send that signal to others I’m a good person you you should like me because I’m good there are bad people out there I’m not one of those guys I’m a good person that’s virtue signaling in many ways it’s very easy to claim the name of Jesus people do this politicians you’ll notice politicians Business Leaders will will frequently talk about Jesus because in many ways it’s a it’s a way of boosting their credibility if I’m some way

associated with Jesus and on the outside looking in people see I’m I’m a Jesus guy then that’s going to get me some credibility that’s Simon the Pharisee he’s he also probably inviting Jesus over simply because he’s curious about Jesus you know we look at this passage and as the story progresses we see he’s kind of analyzing Jesus he he’s looking at Jesus and he’s thinking who is this man exactly I’ve heard these amazing tales about who he is and what he’s done I want to see

this for myself and so Jesus is there he’s he’s at this nice dinner party at the Pharisees house and you know Jesus goes to parties all the time in the gospels he’s always showing up there’s food there he’s inv exed he’s he’s coming he’s happy to be there even at a Pharisees house and as they’re having this nice probably a polite discussion maybe talking about some lofty theological matter and suddenly out of nowhere this this Interruption comes in unexpected this is what Luke says and behold

a woman of the city who was a sinner enters the scene now more than likely Luke is using a euphemism here when he says woman of the city he’s probably talking about a prostitute very likely this this woman is not just a sexual sinner she is a social outcast in other words she was not invited to this party no Pharisee would want to invite this woman into his house now I should probably tell you a little bit about dinner parties in Bible times you’ve heard of

the open concept home that’s pretty common at that time there was an open floor plan and there would be a courtyard and what would happen is people wealthy people in particular like this Pharisee named Simon he would invite people over and they would they would host these dinner parties in the courtyard and people from the neighborhood could come in they could drop in and said hello that wasn’t unusual but what was unusual was for a Infamous call girl to show up at a Pharisees house this

was unheard of this was Scandal this was something that no Pharisee wanted on his record that this was known but there she was Luke says that she had heard that Jesus was there we don’t know what her prior connection to Jesus is Luke doesn’t fill in all the details but in some sense she knew she understood I need to be where Jesus is if Jesus is at this man’s house I don’t how many eyes are staring daggers at me I want to be there because I

want to be where Jesus is and it says that she came and so she entered this Courtyard and very likely none of this was pre-planned she didn’t rehearse this right she wasn’t planning on Weeping at this event but she comes and and it says that she saw Jesus and my guess is the moment she saw Jesus she lost it she just ran up to him and this is something also would be a very big social taboo because no woman in this day and age no woman

would run up to a rabbi that’s just something you you just know you don’t do that and yet this woman seemingly without any regard for social conventions she just runs right up to Jesus and this is what it says she knew she needed Jesus and that’s the first point we have this morning the Pharisee saw himself as righteous the woman woman knew herself to be a sinner Again Luke says the woman in verse 37 brought an alabaster flask of ointment and standing behind Jesus 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 this is a display of radical devotion so picture the scene she she runs up and this is Jesus and all that floods into her mind is is her past life her sin all the the foolish decisions she’s made all the wrong decisions and she feels so broken inside and yet she knows somehow she just knows this Jesus

can make her whole again she needs to be with Jesus and as she runs up there she sees Jesus and I Think Jesus was probably looking at her with eyes full of compassion welcoming her inviting her to come to him and so what do you do what what can she do she starts weep uncontrollably weeping and weeping you just think about this how much do you have to be crying for it to say that she was wetting his feet with her tears there there her his

feet were soaked with the tears coming from her eyes and then it says this that she took her hair her long hair Paul will elsewhere say that a woman’s hair hair is her glory and she begins wiping his feet with her hair and drying his hair or drying his feet and you know that would have been powerful enough if she had stopped there but she goes on she now leans down picture this and begins kissing his feet kissing over and over Jesus says she’s been kissing

my feet she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet and then she takes out this ointment which in all likelihood was the perfume that she would have used in her former life to entice men and she pours that all out on jesus’ feet and she continues kissing his feet do you see it this is in the Pharisees eyes this is scandalous this is unbelievable you know they’re thinking we we’re going to have a nice little religious talk we’re going to have a nice meal that’s wants right just

just a little bit of social credibility a nice time with this teacher he’s a respectable person surely he knows the right manners for table fellowship and they see woman and her behavior and they’re scandalized they think you know Jesus if he was this great Rabbi that other people think he was if he really was this Prophet then he wouldn’t let this go on he would scold her he would say get away from me he would kick at her what’s he doing it says in verse 39

