Were in Luke 7. Were on a series going through Luke, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. We are finishing up Chapter 7 this morning. Imagine that you invite someone you want to get to know out to eat. You invite her to a restaurant, and you say, This is going to be a good chance to get to know this person. I think this person could be a really good friend in my life. Ive heard good things about her. Im curious to see what kind of person she really is. So, you invite your friend out to this restaurant to eat, and youre having a good conversation. Things are going well when into the restaurant walks a person who has a very poor reputation in the community. He is known by most people in the community as a very corrupt individual. Maybe he has been not only accused but found guilty of a crime. Maybe he has been in the newspaper. People know who this person is. He starts making his way to your table. Youre thinking, What in the world could he want to come to my table for? Then he begins a conversation with this person youre trying to get to know. Youre a little embarrassed because you think somebody might see you in the restaurant and think youre associated with this corrupt person. Youre curious as to how your friend will respond to this person. The person is not put off by the presence of your friend. In fact, she welcomes him and even invites him to sit down with you, which really makes you uncomfortable. The person begins to cry and tells your friend what an impact she has made in his life. In fact, she has changed his life, and he is no longer going to live a corrupt life. He wants to live a good life and is sorry for his past. Because of the influence of this friend, there is going to be a new future in his life. How do you feel about your perspective friend now? Has your opinion of her gone up or has it gone down because she is associating with this notorious person? Or are you still undecided? Something very similar is happening in the Scripture. There is a man by the name of Simon. Hes a Pharisee. Hes probably well to do, and hes certainly powerful. He wants to know more about Jesus. Hes heard some good things, and hes heard some bad things. Some have said Jesus is of God, and others have said Hes a deceiver. Hes corrupt. Simon is a free thinker, and he wants to come to his own conclusions. So, he invites Jesus to join him at his house. Now, you might be thinking-if youre familiar with the story-how did this woman of ill-repute get into Simons house? Shes not on the guest list. She wasnt invited. The reason she is able to do that is because just like restaurants are a public place, so often in a rich persons home, they had a court yard where they would meet for gatherings like this, and that was open to the community as well. Beggars could come and take scraps of food that were left behind. The curious could come and listen to the rabbi or whoever was the dignitary that was there that day. So in this courtyard, it was public domain. Into this courtyard comes strolling this woman who is known to have a poor reputation among everyone there. How will Jesus respond, and how will the host respond to what Jesus does? Lets read it together in Verse 36 (of Luke 7, page 1023 of pew Bibles), Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisees house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume… Now, I want to pause there in Verse 37. It says a woman who had lived a sinful life. We could say, Well, all of us have lived a sinful life, but the way this is structured in the Greek, it says she devoted herself to a life of sin. Thats what its saying to us. Its saying that emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, she was devoted to living a corrupt lifestyle. She spent her time living in this corrupt lifestyle. Most scholars say she was a prostitute. I wouldnt argue with that conclusion. It doesnt exactly say what she did, but by the verbiage thats used, by the stir her presence caused, it would tend to make one think that is what she was. Maybe some of the people were uncomfortable that day because maybe they were her clients as well. We just dont know. She comes walking in, and she comes up to Jesus. She begins to cry. She is overcome with emotions. It says that as she stood behind Him at His feet weeping she began to wet His feet with her tears. Shes crying so profusely that tears are dropping onto His feet. Youre probably thinking if Hes eating dinner and shes behind Him, how in the world is she dropping tears on His feet. Is she crawling under the table or whats going on here? The Da Vinci picture that we see of the Last Supper where theyre all sitting at the table, thats not the way it was. They didnt have a table and chairs like we have now. The table would have been very low to the ground, and you would have lain down. Thats why it said reclined at the table. You would have literally lain down, put your elbow in the table, and you would have had your feet and legs stretched out or bent or curled behind you. Then if somebody came up from behind you, the first thing they would encounter is your feet. Thats why when she cried, her tears fell on His feet. Then, she began wiping them with her hair. Now, a