Grace for the Race

Today is our last message of 2011.  So . . . how did this year go for you?  Did it turn out like you had planned?  Did you accomplish the goals you had set for yourself in the areas that matter most?

As we get ready to turn the page on yet another year, we must remember that history will someday come to an abrupt end.  Jesus will return on the clouds of heaven, the trumpets will sound, and He will restore all things.  Jesus will take all that is wrong and make it right, and He will take all that is crooked and make it straight. 

When Jesus comes this time, He will not appear to humanity as a baby laid in a manger, as we just celebrated this Christmas; this time He will appear as a conquering King.  And when He does, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).  The kingdom of heaven will come in all its fullness, majesty, and glory, as God ushers in a new heaven and a new earth and a new you (Revelation 21:5). 

Regardless of how this year worked out for you, the best is yet to come!  Perhaps you had a year filled with one storm after another, barely keeping your head above water.  Or maybe it was your best year ever.  Whatever it was, it was not what it will be one day. 

He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things is passed away.

(Revelation 21:4)

And when that day comes, you will know in your heart that you have arrived at your intended destination.  You will finally and fully be home at last.  You will be in a place you had longed for, looked for, and lived for, even when you didn’t know it.  You will finally be in the place where you know you belong because of the One you belong to!  And this will not be the end of your story, but rather it will be only just the beginning of it.  Everything you will have done up to that great day will end up being only “the cover and the title page of the One Great Story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before,” as C. S. Lewis so rightly observed. 

The best is truly yet to come!  Heaven will descend into our fallen, broken, and hurting world.  The lion will lie down with the lamb.  The skies will sing and the trees will dance.  Our humanness will be restored as we are reunited with all people of every tongue, tribe, and nation, and there will be shalom on earth that will never again be broken.  WOW!  What an incredible future to look forward to!  The entire world will be restored.

Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  (Romans 8:21)

Until that day comes, and for as long as we are here, let us champion His cause by preaching the Gospel to everyone we meet—with both our lips and our lives.  Let us, as fallen and broken people, reach up, reach in, and reach out in the name of Jesus to bring His restoration and reconciliation to a fallen and broken world.  Let that be our greatest goal and first priority in 2012 for the glory of our King.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Their hearts had been broken three days earlier.  What they had believed in and hoped for died a slow, agonized death, nailed to a dirty cross in the middle of Golgotha’s Hill. 

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?”  And they stood still, looking sad.

(Luke 24:13-17)

We find two melancholy men trudging along the road to Emmaus, two men who were about to have the encounter of their lives with the living and resurrected Lord.  Prevented by Providence from recognizing Jesus, they began to tell their unidentified companion everything about their hope in the one called Jesus of Nazareth, whom they wanted so desperately to be the promised One to redeem Israel.  But their hope was hung spread-eagled on cross beams, beaten and bloodied, until he breathed his last. 

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

So they drew near to the village to which they were going.  He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.”  So he went tin to stay with them.  When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.  And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.  And he vanished from their sight.  They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

(Luke 24:25-32 emphasis added)

From broken hearts to “burning hearts”—that is the change that encountering Jesus produces, regardless of our current circumstances.  I don’t know where this finds you, but I do know Jesus wants to have an encounter with you . . . today and every day.  Our Master is always on the lookout for opportunities to minister, even when we are not looking for Him.  He sought out the women at the well.  He sought out a tax collector in a tree.  He sought out a dead friend.  He sought out a denying Peter.  He sought out a doubting Thomas.  He sought out two melancholy men on the road to Emmaus.  He sought out a Pharisee on the road to Damascus.  And He is seeking you out today.

Perhaps He is speaking to you today for the very first time—or at least the first time you’ve heard the call.  By His Spirit He is drawing you to Himself to cover you in His redeeming blood and to forgive your every sin—past, present, and future.  Yes, your sin is great, but your Savior is far greater, and He is able to save to the uttermost.   You simply cannot sin yourself beyond His reach.  Or, as my beloved Pastor Tullian recently wrote on his blog, “God’s willingness to clean things up is infinitely bigger than our willingness to mess things up.”

Could it be that today—today—salvation has come to you?  Are you hearing Jesus’ invitation to become a member of His family of faith for the very first time?  Take a walk through the Romans Road to get a crystal clear picture of that so-great salvation:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 6:23)

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8)

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

If you have walked this road for the very first time today and placed your trust in Jesus as your Savior, please let another Christian know.  Please let me know! I would love to tell you how you can build this relationship with the God of the universe into something fruitful and lovely.

