Simon says, Play it safe Luke 7 Will Arndt, Pastor Sunday Morning, November 16,2014

Transcription

1 Simon says, Play it safe Luke 7 Will Arndt, Pastor Sunday Morning, November 16,2014 We finishing a four part series on Worship, Grow and Advance. Danny spoke first on an introduction and then he covered Worship. Abe spoke on Growth. Today we will cover advance. So this is the final of the three parts. If you are intuitive, you may have noticed that these 3 things go together. To fulfill our mission as followers of Christ we must develop a relational, Christ-focused community that worships Christ, that grows in our love for Him, and that advances His kingdom in our world. Our worship needs to be passionate and Gospel rich or said differently, we want to worship in spirit and truth. That worship fuels a greater desire to know Christ which brings growth that is deep and vigilant (meaning we do growth in community that cares for each other and we will not settle small thoughts on Jesus we want to know Him more. That knowledge of Christ propels us forward into our world to introduce others to this Jesus. And that is where we are today. This WGA is our lifecycle. We become worshippers, who grow in their understanding of Jesus, and then are compelled to advance Christ. There is an interesting story in Luke 7. Jesus is going around the country side proclaiming the kingdom, healing, teaching, loving people, raising from the dead. He comes to a situation in Luke 7.36 that is very insightful for our study this morning. Luke has invited us to a dinner party at the home is that of a Pharisee named Simon. We don t know a lot about Simon but we do know about Pharisees and the customs of the day. It was normal custom for leaders to show respect to important people traveling through. Suddenly, a small commotion breaks out toward the door. A woman is coming in and everyone is stepping back from her. She is dressed in what appears to be immodest attire, with a plunging neckline and short hem. Her dress is tattered a bit and her hair, though up, is disheveled. She looks warn and as she comes closer, you recognize her. She is one of the women of the city. The situation was tense as this women made her way to the front of the onlookers. As if not strange enough, what happens next is incredibly awkward. The woman walks up behind Jesus and begins to sob. She looks through her tear filled eyes and, as if for the first time, she senses that she has caused some harm. She sees that her tears, mixed with the dust from the street, have created a mud-like mixture on Jesus feet. As if she is the only one in the room, and having no towel, she drops to hear knees and begins to wipe his feet with her hair. With love and respect, she kisses the freshly cleaned feet. She reaches into an inner pocket and pulls out a flask of ointment. The scent of the ointment fills the air and it is what ripped you back to the reality of the situation. Looking across the table to Simon, you can see a mixture of disgust and anger fills his eyes. Jesus also notices this and speaks to Simon. Let s pick up that portion of the conversation in verse 41. Luke does not tell us, but we must assume that this woman had come under Jesus teaching prior to this occasion. Jesus words to her (7:48, 50) are words of assurance, not first-time declarations. Had she heard Jesus say, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32)? She heard of greedy tax collectors who had been transformed by coming to Jesus. We do not know but we do know that this woman was gripped by Jesus! That Gospel transformed her 1

2 What compelled this woman to act in such a manner? What kind of love was driving this? 1. Jesus was worth the risk of embarrassment a. Her coming to the party was a bold move b. Her stepping out from the crowd was a big move especially as a woman in that culture. That just did not happen. c. She was stepping into a religious environment (probably other Pharisees) but she wanted to be with Jesus to the point that all else lost significance. 2. Jesus was worth the risk of resources a. Many scholars believe that this was a costly perfume costing as much as a year s wages b. There was no thought about future concerns, only Jesus now. 3. Jesus was worth the humble service She serviced Christ in a humble way. a. Kissing the feet was a common mark of deep reverence, especially to leading rabbis b. It involved her emotions c. It was wordless d. It was the activity of the lowly house servant The point today is that we have to see the Gospel with this sort of Clarity. We need to see it in all its beauty so that it compels us to act like this! A PROBLEM for Us: remember the baptisms a few weeks back? The baptisms and the story of the path to Christ Tendency is to think two things: 1. I am not saved as much because I did not sin as much 2. I am a little better because I did not sin as much Both Salvation stories are significant Danger for the 5 year old I am not saved as much or I am better than others. Danger for the 26 year old I don t deserve this or why did it not happen earlier? The ditch Simon seems to have fallen into was thinking he was a pretty good guy. Look at the spiritual posture of Simon Simon seems to have had no sense of his own personal need. This Simon was a Pharisee, which means that outwardly he was a good, upright, religious man. He attempted to keep the Law of Moses. He tithed his income. He fasted regularly. He prayed at least three times every day. He never missed in his attendance at the synagogue. He was a decent man who was respected as a religious leader in the community. Fact is, he was a good guy. There are dangers for us in becoming like Simon. 1. The better we become, sometimes the more impressed we are with ourselves. *Salvation is a work of Jesus it always has to be or we can start to think of ourselves as good. We are not good. He is good. 2. The better we become, the greater distance we feel there is from us and sinners. *There is no us and them there is only us Romans 3 talks about there being no righteous none seek God. 3. The better we become, the more distance there may actually be between us and God. *As Simon sat in judgment of this woman, his heart could pridefully look back on years of faithfulness 2

