I want to continue on the same train of thought we began with last week in The Sinner and The Feast, namely that we must first recognize our need for Jesus prior to walking in the fullness of what He has provided.
To that end, I'm reminded of Jesus' words in Luke 7:41-47, ““There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.””
First, we have to give some context here - the woman Jesus is referring to here was known as a sinner in the community, but she came into the assembly and washed Jesus' and anointed them with oil.
The religious leaders were quick to point out that this woman was a sinner, and wouldn't you know, we find most Christians again on the side of the religious leaders opposed to Jesus and His message? Jesus was not in the business of condemning the woman. She came to Him and recognized that she was in desperate need of the Savior and the forgiveness offered by Him.
But notice the example Jesus gives us here in the scripture. Jesus' point is not that she has no need for forgiveness. His point is that she recognizes that she is in need of forgiveness and has been forgiven of much, therefore, she loves much in response.
With that in mind, how are we to live? Should we be high on our religious horses, concerned with the attitudes and behaviors of those around us? Or should we be the ones who recognize first that we have been forgiven much?
And when we recognize that we've been forgiven much, how much easier is it for us to now extend that forgiveness to others, that grace to others?
I think that recognition is what is missing in much of the Church today. We're so quick to point out the faults in others or the incorrect morals, lifestyles, or behaviors of people that are outside the Church and focus so much on endeavoring to correct their faults that we miss the point of the Gospel entirely. We're the ones who have been forgiven much, therefore we should love much. We're the ones who were once sin sick and in need of the Great Physician.
D.T. Niles said that, "Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread." I know that referring to yourself as a beggar is anathema to those of us who were raised in the camps Shellby and I were brought up in, but the picture painted here is an accurate one in that, we as people are hungry, lost, and in need of a Savior. When I find Jesus, it's not about me telling you that I have bread or that I've found anything on my own, but about me saying, "Let me tell you about where I got fed. I know that He will feed you too!"
Friend, let us remember that as the ones that have been forgiven much, we must love much in return.
By Grace,
Dave