womans hair was to be kept up. If you had your hair down, that was a sign you were a loose woman. I want you women who have your hair down this morning to relax. In our culture, youre okay. It doesnt mean anything, but in that culture, it meant something. The something it meant was not good. But what we see in this woman was not anything provocative about her appearance or her actions. She let her hair down and was worshipping Jesus with a reckless abandon. She really didnt care who was watching or what they thought. All she was devoted to was worshipping the Lord Jesus and showing gratefulness to Him. Its quite possible that this was not the first encounter shed had with Jesus. In fact, as you read the text, it would seem to indicate that there had been a previous encounter. Maybe He had spoken directly to her, or she had been in one of His audiences and had heard something that had really changed her life; so she was coming to express thankfulness and gratitude for this new life she had been given. The Bible says not everything Jesus did or said is recorded in these Gospels. John said if everything Jesus did or said was recorded, The world itself could not contain all that would be written. So we have just a representative sampling of what Jesus said and did. So quite possibly, this is her second encounter with the Lord, but one thing is emphatically clear: she is a changed person. She had been fully devoted to a life of sin, and now she was fully devoted to Jesus Christ. Emotionally, she is invested; physically, mentally, spiritually, financially [she is invested] because the perfume was very costly. She has given everything she has to this person. We would do well to learn from her. We would do well to learn that no matter what life you have lived in the past with Jesus Christ, you can have a new life in the future. Wed do well to learn from her that there comes times in our lives when we should serve the Lord or worship the Lord with a reckless abandon. We are far too cautious, far too reserved considering what Jesus has done for us. She is now a fully-devoted follower. There has been repentance, and her actions are demonstrating that repentance. When the Pharisee who had invited her saw her wipe His feet with her hair, she kissed His feet; she poured perfume on His feet. [This was] very similar to what Mary of Bethany had done. Remember when Mary did that? Judith said, Oh, this money should be sent to the poor. It was a different incident but very similar in Jesus ministry. The Scripture says, When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a Prophet, He would know who was touching Him and what kind of woman she is-that she is a sinner. When he says that she is a sinner, he is implying that he is what? He is not a sinner or certainly not as bad of a sinner, not in need of as much help as she is. Were going to find out in a moment that that is not true. I want you to notice that he says it to himself. It says, …said to himself. Then it says Jesus answered him. Thats kind of scary. Its one thing to have a thought, but its another thing when somebody else answers the thought thats in your head. I have thought I said something to myself and said it aloud. Maybe youve done that. I was in a restaurant-I think it was Subway-a couple of weeks ago. This guy was ordering like his tenth sub in a row. She said, Will that be all? He said, No, Ill have another. I said, Of course you will. Im thinking this to myself…I thought. Then he turns around and goes, Oh, Im sorry. Did you need to go through the line? I didnt realize I had said that aloud. I was like, Oh no, sorry, go right ahead. So, if thats you, I apologize to you. I didnt even know I said that aloud. I was like, Oh yeah, of course. Another sandwich for you. In this case, Simon is not saying this aloud. Hes thinking it, and Jesus is going to address his thoughts. That has to wake you up right there a little bit. Simon is saying, Well, He is a fraud. What my friends have said about Him is true. If He truly was a prophet of God, He would know this person is not a good person. Hed have nothing to do with her. He would shun her. Jesus answered him and said, Simon, I have something to tell you. Tell me, teacher, he said. Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. So [that was] about ten times more than the other person. You think of the two men we saw in the bank video this morning. One had a small debt, and one had a great debt. I know what you were thinking as you watched that video. You were thinking, Are there any banks like that? and Can I move my money there? It says, 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? Simon replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled. You have judged correctly, Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon… Notice Hes speaking to Simon, but He looks at the woman. Do you see this woman? Now all the things Hes about to say are customs that are standard operating procedure if youre going to be a good host in that culture. Simon does none of them, either by intention or omission, but he does none of them. I came into your house. You did not give Me any water for My feet… His feet would have been dirty because