string(7) "m-66998" Burnt Hickory Baptist Church

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Sep 18, 2022

Moved by Grace

Moved by Grace

Passage: Luke 7:36-50

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Wisdom Of The Master

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: love, worship, faith, jesus, sunday, god, sermon, bible, christ, gospel, hope, grace, forgiveness, holy spirit, acceptance, believe, relationships, hurt, jesus christ, the bible, guilt, lord, happiness, forgiven, grateful, blessing, bible study, goodness of god, who is god, book of luke, live music, god’s love, amazing love, livestream, burnt hickory baptist church, how he loves, burnt hickory worship, moved by grace, radical acceptance

We continue on in the book of Luke as we discover more wisdom from the master in scripture. This week, we learn that our obedience is a response, that we keep God’s statutes and laws as a response of gratefulness to the grace that God has given us. We also see some indicators of grace in the lives of believers are uncontrollable passion for Jesus, radical acceptance of others, and tremendous generosity. As we look at the story of the sinful woman saved, the question is – when was the last time you wept over your grace covered sin and salvation? Great love flows from great forgiveness and our lives should reflect the great grace of the Father. What’s hindering you from responding with gratefulness to the grace that God has given us? What kind of grip does grace have on your life? As always, we’d love to pray with you and answer any questions you’ve got. Reach out today and take the next step – burnthickory.com/next

Well good morning church and a big ole sorry to the production peoples for me missing the welcome this morning. Oh, I'm sorry about that I was supposed to be here, and I wasn't, so I'm just confessing. Sorry about that, man. We're so glad you are here this morning. Just as you saw in that bumper, we started a new series last week called Wisdom from the Master. Wisdom from the Master, where we just simply said that over these next months, we're going to be walking through some of the teachings of Jesus throughout the Book of Luke, throughout the Book of Luke. And we're not going to look at all of them, but we're going to pick some that are incredibly relevant, that we just really feel like the spirit is pushing us to, and we're just going to read them together, we're going to study them together and then just ask God to move in our hearts as we listen to the master teacher, show us what it looks like to walk out our faith. Last week we talked a lot about our foundation, and we compared and contrasted the self-perceived religious person's life and the true follower of Jesus. And we said, at the end of the day, what distinguishes both of these through the house built on the rock and house built on the sand was not what they looked like on the outside, but what they built their lives on. And we said when we walked out of here last week, that building our lives around the person of Jesus is, quite frankly, the only thing that lasts, the only thing that can make a difference. And there was a warning in that last week that if we build ourselves on anything, we'll lose it in the storm. But there was also a promise in that no matter what hits us, we might lose a little piece of siding, maybe a staircase. But Christ will come through for us. Well, this week we're going to continue in the series and we're going to be in Luke Chapter seven today, Luke Chapter seven today. And we're going to look at the incredibly relevant topic today of the grace of God. Or we could just say the grace from God or the grace of God from us.

You see, there's kind of three different spins on this idea of grace. There is the grace of God pours into us. There's the grace that we receive from the Father. But then there's also this responsibility as a believer in Jesus to live a lifestyle that shows the grace, love and mercy of Christ. I read a story this week that just kind of burned this whole idea into my heart. And it was a story from a youth pastor in South Carolina. He was a young guy. He was at a small church, and he was telling the story of an event that changed his ministry trajectory. You see, he was at a church that couldn't pay him enough to be a full-time staff person. So, he got a job at a gym right down the road from the church as kind of a side job. Well, he said that this gym was a little bit slow. The owner was kind of struggling and having enough business to keep it open. So, he looked around him and figured out the best thing that he could do. And I'm not saying this is a great thing to do, but the best thing that he could do was to go to the gentlemen's club that was across the street from the gym and offer a free membership to all the ladies that worked there. He said, If we can get the ladies here, we'll get the men here, right? That's what he said in his mind. Well, this Christian pastor that was working at this gym would use the time that he was there, as it was slow to write his messages, to write his lessons, develop his talks while he worked the smoothie station. Most of the time, he said. He said not only did the plan work from the business owner, but the gym made a major shift in how many people were there. And he said and as a result of that, God placed a whole lot of new people in front of him that he saw as his mission field. He said one afternoon, God really pressed it into his heart that he needed to have a better mindset of accepting, loving and pointing the people that were coming these ladies into the gym towards who Christ was.

