1. Overview and Review
a. We have been learning what it means to be turned inside out, both on a personal level and on a church wide level.
b. God finds every one of us inside centered, self-focused, self-absorbed, self-interested, and selfish. But that doesn‟t stop Him does it? He found every one of us, He found me in that condition.
c. He sent His Son to rescue each of us from that self-led, self centered life and to turn us inside out. Leaving us self-focused would result in our self-destruction. So He loves us and fills us with His love.
d. The difficult part for us is after receiving that love, we tend to think that the whole goal is to “get saved.” But God wasn‟t interested in just saving us a future eternity. Jesus came to start a revolution in the here and now! Jesus came to turn the world right side up and inside out. He wants to start with you and I!
2. Today we are going to try to learn to see people the way that Jesus sees people.
a. It is a lot harder than you think.
b. So to get you thinking this morning, I would like to ask a provocative question this morning.
i. Who are the “enemies of God?”
ii. Are they the “infidels” or the “gays” or the “pro-abortion people”?
iii. Are they the “Al Queda Muslims?”
iv. I would like you to think about who God‟s enemies are as I read this passage from Luke.
3. Passage: Luke 7: 36-50 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. 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, 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. 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." Jesus answered him, "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. 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, "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. 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, "Your sins are forgiven." The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
4. Recount the story.
a. Jesus goes to have dinner with a Pharisee and an uninvited guest shows up. Laying at the table (it is a low table, you ate lying down on your side, feet away from the table) the uninvited guest, a harlot or prostitute, stands behind him and gets Jesus feet wet from her tears. (I don‟t know why she is crying).
b. Then, probably embarrassed that she got his feet wet, dries them with her hair because she has no towel. Now that she is near to him, she opens her jar of perfume (that she might have used with her customers) and puts it on HIS feet.
i. I don‟t know how Jesus felt, but He saw through her and didn‟t react to her like you or I might have. I can‟t imagine what I would do if a lady of the night came in to one of our church fellowship dinners and began to do that to me your pastor. I could probably predict my wife‟s reaction. I can imagine most of you would probably have the same reaction.
ii. Simon is no different. He begins to criticize this scene in his mind, probably turning red in the face with anguish and embarrassment and suspicion. Saying to himself, “if he knew what kind of person this woman was he would tell her to stop this behavior in my home!”
1. Jesus‟ conduct didn‟t meet the rigorous religious expectations of Simon.
2. Simon expected Jesus to reject the woman‟s actions as repulsive because of her label as a “sinner”.
a. Rabbis never talked with a woman in public if they could help it and if they did, they were very careful as how they conducted themselves
b. It wasn‟t much different than the Muslim and Taliban society we see now where women are 2nd class citizens.
3. Yet Jesus did nothing to interrupt her, He didn‟t do anything to stop her, and in so doing, was passively approving of her actions.
a. Jesus was breaking every norm in the Jewish religious and moral society.
iii. And then Jesus reads Simon‟s thoughts (and probably everyone else‟s in the room) and tells him a story about forgiveness and gratitude. After getting the reply from Simon that he wanted, Jesus rebukes Simon for his poor hospitality and contrasts her actions toward him.
iv. Finally, he declares forgiveness to the woman, which is an act that no one who is attending can grasp.
5. Look again at V44. Jesus says something astounding: “Do you see this woman?”
a. Simon the Pharisee didn‟t see her the way Jesus did.
i. Simon could not see past the labels – SINNER, LOOSE WOMAN, ETC.
ii. Simon was practicing a religion of exclusivity.
1. He was one of the “IN” – she was one of the “OUT.”
2. He was one of the “SAVED” and she wasn‟t.
3. He was one of the “HOLY” ones, and she wasn‟t.
b. Whenever we use “dismissive” labels to define people, they blind us to the value of the person and we miss the opportunity to be channels of grace to them.
i. Labels like: “baby killers,” “murderers,” “homos,” “freak,” “adulterer,” “loose woman,” “predator,” “terrorist” , etc.
ii. These are terms that tend to demonize people
iii. We put labels on people so that we can dismiss them as unworthy of our time, attention or love.
iv. It does not recognize the other one as a human being, a brother or a sister.
v. It makes us “heterosexuals” or “anti-abortion” folks feel righteous and transforms other human beings into sinners.
1. Labels are tools that we use to devalue people so that we can justify our holier than thou attitude.
2. As if we are any better (except by the grace of God)!
3. Just one or two different decisions in our own lives might have led us to be just like “them.”
c. Jesus saw past the labels that people were stuck with..
i. We don‟t‟ know for certain, but Jesus may have encountered this woman before and now she was showing her love and gratitude for his acceptance and grace toward her.
ii. He saw the value of this woman and all of her brokenness that led her to this horrible place in her life where her daily decisions compounded every error she had made.
iii. Jesus saw what she could be and what she had been.
iv. He knew that GRACE would change her life.
v. Jesus sees past the labels and the things that imprison us into those words.
6. No one is outside of the reach of grace.
a. Folks, that is what we must learn.
i. Whenever we assign labels to people, we excuse ourselves from being sources of grace to them.
ii. We dismiss them, we write them off, we cast them aside. But God doesn‟t!
b. God has no enemies. (people may hate God, but God hates no one)
i. Note for reference: (Friend of the world is an enemy of God) (James 4:4)
ii. The NT only speaks of “enemies of the gospel” who are in fact, folks that want to do away with grace and return to religious legalism, separating people further and further from God.