He was wearing sandals and had been traveling. …but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give Me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not put oil on My head, but she has poured perfume on My feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven-for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little. Then Jesus said to her… and this is really going to make him mad, …your sins are forgiven. Who can forgive sins? Only God. Thats why what He says irks them. The other guests began to say amongst themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you; go in peace. It really bothered them. Number one, He receives her; number two, He pronounces her sins forgiven; and number three, He declares her right with God. Man cant do that. Jesus is asserting His deity. He is asserting whom He is in the presence of all. Now, I want to focus in on Verses 41-42. Its the real heart of this text. Jesus tells a parable. In the parable, there is a moneylender. There are two people who owe him debt: one great and one small. Then there are some commonalities, some parallels between the two. A parable means to lie alongside; so its an earthly story with a spiritual significance. The moneylender is God. The money, or the debt, is our sin that we owe to God. The people are simply people. One of them has tried to live a godly life like the Pharisee and occasionally sins. The other is like the woman who just lives life with a reckless abandon toward sin. Then were going to talk about three spiritual realities or commonalities that exist between these two groups of people. You might be here this morning, and you might say, Well, you know I endeavor to live a good life or upright life. Or, you might be coming in here this morning, and you might say, I know my life isnt upright. I know Gods not pleased with my life. I am living a life of sin, and I know that. So there are two different ends of the spectrum, but were going to see from this text that you have more in common spiritually than you think you do. The first thing we notice is that both of them have a debt. One debt is greater than another, but both of them have a debt. You might be here this morning, and youve endeavored to live a righteous life, but the bottom line is youre still a sinner. The bottom line is you still fall short. In fact, Romans 3:23 (page 1114 of pew Bibles) says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Hes speaking of humankind, of mankind. Paul says, Every single one of us falls short. Not one of us hits the mark all the time. In fact, the word sin means to miss the mark. We might hit the target some of the time, but often times, we miss the target. If you miss the target, it doesnt matter if you missed it by one inch or a mile: the outcome is the same. You missed the target. In the Book of Psalms 14:1 (page 538), it talks about our spiritual condition. David writes and says, The fool says in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from Heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. So what does God find when He looks down? All have turned aside… How many have turned aside? All-at one point or another-have turned aside, done our own thing, and showed distain for the law of God. …they have together become correct. There is no one who does good, not even one. Well, thats a very different picture than sometimes we are told. We have friends who might say to us, Well, you know, I think you go to Heaven by being a good person. Ive heard that countless times. There are so many good people in our community who would preach that same thing, but that is not the Gospel. We talked last week that the cross is an offense. Remember, Jesus said, Blessed is the one who is not offended on account of Me. The word offend means a stumbling block or that which causes us to fall. One would think we would certainly not fall on Jesus. He certainly would be the one that helps us or prevents us from falling, but we said the Bible says, The cross is a stumbling block. It is an offense. Why? Because we like to think of ourselves as basically good people who just need a little nudge or a little push. What the cross says is that you and I are morally bankrupt and lost apart from a Savior. What the cross says is what Psalms 14 bears out. There is not one person who is righteous in and of himself. If we could attain salvation on our own accord, then Christ would not have come. Christ would not have had to die. Though Simon was trusting in his righteousness, he was actually in the same boat as the sinful woman. They were both lost. They both fell short without Christ. I heard a story about a contest in which you could win a million dollars if you could swim from California to Hawaii. Some contestants lined up-a wide array of contestants. There was Teenage Tony. Teenage Tony was a fit young man, high school varsity swimmer, very lean, no body fat, and high metabolism. He did a great job. He swam five miles. Pretty soon, that no body fat got to him. He got the chills, then the cramps, and he finally had to get out. Then there was Prime of Life Patrick. This guy was 25 years old, in the best shape of his life. As was a college swimmer, an Olympic