So, he started striking up conversations at the smoothie bar, started sharing his faith with these ladies, started building a relationship. And he said that the more he built a relationship with these ladies, the more he saw that they were real people. Most of them they were not only real people, they were real people that were hurting. He said there was a couple of similarities in their lives that most of them, none of them wanted the job that they were in. None of them wanted to even tell their kids what mom did to make a living. Most of them got that job to try to get themselves out of some financial situation. Most of them also, they couldn't do their job at this gentlemen's club without having some sort of substance in their body or some kind of alcohol that numbed their feelings. The pastor said one day God really broke his heart over one particular lady that was just really struggling. And he said he invited her to church, not thinking that she was going to go with him and his family. But she said, yes. So, she didn't have a vehicle. So, he said, well, meet me here at the gym and we'll ride together to church. You and my family will all go to church together, and we'll have a great day together. Well, that was the good news. The bad news was he didn't know what the church would say about it. Pulled into the parking lot, walked through the front doors of the church. And he said it was really obvious really quickly what this lady did for a living. It was really obvious really quickly that this church didn't really know what to do with this lady. It was really obvious, really quick that there was a lot of finger pointing and a lot of whispering and a lot of what is going on. He said he didn't think anything of it until after the service. He was walking out of the service and one of the deacons, the chairman of the deacon, looked at him and said, hey, could you come have a word with us just for a second in the pastor's office? He sent his wife and this lady to their vehicle together, and he walked into the pastor's office. And in the pastor's office that day, he said the deacon looked at him in the face and said, and I quote, The purpose of this church was to protect the members, especially the children, from people like that. The pastor didn't know what to do, he was young.

He broke down in that moment, got himself together, finally went back to his car. And when he got back to the car, the lady was she was upset, and she was crying because she knew exactly what the conversation was. She wasn't stupid. He tried to lie to her. Right, and tell her it was about something else, but she knew what it was. The pastor said when telling the story, listen to this line. He said, and I quote, How is it not heartbreaking that a woman like that feels most degraded when she walks into a church? She feels more love, more respect, more acceptance, dancing in front of drunken men on vacation than she does in a place that bears Jesus's name.

Friends, the Church of Jesus Christ has a grace problem. We have a grace problem. The Church of Jesus Christ. I'm not saying specifically this church, but the church as a whole throughout history has not been good stewards of the grace that God has given us. The Church has been more concerned with people's past. It's been more concerned with people dressing right and listening to the right music and looking right and making sure people speak right, or maybe even the right translation of the Bible. And we have missed the central message of the love, the grace and the acceptance of who Jesus is and what Jesus wants to do in people's lives. That's the message of today. Church, It is time for us to reach the broken, to reach the alienated, to reach those that are struggling. And I know that our job is not to hurt people more. People hurt bad enough on their own. Our job as recipients of the grace of Jesus is to cast that love into other people's lives so that they see the attraction of who Jesus is and they give their hearts to him. So, listen, if you're here and you've experienced that harshness, let me just say really quickly, I'm going to move on. Number one, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Number two, that is not Jesus's heart for you. That is not his heart for you. And number three, that is not this church. It is not this church, nor will it ever be this church. It seems when we look deeper into this idea of grace, that most Christians are lacking in one of the things that is supposed to characterize our experience of God more than just about anything else. And that is grace. Think about this. It's grace that saves us. It's grace that sustains us. It is grace that fuels us. It is grace that secures our faith. In fact, Paul says it like this in Ephesians 2:8-9. He says, for it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not from yourselves. It is a gift of God, not by work, so that no one can boast.

Listen to this. We are only given access to God through grace. That is it. It is grace. Grace. How does the old hymn say? God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace. Grace. God's grace. Grace is greater than all my sin. I love the story of C.S. Lewis. When he was walking down the hallway and all of his colleagues at Oxford, he was a professor there. Some of the brightest minds of his time were in a classroom, and they had looked. They had taken every chalkboard in the classroom. Students, you can ask your parents what those are. They take it every chalkboard in the classroom. And they had written down all of the similarities of every religion that's on the planet, all the major religions. These were the brightest minds of the day, and they were trying to see what was it in all of these that made them distinct? What was it that made them different? What was it that made them the same? And Lewis was walking by one day, and I can just picture it in my head. And they called him into the classroom knowing that he was a Christian and said, Lewis, what is it that you say as a Christian separates Christianity from everything that we have on this board? The story goes that he looked up at the board and I can just see him with a pipe because that's what he did. And he looked at the board and he said, That's easy. After a minute, a look in the board, he said, It's grace. It's grace that separates Christianity from every other world. You see, in every other religion on this planet you can count on this acceptance is given to you because you keep the rules, because you do what you're supposed to do.