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 this is just classic Pharisee isn’t it the Pharisee and and their inflated Pride their ego that says I am more righteous than you she’s looking he he’s looking at this woman and he’s he’s looking with scorn at This Woman This is this is gross he’s thinking

about how many men she’s been with and he’s thinking yuck what is she doing here she doesn’t belong with us we are the upper class we are the religious we are those who are closest to God she does not belong here they’re angry Pharisees thought so highly of themselves and so little of others you know CS Lewis when he talks about the great sin of Pride he says that the pride CR is always looking down on others and it’s because he never lifts his eyes to

look up at God and so he always has to look down on others he’s not in touch with God he’s always looking down always belittling even with his mind and that’s what Jesus says it says that he he was saying this to himself and that’s how a religious person operates that they sit there and and they condemn with their eyes and condemn with their mind and judge judge and think this person is so beneath me this person is gross this person is disgusting this person is

filthy I’m clean I’m right that person’s wrong that’s how the religious mind works and this woman in the meantime is just pouring out her heart to Jesus she’s giving Jesus everything she’s got and notice that she is unafraid of the the contempt coming her way it’s a good question to ask at this point how many of us are willing to Bear the rejection of others by identifying with Jesus because we live in a day and age where sometimes that can cause people to look down on

us to scorn us this woman is worshiping Jesus and and need to not be at all mistaken here this pass This Woman’s passion is worshipful not erotic everything about what she is doing is saying I love and I adore and I worship Jesus because he is Lord she’s teaching us this woman of the city is teaching us what it looks like to love God with all your heart soul mind and strength it’s not always the way we would expect it it doesn’t always look like the

polite respectable you know good company situation this is what loving God and worshiping God looks like because Jesus acknowledges her now remember the Pharisee did respect Jesus after all he invited him into his home this was part of his good you know social acceptability SK plan is he’s going to invite this Rabbi into his home but clearly he’s looking with utter scorn on this woman who’s worshiping Jesus and so he has no love for Jesus it says in verse 40 and Jesus answering said to him

and this is kind of funny because Jesus doesn’t have to actually hear someone say something out loud for him to answer them he’s thinking in his heart and he’s answering his thoughts answering said to him Simon I have something to say to you and he answered say a teacher and then Jesus tells him a little Parable and really it’s about as simple as The Parables come he says I want you to think about this there’s two men one man owes 50 dinari to a money lender

the other owes 500 and the money lender forgives both of them so who’s going to love him more and today’s terms this would be something like two months wages versus two years wages okay so he’s setting it side by side and it’s almost like Jesus is poking fun at this Pharisee like he’s giving him a little math problem okay Simon who’s going to love Jes who’s going to love the money lender more the guy who got forgiven 50 or the guy who got forgiven 500 and

Simon says because he’s the star student I know the answer the one who owed more money and Jesus says you have judged rightly well done son you got it move to the front of the class and yet what Jesus is doing here is getting Simon to acknowledge something he already should have known he’s making the point as simple as possible so that he would see this and he would see the foolish thing that he’s doing by condemning her verse 44 then turning toward the woman he

said to Simon do you see this woman you know it’s hard for religious people to even see people sometimes as almost like you know they they look at people but they look at them almost as the next project you know the next this is going to be this is going to be a problem person this is the next convert to tally or the next something but Jesus says do you see her have you really looked at her do you do you see her as a person

made in the image of God do you see that this woman is loved by God do you see that she’s been made for a purpose have you even seen her in her distress Simon or have you jumped to all the assumptions all the condemnations I wish that we had more of her story in this in this passage we don’t really know what led her to this point in her life I think in heaven we can go up and ask her and find out more about it

but you wonder what what led her to this point in her life where she felt for survival she had to sell her body what what led to that point of desperation everybody has a story and and this doesn’t take away from the fact that she what she’s doing is sinful she’s called a sinner three times Luke says she’s a sinner the Pharisees says she’s a sinner Jesus acknowledges she sinned but when you know someone’s story it helps because it helps you to have compassion for that

person to understand a little bit more actually this person yeah what they’re doing is is totally off Bas it’s totally wrong or their views are are way off and yet they came to this point because they have a story that’s important to remember Jesus says Simon do you see this woman look at what she’s doing verse 44 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 by the way these were things of common courtesy Jesus is pointing out you you give me the most basic level of courtesy these things that would be expected you have a guest in your home at this time yeah you make sure that their feet get clean it’s a dirty place you know walking around with