hopeful, Patrick swam 25 miles. Thats a long way. The cold of the water, swallowing salt water, the wind and the waves finally got to him. Even in the prime of his life, even with a million dollars at stake, he couldnt do it, and he quit. Then there was Middle-age Melvin. Middle-age Melvin heard about this contest, and he decided he would climb in. A million bucks? Lets give it a shot. The closest thing Melvin had come to swimming was when he slipped in the bathtub. His only exercise was going up to get another brat when it was commercial time during the Packer game. He was in trouble, but it was a million bucks. Middle-age Melvin jumps in the water. He splashed, spluttered, and swallowed water. He didnt even make it a half of a block, and he said, It isnt worth it, and came back. Did one make it farther than another? Sure. Absolutely! But the bottom line is they all fell short. If youre listening this morning, and youre trusting in your goodness-you might be a great person, a wonderful person, but if you trust your own merits-the Bible says youll fall short. Its impossible to live a godly life 100 percent of the time and never sin. If you sin one time, you fall short of the glory of God. You need a Savior. The second thing they have in common is an inability to pay him back. It says, Neither of them had the money to pay him back. We think, If Ill just do more good deeds than bad deeds, I can offset. Thats not what the Scripture says. The Scripture says when you and I add to our moral bankruptcy, we add to the tally on a daily basis. The sad news about our sin is that it separates us from God. In the Book of Isaiah 59:1 (page 736), the Prophet Isaiah says this, Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. In other words, the problem isnt on Gods end. If there is not a spiritual connection here, the problem isnt on Gods end. Its our end. Verse 2 says, But your iniquities have separated you from your God… Your iniquities, your sins, have separated you from God. Your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear. So Isaiah writes of our spiritual condition, and he says its impossible for you to be reconciled to a God of your own accord because your sinful nature have separated you from God; so its impossible. Everyday, we simply add to that moral debt. Well, the third spiritual reality they have in common in this text is that each of them in order to be restored to a right relationship have to have their debts cancelled. Thats the only option. Since they cant repay it, it has to be canceled. It has to be on the goodness or the graciousness of the man to whom they owe the debt. Thats the only way it can be done. The only way you and I can receive from the goodness, receive forgiveness of our sins, is the goodness of God. Thats it! Its a gift. Notice what it says in Verse 50 of our text, Jesus said to the woman, Your good works have saved you. Go in peace. Right? Your tears and your expensive perfume have saved you. Go in peace. What saved her? What wonderful good works had she done? Her faith saved her. Her trust in Jesus… She took Jesus at His word and believed that in Him, there was redemption. Thats what it says in the Book of Romans 3 that we referenced to earlier. [We have] the Apostle Paul talking about our spiritual condition. Verse 23 (page 1114) said, …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely how? …freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. How does redemption come? Christ Jesus. Were having a water baptism this evening. Water baptism is commanded of God: repent and be baptized-every one of you. Its a commandment. Salvation is not found in baptism. Salvation is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Its important, but that which is most important is Jesus. [Continuing on in Verse 25], God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. So at the cross, we see the justice of God in that sin is punished, the wrath that was meant for us is poured out upon Jesus, and we also see the grace of God as He justifies those who deserve death. [Verse 27], Where, then, is boasting? Who can say, Well, I can go to Heaven because Im a wonderful, good person? There are all of these wonderful things Ive done. Wheres the boasting? Paul says, It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. It couldnt be any clearer. Ephesians 2:8-9 (page 1157) says, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. So, its not your righteousness. This woman gave to the Lord, served the Lord, and loved on the Lord because she was saved, because she had received a new life-not in order to get a new life or to get forgiveness. Therein is where we become confused. Some think we do those things in order to be saved, but the matter is we do those things because we are [saved]. They are a natural expression of a grateful heart. I have in my pocket a dollar. I would like to give it to one of you. Would somebody like this dollar? Okay, Jeremy-youre the first one. You come on up here and get this dollar. Jeremy, before service, did you and I talk about this, and did I say, Raise your hand. Im going to give you a dollar? [Jeremy answers], No. Did I say, Hey, if you flatter me in the foyer after the service and