Sermon Cloud

Amazing Grace: (Part IV)

LOVE COMPELS ME

Luke 7:36-47 (NIV)
³⁶ Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.
³⁷ When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume,
³⁸ and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner."
⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said.
⁴¹ "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
⁴³ Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.
⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

                When you read the Bible, it is evident that God desires our love and loyalty. The greatest commandment He gave us is - "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37).

            However, with our rebellious nature, we usually  do not respond very well with commands. We generally would resent anyone who would tell us what to do. I believe this is the reason why in relation to loving Him, we all need to see that more than expecting it, He has earned it. In other words, He does not just demand love, He deserves to be loved.  

            As we conclude our theme - Amazing Grace, it is really appropriate that we don't miss the application. You see, a doctrine is useless without its practical application. For the past Sundays, we have established grace as God's rich favor or blessing to unworthy recipients. If we have known Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have received His abundant grace. Now, having been tremendously blessed how are we responding to him?

            The apostle Paul being conscious of God's amazing grace once said:

2 Corinthians 5:14 (NIV)
¹⁴ For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

            In our previous messages, we have learned who Paul was prior to his relationship with Christ. Because of everything that God has done for him, he declares that God's love compels him. Meaning, the love of God for him induces deeper love and devotion from him. His zealousness in preaching the Gospel, his endurance in the midst of all the hardships in the ministry can be connected with his understanding of God's grace. I hope we are all impacted by grace in the same way.

            Our main text highlights the same truth. We find a woman expressing her extraordinary love and devotion to Jesus Christ that truly won the heart of God. Her example for us as believers can help us re-examine the kind of love we have for God. Time and again, it would benefit us to ask - How is my love for God? Does it really touch the heart of God? Looking at the passage, we can characterize devoted love in three ways:

I           DEVOTED LOVE INFLAMED BY APPRECIATION:

Our passage puts Jesus having a dinner in the house of Simon, a Pharisee.  It has been said that in those days, it was customary for outsiders to gather on the fringes so they can watch the important people dining and even hear their conversations.  

            Included also in the custom was, if important guests came to the house, the common courtesies were they were greeted with a kiss on the cheek or forehead, then a servant is summoned to remove their sandals and wash their feet.  For some reasons, Simon failed to extend these acts of courtesies to Jesus Christ. Many Bible scholars believe that Simon's failure to honor Jesus as a special guest resulted to this woman bringing her most expensive perfume and using it to anoint the feet of Jesus while she cleanse them with her tears and kiss them. Evidently, all of these were done without any sensual implications; instead they were her expressions of great love towards the Savior.  By the way, Bible commentators do not think that this event is the same as the anointing of Mary of Bethany (John 12:1-8), or the one with Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2).

            Going back to the text, we will find that her actions triggered some criticisms from Simon. He felt that her deeds were unacceptable, and for Jesus to accept them raises questions on his credibility as a prophet. As Jesus discerned the mind of Simon, he gave the parable of the two debtors to defend her actions. Please don't miss the key verse -"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little" (v. 47).

                How did Jesus perceive everything? Two major characters, two different responses. First was Simon, a self-righteous Pharisee. He always thought of himself as acceptable to God, and not a big sinner. Though also forgiven, he really doesn't have a great sense of indebtedness. Then, we have this woman, who was referred to as a "sinner" in verse 39. The word can mean two things:

• She was married to a prominent sinner
• She was a prostitute

The grace of forgiveness bestowed to her by Jesus despite her unworthiness had produced a deeper level of love towards Him. For her loving Jesus is a response out of her appreciation of grace.   

            Likewise, for all of us, if there is anything that should motivate us to really love the Lord, it is his amazing grace. In the Old Testament, the prophet Samuel challenged the people of God with these words:

1 Samuel 12:24 (NIV)
²⁴ But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

            When was the last time you really took the time to appreciate the great things that God has done for you? The more we think of God's amazing grace, the more we would love and fear Him. Take this to heart - Love to God must be a response, not merely a responsibility. Grace is the foundation we build on love on.  

1 John 4:19 (NIV)
¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.

II         DEVOTED LOVE IDENTIFIED BY ACTIONS:

            It is never enough to just say "I Love You." The apostle John declared it so clearly:

1 John 3:18 (NIV)
¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

            This woman understood this truth. She was not satisfied of just verbalizing her grateful love to Jesus; she showed it in three concrete ways:

•A.     Through Act of Worship:

The core meaning of worship is to express the worth of the one who is being honored.  How did the woman show the worth of Jesus?

• He was worth the risk of showing up at Simon's party
• He was worth the embarrassment of stepping out of the crowd to approach Him.
• He was worth the price of the valuable perfume - many believe that this was her most important possession, yet she was willing to consume everything for Jesus.

Obviously, for this woman Jesus was worth it all. She was willing to give her best to Jesus.

When I think of our Christianity today, I sometimes am afraid that we are missing the point of worship. Again and again we have to remind ourselves that worship is not about us, it is about God. It is not what we like, but what would please Him. It is not a program or a performance. It is all about Him.  And the truth is we are not just giving Him worship whenever we are in church once a week, this could be a daily consciousness for us. Our regular attitudes and actions can express how we value Jesus Christ in our lives. For this woman, she was preoccupied of honoring Jesus more than what Simon or the other guests would think.

•B.     Through Act of Service:  

As we already have established, the washing of the feet of the guest was reserved for servants. For this woman to come in and wash the feet of Jesus through her tears and expensive perfume, she humbly placed herself to a lowly position and expressed her willingness to be of service to Jesus Christ.

This gesture reminded me of the time when Jesus restored Peter after His resurrection. We all know how Peter denied Jesus three times after his arrest. With Christ graciousness to Peter, shortly after his resurrection, he met Peter and gave Him the opportunity to verbalize his love for the Lord:

John 21:15 (NIV)
¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

            After this initial question, this was again repeated two more times. What is significant in this conversation is whenever Peter responded and said, "Yes, Lord I love you." Jesus said, and then serve me by serving my church. 

I trust we don't miss that. We cannot say we love the Lord, and not serve Him.

•C.     Through Act of Courage:

Lastly, for her to go out there and focus her energy on honoring and loving the Lord in the midst of hostile guests was really a very courageous thing to do. She run the risk of being ridiculed or rejected. She definitely was not afraid of what other people might say, or people thinking less of her. She chose to show her love openly.

Do we love Jesus enough to be willing to be ridiculed or rejected? Do we love Him enough to be willing to be misunderstood? We all find it easy to affirm our commitment to Christ within the safe confines of church. But eventually our loyalty must be expressed in hostile arenas of  the workplace,  in the presence of unsaved loved ones, or friends who do not share our love for the Lord. I hope grace would impact us so much that we would be willing to stand up for Jesus all the time.

III        DEVOTED LOVE INVITED AFFIRMATION:

            I want to end this message emphasizing how Jesus affirmed the greatness of her love. When Simon became critical of the woman, Jesus was quick to come to her defense. By His words,  he was able to convey to her that she did the right thing and her expressions of great love was exceedingly appreciated.

            Does God appreciate our display of Love? Does He notice them? Absolutely! Every time we exert an effort to express our love to Him, they will never go unnoticed. I am reminded of Abraham proving his love to God by willingly offering Isaac. Once He passed the test, listen to what God has promised him:

Genesis 22:15-18 (NIV)
¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time
¹⁶ and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
¹⁸ and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

            Indeed, grace is the foundation of our devoted love for God. Once we know how to respond appropriately to God's grace, his graces are multiplied in our lives.