Overcoming Mistakes: Regrets From The Past
7/14/2016 Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 Luke 7:36-50
We are in part 3 of our series of Overcoming Mistakes. Pastor Kellie showed us the mistakes we can make when we let our desires get our control. Last week Pastor Toby showed us the mistakes we can make when we let self pity take control of our lives.
This week we are going to look at how Regrets From the Past can come back to haunt us later in life. Today is valentine’s day. How many of you who have been old enough to fall in love, have at least one regret simply because you fell in love. Here’s some regrets that some of us have had over the years. (Show The Video).
As you can see, regrets come in all forms, shapes, sizes and to all ages. The real question in life is not whether or not we will have regrets, because we are all going to have them, the issue is what are we going to do with those regrets.
Will we use them to change our course of action for the future, will we use them to feel sorry for ourselves, or will we take a lesson from them to grow up. Some regrets will come from making the right decision, but you will still end up hurting someone in the process and you will regret their hurt..
The story is told of a A tourist was visiting a famous landmark on the ocean and he’d walked out on a pier to see the ocean better. But as he looked over the edge of the pier he was disturbed by how deep the water seemed to be.
As he was thinking about how deep the water must be at this point, he noticed an old man fishing off the pier, and he went over to him and asked: "If I were to fall into this water, would I drown?"
The old man smiled and said "Nah. Falling into the water isn't what drowns people. It's staying UNDER the water that drowns them.”
Doing things that cause regrets are not enough to kill you, its when those regrets paralyze you from moving closer to God that they are able to take you out.
There are some things that we can do for just a split second, that leaves us with the regret for a lifetime. I was a sprinter in high school and college and a pretty good one. I can recall The last 100 meter dash I was to run in at the end of my college career. There were six of us in the finals. All of us would get either medal or a ribbon. It was guaranteed.
I can still hear the guy saying, taking your mark, get set and everybody up. He came over to me and said I was disqualified because I leaned a little after he said, get set. That was the first time in all my years to be disqualified in a race.
I learned that even when you think something is guaranteed, you still may not get it. I also learned the fastest and the best, may not necessarily be the one or the team that won.
There are some regrets that come into our lives because of a series of choices that we make that take us down a path we had not intended to go. There was a woman in the bible who no doubt was smart, beautiful and business minded. Not a whole lot of business opportunities was available to this woman.
She must have been able to hang out with some of the rich and famous men, because she became involved in prostitution. She was more of your high end escort type of prostitute, because she made a considerable amount of money. She invested that money in rich perfume and beautiful alabaster bottles.
Her lifestyle didn’t do all for her that she had hoped it would. No doubt she regretted her family’s disappointment over the life she had chosen. She regretted the heartache she had brought into the marriages of the married clients that she had.
She realized that the life she had chosen was only taking her down further and further into misery and depression. Life just wasn’t worth it much anymore. But what could she do. She certainly could not go down to the temple and start over with God. Her reputation would keep her out before she got to even talk to a priest.
Let me ask you something “Can You Fall So Far Down You Can’t Get Up?” In other words: “Can you mess up your life so badly that you can’t undo the damage?”
And the answer from Scripture is… YES. You can mess things up so badly you can’t undo the damage.
(pause)
And the answer from Scripture is… NO. You can’t mess things up so badly you can’t undo the damage.
Sound confusing?
The Bible teaches us that you CAN drown in your sin. But it isn't the falling into sin that will drown you… it’s the staying under that will do that!
Some how this woman heard about a man name Jesus. She heard that some were saying that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God with an ability to forgive sins. She heard that this man had a heart of compassion and would accept anyone who came to Him with a broken heart. She heard that people who came to him, would often leave with no regrets and that He gave fresh starts in life. If only she could find and get to Jesus.
One day she overheard a conversation about a man by the name of Simon who was a Pharisee. Simon was considered a righteous and somewhat of a holy man by some. He obviously had some wealth. It appeared that Simon had invited Jesus over to his house for dinner at 6pm and that many people would be gathering around to see what exactly was going to take place.
Back then, when a person of means invited someone over to dinner it was both a private and a public event. The guest would be reclining on couches at a tables as they were being served, and people would sit and stand around them to hear what was being said. This was the biggest event happening in the city that evening.
Simon the well known and highly educated Pharisee, would engage Jesus, the uneducated street preacher in a theological discussion of some sort. It appears that Simon was curious about this fellow called Jesus, and he wanted to put Jesus to the tes,t to find out if Jesus was for real or not. If Jesus did not meet Simon’s personal test, Simon could expose Jesus as a fraud.
Now from the moment Jesus arrived, Simon attempted to put Jesus in check by letting Jesus know that he, Simon was not overly impressed with Jesus’ reputation among the common people. Jesus was going to have to prove that he was on Simon’s level.