talk about what a wonderful sermon it was after church, I would give you this dollar? [Jeremy answers], Nope. You understand Im really giving you this dollar. Im not going to ask for this back. This is your dollar. You can go to Hawaii or buy a house, whatever you want with this dollar. This is yours. Here you go. Now, that was a gift to Jeremy. Jeremy had done nothing to earn that dollar, nor will I ask Jeremy to do anything to earn that dollar. That dollar is his. How did Jeremy receive that dollar? With open arms. Yeah, yeah. He came and got it, didnt he? What if he would have remained in his seat and just nodded his head and said, Yeah, I believe thats a dollar. Yeah, I believe he would give it away, would he have it? He wouldnt have it. He might even believe I have a dollar, that Im willing to give it to him, but until he exercises his faith, gets up from his seat, comes forward, takes the dollar, he doesnt have it. He trusted what I said, and to be honest, some of you looked at me rather skeptically, wondering if I was really giving away a dollar. I really did. I gave away a dollar. Its my third one to give away this weekend. The good news is that none of them have been mine (congregation laughs). Ive bummed one off people before every service and will continue that practice. I forgot, okay? Its a good illustration, and I still wanted to do it. I tried bumming one off my wife first, but shes broke, so… You might be next, so dont laugh. But thats a gift. Salvation is something we freely receive. Its like the bank (in the media played at the beginning of the service). He protested. He said, Well, Im not worthy of that. You guys have better customers. [The other character in the media said}, You know what? If I were you, I would just say thank you and receive the gift. Salvation is not earned; its received by grace. It is provided through Jesus Christ. Its important for us to remember that. If youre here this morning, and you dont know the Lord-youre trusting in yourself, the Scripture says that your sin separates you from God. What you need to do is-with reckless abandon- throw yourself on the mercy of the Lord. Allow him to forgive your sins and to give you a new life in Christ-His gift. If youre here this morning, and youre a believer, and you say, Well, Im grateful. I have received that gift of salvation, the action step Id like you to consider today is how can you demonstrate your gratitude to the Lord this week? I want you to pray that daring prayer with me today, and Hell show you. It might involve sacrifice; it might involve humility; it might involve you giving of yourself to someone or something, but how, Lord, can I this week love You with a reckless abandon? How can I let my hair down, let it all hang out, whatever expression you want to use, like this woman here, and just show You how much I appreciate what Youve done? If the Gospel is true, and it is, then you owe it a debt that you could not pay. Jesus Christ paid that debt, and you can receive that gift, that forgiveness. Would you join me in prayer? Im going to lead two groups in prayer this morning. The first group were going to pray for is those who have not trusted Christ. The second group were going to pray for is those who have who need to demonstrate gratitude. Lets pray. If youre here this morning, and youre hearing the Gospel-maybe for the first time-youre understanding for the first time that Heaven is not something that you earn; forgiveness of sins is not something you work towards; its something you humbly and with gratefulness receive. If youre here this morning, and youd like to receive Christ, I invite you to pray this prayer with me: Heavenly Father, I am a sinner. I recognize that my sin has separated me from a Holy God, and Im sorry for the life that Ive lived. I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He died on the cross in my place. I trust what He said and who He was; that He did what He said He would do; that He was who He said He was; that He is Lord; that He took my place upon the cross. I ask Him into my life. Lord Jesus, come into my heart, forgive my sins, make me a new person, give me a new start. I pray Your Holy Spirit would come and reside within me, and I would live for You all of my days. In Jesus name. Father, I pray for those who will make that commitment. Lord, that they would know the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives today, and that their heart would overflow with thankfulness and gratitude for the gift that Youve given to them. I pray for those of us who, like Simon, are ungrateful. We have failed to see what has been provided for us. This woman who was notorious for an immoral lifestyle, when all is said and done, was known for her active worship and devotion. Lord, its never too late with Your help to turn our life around. For those of us who have been recipients of Your grace and forgiveness, Lord, what can we do this week to tangibly show our love? What can we do that will demonstrate with a reckless abandon our devotion for You? I pray that You would show us, Holy Spirit, that we might be a light to the world. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. God bless you. Have a great week!