3 to God. He could recount the monies given, the alms paid, sacrifices offered, the lengthy prayers recited and all this gave him a sense of righteousness. That sort of pride is what James talks about when he says, God resists the proud but pours out grace on the humble. 4. The better we become, the more we think God is impressed with us. *God is impressed with Jesus. That is it thankfully, he looks at me as though I am impressive but it is NOT by works of Righteousness I have done but according to his own mercy. It is not of works, or I would brag about it Ephesians 2 tells us. What we are seeing is a Gospel contrast. On the one hand, you have a sinful woman who sees that Jesus is her hope. On the other hand, you have a righteous man who feels as though he has created his own hope. WHAT IS JESUS SAYING HERE! 1. Your Sins are forgiven - I am one who can forgive and I am willing to take this! 2. Your faith has saved you you are right with God and now there is no condemnation 3. Go in peace no longer do you need to carry this weight THE POINT we must see - We have a great debt; we have an inability to pay; but we have a gracious creditor who forgives and invites us to come to him for peace. This reality hit this woman and it impacted her profoundly. What happened to this woman after this? We do not know. I can only assume based on what we have read that it is something like the story in Luke 8. There is a story in another chapter: The maniac who was freed from his legion of demons. He too, had probably had seen the significance of sins forgiven, that faith had rescued him, and that there was peace with God. He was sitting at Jesus feet, clothed, in his right mind, and imploring Jesus to go with Him. Jesus responded, no. it would be great to stay in the comfortable confines of this church singing, worshipping, learning about Christ. You can almost get spiritually high on it. But effective Worship and Grow will lead to Advance. Jesus told the man to get out of the church service and go, tell what great things God has done for you. There was no 5 step program, no church event, no outreach strategy. He was to go and tell about what Jesus meant to him. What Jesus had done for him. That is our strategy too. So this is not an overt advance passage why are you preaching it. I have a tendency to act more like Simon than the woman of the city. My hypothesis the reason advance is weak is that Worship and Grow is weak. In worship and grow, you see the significance of Jesus and it propels you to advance. If we do not see that Jesus is worth it, why would we care about advance? I want my love for Christ to compel me to advance His fame to all my connections. We are worshippers who come in and proclaim Christ in a passionate and Gospel rich way. This is the fuel for our Growth. We grow in community through vigilant care and aggressive depth. This is where the Gospel begins to burn white hot in our lives and bubbles into a passion. As Worship and Grow move forward, it compels us to Advance. The outcome is to live and tell of Christ s rule! One final encouragement: Life seems like a lot of little decisions on whether to be brave or safe. Simon says, Play it safe. This story is urging us to be brave. 3

4 Simon says, Play it safe Luke 7 Will Arndt, Pastor Sunday Morning, November 16, 2014 We finishing a four part series on Worship, Grow and Advance. Danny spoke first on an introduction and then he covered Worship. Abe spoke on Growth. Today we will cover advance. So this is the final of the three parts. If you are intuitive, you may have noticed that these 3 things go together. To fulfill our mission as followers of Christ we must develop a relational, Christ-focused community that worships Christ, that grows in our love for Him, and that advances His kingdom in our world. Our worship needs to be passionate and Gospel rich or said differently, we want to worship in spirit and truth. That worship fuels a greater desire to know Christ which brings growth that is deep and vigilant (meaning we do growth in community that cares for each other and we will not settle small thoughts on Jesus we want to know Him more. That knowledge of Christ propels us forward into our world to introduce others to this Jesus. And that is where we are today. This WGA is our lifecycle. We become worshippers, who grow in their understanding of Jesus, and then are compelled to advance Christ. There is an interesting story in Luke 7. Jesus is going around the country side proclaiming the kingdom, healing, teaching, loving people, raising from the dead. He comes to a situation in Luke 7.36 that is very insightful for our study this morning. Luke has invited us to a dinner party at the home is that of a Pharisee named Simon. We don t know a lot about Simon but we do know about Pharisees and the customs of the day. It was normal custom for leaders to show respect to important people traveling through. Suddenly, a small commotion breaks out toward the door. A woman is coming in and everyone is stepping back from her. She is dressed in what appears to be immodest attire, with a plunging neckline and short hem. Her dress is tattered a bit and her hair, though up, is disheveled. She looks warn and as she comes closer, you recognize her. She is one of the women of the city. The situation was tense as this women made her way to the front of the onlookers. As if not strange enough, what happens next is incredibly awkward. The woman walks up behind Jesus and begins to sob. She looks through her tear filled eyes and, as if for the first time, she senses that she has caused some harm. She sees that her tears, mixed with the dust from the street, have created a mud-like mixture on Jesus feet. As if she is the only one in the room, and having no towel, she drops to hear knees and begins to wipe his feet with her hair. With love and respect, she kisses the freshly cleaned feet. She reaches into an inner pocket and pulls out a flask of ointment. The scent of the ointment fills the air and it is what ripped you back to the reality of the situation. Looking across the table to Simon, you can see a mixture of disgust and anger fills his eyes. Jesus also notices this and speaks to Simon. Let s pick up that portion of the conversation in verse 41. Luke does not tell us, but we must assume that this woman had come under Jesus teaching prior to this occasion. Jesus words to her (7:48, 50) are words of assurance, not first-time declarations. Had she heard Jesus say, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32)? She heard of greedy tax collectors who had been transformed by coming to Jesus. We do not know but we do know that this woman was gripped by Jesus! That Gospel transformed her 1