Simon had invited Jesus to his house, so there were a few social customs that should have been done out of respect. But Simon was trying to throw Jesus off balance and not make him feel fully welcomed. Maybe Jesus would explode in anger and prove himself an unworthy guest.
The first thing Simon should have done was to have offered to have Jesus’ feet washed by one of his servants. The second thing he should have done was to offer him a kiss of greeting, and the third thing he should have done was to have anointed Jesus’ head with some oil. All the people who arrived at the house knew that Simon should have done these things.
Now all the eyes are on Jesus. Will he rebuke Simon for this oversight? Will he feel insulted and get up and leave? Would he lay a good Scripture on Him? Jesus overlooks the insult because love covers a multitude of sins. How many of us are carrying regrets, because we reacted out of anger.
How dare you treat me like this? I refuse to be insulted by you? Jesus understood that to reach people, you have to love them right where they are, and that God will open a door when its needed. We never know when God has us in a situation not necessarily for ourselves, but for someone else who is either on or coming on the scene.
The meal begins, and of all the people to appear. Among them was that woman who was known as a notorious sinner.
In sharp contrast to Simon, this woman enters the room because she wants to find Jesus. She’s thining, “Is what I heard true, is Jesus truly a friend of sinner?. Is he the Son of God who can be worshipped and adored?
Simon nearly had a heart attack when this woman of all women, entered his house. Simon recognized her immediately, and he knew what her reputation was. On the one hand he would be justified in having her thrown out of his house, but on the other hand, she might be just what he needed to reveal Jesus as a fraud
Her goal is to find Jesus and when her eyes finally rest on Him she sees nobody else. It suddenly doesn’t matter what these respectable people think about her. Some of them may have even been former clients. All that she sees is Jesus.
According to verse thirty-eight, “ the woman went and stood at His feet behind Him weeping.. Jesus feet are hanging off the end of the couch as the dinner continues. He says nothing to the woman
She hadn’t expected to burst into tears, but it happened as the tears ran down her face they dropped on Jesus’s dusty feet. The trail of tears is so strong, they leave little lines on Jesus’ feet.
She grabs her hair to spread the tears more evenly across his feet to remove the dust from them. She had not expected to have to wash Jesus’s feet, surely Simon would have done that as the host. The more she wipes, the more she cries.
Although Jesus has said nothing, she feels this overwhelming sense of love and acceptance flowing from his feet, and she begins to kiss them, again and again. Nobody has done anything like this to Jesus in public before. All the regrets that she has endured are beginning to be lifted off her shoulder. Each kiss, each tear, was removing a weight from her mind.
For those who were there who could not see her, they knew something was happening when the smell of the perfume in the alabaster bottle filled the air. This very expensive perfume was actually being poured on the feet of Jesus. Everybody is looking at Jesus to see what is he going to do. It is obvious that this woman is bordering on worshipping Jesus, but God alone was to be worshipped.
This woman had gone all out in not only attending the party, put she has taken center stage by her actions. She was taking a risk coming to that party, but she believed that Jesus could put her regrets behind her and start her off in a new direction.
My friends when we see Jesus as he is, we come to understand the reality of his promise in which he said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” But you have to be willing to take a risk to discover the life that God has for you.
Simon felt this woman had provided him with the proof he needed to expose Jesus as a fraud. We see in “Luke 7:39 (TNIV) 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.”
Simon was under the impression that he knew more about how a prophet should act, than Jesus the ultimate Prophet knew how to act.
Simon came up with a three- fold line of reasoning. If Jesus was a prophet, he should be able to see the character of a person on the inside. If Jesus knew this woman was the kind of sinner that she was, Jesus wouldn’t allow her to be touching and kissing on him like this. If Jesus was a true teacher, he would rebuke her in the open and demand that she leave the immoral lifestyle she had been living.
Simon didn’t see a woman who may have been full of regrets and wanted to start over. All he wanted to see was her past. Maybe he had known some of the men who had been destroyed by being one of her clients. He didn’t even wish for the possibility that she was there for repentance. He wanted her to get what she deserved.
But my friends, when a person comes to Jesus, they’re not the same person that they were yesterday, nor the day before. Coming to Jesus means that you repent. Repent means to turn and go off in another direction. Sometimes it’s the religious people, that put up the biggest barriers to others finding God.
You may be like Simon, setting up Jesus for a test, and then because Jesus did not do what you wanted him to do, you think you can write him off as a failure. Jesus knew about your test, before it even came to mind. Jesus’s lack of spiritual discernment with this woman was all the proof Simon needed to show Jesus as a fraud.