sandals you make sure their feet are clean you give them oil for their head you that’s that’s a common courtesy thing this would be like hey can I hang up your coat for you can I can I give you a seat to sit down can I offer you some food it’s not a stretch for all the things Jesus is expecting and yet this woman is going above and beyond all of that she’s pouring out her heart because she loves Jesus and this is the point Jesus

is making and your second point this morning the Pharisee respected Jesus the woman worshiped and loved Jesus Jesus wants this Pharisee to see what loving God really looks like it’s not what he expected verse 47 therefore I tell you her sins which are many yeah she is a big sinner you’re right about that Simon her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but he who is Forgiven little loves little so is she a sinner no question she is but here’s the big difference

she is Forgiven she’s welcomed the Forgiveness of God Simon you haven’t even acknowledged your need for forgiveness So In this passage we’re reminded that we are called to be like Jesus that that is our calling amen amen and so what can we glean from Jesus In this passage how can we become more like Jesus based on what we see him doing here well like Jesus Christians today need to learn how to talk Faithfully about Sin while at the same time not isolating isolating those who are

sinners or isolating ourselves from Sinners we need to learn what it means to live according to God’s design for marriage sexuality relationships while at the same same time not despising those who have rejected God’s design so far more and more we as Jesus followers recognize that we live in a culture where we have a set of views a set of values about things like gender identity sexuality and this is not in step with the culture we’re in many ways we’re like fish out of water we’re

out of our depth in many ways we feel like man this the culture just seems to be pressing in on us pressurizing us us feeding us these lies and it’s very easy to go from that to now now I don’t even want to associate with these people they’re so wrong they they just disgust me can you see how that’s what the Pharisee did I don’t even want to be around this woman because of her past we need to remember that the truth is not so much

a bomb that blows things up the truth According To Jesus is more like a key that unlocks the chains of sin Jesus said the truth will set you free and what is the way Jesus sets people free it’s through his offer of Grace and forgiveness that’s how people get set free it’s not through beating them over the side of the head with with the truth or or pounding the law into them over and over do this you’re wrong I’m right that won’t change the human heart

but the gospel will the the gospel has the power to change the human heart like nothing else and that’s why as a church the church should always have the gospel be the main message we Proclaim it it’s not a message of politics although we could talk about that it’s not a message of ethics and morality although that’s important to talk about the message that the world needs to hear loudest from the church is there is Grace and forgiveness available to you and it’s available in Jesus

Christ Alone Jesus talks about a debt well we’ve all run up a sin debt to God we’ve all in many ways become like that person who is just weighed down by all those bills and we know what it’s like to to be in debt don’t we you go into you go to your inbox or your or check your email and and one of the first things at least one of the first things I see nowadays is all the bills right right they come in and and

they don’t stop coming in these these cell phone bills the mortgage you know and there this reminder over and over every time we see these bills come in I owe a debt I owe a debt and there’s always that bold statement something like this is the balance due this is what you owe and it’s like this incriminating finger every time I open that bill like you owe something well Jesus Compares sin to a spiritual debt we owe to God and he says that debt which is

so much can be forgiven so many religions out there have devotees that think that they can pay off this debt and deep down everybody recognizes there is this spiritual debt that’s there that’s why the religions out there exist and they tell people okay so if you do enough fasting you do enough prayers you do enough pilgrimages you do enough of these rituals and religious works then you’ll start to make payments and that debt will start to decrease you’ll start to see some improvement but the Bible

says you can never pay off that debt it’s like trying to pay off something that comes in a million dollars over and over and over and you’re paying pennies trying to get rid of it it will never work but Jesus says there is hope because I have come into this world and I’ve taken that debt that great debt you owed I’ve taken that record of debt and I’ve nailed it to the cross and I have borne the punishment in full I have completely paid for it

when Jesus hung from the cross you remember what he said it is finished to tesy he was saying it’s been paid in full there is nothing left to pay you tell me that that doesn’t give you great joy to know that our sin has been completely paid for and forgiveness is not something we earn this is what all the religions out there get wrong they they think that somehow I have to earn this I have to achieve this no forgiveness isn’t something you achieve it’s something

you receive by faith it’s not because of something that you have done in your past where you can point back and say this is why no it’s all because of what what Jesus has done for you when he died on the cross now the truth is we all have an inner Pharisee we we all have this this inner lawyer that when we’re accused of something it kind of stands up and Rises to our defense and says no that’s wrong you’re good you’re good and we want

