Love For The Undeserving Series

The problem for Simon - and the problem for those theologians I mentioned - is that they shied away from prostitutes because prostitutes were a lower form of life than they were. And that’s always a problem for “righteous” people. They tend see themselves as more righteous than … others. “Others may be sinners… but they aren’t.”

But God tells us that that’s not true. In the eyes of God, you and I are no more worthy of heaven than the prostitute is. That’s why Jesus told the chief priests and the elders (who depended upon their own personal self-righteousness) “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” Matthew 21:31

Ephesians 2:1-6 says it this way (speaking to Christians in Ephesus) “Once you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.(PAUSE)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.

You see, God loved us even when we weren’t LOVABLE. God loved us when we were like the unfaithful wife of Hosea. And He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son. God is a relentless lover who seeks to buy you, redeem you, restore you, and forgive you.

CLOSE: Tony Campolo was once a powerful voice for Christianity, and he told of how he taught in a secular college where he was challenged by one of his Jewish students who said, “Jesus never met a prostitute. Campolo said “I jumped at the opening; here was my chance, I thought. I could show this guy a thing or two about Jesus and about the New Testament. ‘Yes, He did - I’ll show you in my Bible - ’” And the young man interrupted him again. “You didn’t hear me, Doctor. I said Jesus never met a prostitute.” Campolo said: once again I protested. Once again I reached for my New Testament. I started to leaf through the pages of my Bible searching for passages which showed Jesus forgiving the “fallen woman.” I searched for the place where He gave the woman at the well a chance for spiritual renewal. And once again, my Jewish student spoke out, this time with a touch of anger “You’re not listening to me, Doctor. You aren’t listening to what I am saying. I am saying that Jesus never met a prostitute. Do you think that when he looked at Mary Magdalene he saw a prostitute? Do you think he saw whores/// when he looked at women like her? Doctor, listen to me! Jesus never met a prostitute!”

Well, if Jesus didn’t meet a prostitute … who did He meet? He met women who’d made bad decisions and damaged their lives. He met women who’d been so buried with sin and shame that they didn’t think anybody would want them… let alone God. And here’s my point – when God looked at Gomer, the prostitute who married Hosea, God didn’t see a prostitute. But He knew the self-righteous would – which is why He used her as an illustration of Israel sin.