Reset Commitment Luke 7:36-50 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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? 50 Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you; go in peace. 1 I. Jesus makes himself fully available to me. Vs. 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. A. Unpack. 1. Simon is a Pharisee. 2. Mary is a sinner 3. Jesus is reclining at the table. B. Paint the picture of him there.
2 1. First of all he was invited by Simon. 2. Simon was not saved. 3. He is sitting reclining at the table. C. Explain the story. 1. He is letting them get close to him. 2. He is accessible. 3. He is reclining back and this woman named Mary comes in. 4. Everybody is enjoying dinner and she is in another world. 5. He is letting this happen. 6. And is letting everyone see it. 7. Jesus is not nervous, his blood pressure is not going up, he is not fidgety or uncomfortable in any way. D. Application 1. The God of the universe is fully accessible. 2. He is touchable and listens and communicates back and makes himself fully available. 3. BE STUNNED BY THIS! 4. Let it take your breath away. E. Application 1. Remove every hindrance and blockage that gets in the way of being up close and personal with you. 2. Teach us how to grow closer to you and experience all of you. How to experience Him 1. Set an appointment. 2. Make it a priority. 3. Expect to experience HIM. II. Jesus frees me to experience him. Vs. 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. A. Unpack.
3 1. Talk about the scene. 2. Jesus is reclining back. 3. Invited by Simon to be a guest. 4. As Jesus is there in walks this woman. B. The woman. 1. Luke doesn t name her. 2. She is an unnamed woman. 3. What we know about her is she has a bad reputation. 4. She is known for her sin. 5. The implication is sexual sin. 6. She had prostituted herself and the community knew it. 7. She hears that Jesus is eating at Simon s house. 8. Simon is a Pharisee but this does not stop her. 9. Anywhere Jesus is she is going to go. C. The Jar. 1. This was a very expensive jar of perfume. 2. The fragrance would fill the entire house. 3. Her worship changed the smell in the room. 4. Her expression was noticeable. 5. Nothing about this story leads us to believe that she was trying to be noticed by anyone except Jesus. 6. Her expression was costly. D. The tears. 1. Her expression was deeply personal. By personal I don t mean private but I mean it meant a lot to her. Not shallow, surface level, superficial. 2. It came from her heart. 3. Expression of deep gratitude. 4. This was her tears flowing down and she wanted them to be for JESUS! 5. There was a story behind the tears. 6. These tears were not sad tears, or disappointment tears or fearful tears. 7. These tears were liberating, joy filled, relief. What was she known for? She was known for her sin. She was labeled by her community. Now she had met a man who completely changed her identity.
4 Instead of sinful woman, looked down upon, dirty - she was given a new identity as forgiven, beautiful, pure, accepted And her worship - gushed forth. E. Her expression was full of gratitude. a. She is crying on his feet. b. Wiping Jesus feet with her hair. c. Kissing his feet. F. Her worship was vulnerable. 1. No one asked her to do this. 2. No one certainly expected it. 3. She just lays it out there. 4. She puts all the cards on the table and goes all in. 5. Everything she had. Application The room was full of other people but she was so aware of Jesus accessibility and who he was and what he had done for her worship was gushing forth. Question How freeing it must have been for her. Adultery was punishable by death. She was always hiding and always trying to calculate her move. She tried to gain control by her sin and it only led to more bondage. In her most quiet moments she hated what she did so probably began to avoid any personal reflection. The more she sinned the harder her heart and the more she needed the sin to fill the void. But now all that was gone. True freedom. It is hard to describe how wonderful real freedom is until you have tasted it. Question What would it be like to take a risk and be dangerously vulnerable - completely unhindered able to express yourself fully? Application
5 The Lord Jesus Christ won t settle for second best and he welcomes our most intimate and extravagant expressions of worship to him. Show us how to develop a deep loving personal relationship with you. Release us to become more passionate, expressive and vulnerable in our worship. Show us how to make you our top priority and the object of our highest worship. Vs. 39-43 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. 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. Application Jesus delivers me from the guilt and shame of the past. Now I am free to fully commit to him. III. Jesus helps me eliminate every distraction. Vs. 44-50 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. 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. 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? 50 Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you; go in peace. Luke 10:38-42 38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to
be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, don t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me! 41 Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. (NIV) A. Unpack 1. Martha was busy, distracted and upset about many things. 2. Mary sat at the Lord s feet. 3. Martha was so upset that she goes to Jesus and complains. a. Help me out Jesus. b. I m trying to work all this out here. B. Jesus response. 1. Martha, Martha Hey look at me, pay attention to me Stop for a moment and listen to what I m saying. 2. Why are you so concerned about everything under the sun? 3. Why are you so upset about all of these small insignificant things? 4. Few things are needed or indeed only one. a. This is a form of communication. b. Jesus is not figuring it out as he says it. c. He is saying it in such a way to make a point. d. Few things are needed or indeed only one isn t that right Martha You know what I m saying right? sure you do. e. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her. C. What does this mean for us? 1. Each day I am faced with the same question. 2. What is the most important thing that I can do today? 3. There are 10,000 things that I can spend my life doing. 4. Most of them will not matter 1,000 years from now. 5. What is most important? We re talking about Resetting our commitment. I don t want to give you one more thing to do in your life I want to give you one thing to center your life around. HIM Jesus. He is 6
Application Take the 21-day challenge to Reset your commitment. The commitment is not to doing something the commitment is to God and his son Jesus Christ. Jesus is making himself available to you right now. He is saying come let me free you from everything that holds you back. Fully Release your worship to me. 7