Jul 18 2021 Extravagant Forgiveness

We are continuing in Luke – and continuing our experiment in ‘Team Teaching’

Luke 7: 36 Now one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 37 Then when a woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus was dining at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil.

38 As she stood behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfumed oil.

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner."

40 So Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." He replied, "Say it, Teacher." 41 "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty.

42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly."

44 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.

45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil.

47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little loves little." 48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" 50 He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Kay – I read this parable several times – and the thing that stuck out to me the most was this woman’s response to her forgiveness. I am in awe of her boldness.

The whole city knew her reputation. And she was probably reminded of this on a daily basis. She carried the weight of her sin and shame. She encountered Jesus and it changed everything – she became single-minded in her pursuit of him. She wept and washed his feet with her tears and perfume. She ignored all the social norms. She gets it. She gets that she is forgiven much. She is judged on top of this. Then there is the Pharisee – if only he knew what type of woman this was.

Jesus shows her abundant grace. We are called to forgive.

Ephesians 4:32

Colossians 3:13

Luke 6:37

Matthew 6:14 – For if you forgive you will be forgiven

When we have an understanding of our sin like this woman had – no more than anyone else. We need a shift in our perspective – to understand the depth of our sin.

The Art of Forgiving – In forgiving you are rediscovering humanity, giving up right – and it might not mean reunification of a relationship.

I had a job I loved and had a coworker that was not nice to me. I thought it would go away when I left the job. I had a dream about this person - It took me some time to realize it didn’t even happen. Unoffendable by Brent Hanson has helped as well.

People hurt out of their hurts – and she is loved by God fully. Remember the price has been paid.

I would like to be so focused on loving Jesus that all other things fade, and I can forgive. I saw this person from a distance. My heart is changing – it takes time.

Philippians 3:7-10

Robin: Forgiveness – I think of freedom. Be Ye Glad – Also for some reason, I have the memory of a time where I felt free from shame and guilt. I struggled in an area of my life – I tried to overcome it on my own. I came across James 5:16 – Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Therefore – I know you are supposed to look around it – but I didn’t.

I shared with a close friend my struggle – we prayed about it – and to be honest – that verse came alive to me – and I felt healed. I was healed of the shame – another loved me and cared for me and wasn’t repulsed. I was maybe not healed of the struggle, but I was healed of the shame.

At times I think that God can’t forgive this or that – and I realized, God has forgiven me completely. And I can forgive myself. I didn’t fully accept God’s forgiveness – because if I had – I would accept forgiveness for myself – When I accept God’s and my forgiveness, it enables me to forgive others.

I think this woman sought out Jesus because she was already forgiven. He took away her shame – and now she could go in peace. She was forgiven and knew she was forgiven.

I still have struggles – but I feel like I am better at forgiving others and myself.

Mike: Amen.

I will tie – and wrap this up here.

Last week we looked at the similarities between the parable of the prodigal son and this story. Luke is amazing – he ties so much together there – the Prodigal Son – is so beloved – as a parable – and this story relates back to the Prodigal Son.

We looked at – the Pharisee shared much with the older brother in the parable. The woman shares much with the younger brother. There are the ‘good sinners’ – Pharisees and the older brother – and ‘bad sinners’ – the woman and the younger brother.

The prodigal story gives us detailed description of the younger brother’s sin. But the focus of the story is THE FATHER – the story is about the father and his grace and forgiveness that he lavishes upon the younger son. Robes/rings/killing the fatted calf/inviting the town to a party – that is God’s forgiveness. In this story – we know ZERO detail about the woman’s sin. That is why there are all these scholars trying to figure that out! Was she a prostitute? It doesn’t specifically say that. The focus is on the woman’s response to grace and forgiveness.

When the prodigal gets to the dad – Dad, I have sinned against heaven and earth… but the father doesn’t even hear! The younger brother is left dumbfounded with his mouth open.

The profound effect forgiveness has on a person’s life – and the transformational power – is what we find here.