But write this down, write this principle down. It's going to build for the rest of the morning. In Christianity, acceptance is given as a gift. It's a gift. And we keep God's statutes and laws as a response of the gratefulness to the grace the God has given us. That's the difference. Think of it like this in many ways, a real experience with the grace of God is the most transforming power on this planet and losing sight of the grit, of the gift of grace that God has given us. It is one of the most tragic moments of our entire life. So, here's the deal. If you feel like your passion for Jesus is lacking, if you feel like the passion is lacking in your life for Jesus, here's what that really means. That means you have a grace problem. If you feel like your passion for others is lacking, that means you have a grace problem. If you feel like your connection to the church, connection to believers and Jesus is lacking, that means you have a grace problem. Your grace meter is low, and I need you to ask yourself, are you seeing God's grace in your life? That's the message we're going to look at from Jesus this morning. That's the message, because I think if we can know what we've been forgiven of, it will radically change how we see other people and point them to the love of the Savior Jesus.

Luke Chapter seven is where we're going to hang out today and what we're going to do is just walk through the passage. Most of today, I'm just going to tell you. So those of you that are watching your clocks and when are we going to get this note? It's going to be late. All right. Well, we're going to do is walk through the passage and then on the end really quickly today. All right. We're going to answer the questions before they come. All right? I see you looking at your watches. Here it is. I'm going to give you really quick three really quick things that are indicators that grace is working in our lives. So, I want to show you Grace and then I want to show you what it looks like when Grace flows from our lives. Kind of the anti-story from what I told at the beginning of the story. Luke Chapter seven is an incredible passage. Jesus is in the North, he's in Galilee, he's preaching in all of the synagogues. He's kind of on this little preaching tour. And all of a sudden, chances are he was he was probably invited over to this guy's house for some kind of meal, some kind of banquet. We don't get a lot of details in the story about the specifics of what the banquet was for. It's just what they did in their culture. The story that we're looking at in Luke seven has a similar story late in Matthew, Mark and John with Mary anointing Jesus's feet. But it's not the same story. It’s a different story. Mary is introduced in a couple chapters here. Luke knew her name. He would have used it. A different region. Doesn't matter. It's just a different story. And he's invited into this Pharisees house. You say, Well, that was nice of the Pharisee. No, it wasn't. It wasn't to be nice to Jesus. They were building a blasphemy case against Jesus. They were building this this case that would hold up to when they took Jesus before the High Priest. They could crucify him, which ultimately, they did. They invited him into the house to try to trick him, to trap him, to get evidence that he was calling himself God. News flash he was. And to really drive this point home, they knew that Jesus spent time with outcasts, and they already hated Jesus.

At this point in the book of Luke. They hated him already. They hated his message. But watch what happens in Luke. 7:36 one of the best displays of grace in the whole Bible. Luke 7:36 says this. When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with them, he went to the Pharisees house and reclined at the table. Now, two things really quick. Just want to point out. First is this would have been a very long meal. This is not a happy meal place, right? This would have been hours of them spending time around this table. They would have reclined at the table on an elbow, heads toward the table, feet back on some pillows, on a low table. They would have spent hours having conversations about life and philosophy and religion is what they did. It was a cultural thing. And in this moment, the cool part about it is the guests would have been around the table, they would have been candle lit, but the courtyard would have been open to where anybody walking by that knew this was happening. They had the freedom to come into these kinds of events. It's kind of a quasi-way of teaching the Pharisees taught people because of these conversations. So, the street people could come in, the hungry people could come in. Actually, Josephus talks about the poor, people would get news of these things happening and they would visit just to get the scraps of the banquet. Anybody could be there in this moment, and you could almost slide in unnoticed. The second thing about this first one is that this is what Jesus did often. If you read Jesus's life, especially through Luke, he's always eating. He's my man, right? He is always having a meal somewhere. He was a good Baptist, right? He was always sharing fellowship over a table. The problem with most of the time it was with rough people. I mean, it was rough people. It was with self-righteous religious people. It was with sinners. Those were sick people. Those were that downcast and outcast. And the reason I point that out is because most Christians that I meet only want to be around people that have their lives all together.