But perhaps you already have a personal relationship with Jesus, but today you do not sense this “holy heartburn.”  Run to Him!  Let Jesus proclaim the grace of the gospel to you once again.  His patience is unwavering.  His forgiveness is unlimited.  His love is unconditional.  And it is all this for you!  You are the object of His heart’s desire.  Let this truth minister to you today and every day. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

The Grinch hated Christmas because of the size of his heart.  It had atrophied over the years as he spent all his time loving himself and hating the Whos.  His plan was to take all the stuff away from those Whos down in Who-ville, which would once-and-for-all stop their Christmas celebration and all the noise, noise, noise! 

So on the night before Christmas, the Grinch entered Who-ville and loaded up his sleigh with everything the Whos had, even down to the last crumb in the house—a crumb too small for even a mouse!  How happy the Grinch was to know he had finally stopped Christmas from coming . . . or so he thought.  Putting a hand to his ear to hear the Whos crying “Boo Hoo Hoo,” he could not believe what he did hear.  The sound was not sad; it was glad!  Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, was singing, without any presents at all.  He had not stopped Christmas from coming.  It came!  But how was that possible, when he had stolen everything?

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons!  It came without tags!  It came without packages, boxes, or bags!  And he puzzled and puzzled, ‘till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.  “Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.  Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more.”

The Grinch found out that Christmas was more about the heart than the hands.  For the Whos, Christmas was not wrapped up in what their hands could hold; it was all about what their hearts could hold.  And for all of them it was love.  Love was more important than ribbons, tags, packages, boxes, and bags.

So what is the message that the Grinch proclaims to all of us this Christmas?  For the Christian, Christmas is all about love, and love is not a propositional truth.  Love is a person—the Person whose birth we just celebrated.  We need to know the difference if we are to know real love.  Steve Brown says, “Its’ like the difference between reading a book on lions and meeting one, or between looking at an advertisement for Florida oranges and eating one.” 

What is amazing about this love is how we got it.  We did not earn it.  It was not the result of something we did.  If it was it would not be love, it would be a reward . . . some kind of pay-back.  And that is why so many in the world today miss God’s love.  They are looking for it on the other side of their performance and obedience.  But this love came to us freely and unconditionally when we were most unlovable. 

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8)

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.   (Colossians 1:21-22 NIV)

We are not loved because of who we are.  We are loved because of who He is—“God is love” (1 John 4:16).  The neat thing about this love is found in the fact that we can love to the extent we have been loved, which means we can love like God loves.  We can love unconditionally.  We can love freely.  We can love mercifully.  We can even love those who don’t love us back.   

So . . . if your Christmas came without ribbons, tags, packages, boxes, or bags, were you able to do what the Whos did?  Was your heart still filled with love and thanksgiving for the Giver of the gifts, rather than the gifts themselves?  Only the Gospel can do this for us.  Only the Gospel can fill us with a love that looks past the stuff of life to the Savior who has secured everlasting life for us by the shedding of His blood.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Burned out from too much shopping?  Stressed out from too much celebrating?  Exhausted from making too many preparations for the big day?  For many Christians, the answer is YES, YES, a thousand times YES!  If we are not careful, we can celebrate Christmas just like millions of people around the world who celebrate it without Christ, those who neither have Christ on their minds nor in their hearts.  Sadly, with the stranglehold that commercialism and materialism have placed on our society, it is not hard to find a Christian who has Christ in the heart, but not on the mind.

Here is a good question to meditate on and marinate in during these next two days: If someone watched a video of the next 48 hours of your life—what you thought, what you said, and what you did—what would they think Christmas is all about?  Christ?  Or something else?

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!  (2 Corinthians 9:15)

The confession of our lives should be the confession of Christ.  People who come in contact with us should come in contact with Jesus.  They should connect with Him through our lips and our lives—our profession and our practice.  A little over 2000 years ago, God gave us the greatest gift the world has ever seen.  The most costly gift in the universe, God’s Son, was given to us in the flesh, from the cradle to the tomb.  He who started out as a baby, cooing in a manger, ended up beaten and bleeding on a cross, gasping out His last breaths.

But the story doesn’t end there!  Three days later God raised this precious gift from the dead, confirming that Jesus was who He said He was and did what He said He was going to do.  He crushed the serpent.  He conquered sin.  He came out of the grave!

