How Much Is God Worth
4/13/97 Proverbs 3:1-15 1 Timothy 6:6-21 Text Luke 7:36
Some things hold their value no matter where you go or when you go. If you took a time travel machine and had some diamonds, you could be sure you had something of great value because of its makeup. Other things hold value only because we give value to it from things inside of us.
The difference between a pair of $25 Spaulding shoes and $150 pair Nike shoes is not found in the value of the materials, but in the different status symbol we get to wear. It is as though our importance is defined by the kind of shoe we are willing to wear in public. Yet in 20 years, we will look back and laugh at our addiction to certain labels, and brands, because they will have been forgotten and something new will be on the horizon.
Is God valued like a diamond in our lives? Precious regardless of the times and circumstances we are going through. Or is God more like a brand name label? As long as He makes me feel good, or is popular with the group I’m with, then He’s all right.
It is amazing at how we talk about the importance of God in our lives, and yet we value Him so cheaply. The true value of how much we love God, can be seen in the way we handle our possessions with Him. Jesus said, "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." What would you think of a man, who drove around in a Lexus, had a Rolex watch on his arm, and wore nothing but the best of suits. He fell in love with a young lady, and offered to marry her. He presented her with the a beautiful zirconium ring that looked like a diamond but wasn’t. When confronted about the cheapness of the ring, he replied, "Well it’s the thought that counts." Why do we often give God the thought and not the real thing? Could it be we don’t think God is worth all that much in relation to the other things in our lives.
I want you to meet Tabitha. Tabitha grew up thinking she was in charge of her life. She could do what she wanted to do as long as she didn’t hurt anybody. Tabitha wanted money, she wanted love and she wanted acceptance. I don’t know if she was blessed or cursed with good looks but the older she got, the more attractive she became. Tabitha didn’t like the rules at home, so she moved out. She didn’t have much of an education and quickly found out that job opportunities were limited.
Even though she didn’t think she would, Tabitha found herself one night selling herself as a prostitute. The money was quick and easy. She told herself nobody got hurt. So she did it again and again and again. Each time her own self esteem dropped lower and lower and lower. She had money, she had men, but she didn’t have the love and acceptance she wanted.
As Tabitha’s reputation spread around town, life was even less enjoyable for her. The women saw her and her beauty as a threat to their marriages. The men were only interested in sex. The money in the bank was just money. Tabitha wanted a way out of this mess in her life, but she didn’t know how to end it. In her own eyes, she was the worst of sinners. She didn’t go to the temple. How could God even care about someone like her.
Simon on the other hand seemed to have everything going for him. He was a good boy growing up. Was in church practically all his life. He rarely got in trouble in school. His parents could boast, that Simon barely gave them a day of trouble growing up. Simon felt real good about himself. Now he knew he wasn’t perfect, but he thought of himself as a really good person.
He obeyed his parents for the most part. He was hard worker. He loved God and felt a call to go in the ministry. He wanted to be a religious teacher of the highest degree. He enrolled in school and studied to become a Pharisee. Simon was serious in his studies and came out a fine graduate. He was very well respected within his community and others looked up to him.
One day Simon heard about the teachings of Jesus and was sort of impressed by them. He even went to listen to Jesus preach. He wasn’t quite sure if Jesus was really a prophet or perhaps the Messiah, but he wanted to find out for himself. He figured if he could have Jesus to himself for a while, he could get a better feel on whether or not Jesus was for real. So he went up and asked Jesus, if he would consider coming to his house the next day for dinner say around 5.
Jesus said, "Okay Simon I’ll be there." I believe there was a woman there who also wanted to say something to Jesus, but she couldn’t get the words to come out of her mouth. She had been touched by Jesus sermon. But she heard Jesus was going to be at Simon the Prarisee’s house for dinner tomorrow at 5.
Simon set up dinner at his home in the customary way. One did not hold a banquet in honor of another in a closed room. In that day when hospitality was viewed as a great virtue, the host often set tables in an open area and left the gate open, so that others might see how generously he had provided for his guests.
Some passers by might even stand in the courtyard, admiring the food provided. When people said, "Ooh look at that chicken and them sweet potatoes, and look at the size of that turkey," these statements would honor rather than embarrass the host. So there would be a number of people around watching the meal who had not been invited.