Simon had no regrets over inviting Jesus to his house, and certainly no regrets over this woman crashing his party. Simon was ready to dismiss the dinner party and go home. There would be no need for any kind of theological discussion or debate to take place.
Not only was Simon considering himself far above this woman. He even considered himself above Jesus when it came to walk close to God. All the time he was sizing up Jesus and the woman, it never occurred to Simon that someone was sizing up his sizing up.
Just before he dismisses everyone to go home Jesus interrupts and says “Simon I have something to tell you.”
Simon is thinking this is even better than he thought. Jesus is going to come out and confess that he was wrong to allow this woman to worship him. So out of courtesy, Simon says, “Tell me teacher.”
Jesus says, Two guys were absolutely broke. One owed the man $5000 dollars and the other one owed the same man $500,000. Both could be thrown into jail until the debt was paid. Neither had any hope of paying off the debt. The man decided to be gracious and merciful and so he cancels the debt of both of them. Which of the two guys will love the guy cancelling the debt the most?
Simon is no doubt thinking, “what kind of dumb question is this, even a kid knows the answer to that. Simon says, “well I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled.”
Can you imagine how he must have felt when Jesus said, “You have judged correctly.” That was like asking Lebron James, how many points do you get for a foul shout, 1 or 2. He says 1 point. You say way to go Lebron. You’re absolutely right.
So now Simon knows that Jesus is up to something. He’s beginning to possibly regret inviting Jesus over. Certainly the one that was forgiven 100 times as much would have the greater gratitude. The higher the debt the more the forgiveness cost the creditor.
Some people that we would not touch with a ten foot pole, if they truly met Christ, would put us to shame in their displays of love and devotion to Jesus. Such people love much because they have been forgiven much.
Forgiveness for our regrets is never free. It cost the guy to forgive the debt. Forgiveness always cost something. When God said, “I will forgive you.” It cost the life of his only son Jesus on the cross of Calvary. The sin debt had to be paid. Jesus paid the debt so that you would not have to.
The conclusion is clear Simon as a “high class” sinner had the same problem as the “low class” prostitute; it is only a matter of degrees. The woman owed the greater debt but they both owed a debt that they could not pay. Sometimes it is harder for those who have been saved young in life, who have grown up in the church, and saved from a life of prolific sin to realize the magnitude of what Christ has done for us.
Jesus begins to face the woman and give her his attention as he keeps on talking to Simon.
In verse forty-four we are told, “Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon.” All through the meal, Jesus’ back was to the woman, who was anointing and kissing his feet. He was at the same time, facing his host, Simon. Now, that Simon’s rejection of Jesus has been revealed, in contrast to the repentance and worship of the woman, Jesus now turns his back on his host and faces the woman even though he is still addressing Simon.
Simon had turned his back on this woman because of who she was and now Jesus uses her as an example to show Simon who he really was. Jesus is by his very body language showing his acceptance of this woman.
Jesus says to Simon, Luke 7:44-47 (TNIV) , “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—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Jesus tells Simon that this woman has done for Jesus what he had refused to do. He had purposefully omitted the common courtesies accorded to any honored guest. Jesus chose to overlook Simon’s intended insult because his purpose for being there was not to judge manners but to forgive sin.
What the woman does for Jesus though was not mere social niceties; they were acts of repentance and worship. She came to Jesus in faith expecting him to forgive her and she was not disappointed. As she wept in repentance, I believe she could sense the Lord’s forgiveness.
The greater her relief from sin, the more abundantly and extravagant her expression of adoration and worship became. We are never more happy than when we feel forgiven, free of debt, free of guilt, free of shame.
Those Who Come To Jesus In Repentance And Faith Will Be Forgiven (vv. 47-50) Jesus tells Simon in verse forty-seven, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."
The Jerusalem Bible brings out the meaning of Jesus’ words, “For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven, or she would not have shown such great love.”
Then Jesus in verse forty-eight spoke the words that she had been searching for, waiting to hear, all of her life; "Your sins are forgiven," in so doing he openly declared that all of her past sins were forgiven.
The truly exciting part is that what was true then is still true today. Jesus forgives all those who come to him in faith and repentance. You can overcome the mistakes of past regrets. By putting your faith and confidence in Jesus Christ, you discover that he knows you, far better than you know yourself. Past regrets do not have to keep holding you back.
God’s mercy lasts forever and ever and does not stop flowing. As often as you are willing to surrender yourself and humbly confess your sins and asks for forgiveness, God promises that He will forgive you. The best regrets are the ones that you never choose to make. Give your life to Christ today, and allow Him to help you steer past the decisions that you will reget.
Special Thanks to John Hamby for his sermon A Sacrificial Faith and To Dean Morgan for his message Graduation 2000: Regrets and Decsions.