Christmas is a time of celebration.  It is a time to celebrate and enjoy the good gifts God has given to us.  But we must take care not to focus more on the gifts than the Giver.  The Giver is Jesus, who is the Gift.  He is to be enjoyed and celebrated.  We are to say along with Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).  Mary’s confession confessed Christ.  She surrendered control of her life to the only One worth surrendering to: Jesus.  She gave up her dreams, her hopes, her plans, her agenda, her preferences, and her reputation.  Mary willingly submitted to the will of God.  She released her grip on all her good gifts in order to cling tightly to the Giver of them.   

God never intended to have only a portion of our hearts.  He wants all of us, and He will tolerate no rival.  He will use every means necessary to give us what He knows is best for us.  His best may come in the form of a wilderness experience or a windfall.  Regardless of what it is, He wants all of you and He wants you all the time.

So how will you make these next 48 hours different from the last 48 hours?  Perhaps it’s not to be found so much in what you will do, but rather in whom you believe: He who is seated on the throne and says, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5) . . . and that includes you.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

The Gospel is good news to those who trust in Jesus—those who trust in His righteousness . . . His perfect life . . . His sacrificial death . . . His forgiveness.  But for those who trust in themselves the Gospel is not so good.  In fact, it is bad news!  The Gospel is of no use and it provides no benefit to those who trust in themselves. 

[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’”  (Luke 18:9-12)

Like the Pharisee in this story, far too many in the church today are counting on their good works—rather than Christ’s finished work on their behalf—to cause God to move on their behalf with forgiveness, blessing, and eternal life.  The Pharisee’s problem did not lie in his good works; he actually did fast twice a week and he did give tithes of all that he had.  To the watching world, the Pharisee was a model of piety and righteousness.  The problem lay in the fact that he was trusting in his good works to broker God’s favor. In so doing, the Pharisee minimized the holiness and justice of God, and magnified the goodness and purity of his own good works.  For all those who are trusting in their own righteousness—their own goodness and good works—the good news of the Gospel is not good news at all!  In fact, it proclaimed catastrophic bad news to the self-righteous Pharisee when Jesus judged his condition and rendered a verdict of “NOT JUSTIFIED!”

We must all remember the truth of Isaiah 64:6, that what we perceive to be “good works” are nothing more than filthy rags in the sight of our thrice holy God.  Yes, good works are good to the extent that they benefit others.  Although God does not need them, our neighbor certainly does!  But when we are banking on our good works to do for us what only Christ can do, the good news of the Gospel becomes bad news—the very worst news!  Jerry Bridges explains, “At the end of the day this fact remains: no amount of personal performance will ever gain the approval of a holy God.” 

Being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.  (Romans 10:3-4)

This is why we should preach the Gospel to ourselves every day.  We need daily reminders to rely on the righteousness of Christ and not on our own perceived righteousness.  The Gospel is God’s great good news to fallen, broken people who truly have no hope apart from Christ.  Those who understand the depths of their own sinfulness and the height of God’s holiness cry out these words from the old hymn: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness . . . On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” 

One final thought: what the Pharisee failed to understand was that even with all of his “good works,” he was still exactly like other men: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, and even tax collectors—great sinners in need of an even greater Savior.  The Pharisee was judging and comparing by outer appearances and forgot that God judges the heart. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

What opposition have you been running up against lately?  It comes in all forms, from someone who is trying to undermine you at the office to sickness and disease that is testing the outer edges of your health plan; from someone who is telling others hurtful things about you behind your back to those who are standing in the way of God’s call in your life; from trouble in your marriage to rebellious children.  Regardless of the opposition you are facing today, I have a word of great comfort.  Opposition in the hands of Omnipotence is nothing more than opportunities for God to display His power in you, through you, and for you. 

Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go?  I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”  (Exodus 5:2)

It seemed like the Israelites were never going to get out of Egypt.  With every word Moses spoke, the situation got worse for the people.  With every miracle delivered by the hand of the Almighty, the most powerful man in Egypt dug his heels in deeper and retreated further into his sin and self-absorption.  The opposition seemed impossible for Moses to overcome . . . and it was!  It was impossible for Moses to overcome, but what was impossible for Moses was entirely possible for Omnipotence.  And that was the whole point. 