5 What compelled this woman to act in such a manner? What kind of love was driving this? 1. Jesus was worth the risk of embarrassment a. Her coming to the party was a bold move b. Her stepping out from the crowd was a big move especially as a woman in that culture. That just did not happen. c. She was stepping into a religious environment (probably other Pharisees) but she wanted to be with Jesus to the point that all else lost significance. 2. Jesus was worth the risk of resources a. Many scholars believe that this was a costly perfume costing as much as a year s wages b. There was no thought about future concerns, only Jesus now. 3. Jesus was worth the humble service She serviced Christ in a humble way. a. Kissing the feet was a common mark of deep reverence, especially to leading rabbis b. It involved her emotions c. It was wordless d. It was the activity of the lowly house servant The point today is that we have to see the Gospel with this sort of Clarity. We need to see it in all its beauty so that it compels us to act like this! A PROBLEM for Us: remember the baptisms a few weeks back? The baptisms and the story of the path to Christ Tendency is to think two things: 1. I am not saved as much because I did not sin as much 2. I am a little better because I did not sin as much Both Salvation stories are significant Danger for the 5 year old I am not saved as much or I am better than others. Danger for the 26 year old I don t deserve this or why did it not happen earlier? The ditch Simon seems to have fallen into was thinking he was a pretty good guy. Look at the spiritual posture of Simon Simon seems to have had no sense of his own personal need. This Simon was a Pharisee, which means that outwardly he was a good, upright, religious man. He attempted to keep the Law of Moses. He tithed his income. He fasted regularly. He prayed at least three times every day. He never missed in his attendance at the synagogue. He was a decent man who was respected as a religious leader in the community. Fact is, he was a good guy. There are dangers for us in becoming like Simon. 1. The better we become, sometimes the more impressed we are with ourselves. *Salvation is a work of Jesus it always has to be or we can start to think of ourselves as good. We are not good. He is good. 2. The better we become, the greater distance we feel there is from us and sinners. *There is no us and them there is only us Romans 3 talks about there being no righteous none seek God. 3. The better we become, the more distance there may actually be between us and God. *As Simon sat in judgment of this woman, his heart could pridefully look back on years of faithfulness 2

6 to God. He could recount the monies given, the alms paid, sacrifices offered, the lengthy prayers recited and all this gave him a sense of righteousness. That sort of pride is what James talks about when he says, God resists the proud but pours out grace on the humble. 4. The better we become, the more we think God is impressed with us. *God is impressed with Jesus. That is it thankfully, he looks at me as though I am impressive but it is NOT by works of Righteousness I have done but according to his own mercy. It is not of works, or I would brag about it Ephesians 2 tells us. What we are seeing is a Gospel contrast. On the one hand, you have a sinful woman who sees that Jesus is her hope. On the other hand, you have a righteous man who feels as though he has created his own hope. WHAT IS JESUS SAYING HERE! 1. Your Sins are forgiven - I am one who can forgive and I am willing to take this! 2. Your faith has saved you you are right with God and now there is no condemnation 3. Go in peace no longer do you need to carry this weight THE POINT we must see - We have a great debt; we have an inability to pay; but we have a gracious creditor who forgives and invites us to come to him for peace. This reality hit this woman and it impacted her profoundly. What happened to this woman after this? We do not know. I can only assume based on what we have read that it is something like the story in Luke 8. There is a story in another chapter: The maniac who was freed from his legion of demons. He too, had probably had seen the significance of sins forgiven, that faith had rescued him, and that there was peace with God. He was sitting at Jesus feet, clothed, in his right mind, and imploring Jesus to go with Him. Jesus responded, no. it would be great to stay in the comfortable confines of this church singing, worshipping, learning about Christ. You can almost get spiritually high on it. But effective Worship and Grow will lead to Advance. Jesus told the man to get out of the church service and go, tell what great things God has done for you. There was no 5 step program, no church event, no outreach strategy. He was to go and tell about what Jesus meant to him. What Jesus had done for him. That is our strategy too. So this is not an overt advance passage why are you preaching it. I have a tendency to act more like Simon than the woman of the city. My hypothesis the reason advance is weak is that Worship and Grow is weak. In worship and grow, you see the significance of Jesus and it propels you to advance. If we do not see that Jesus is worth it, why would we care about advance? I want my love for Christ to compel me to advance His fame to all my connections. We are worshippers who come in and proclaim Christ in a passionate and Gospel rich way. This is the fuel for our Growth. We grow in community through vigilant care and aggressive depth. This is where the Gospel begins to burn white hot in our lives and bubbles into a passion. As Worship and Grow move forward, it compels us to Advance. The outcome is to live and tell of Christ s rule! One final encouragement: Life seems like a lot of little decisions on whether to be brave or safe. Simon says, Play it safe. This story is urging us to be brave. 3