That's not what Jesus did. In fact, it seems like Jesus sought out the people who did not have their lives together because He wanted to reach them. Verse 37 says this. A woman in that town who had lived a sinful life. Now that's Bible code with she's a prostitute. All right, I'll just say it. There it is. Everybody knows it. She knew it. Everybody knew it. They knew what she did. Jesus knew what she did. In many ways, she was a professional adulterous. Immoral and impure living, a flagrant, sinful life. This is the lady that we're talking about here. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life, learned that Jesus was eating at a Pharisee's house. So, what did she do? She made a plan and watch this. So, she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. Now, this is expensive stuff. Don't think about that little travel when you get when you buy the real one, think about like this is a year's worth of salary is what this would have been. And a similar story with Mary. The disciples even get mad that Mary does this because it could have taken care of the poor for the whole community for a while. Verse 38. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. And then she wiped them with her hair. She kissed them and she poured perfume on them. Now it's important to get into her state of mind right here. All right? It's important to kind of feel what she's feeling. She is weeping.

She was flooded with the reality of who she is and what kind of woman that she had become. And you got to think about it. She's not there because she got caught in this. Everybody knew what she did. She's there because Jesus had already moved in her heart. He had already transformed her. She was overwhelmed. She was broken. She was at the feet of Jesus. She was doing the only thing she knew what to do. And she came to do it. And she looked down at that moment of how she was going to anoint Jesus. And she realized that the guests, especially Jesus, we don't know about the others, that the master of ceremonies, if you were the host of the party, didn't give a servant to wash Jesus's feet, which was a no no. So, what did she do in her broken state as she swooped down to worship him? She literally rained on Jesus. This is what the Greek. It is an overflowing or a raining of tears onto Jesus's feet, to the point to where then she realized, Well, I don't have a towel. What am I going to do? She takes off her veil and she takes her hair from behind her and begins to wash Jesus's feet with it.

Now, besides from that, just being a little bit gross, right. There's a problem with that because you didn't take your hair down in public, in the society. It was actually grounds for divorce. It was actually grounds to be brought up in charges. And it was a sign of intimacy. But the reality is she was coming before Jesus saying, hey, Jesus, I am yours and all of me is yours. Now, the Bible doesn't say it, but you know, at this point in the story that that everybody is shocked. I mean, everybody is embarrassed. Everybody is awkward. The party planner is beside themselves because everything has gone awry at this point. Right. This lady has snuck in. She's ruined this deal. Jesus is making a scene. It's all happening here. Everybody is embarrassed. Awkward. Except for who? Except for Jesus. Do you know why? Because Jesus knew this was the plan. Jesus knew this was going to happen. And Jesus knew that He was about to teach them the message of grace. Watch this. Verse 39. Watch what happens. Verse 39 says, When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus or him solve this, catch this next line, he said to himself, Now, you may want to circle that word himself. It's important. 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. And then watch this in verse 40. Jesus answered him, I have something to tell you. Now, that's one of the scariest verses in the Bible. Amen. Because sometimes we can control what comes out of here. But Jesus knows what's in here before it even comes out of here. I love the prophetic irony here of Simon thinking something in his mind. He's like, Gosh, this guy knew who this lady was. If he knew he would cast her out of here, he would get rid of her. He would never speak to her. He would throw her out of the party. If this guy was not a phony, if he was not a fake, if he was a real prophet, if he knew the voice of God, if he had insight, he would do something. If he was real. Simon is disgusted by the whole scene. He's so mad at this point. What the woman has done. He's mad at what Jesus is letting happen. He's mad at the fact that all these people around are following Jesus anyway. But then Jesus reads his mind. He reads his mind. Which is a much more powerful way to tell you're a real prophet, by the way. Right? Jesus reads his mind and shows his divinity.