If Pharaoh had let the people go when Moses brought God’s Word to him the first time, the world would have missed the awesome display of Omnipotence at work on behalf of His people.  What we consider opposition and obstacles in our way are merely opportunities for God to demonstrate His sovereign power over all things. 

When we witness the restoration of broken relationships, impossible situations on the job turned around, fractured families forgiving one another and coming together, rebellious children returning and being restored, and death sentences from doctors turned into supernatural healings, we have the privilege of seeing Omnipotence at work in a fallen, broken, and sin-filled world, through fallen, broken, and sin-filled people. 

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God.  For all things are possible with God.”  (Mark 10:27)

The next time you face opposition or obstacles in life, fear not!  God is at work on your behalf.  God knows the beginning from the end, and nothing can stop Him from accomplishing His perfect purposes.  Now, it may not fit into your timetable, but it will certainly fit into His.  And His timetable is always better than yours.  Moses was expecting every miracle to be the one that would cause Pharaoh to let God’s people go.  But it was not going to happen until God was ready to finishing displaying His awesome power, that He might be glorified.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Some loss in this life is great gain.  When we use a disciplined approach to diet and exercise to lose those extra pounds we put on over the holidays, our loss is gain.  When we lose the debt we have incurred from having too much month left at the end of the money, our loss is gain.  But there is an even greater and far more glorious gain from our loss, as outlined by Paul in his letter to the Philippians. 

Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  (Philippians 3:7-9)

Paul is telling us that loss is indeed gain when we gain more of Jesus by losing everything smaller than Him.  In his newly released book, Jesus +Nothing = Everything, my beloved friend and pastor, Tullian Tchividjian, sheds light on Paul’s great gain through loss. 

Paul says a lot in those verses.  But his main point is that no social or religious achievement, no educational success, no position, no familial heritage, no amount of societal approval is worth holding onto and building your life on, compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus, for whose sake it’s worth losing all that you have.  Paul considered his “everything” nothing in comparison to the everything of Jesus.  For Paul, Jesus plus nothing equals everything; everything minus Jesus equals nothing.  That’s why, for Paul, giving up everything for Christ was nothing. 

Here is a challenging question for you and for me: “Am I, like the apostle Paul, willing to give up everything for Jesus?”  A “YES” answer will only be found in a life that has been resurrected and rooted in the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Only the Gospel can free us from the need for human approval and the applause of man.  Only the Gospel can free us from the need to attempt to broker God’s favor and earn His love.  Only the Gospel can free us to give up everything that really doesn’t matter for the only One who truly does matter: His name is Jesus Christ.  When the grace of the Gospel grips our hearts, we find that we no longer want the “wants” of life that somehow morphed into “needs.”

When Jesus is our everything, we begin expanding the borders of our lives beyond the borders of our lives.  We begin investing our lives in the only One who truly matters and who will live on forever.  When Jesus is our everything, we begin living for more than ourselves—our wants, our desires, our agendas, and our acclaim—and instead begin living for Jesus and His wants, His desires, His agenda, and His acclaim. 

We must remember that everything in the universe, including you and me, was designed by God to have Jesus at the center. 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

(Colossians 1:15-18)

God the Father never intended his precious Son to be pushed to the periphery of our lives—in any area!  When we do this we are functionally living for ourselves.  Jesus is to be at the center of our marriages.  Jesus is to be at the center of our families.  Jesus is to be at the center of our professions.  Jesus is to be at the center of our hobbies.  Jesus is to be at the center of our recreation.  Jesus is to be at the center of everything because everything is to center on Jesus. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