While Simon was busy making sure everything was getting ready for the meal, something else was going on in another section of town. Tabitha, for the first time in her life had hope for her future. She had heard Jesus preach. "She couldn’t get his words out of her ears. She kept hearing Jesus’ invitation, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
She was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the love of Jesus that she went to the bank and withdrew all her money. She went to the store and brought the most expensive perfume she could find. She was determined to say thank you to God with all that she could, because she knew her life was never going to be the same again.
Jesus showed up along with other guests at the appointed hour. The people were standing around admiring the food and the table setting. Keep in mind, the tables would often be very low, and people would sort of lay down and eat with their feet stretched away from the table. Well everybody is having a nice time. As they were eating, a beautiful woman comes through the gate, and some of the people are shocked." Hey look who’s here. It’s Tabitha" . Some snickering goes on. Somebody says " Wait till old Simon sees her. There’s going to be trouble for sure."
Tabitha ignores their comments. God is worth more to her than the insults and put downs of others. She goes straight over to Jesus, standing behind him at his feet. She bows down and sets down that expensive jar of perfume. Tears stream down her face. The drops fall on Jesus’ feet. She takes her beautiful hair and uses it as a rag to wipe the dust and dirt off Jesus’ feet.
She cries even more because there is still some dirt spots, and then she again uses her beautiful hair, as though it were a rag and wipes them clean. To show how clean she thinks they are, she kisses his feet. She then takes the perfume which probably represents all the money she had in the bank, and pours it on Jesus’ feet.
Why did she do it? Because that’s how much Jesus was worth to her. So what if others thought her to be a fool. So what if others could only see her past. So what if others felt she had no right to be there? So what if others would not have used up their life savings just to wash the feet of Jesus? So what if her hair was now messed up and had dirt in it.
These things did not matter because she had found forgiveness with God and given a new lease on life. The fragrance of that perfume filled the whole house. When she sought to bless Jesus, she blessed everybody in that place who had never smelled top quality of the line perfume.
Simon didn’t know if he should be angry that this woman had crashed his party or not. He knew exactly what her reputation was. But on the other hand, she just might be the test he had been looking for to expose who Jesus truly was. He said in Luke 7:39 "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."
Now Simon’s reasoning is good. Anybody who is in touch with God, ought to know when they’re in the presence of a sinner. Anyone who claims to be God, most certainly should know the inner makings of a person in his presence. Isn’t it amazing that we feel the sins of others bother God a lot more than our own sins do. We will tell God in a minute, Lord you need to do something with so and so because their behavior is so bad, it’s driving me crazy. It’d didn’t occur to Simon that if Jesus were the Son of God, he could read Simon’s inner thoughts and life just as well as he could Tabitha’s.
We often fail to see in ourselves the same evil we see in others. A man will talk about the violence in the streets, and the senseless gang killings, and even try to counsel violent people to change their ways. Yet that same man will go home and physically beat and abuse his wife. Yet he will tell God, how something needs to be done about the violence in the streets. He will not seek help from God or from others about his own abuse. How much is God worth to you if you’re the abuser? Is he worth enough to change?
We get upset that others have grudges against us on the job, and the boss won’t give us a raise because of some mistake we made last year. We will pray God do something in my boss’s life. Yet we have no problem with the fact, we’re not going to speak to so and so, we’re not going to give them the time of day all because of the way they hurt us five years ago. Yet we can’t understand why God lets our boss continue to treat us so badly. How much is God worth to you if you’re unwilling to forgive. Is He worth enough to let it go?
Simon thought Jesus wasn’t worth much because Jesus didn’t know Tabitha was a prostitute. My friends, just because God does not handle a situation in the way we think He should, does not mean God is not aware of what’s going on. Simon thought Jesus should have stood up and said, "You no good prostitute, how dare you come in and here and defile this gathering." If Jesus had of done that, he could have been in well with the Pharisees. But Jesus wasn’t into impressing people, he was more interested in bringing people back into fellowship with His Heavenly Father.
When Jesus saw Tabitha, he saw a person not an object or occupation. He viewed her with love and compassion, not scorn and condemnation. He saw in her touching him, a chance for his power to come into her life. Her actions demonstrated a change in her life that made her past no longer relevant and her future a bright one.
Simon didn’t know it, but Jesus was reading his mind like a book. God knows what we’re thinking all the time. Nothing we do is hid in a corner as far as God is concerned. We may think we have covered our tracks well, but God has a way of bringing out the truth when we least expect it. Satan deceives us into thinking no one will ever know what our secret life is like when no one is around to see. Friends there is no secret in our heart or mind that God doesn’t know about.