Watch this in verse 40. Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to tell you. Tell me, teacher, he said. Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him 500 Denarii, that's like a year and a half working. The other 50. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both of them. Which, by the way, just as a little point of reference here, the moneylender in the story is Jesus. Do you know why? Because he is the forgive her of our debts. You do realize that debt is never just forgiven and goes away? Debt has to be transferred somewhere else. And that is exactly what Jesus does right here. Jesus is showing us in this little parable, in the whole story of what He does for us. What does he do? He consumes our debt on himself. The debt weighs onto him. And that is the debt that actually takes him to the cross. And that is what he forgives us up. He takes my debt. And your debt. The big debt, the little debt, the 500 debt, the 50 debt. That's the point of this whole story. That is what Jesus does. Verse 42, What's the question? So, he asks them which one of them will love him more? Verse 43 Simon replied, I suppose the bigger debt forgiven. Now scholars say that it is hard to see in English, but Simon's answer is cold. It is disrespectful and it's brash. He was a Pharisee. He thought this was under him to have to answer this. But then Jesus replies, You have judged correctly, Jesus said. And then we get a principle. I want you to write down this. We're going to see it in just a second. It's the here's the principle.

Great love flows from great forgiveness. Great love flows from great forgiveness about what does that mean? That means this when we remember what we have been forgiven of it changes us. When we remember what we have been washed of, it transforms us. When we remember that Christ took the wages of my sin upon himself. It changes us. We live different. There's a different level of respect. There's a deeper love for who God is. When Jesus rules in our heart, in the idea that I know the grace that was given to me, we understand grace. But catch this, we also give grace. We don't fully understand grace until we're able to give grace. It's the point of the story. Keep going, verse 44, then Jesus. Or He turned toward the woman and said, Simon, do you see this woman? Of course, he does. In his house. I came to 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 of entering this place, 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 as her great love has shown. It's an important line. She's been forgiven because this is what she's showing. But whoever says have been forgiven little loves little. Then Jesus said to her, Your sins are forgiven. The other guests began to say to themselves, Who is this? Who even forgives sins? Now, that last question right there is a question that every single person throughout all of eternity has to ask themselves Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus to you? Is Jesus just a prophet? Is he just a troublemaker like we're looking at in the story from some of them? Is he a great teacher or is Jesus just an example of a great human being? Or is Jesus God? Is he God? Now, he's God in the flesh, but he's God. You see, many people throughout the years have made the claim that Jesus is just a good person. He's just the Son of God. But listen, what he is saying here in forgiving of these sins is that he is God. That he's God. He is fully God. He is all God. That's what He's saying in the story. So how do you know that he can forgive sins? Only God can forgive sins. Everybody at the party that day knew that only God could forgive sins. And ultimately this is what got Jesus crucified because He was God. Don't let anybody ever tell you He's not God. He never says he's God. He did right here by saying he forgives sins. Can you imagine being at this dinner party? I love it. Jesus forgives this lady. He forgives her by identifying himself as God. And then watch what he says to her in verse 50, He didn't just forgive her. Watch what he does. Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Now go in peace. Listen, somebody here needs to hear that this morning. That when your faith saves you, it wipes out the rest of that stuff that was in your past. And now you can go in peace. You can walk in peace. You are no longer defined by that. You are now a child of God.

This party has fallen apart. Everybody is confused except for the lady and Jesus at this point. Everybody. But I'll tell you this, the reality is a lot of us are confused with grace. We really are, if we're honest. You say Matt, why are we confused with grace? Well, we're confused with grace because oftentimes grace, it kind of confuses and offends religious people. You say why? Well, because really, religious people try their best to live right. And then here's this sinner that slides in in the fourth quarter and God saves them. And they're like, Really? Is that how it works? They've worked so hard to keep the rules. They didn't do Jack Lord. And now I just turn to you on their deathbed and give their heart to you. Now, most of us would never say that out loud, but we thought it before, and a lot of us would rather live in this wages mentality, really, where we kind of get what we think we deserve. For good, we get good. For bad, we get bad. And we think that if you're bad, you should get bad. If I'm good, I should get good. But listen, that's not Grace. It's not Grace. Grace is a gift from God that we should be thankful for. And we've got to be thankful that God has related to us through grace or catch this. None of us would have hope. Do you know why? Because this is not a story about a bad person and a good person. This is a story that shows us that we're all bad people and we all need the grace of Jesus. The point of the story is not the lady is a sinner and Simon just has to deal with it.