On the surface self-reliance seems right. We are taught it at an early age. After all, isn’t this a part of our American heritage? To encourage youngsters to value independence and reliance on their own strength and abilities? Isn’t this the “rugged individualism” that our culture prizes? After all, if our kids are ever going to get up off their knees and begin to walk, they will have to pull themselves up to stand, won’t they? The seductive wisdom of the world says self-reliance is a positive quality to be prized and pursued with the greatest vigor. We hear this from well-meaning parents, from well-intentioned coaches, and from well-informed teachers. We see it played out in movies and televisions shows, we listen to it in the lyrics of songs, and we read all about it in a plethora of self-help materials. We are urged to work harder . . . do more . . . and as we strive to live a successful life, we are conditioned to endlessly repeat: “If it is to be, it’s up to me!” Once we have been seduced by self-reliance, we begin the slide down the slippery slopes of self-esteem, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-actualization, and self-righteousness. The problem with all of this is found in one little world: SELF! With all this focus on the self, there is no time to focus on our Savior. There are a great many non-believers, and even some Christians, who believe that the phrase, “The Lord helps those who help themselves” is part of sacred Scripture. Nothing could be further from the truth! Nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to live self-reliant lives. In fact, we are called by God to do just the opposite. We are called to live lives that are totally dependent upon Him. “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them,” our Lord said, “for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). Our loving Lord commands us to come to him as children—needy, dependent children who must rely on our Father to feed us and clothe us and provide us with our every need. We are to look to Him for everything: from our daily bread to protection from temptation to the eternal condition of our souls. Dependence didn’t start in the Garden after the fall; in other words, dependence is not a result of man’s sin! Our divine design is dependence upon God. In fact, everything in creation is dependent upon God. There is no such thing as a “self-made man.” But after sin entered into the world due to Adam’s ghastly act of cosmic treason, it has been in our DNA to live self-reliant lives, apart from the will and wisdom of God. Adam yielded to the temptation to be independent, and as a result, self-salvation has become the preferred method of salvation for the world and for far too many in the church today. Many Christians who study their Bibles and attend Bible-believing churches will agree that there is no room for self-reliance when it comes to our justification (eternal life). But deep down, far too many of us rely on self when it comes to our sanctification (everyday life). And this is exactly what the devil would have us believe: “If it is to be, it’s up to me.” That is nothing more and nothing less than a lie straight from the pit of hell! The same grace that saves is the grace that sanctifies. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Satan loves it when we rely on ourselves; our strength, our abilities, our efforts, our wisdom, and our plans, because apart from Jesus the end result is zilch . . . nada . . . nothing! Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12) If you believe you are “standing on your own two feet,” Christian, take heed lest you suddenly stumble into the ditch! We are called to live lives that are pleasing to God and beneficial to others, and we will never generate that holiness within ourselves. Paul asked rhetorically, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). I say that question is rhetorical, because we have seen it emphatically answered in Romans 11:36—“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.” Do you see that? ALL things! “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth . . . he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:24-25 NIV). Only the Gospel re-orients our hearts and re-calibrates our minds to look outside ourselves for the solution to every problem, the answer to every question, and the ability to overcome every challenge. When we are depending on God and not being seduced by the worldly illusion of self-reliance, we know that whatever we are going through has been given us for two reasons: His glory and our good. And the only way we actually go through it is because God brings us through it. This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Today we’ll take a look at the motivating power of the Gospel and what gets it going in the life of the believer.  This is what I like to call “Gospel grease” and it is available to every child born of grace. 

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  (Luke 7:36-50)

This story paints one of the Bible’s most powerful portraits of the supernatural power of the Gospel to motivate us to graciously respond to it.  Jesus was invited to the home of Simon, a Pharisee, for dinner.  In that culture, the diners did not sit at a table, as we do; they reclined at the table—leaning on their side with their feet stretched out.  Suddenly a prostitute approached the table.  It was not uncommon in those days for uninvited visitors to enter a home and sit along the wall to listen to the conversation.  What was uncommon—unheard of, really—was for a woman of ill-repute, known in the community as a woman of the night, to walk into the home of a Pharisee.   

Odder still, she had not come to listen to the conversation.  Instead, she went straight to Jesus, stood behind Him, and began wetting His feet with her uncontrollable flood of tears.  But then she did the unthinkable.  She let down her hair—no big deal today, but a shameful act for women in public in biblical times, and all the more odious because this was what she did in the service of her sinful profession.  She knelt at the feet of Jesus and began wiping His feet with her hair and even began to kiss His feet.  In her final scandalous act before the shocked crowd, she anointed His feet with the expensive ointment that was an absolute necessity for those who were selling themselves in prostitution. 

Simon could not believe that Jesus would allow such a person to come near Him, much less handle Him like that, which convinced him that Jesus could not be the prophet he claimed to be.  Jesus quickly corrected his error and went on to explain what had just happened.

Jesus started with the parable of the moneylender and the two debtors. One owed a small amount and the other a much larger amount, but neither of them could pay their debt, yet the moneylender forgives both debts.  Jesus asked Simon, “Which of them will love the moneylender more?”  Simon answered, “The one who had the larger debt cancelled.”  Jesus responded, “You have judged rightly.”

Now the holy hammer falls on the house of the Pharisee.  Jesus compares the treatment he received from religious leader and the wretched woman. 