to convince other people and so we try to sell our bad behavior as good behavior one example is the 2000 World Series there was a time when when the famous pitcher Roger Clemens picked up the piece of a broken bat and he threw it at the base runner Mike pza and there were some Angry Words exchanged and pretty soon both dugouts were emptied and after the game they asked Clemens you know why did you do that and he said well see I I mistook that broken

piece of bat for a ball which which is amazing to think you can make it all the way to be a professional baseball player and still a bat and a ball confused you know and by the way someone should have told Clemens you don’t throw the ball at the base runner either so but that tells us that every one of us like Clemens we we want to defend ourselves when we’re accused of something we want to say no you misunderstood or you didn’t understand the situation

my situation is unique here’s why I’m not wrong here’s why I’m good that’s that inner Pharisee that always comes in but see when you’ve encountered the grace of God like this sinful woman did she knew she was a sinner you know she wasn’t hiding anything she wasn’t being you know caring about appearances she’s weeping she’s pouring herself out in front of Jesus when you’ve encountered the grace of God you can own up to your sin you don’t have to be in hiding anymore you don’t have

to put up a front you don’t have to put up that armor that says nope I’m good you can just freely MIT to him I am a sinner you’ve got it I am that needy sinner who needs Grace and forgiveness and what that does is that gives us the freedom to be honest with others and it frees us to love others because we’re no longer so concerned about what other people think of us or how we’re perceived now we’re concerned about how can I love these

people in my life how can I show them the grace that Jesus has shown me Jesus says he who is forgiven little loves little and you know after Jesus forgives this woman the questions start arising because this always happens and they look at Jesus and they say who is this who even forgives sins and I think Luke wants us as the reader to ask that same question who is this Jesus who is this God who left the Throne of Heaven to come and live in this

broken world to experience the pain and the agony that to experience death on our behalf who is this God who forgives sins Jesus looks at this woman and he says to her your sins are forgiven and see the the great question that comes in there is well didn’t she already know her sins were forgiven isn’t that why the parable and wasn’t that why she loved Jesus so much she already knew she was forgiven yes she did know she was forgiven but I believe Jesus wanted to

declare for all those religious guys to hear your sins are forgiven I’m identifying with you in other words you’re here you’re pouring out your heart you’re worshiping me you’re showing your love for me and guess what you’re forgiven you’re one of mine you belong to me and if you’ve come to Jesus if you have come to him through repentance and faith if you’ve turned your life over to him and you’ve said I’m the sinner it’s not back here or back here it’s me I Am The

Sinner and I need your grace and forgiveness when you come to Jesus first of all he doesn’t turn you away but secondly he pronounces the same declaration over you your sins are forgiven can you picture Jesus saying that over you right now and that’s the good news we have have to share with others and it’s the good news we have to keep coming back to because we still sin don’t we and so that means we need to keep hearing this from Jesus over and over and

over your sins are forgiven I’ve made that payment in full your debt is cleared stop trying to prove it I have proved it for you make Romans 81 the banner over your life there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus this is a study of contrasts In this passage you have the religious man who outwardly is free you know he’s the one who’s hosting the party he’s got the money he’s got the social Prestige and and acceptance among his peers and

yet he is the one who’s actually got the cold heart and he is the one who’s enslaved to his religion this woman on the other hand well many people would look at her and think wow what a wasted life and yet she is the one pouring out her heart worshiping Jesus she’s the one who’s free and it’s because she knows forgiveness your final point the Pharisee clung to his religion the woman experienced the grace of forgiveness many people today long for that intimacy with God they

want to know what it is what is it what is it like to experience intim iny with a love God well we as followers of Jesus have the answer in the gospel we can hold it out to them and tell them it’s available to you it’s available through faith it’s not through works it’s not through religious duties it’s not through all these things that you might imagine it’s through faith and you can come to him today so here’s the question I have for you this is

the text asking us this question which one are you are you that Pharisee or are you more like the sinful woman who knows how desperately she needs the Forgiveness of Jesus who’s willing to come to him no matter what other people might think of her no matter what other people might be saying about her she comes to Jesus freely and if there’s one thing I hope you take away from this message here it is if the gospel is good news at all it is good news

even for the most lost person you know let’s pray together father God I thank you that you are a god of Grace we could not even imagine we we couldn’t come up with a God Like You Who Loves Us in such an unspeakably wonderful way who comes to us in our Brokenness comes to us in our our moral filth like that woman who thought of herself as this unclean person she had been told that that over and over and over but she came to you Jesus

she came to you to be cleaned to be made whole and father I ask that you would remind us of the

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 5,872 words.