Jesus, Forgiveness, And You Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Many assume God won't forgive moral sins, so they sin all the more, not knowing the mercy of the Christ who died for sins like these. Today, a real life story of how Jesus restored the dignity of someone with a lifetime of sexual sin. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, some who listen may feel their sin is beyond forgiveness.

Do you have any words of hope for these people? Dave, I have to tell you that I absolutely love this story. Here's a woman, almost certainly a prostitute, who shows up at a feast to which she was not invited. And she's the one that leaves forgiven, loving Jesus in the midst of some self-righteous Pharisees. It's a wonderful story. It's a story of redemption. My wife, Rebecca, and I have written a book entitled Life-Changing Bible Verses You Should Know. It's filled with about 35 different issues, many of them perhaps two or three pages.

But it also has to do with issues such as forgiveness, justification, redemption. It'll be the kind of book that is a blessing to you and to others. For a gift of any amount, it can be yours. Here's what you do.

Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. But for now, let's listen to this remarkable story of hope, forgiveness, and love. Marilyn Monroe once said that in Hollywood, they give you $1,000 for a kiss and 50 cents for your soul. So I want to begin today by asking you the question, how is your soul? How would you characterize it? Is it full of guilt, remorse, powerlessness, self-condemnation, peace, joy? How is the state of your soul? As you know, we're in a series of messages titled Restoring the Soul. In the first message, we spoke about shame and how that has to be overcome if the soul is to be restored, and we'll be commenting on that again today. In the second message, we spoke about the lies that we like to believe about sexuality, lies that hurt and ruin us, and then last time, breaking soul ties. You know, there was a man who was in an adulterous relationship, and when he was confronted, he denied it and even put his fist up to heaven and said, if I'm lying, let God smite me dead. But God didn't smite him dead, and so he felt emboldened to continue on in his lie. But when it finally, finally came unraveled, when the lie didn't work anymore, he said these words, I know I'm wrong.

I'm helpless. I'm driven to be with her, no matter the cost. Now, he commented on that last week, giving an explanation for that, but I need to tell you that the next message in this series is going to do with breaking the cycle, breaking the cycle. But today, we're going to speak about grace and forgiveness in the presence of Jesus, because there's a story in the New Testament that is a wonderful story. It's one in which Jesus takes a woman who had greatly sinned, and he restores her, and not only does he forgive her, but he gives her back something that is desperately needed if you're to be restored, and that is your dignity.

Because if not, you'll repeat the same sin, like one woman said, I thought I was scum, so I lived like scum. I want to tell you today, you can live differently in the presence of Jesus. The story is found in the seventh chapter of the book of Luke. Luke chapter seven, there is a Pharisee by the name of Simon who decides to throw a party for Jesus just to check him out.

That's what the Bible says. And what he does is he throws this feast, and Jesus is to be there because he wants to meet Jesus for himself, this Pharisee does, and so he invites Christ to the feast. Now, you need to understand that in those days, uninvited guests could come into the courtyard. They could not come to the table, but if they wanted to crouch along the walls of the courtyard, they could do that.

They were free to do that. And there is a woman in the town who is a sinner. We know from the text that she's a prostitute, and she comes and she cowers in the shadows. Those of us who are interested in the cause of human behavior would be very interested to know how she got into prostitution. Was it that she was raised in a fine home but then decided to throw it all away and to simply go into this lifestyle, and once she began that way, she was despised and scorned, and so she stayed, earning a living doing that?

That's a possibility, but it's doubtful. More likely, she was abused by a man. She may have been sexually molested as a child. Those who have been sexually violated find it very difficult to put up boundaries. Sometimes they don't even know where the boundaries are. They find it hard to say no because they have been so severely violated, they don't even know exactly where those boundaries should be, and so anyone can come along, and they are willing to open up their lives and their bodies for them. Maybe she's like the prostitute whom someone once brought to me who was tossed out in the street at the age of 14, having to fend alone, raped, then lived as a prostitute.

Whatever. All that we know is that this woman was known in town as a sinner. Now everybody sins, but she especially was known as the sinner of the streets. There's something else that you have to know in terms of customs. In those days when you had a feast, the table was only about 18 inches from the floor, and the people would come and recline. Their feet were extended. The men then would lean on their left elbow and eat with their right hand, and that's the way also that we have to understand the Lord's Supper. It makes no sense to try to understand what was going on there unless you understand that that was the custom of the day. So Jesus is there, and his feet are extended, and this woman comes, and notice what we read. Verse 37, when a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees, how she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. And 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.

Wow. She said to herself, I'm coming from the shadows, and I'm going to get to Jesus no matter what. And openly, repeatedly, and unashamedly, she showed this affection to Jesus.

This was too much for Simon, the Pharisee. You'll notice it says in verse 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 a woman she is, that she is a sinner. Jesus would know that he's being touched by this immoral woman of the streets. Now what I'd like to do in the next few moments is to show you how this woman came to wholeness. Because at the end of this passage, we read from the words of Jesus himself, from his lips, go in peace. How does Jesus take an immoral woman filled with all kinds of shame and remorse? And in the end, in just a few moments, be able to say to her, go in peace. How does that happen in the presence of Jesus?

And I want you to know today that it happens also today. I'm going to give you five steps. I'm a little hesitant to call them steps because when God works in our life, it isn't in some kind of a neat pattern step by step. Sometimes the steps are in a different order. Sometimes all of them happen at one once. But I do believe that in all the processes of healing, that basically there are these elements that are present. And I'd like to give them to you because there are some of you who are listening today who need to be brought from your own lifestyle and your own pain and your own memories to wholeness in the presence of Jesus. And I believe that that is going to happen.