What we see is not necessarily what is really in front of us. Simon saw a prostitute trying to impress others. Jesus saw a woman willing to give her all for God. Simon saw himself being much holier than this woman could ever hope to be. Jesus saw a woman in right standing with God. Like Simon, one of the biggest mistake we all make, is to think that we are a lot better than we really are in whatever roles we find ourselves. I’m not nearly as good a husband, father, pastor, or teacher as I would like to believe I am.
You can tell the person next to you, you’re not all that either. Some of us think at times we’re spiritually far ahead of others. Just cut it out. We all got areas where God needs to do some major reconstruction. If we don’t think so, its simply because we have a very low opinion of what it is to be obedient to God in all areas of our lives.
Sometimes, people who consider themselves as good people, are the least effective in the kingdom of God. God often isn’t worth too much to them. After all they were pretty good to begin with. Jesus didn’t have to pay too much for them to be saved, so why would they owe him as much as others.
Jesus broke the ice at the dinner with a question, as he saw Simon’s temperature and disappointment level rising. He said Simon I have something to tell you. Simon, said okay I’m listening. Jesus said, "There were two men who owed money lender some money. One man owed him about $50,000 dollars and other owed him $5,000. Well, when it came time for the money to be repaid, neither of them had the money to pay back the debt. So the man canceled both of their debts. Now which of the two men will love him more. Simon said, "that’s easy, the one who had the $50,000 canceled is going to appreciate him more.
Now Jesus was laying down a spiritual principle here. First of all, he’s showing that spiritually we all have a debt to pay. Second, it doesn’t matter how big or how small we think the debt is, none of us can pay it. Third, there is a direct correlation between what we think we have been forgiven of, and how much we love the one who has forgiven us. A lazy, inactive, and poorly committed Christian is one who places little value on what it cost God to remove his or her sins. What God has done just isn’t worth very much to them. Hence, the lack of the willingness to commit what we own to God.
Jesus then hits Simon who considers himself a good man with a whopper. Jesus said, "Check this out. Take this woman here for instance. Now I was invited by you to come into your house. You didn’t give me any water for my feet, but she made up for it by wetting my feet with her tears and even wiping them with her hair.
Another thing, you didn’t give the customary kiss given to a guest, but that’s all right, this woman has been kissing my feet constantly. You didn’t give me the honor of putting oil on my head for whatever reason, but she has poured very expensive perfume on my feet.
Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he has been forgiven little, loves little." How did Jesus know she loved much. Because her actions showed it. She who once had sold herself for money, was now eager to give away all that she had in gratitude to the Savior.
Jesus didn’t say, "Oh I can see it was in her heart to do these things. He said she did them. We are never rewarded for what’s in our hearts to do unless we go ahead and take the steps necessary to do it. When God is not worth much to us, we do a lot of things in our hearts, while we use our money, talents, emotions and resources to do what we want to do.
There was not a whole lot Simon could say. He had not done those things for Jesus, because he still considered Jesus beneath him socially and spiritually. He wanted to put Jesus to the test first. Simon also thought that simply because he had loved God for a long time, it meant that he loved God a great deal. Just because we’ve been going to church for a long time, does not mean we love God dearly. Jesus is saying the length of time has little to do with the depth of the love. Our love for God grows only as we understand just how pitiful we truly are in God’s sight, yet God valued us enough to die for us and to give us another chance in life. The more highly we think of ourselves, the less likely we are to truly be in love with Jesus Christ. It was easy for Simon to think "She is a sinner." He didn’t find it easy to declare, "I am a sinner."
Simon wanted proof that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus gave it to him when he told the woman, "your sins are forgiven." Those words caused some people at the party to get ups. The other guests at the party, said a minute " who is this who even forgives sins? They knew that God and God alone had authority to erase the slate of sins. Jesus let them know, that he was more than a prophet. He was God . He looked at the woman and said, "your faith has saved you; go in peace." It wasn’t the things she did that saved her, but rather her faith in Jesus Christ being the Son of God which changed her life and her priorities.
Jesus didn’t mean much to some at the party. He meant a little to others. He meant a great deal to at least one. What would you be willing to give for Jesus today. Just how much is God worth to you? Is he worth a tithe or only half a tithe. Is he worth living holy through the week, or just on Sundays. Is he worth giving up all sin, are all sins but these three. Is he worth the number one spot in your life, or is he barely in the top 10.
Recognize this. There’s no way any of us could pay back the debt we owe, but we can all show how grateful we are for what God has done for us. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