Luke 7:41 ⁴¹ "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they could not pay, he canceled the debts of both.

Denarii – a day’s wage – 50 days’ wage vs. 500 days’ wage. Both could not pay. Both are offered complete forgiveness. The Creditor did not put them on a payment plan. We want to put ourselves on a payment plan to God, for our sin.

The creditor had nothing to do with that.

None of us can afford to pay our debt back to God – but all of us are offered complete forgiveness.

⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little loves little."

I do not believe there are people who are forgiven little. I do believe there are those who think they sin little! This woman knew she had been forgiven much. She heard it all of her life – no one needed to tell her – she lived a life of shame and guilt. She knew that she was forgiven.

Here is what I think is important: She does not earn or gain forgiveness by her acts and devotion at this moment – rather, her devotion is an expression of her forgiveness she had already received.

We cannot earn forgiveness.

Our love for God flows out of our understanding of His grace and forgiveness always. We never work our way into loving God more – we accept His grace and forgiveness more and that causes our devotion to flow.

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

I think it is important to be told our sins are forgiven. Forgiveness is a theme throughout the gospel of Luke – I think I counted 48 times. From a practical what to do – we need to remind ourselves – we are forgiven. Allow ourselves to forgive ourselves. We need to remind God that He has forgiven us!

We need to remind others that they are forgiven.

3 We need to fill our mind with Bible verses – it is filled with verses about forgiveness. The Bible paints – through these passages on forgiveness, it paints these word pictures for us.

Forgiveness – these are some of my favorites: (find your favorites too!)

Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.

He wipes the slate clean! He PURPOSEFULLY CHOOSES NOT TO REMEMBER YOUR SIN! The problem – we like to remember our sins – and some of us do it constantly – and He is saying – I do not want you to remember your sin!

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

Sin is a great stain. Some of us have probably gone out to lunch sometime – not knowing we were at an Italian restaurant and back to the office with a spaghetti stain on the shirt… everyone’s eyes are drawn to it. It is embarrassing when they point it out at the end of the day…

He removes the stain. He makes it whiter. For this woman, forgiveness transformed her. We see it in her response – her devotion.

The perfumed oil was a tool of her trade. And Jesus took that perfumed oil – and it was transformed into its original purpose for her – the anointing of Jesus, the Son of God.

Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.

Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us

Our sins – God has placed our sin in places we cannot go. The depths of the sea – we cannot go there! But what do we do? We jump into the ocean to try to pull them back up! Cease trying to get to the bottom of the sea.

As far as the east is from the west – if you are going from East to West – and you take a step east – how much closer to the west are you? None!

Luke 7:49 ⁴⁹ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?"

There is much we have learned these past two weeks from the woman and the Pharisee – but one more question – WHO IS JESUS?! That is the big question that needs to be answered! Who is the one who forgives sins?

Luke 5 – the man is paralyzed – and the house is crowded – and they cut through the roof and lower the man through – and what does Jesus say? Your sins are forgiven.

And the Pharisees say – who does He think He is? Only God can forgive sins! They answered their own question – we learn – He is God! And we learn something practically about the nature of God – only God can forgive sins – Jesus is God – and God, at the core of His being – is one who forgives. TO ask God not to forgive is to ask God to go against His nature. He can do no different. It is WHO HE IS.

⁵⁰ He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

So this is a story of this woman and the Pharisee but also about Jesus and Who He is – it is a gospel story.

The Bible says in Luke – early on – when Jesus is born – angels come to the shepherds – I come with good news of great joy! Tonight in the City of David – a Savior is born. For all people.

And the question we need to ask ourselves – the good news that we communicate -the message that we communicate – is it good news of great joy – here in 2021 – in USA, NE Ohio, Cuyahoga Falls – is what we communicate to the women like this of our world – a message of good news of great joy for all people?

I ask you to try this – don’t force it – but if the opportunity comes up – and you are in a conversation and it turns to faith – instead of what you normally do in this situation – think about telling the story of this woman – and when someone who hears this story – it has the power to transform and bring them to faith in Jesus.