• It was customary to wash the feet of those who entered your home because of the conditions of the unpaved and dusty roads.  Simon offered no water but the sinful woman cleaned Christ’s feet with her tears.
• It was customary to greet others with a holy kiss.  Simon offered no kiss, but the sinful woman did not stop kissing the Lord’s feet.
• It was customary to anoint the head of a guest with oil.  Simon provided no oil, but the sinful woman anointed Jesus’ feet with an entire flask of expensive ointment, worth a year’s wages.

Why such a marked difference between the treatment given to Jesus by Simon and the sinful woman?  Jesus answered this question with a single word: “Love!”  Those who do not sense their great need of forgiveness love little, and those who understand their great need love much.  The Pharisee believed he was in no need of forgiveness, because he was the one who was good, right, and holy. And yet he didn’t even show Jesus Christ what would be considered common courtesy in that day, let alone any sign of love.  But the sinful woman, with a sense of overwhelming gratitude for having her countless sins forgiven, lavished her love, devotion, and worship on Jesus.  And to do this she entered the home of a man whom she knew full well would not welcome her, but rather judge and condemn her. 

It was “Gospel grease” that empowered this woman to overcome every obstacle that stood in her way and publically display her love and gratitude to Jesus because of what He had already done for her.  Her love was not a means to receive forgiveness.  It was a response, because she already had it!  She knew how sinful she was, and having the assurance that her sins—all her sins—had been forgiven opened the way for her heart to beat for her Savior.  May God grant that our hearts would beat just as hers did, until they beat no more. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Do you remember the story of the two men who went up to the Temple to pray?  Jesus said one went home justified and the other did not.  Do you remember why?  What separated them was the sin of comparison.  You might think that the Pharisee was guilty of the sin of self-righteousness, and you would be right.  Self-righteousness is the sin of comparison.  It is the sin of thanking God that we are NOT LIKE OTHER MEN!

[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  (Luke 18:9-14)

The Pharisee was pleased that he was not like other men.  In looking around at others, he always found himself standing on higher and more holy ground, because he kept looking down and comparing himself to others who were known by society to be the worst of the worst.

The Pharisee was speaking as an outsider.  Self-righteous people always think they speak as outsiders.  They believe they are not like others because they are simply better, and being “better,” they are quite sure, places them in a special category. And so it does, but not the category they think!

We are all self-righteous by nature.  We are all recovering Pharisees.  We have a tendency to keep an eye out for others who seem to be doing a little worse that we are; we put them down so we can lift ourselves up in our own eyes.  That is why the Pharisee chose to compare himself with the obvious sinners and outcasts of society, rather than comparing himself with the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  It was a whole lot more comfortable comparing himself to the dregs of society!  Our Lord spoke very directly about this kind of thinking:

Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.  (Matthew 7:1-5 ESV)

The gospel is the only cure for the disease of self-righteousness.  Preaching the truths of the gospel to ourselves everyday (I am the chief sinner in need of The Great Savior) will help us keep an accurate view of who we really are (sinners) and what we are deeply in need of daily (grace).  If you don’t see yourself as the chief sinner—if you are not painfully aware of the log in your own eye—you will always tend to put yourself up above others who commit sins you believe you could never commit.  Self-righteousness makes you judge others instead of coming alongside them as their brother or sister in Christ.  Self-righteousness makes you uptight, angry, condemning, and you will damage one relationship after another. 

And please understand that trying to be less self-righteous is not the solution to your self-righteous problem.  Even if you did manage to become less self-righteous, you would become more self-righteous about that!  The key to good spiritual health is not in what you do, but rather in what you believe.

Let my friend and Bible teacher Steve Brown close out today’s message with an excerpt from his book, What Was I Thinking?  We recently read through this marvelous work in our Brother Brigade men’s group, and I highly recommend it to everyone who struggles with feelings of self-righteousness—which means all of us! Steve suggests,

Maybe the solution isn’t in anything we do but rather in what we know.  Could it be that the solution isn’t in making ourselves less self-righteous but rather in recognizing that we are self-righteous?  In fact, the secret to getting better might be to simply recognize how difficult it is to get better, take our self-righteous shortcomings to Jesus, and tell everybody we know that we’ve been to him—and why we went there.

Sounds like good counsel to me.  What do you think?  It just might help all of us from seeing ourselves as not like other men!

This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!