Now, the point of the story is that Simon is a sinner, just like the lady is a sinner. The only difference is, is that Simon doesn't realize that he is a sinner. That's the only difference in the story. Incredibly, when you really think about this theologically, the lady has a leg up on Simon and her relationship with Jesus because she realizes who she is, and she turns to Jesus to forgive her. So next time you put your nose down on somebody, they don't look like you smell like you act like you. Just know this, you might be looking at somebody that God is chasing after right now, giving them grace. See, his heart. Simon's heart has the same sickness. The idea is that God doesn't just save or give grace to bad people are good people because everybody's bad. That's exactly where Jesus is. You know, this mentality of grace, it's really hard, especially if you've been in church for a long time. It's really hard because there's a lot of us that have been saved for so long. We don't remember what it was like not to be saved. There's a lot of us like myself, that got saved so early in life. I don't really remember the stain of sin on my life. I was young, thank God I was young, that he delivered me early in life. He's giving me the ability to walk in him. Some of us have been, say, for so long we don't even relate to those that don't know Jesus. This is exactly where Jesus wants people to be. In front of him saying, Hey, Jesus, this is who I am.

Now, earlier I said when the lady took her hair down, that's exactly what she said. This is all I am. You know, Grace, I can just feel the tension, so I'll. I'll address it. Grace doesn't mean accepting or embracing someone else's lifestyle. That's not what it means. It means loving and embracing someone despite their lifestyle. That's what it means. Grace doesn't look at someone and say, I have to affirm every single piece of who someone is. That's not Grace. Grace is me looking at him going, I was a wretched sinner just like that. But God delivered me, and God make me a vessel to speak into their lives. You see, today's world, this is this is really hard because here's why. Let's talk culture for a minute. Culture teaches us that there are only two options in dealing with people. Either you affirm someone, or you alienate someone. That's what that's what culture teaches you. Right. And it really does. Culture teaches us that you fully accept someone, or you fully reject someone. But Jesus shows us there is a third option. And that option is, is that I can speak truth into someone's life, being full of grace and full of love. That's what Jesus did. Jesus spoke truth in love. He spoke truth with grace to draw people to himself. Really and truly, the laws of God are not graceful. But when Jesus came, He met the grace and the law, and he put it right in the middle. And that's where we get grace and truth and grace and truth. And that's the balance Jesus is looking at. Jesus says, Listen, no matter how far someone is from the truth right now, until they're dying breath, there is time for them to turn to who Christ is. That's the Gospel. That's grace. That's why we to look at people through the lens that Jesus does. Grace is the unmerited favor of the Lord. And as believers in Jesus, we are called to steward that grace. So that's what grace is. What does Grace do, and how does Grace reveal itself when we're living as a graceful person? Real quickly, Jesus shows us three indicators in this story that the power of grace when it hits our lives will show in our life.

Now, listen, religion's not going to give you this. The laws are not going to give you this. Just knowing the Bible is not going to give you this. Understanding the magnitude and the power of grace is the only thing that is going to push you in these things that Jesus shows us. Let me give you a real quick three indicators of grace in the believer's life. Number one is this. It is an uncontrollable passion for Jesus. That's the first indicator of grace. Why is that? Why? Because we're never far away from remembering what he's done for us. It's an uncontrollable passion. Why? Because the wages of our sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life. Why? Because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But Christ has made it possible for us to be saved. This is exactly what we see in the lady, right? She's weeping for sin. She's adoring Jesus. She puts her life on the line. Why? All to recognize what the grace of Jesus has done in her life. Luke 7:47 Therefore, I tell you her, many sins have been forgiven as her great love has shown. I mean, let me ask you this is Grace showing in your passion for Jesus? Is it showing from your life? I want you to see that this lady was not forgiven at the dinner party. If you look at the tenses of the barbs, she was forgiven prior to the dinner party when her heart latched on to the affection of Jesus. Now she is showing what happens when Grace gets a hold of you. What happens in her life? Her heart had changed already. She's displaying it in a worshipful moment. Her love is so strong. She literally put her life on the line to bow at the feet of Jesus. Now, this is exactly the opposite of what we see in Simon.

