Being Grateful When Life Happens
Luke 7:36-50
Seeing that Thanksgiving is right around the corner; it might be nice to speak upon our need to be grateful to God. And so the point I want to get across is …
The depth of our gratitude reveals just how much we understand our need for a Savior.
Just by what I said, along with the title of today’s message, you can probably surmise that this isn’t going to be the typical Thanksgiving Day message.
The famous Northridge earthquake happened while I was going to seminary in California. I was in a waterbed at the time and as the shaking started, the waterbed had a tidal wave pitching me out onto the floor. I went into the doorway of the bathroom to ride it out and heard dishes crash and bookshelves topple over.
No one prepared me for an earthquake. They were uncommon in Las Vegas where I grew up. Further, there were no warning signs that an earthquake was on its way. It just happened, which is what happens in life.
A person walks out to their mailbox and finds a letter from an attorney or IRS. Everyday people walk into doctor’s offices to hear they have some sickness or disease, or they’re driving down the road and get into an accident.
Life happens, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. These events are outside our control, but when you think about it, there isn’t much that is under our control.
We can all testify to things that have happened in our lives without warning.
Now, we can come to the conclusion that since life just happens we can have a “que sera sera, whatever will be will be” attitude, or we can live our lives responsibly and wisely.
If the later is the case, where can we go to find out what to do? How about the Bible? It’s the best place to start, because it’s God’s word for our lives. Some of the simplest and most powerful teachings are found in the stories Jesus told.
The story that we’ll be looking at today will help us understand one of the most powerful things we can do when life happens. It’s the story of the Pharisee and the Prostitute.
Read Luke 7:36-39
Jesus had received a dinner invitation from Simon the Pharisee. Now, there’s something a bit unusual about such an invitation, because when it came to Jesus and the Pharisees, it was more of a butting of heads than a meeting of the minds.
To understand, maybe we need to understand a little bit more about the Pharisees. The Pharisees came into existence around 150 years prior to Jesus after the Maccabean war when the Jews kicked Antiochus Epiphanes and the Syrians out of their country.
The name “Pharisee” means separated ones. They were concerned with the religious drift that was happening and they stood against it. Following the Law of Moses was important; therefore, they were careful to obey it and desired everyone else to do the same.
In fact, they amped it up a couple of notches!
The heart of the Jewish faith, or the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, Deuteronomy 6:5, in which Jesus confirmed, and then He added a second saying it was like the first, that is, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
But the first part is the basic Jewish statement of faith, and so the Pharisees were intent on ensuring that it was never transgressed, thus developing additional regulations so that they would not unintentionally break it.
Take for instance the law of keeping the Sabbath day holy. It’s one of God’s top ten. This is one of the laws that God gave that would show the people’s love for Him. So the Pharisees basically asked the following question. “How do we keep the Sabbath day holy?”
The law states that no work was to be done on this day, so they asked, “What constitutes work? How much expenditure of energy constitutes work? How can we measure it?”
Here is one of the ways they came up with. In the Old Testament it says that the Holy of Holies was to be situated 2,000 cubits (1000 yards) away from the nearest habitation. So they made a law stating that on the Sabbath people could only walk 2,000 cubits, anything more than that would be considered work.
Now remember, the purpose was to answer the question not what constitutes work, but how they could show their love for God. The problem is they thought you showed your love for God, not by keeping the Sabbath day holy, but by walking no more than 2,000 cubits.
They had gotten this to such a fine art that they developed over 300 such regulations surrounding the one law to keep the Sabbath day holy.
While this sounds ridiculous, and it is, it is also what we call religion. Isn’t it amazing how people can start out loving God, but then get so caught up and locked into a religious system of rules and regulation that they leave God’s grace and mercy at the door.
This is what happened to the Pharisees. They had the right intentions, but they went about it in the wrong way.
And this is what Jesus kept pointing out to them, and what made them less than thrilled with Him. Jesus took them back to the original intent of the law and showed what it was really like to love God, which He gave as the 2nd commandment that was like the first. And in the process told them their brand of love was hypocritical.
Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Jesus said,
“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” (Matthew 15:8 NKJV; cf. Isaiah 29:13)
Because Jesus exposed their hypocrisy and overall lack of love for God, He wasn’t well liked, and rarely if ever invited over for supper, which makes Simon’s invitation all the more curious. But because of a remarkable intrusion, we’ll never know his true intentions.
In the Jewish culture it was quite normal to bring friends and family over when someone important was there. Therefore, seeing that Jesus had come over to supper, a pretty large crowd had gathered to hear what He had to say.
During this time a woman with an unsavory reputation entered. Simon identified her as a sinner, which at that time and in that culture would mean someone who was immoral, more in the area of sexual immorality.
Now, to everyone’s amazement she knelt down before Jesus, and taking the alabaster jar containing costly perfume, she broke it, pouring its contents upon the feet of Jesus. She then began to weep allowing her tears to fall upon His feet. Then with her hair she wiped His feet, and in complete humility based upon absolute gratitude, she began to kiss His feet.
To himself Simon said, “If He truly was a prophet He would know what type of woman this is and wouldn’t allow Himself to be so contaminated.”
But knowing Simon’s thoughts Jesus responds.