7. We all use labels. It is almost unavoidable. It is hard not to.
a. We stick them on jars and manila folders so we‟ll know what‟s inside.
b. We also stick them on people for the same reason.
c. Our labels of “lost” “sinner” and “unchurched” are symptoms of a “us” and “them” attitude
i. The reason we label others is very simple, because it‟s easier to label than to love.
ii. So often we say that “we hate the sin but love the sinner.” “
1. But how much do you really love the sinner?”
d. Yes, we apply the label “saved” to ourselves because we are graciously saved and belong to a wonderful Lord and church!
i. But the only difference between us and “them” is grace. God‟s amazing Grace!
ii. Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
1. Did you do something worth boasting or bragging about to get you to where you are now?
2. Is your life untainted by vice now because of your goodness or God‟s grace?
e. Can you see past the label? Can you love past the label?
8. In his book, The Kingdom of God is a Party, Tony Campolo was attending a Christian conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Since there was a six-hour time differential between Honolulu and his hometown in Pennsylvania, on his first night there Campolo experienced some confusion in his sleep pattern. He woke up about 3 o‟clock in the morning and couldn‟t get back to sleep. So he got up, got dressed, and left the hotel where he was staying, searching for a place to get something to eat. Eventually he found a tiny coffee shop that was open. Here is his description of what happened there:
a. "The big guy behind the counter came over and asked me what I wanted. I told him I wanted a cup of coffee and a donut. As I sat there munching my donut and sipping my coffee at 3:30 in the morning, the door suddenly opened, swung wide, and to my discomfort in marched 8 or 9 provocatively dressed and rather boisterous prostitutes. It was a small place and they sat on either side of me. Their talk was loud, and crude. I felt completely out of place. I was just about to make my getaway when I heard the woman next to me say, „You know, tomorrow is my birthday. I‟m going to be 39.‟ Her friend responded in a rather nasty tone, „So what do you want from me? A birthday party? What do you want? You want me to get a cake, and sing happy birthday to you?‟ „Come on,‟ the woman sitting next to me said, „why do you have to be so mean? I‟m just telling you that it‟s my birthday. Why do you have to put me down? I don‟t want anything from you. I mean, why should I have a birthday party? I‟ve never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?‟
b. Campolo says, "When I heard that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women left, and then I called over to the guy behind the counter and asked him, „Do they come in here every night?‟ He answered, „Yeah.‟ „The one who was sitting right next to me, does she come in every
night?‟ „Yeah,‟ he said, „that‟s Agnes. Yeah, she comes in every night. Why do you want to know?‟ „Because,‟ I replied, „I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday. What do you say we do something special for her? What do you think about throwing a birthday party for her right here in the coffee shop?‟ A cute kind of smile crept over that man‟s cheeks. „That‟s a great idea,‟ he said. „I like it. That‟s great. Agnes is one of those people who is really nice and kind. I don‟t think anybody has ever done anything nice and kind for her.‟ „Well, look,‟ I told him, „if it‟s okay with you, I‟ll be back here tomorrow morning at 2:30. I‟ll decorate the place. I‟ll even get a birthday cake for her,‟ „No way!‟ he replied. „The birthday cake, that‟s my thing. I‟ll bake the birthday cake myself.‟ "At two thirty the next morning," Campolo says, "I was back at that coffee shop. I picked up some crepe paper and other decorations at the store, and made a sign of big pieces of cardboard that said „Happy Birthday, Agnes!‟ I decorated that diner from one end to the other. I had it really looking great. The word must have gotten out on the street, because by 3:15 that morning every prostitute in Honolulu was in that place. There was wall-to-wall prostitutes – and me. At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open and in came Agnes and her friend. I had everybody ready… When they came in we all jumped up and screamed, „Happy Birthday, Agnes!" Then we sang to her.
c. And you know, I‟ve never seen a person so flabbergasted, so stunned, so shaken. Her mouth fell open, her knees started to buckle, her friend had to offer her arm to steady her, and I noticed she had started to cry. When the birthday cake with all the candles was carried out, that‟s when she lost it. She started sobbing.
d. Harry, the guy behind the counter, gruffly mumbled, „Blow out the candles, Agnes, blow out the candles.‟ Then he handed her a knife and said, „Cut the cake, Agnes, cut the cake.‟ Agnes looked down at that cake, and without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly said, „Look, Harry, is it okay with you if I, I mean, if I don‟t, what I want to ask, is it okay if I keep the cake for a little while? Is it okay if we don‟t eat it right away?‟ Harry shrugged and answered, „Well, sure, Agnes, that‟s fine. You want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home if you want to.‟ „Oh, could I?‟ she asked. Looking at me, she said, „I just live down the street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake home, okay? I‟ll be right back, honest.‟ She got off her stool, she picked up that cake, and she carried it out of the diner like it was the Holy Grail. She walked slowly toward the door, and we all just stood there, speechless. When the door closed behind her, there was stunned silence in the place.
e. Not knowing what else to do, I broke the silence by saying, „What do you say we pray together?‟ Looking back on it now, it seems more than a little strange that a sociologist from eastern PA would be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning. But I prayed. I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would be changed, and that God would be good to her. And when I finished, Harry leaned over, and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said, „Hey, you never told me you were a preacher! What kind of preacher are you anyway? What church do you belong to?‟ In one of those moments when just the right words come, I answered him quietly, „I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.‟
f. Harry thought for a minute, and then almost sneered as he answered, „No you don‟t! There is no church like that. In fact,‟ he concluded, „if there was, I‟d join it.‟
9. What kind of party are we going to have for people who are outside and broken? Will you see past their labels? Past their income level, past their education, past their moral failure, past their spiritual poverty, past their pain? Will you love them past their labels? IF WE/YOU will, everyone would want to come to our church!