See, Simon, no matter all of the religious laws, he knew because he knew them all. No matter how much scripture he knew, because he knew them all. He stood with his arms crossed, scouring at the fact that this lady knew Jesus. He had a passion for Jesus. This lady's weeping. The Pharisees looking at her going, How dare you let her touch you and be in this church, amen? Here's the question is don't you ask yourself this week, when was the last time you wept over your grace covered sin and salvation? That's big. Number one, it's an uncontrollable passion for Jesus. I'm not saying we're accepting. Saying we're casting. Number two, there's a radical acceptance of others. When grace flows from your life, life, you'll see a radical acceptance of other people. It’s what we see in Jesus' life, right? Why? Because those who really believe the Gospel become like the gospel. Those who have been transformed by the gospel become like the gospel when we fully realize what we've been saved from. We will show the grace and love into other people's life. We see this modeled in Jesus's life over and over and over and over again. We've already talked about it. Sinners were comfortable around him, not because he just accepted them, but because he gave them an alternative to the way of life that they were walking that could fulfill their lives forever. And we can't do that if our first motion is to judge. We can't. Now look, we don't know how this lady ended up in this situation. And I'm not excusing it, but I'm saying this there was trauma at some point and Jesus stepped into her life and said, yes, the father loves you.

He loves you. So, listen, if you're coming in here today with just some massive pain and mistakes, you know what Jesus is telling you this story. It's okay. The grace can cover you. If you're walking in here with just some incredible baggage. Man, I just you to hear from me today. You are not your divorce. You're not your childhood. You're not your abuse. You're not your rape. You're not your sin. You're not your pride. If you have come to the feet of Jesus, you are his. He has wiped that away from you. And now you are under the banner of grace. Grace. God's grace. Number one is uncontrollable passion for Jesus. Number two is radical acceptance. And number three, this one short. There's a tremendous generosity that flows from our lives. There is a tremendous generosity. Now, don't miss the generous act that this lady did. This didn't. This lady didn't show up empty handed. She showed up with what many scholars would say is the most prized possession of her family and in one swoop dumped it on the feet of Jesus. Why? Because her heart attached to who he was. There becomes a generosity when grace rules our lives. There becomes a mentality of I don't look at other people and go, Well, somebody else can do that. Somebody else can meet that need. Somebody else can step in and do that. No, no, no. And when I say generosity, I don't just mean money. I mean a generosity in our time and our talents and our treasures, where we look to God, and we realize what he has done for us in delivering us. And we just say, Yes, Lord, I'm yours, I'm yours. And God, you are worth it, and your grace is worth it, and your love is worth it. That's the generosity. Matt, I'm just not really sure if grace is flowing from my life. Well, you can't be now, because you can ask yourself, man, do I have a passion that just oozes out of me in everything I touch for Jesus? Do I have a first step in the people's lives to accept them? Because I want them to see there's something better out there that has radically transformed me? And do I find myself walking in a generosity that even makes my friends go, I Don't understand it. But something's happening in you. That's Grace. That's what Jesus shows us at this little blown-up dinner party in Galilee. And he looks at you and he look at me and he asks this last question. What kind of grip does Grace have on your life? What kind of grip? What kind of grip? You know, I don't know where you're at today, but I know this.

The grace of Jesus is available for you. It's available, but it's not automatic. You have to turn to him and ask him to forgive you, to come into your life and to be your savior. Is that what you need to do today? In just a second, we're going to have a hymn of invitation. I'm going to be standing right over here to the side. And if your first step today is Matt, I need the grace of Jesus to wash over me and save me.

Listen, you can do that right now by sating Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I need you to save me. Come into my life. Lord, forgive me. If that's you, and your heart really means it today. Welcome to the Family of God. Man, I'd love to talk to you right over here. Love to have a little conversation with you and pray over you. With you. Do you need to give your heart to Christ for him to wash over you for grace? But here's the second invitation. Do you find yourself relating with Simon? And maybe today you just need to say, Hey, Lord, I'm sorry. Lord Jesus, move in these next couple of minutes. Jesus, it's in your name. Amen. Amen. Let's stand and sing together.

Follow Along with the Message

Moved by Grace

September 18, 2022

Ephesians 2:8–9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

PRINCIPLE: In Christianity, acceptance is given as a , and we keep God’s statutes and laws as a response of gratefulness to the grace God has given us.

Luke 7:36
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
Luke 7:37–38
37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 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.
Luke 7:39–40
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.” 40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
Luke 7:40b–43
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

PRINCIPLE: Great love flows from great .

Luke 7:44–49
44 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. 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… 48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Luke 7:50
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
3 Grace Indicators of the Believer’s Life

1. Uncontrollable for Jesus.

Luke 7:47
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — as her great love has shown.

QUESTION: When was the last time you over your grace-covered sin and salvation?

2. Radical of others.

3. Tremendous .

QUESTION: What kind of does grace have on your life?

Additional Notes

 

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