Read Luke 7:40-42
It’s important to understand the context of this story. A denarius or denarii was the wage for a days worth of work. So one man borrowed about 2 months worth of wages while the other borrowed about a year and a half worth of wages.
Neither had the money to repay, so the lender forgave both of their debts. By the way, that’s what forgiveness means, to cancel a debt. And so the lender literally bore the cost of the debt himself.
To forgive a debt isn’t saying, “Oh, it’s no big deal, forget about it.” It’s is a big deal, because not only is it saying the person is no longer responsible to repay it, but the lender assumes the entire amount.
Jesus then asks Simon which of the two would show the greatest love, and while Simon correctly answers, Jesus gives him the answer in real life terms forgiving the woman.
Read Luke 7:44 -50
Simon didn’t come to the door to greet Him, nor offer to hang up His coat, or even asked if He would like to freshen up, which was his responsibility as host. Instead Jesus told Simon that this woman, out of her love and gratitude, did what Simon should have done.
Jesus was showing and telling Simon that those who really understand their need of forgiveness are the ones who demonstrate loving gratitude. And by default he was revealing to Simon that the reason he was expressing so little love is because he didn’t realize his need for forgiveness.
What lessons can we learn?
1. Two Kinds of Sins and Sinners
The Bible says that all have sinned, and there is none who are righteous. But in our minds we tend to separate sins and sinners into two camps.
Reprobate sins and sinners, and respectable sins and sinners.
We see this played out here in the Pharisee’s and the Prostitute’s lives and lifestyles.
But it really doesn’t matter if we’re a good sinner or a bad sinner, sin is still sin and as the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23.
What Simon and many people today fail to grasp is that living according to what society or religion says doesn’t mean a person is clear with God.
To understand let me use volcanoes as an example. Some blow their tops, while others kind of leak. And while they are both different, they both have lava flows. Inside volcanoes there is a crust covering a massive lava lake. Some of the crusts are thick and strong keeping the lava inside, but sometime cracks appear and the lava leaks out. And then there are those with thin crusts and one good shake and the whole thing blows.
The Pharisee and the Prostitute are two such volcanoes. They both have within them the molten lava of sin; one’s just more obvious than the other.
While on the outside Simon and this woman may seem different as night and day, they are both the same inside, because the sin nature that reside within both of them needs to be forgiven.
2. Jesus is Ready to Forgive
Jesus is ready to forgive both the reprobate and the respectable sinner and sin, but only when they come humbly by faith as the prostitute did. He is ready to forgive the same way the moneylender forgave both men’s debt. And that is by assuming the debt Himself.
Look again at what Jesus said about the moneylender, that when both men had nothing to repay their debt, he freely forgave them both, Luke 7:42a.
This is the story of the cross, and the price Jesus paid when He died upon it.
But to be forgiven we have to come humbly by faith to Jesus and confess our sin, whether it is reprobate or respectable.
The Apostle John says,
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NKJV)
The idea that Jesus is ready to forgive leads me to the third lesson this story brings out.
3. Forgiveness is Received by Faith
Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven … Your faith has saved you,” Luke 7:48, 50a.
We cannot earn our salvation. Even though this woman did a great deed, one that has so stood out that this incident is a part of the gospel story; still it wasn’t the deed that saved her, it was her faith.
Forgiveness is graciously offered by Jesus, but at a great cost, His death. It is by faith we receive what Jesus did upon the cross, as He took our place and died the death we all deserve.
Therefore salvation is a gift we graciously receive by faith, which is what the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Ephesian church.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”(Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
And when forgiveness is received by faith, the fourth lesson quickly follows.
4. Forgiveness Brings Peace
After Jesus told the woman her faith had saved her, He ended, by telling her to go in peace, Luke 7:50.
Those whose sins are forgiven go in peace; they go with a great load of guilt and shame lifted off their shoulders.
Jesus said,
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27 NKJV)
The peace Jesus brings is a peace where we no longer need to be afraid of the future. We no longer need to be afraid of death or the grave.
In quoting the prophet Isaiah, the Apostle Paul said, “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’” (1 Corinthians 1:54-55 NKJV)
The final or fifth point speaks to what is the appropriate thing to do since we have received forgiveness through God’s marvelous gift of grace.
5. Forgiveness Expresses Itself
For this woman it was an extravagant expression, not to mention expensive. The jar of perfumed oil she poured upon Jesus’ feet was at least a years worth of wages.
What this reveals is that
Those who truly understand forgiveness possess an attitude of gratitude that expresses itself.
Far too many people don’t understand the extent of their sin, still thinking in terms of reprobate and respectable sin, and thus they have no perception of the forgiveness offered by Jesus.
The greatness of God’s love is seen in His sending His Son, Jesus, to take our place and die the death we deserve. And if we don’t understand the fullness of this love, then we’ll never be truly thankful at this time of year, or any time of year for that matter, and we’ll end up more like the Pharisee who adheres to a religious system without any expression of love and thankfulness.
Conclusion
While this is a simple story, its ramifications are far reaching. It tells us that the one thing we need to do when life is happens is to be grateful for what God has provided through His Son, Jesus, and the death He died to set us free.
And so this Thanksgiving let’s be grateful for what truly matters, and that is what Jesus has done for us.