I really do. First step, she was honest and open. She was honest and open.

You say, well, how do you know that? Well, the very fact that she was willing to come to this feast. She knew that everyone who was at the feast, all of these Pharisees would hold her in scorn and derision. She knew that she would elicit this kind of a response, but her desire to meet Jesus was more powerful than the public scorn and rebuke and judgmentalism. All that she cared about was getting to Jesus.

So she came out from the shadows of the courtyard and she came to him. The insults on the street were nothing in comparison what she would get in the house of a Pharisee. These self-righteous bigots who did not see their own sin. And so this dear woman, bless her, she overcame her natural desire to hide her shame. And there are some of you who are addicts, and we will be talking about that in another message.

But there are some of you who are in a lifestyle of repeated sinful behavior. And what I need to tell you today is that the grace of God does not go behind closed doors. And what she had to do is what many have had to do, to die the natural inclination to live a lie and to come into the presence of Jesus.

And I invite you to do that today. And those of you who have been abused, perhaps it's not your sin, but the sin of others, you too have to come to Jesus because the same grace that this woman experienced, the grace of forgiveness and healing and dignity is what all of us need in the pilgrimage of life. You say, well, Pastor Luther, can't I do this on my own? Yes, you can be forgiven in the presence of God on your own, but you cannot be restored.

Your dignity cannot be reinstated as we shall see, except to come out from the shadows and come to the presence of Jesus and not care who's looking or who knows. God bless this woman. First of all, she was open and honest. Secondly, she faced her pain. She faced her pain. You say, well, where's that in the text? Back in verse 38, when it says that she was weeping and then she wipes the feet of Jesus with her hair and kisses them as her tears mingled with the perfume.

In the Greek text, it is present tense. What it means is she kept on weeping. She kept on anointing.

She kept on wiping. And the reason that I know that she faced her pain is because she was weeping. Why was she crying?

Well, of course we know. She was crying because she thinks of all of the men who betrayed her, all of the men who said those wonderful, beautiful, seductive things. And then when they got what they wanted, they tossed her away like the peeling of an orange. She thought also of the broken relationships. Maybe at one time she had a family. Maybe she was even scorned by her relatives and friends.

Who knows? Maybe by her own children. We do not know this story.

We do not know all of the things that came about to have her in this condition. But either way, the simple fact is here was a woman who was so filled with self-revulsion, so filled with shame and the degrading feeling of being used, that there she was in the presence of Jesus, and she wept. She wept. I want you to know today that tears are very important. You don't have to cry to be forgiven, but many of you need to cry to be restored.

And I'll tell you why. She could have acted differently. She could have chosen not to cry. She could have said to herself, you know, if these self-righteous Pharisees are going to treat me that way and scorn me, I'll show them. I'll take all of my feelings and my hurt and I will stuff those feelings into my soul.

I will weld my soul shut so that no one will ever get to me. And then she would have been hard. She'd have been angry. She would have been uncaring. She would have been defiant.

And she would have been unhealed. I want you to know today that God gave us tear ducts that we might cry. And some of you who are in denial, you ought to give yourself the privilege of crying. Maybe you want to weep even in this service today. I want you to know today that if you weep and the person next to you is finding it difficult for her to accept that, that person next to you needs more help possibly than you do. Feel free to weep in the presence of Jesus.

That's what this woman did. And again, I refer to abused children. Some of you know I wrote a book with Dori Vanstone entitled Dori the Girl Nobody Loved, but a second book was entitled No Place to Cry.

Why did we call it that? It's because one of the problems with abused children oftentimes is these feelings are stuffed into their souls and they have no place where they can cry their eyes out. Some of you, God bless you, would do well to cry. Tears are oftentimes a barometer of the soul. And this woman in the presence of Jesus wept.

She did not hide her pain. Third, she accepted Jesus Christ's forgiveness. Now there's a very interesting interchange that takes place here beginning at verse 41. Simon, of course, is incensed that Jesus would let a prostitute touch him. And so Jesus knowing this, he says to Simon, I've got something to say to you.

And Simon says, OK, tell it to me. And Jesus said in verse 41, two men owed money to a certain money lender. One owed him 500 denarii, the other owed him 50. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more? And Simon says, I suppose.

I suppose the one who owed more. And Jesus said, you're right, Simon. Verse 44, then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, do you see this woman? I came into your house and you did not give me any water for my feet. But she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman from the time I entered has not stopped kissing my feet.

You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little. Then Jesus said to her, your sins are forgiven.

I hope someday in heaven we'll see a video of this incident. What Jesus was saying is that those who are forgiven more love more. The degree of our love oftentimes is dependent upon the extent of our forgiveness and what we've been forgiven for. I remember a woman at Moody Church who said, Pastor Lutzer, I am the woman at the well. I am the woman who committed adultery. I am the woman, these women throughout the New Testament, and she says I am wrapped all into one.

In other words, I'm all of these ladies. Yet this woman had such a glow on her face and such a love for Jesus that it was overwhelming, because he who has been forgiven much loves much. Now, Jesus wasn't saying, well, you know, Simon, you can't love me very much because you don't have very much that I have to forgive you for.

I want you to know today that Simon was in much greater need than this woman. Thank God at least she could see her sin. He couldn't see his as he looked down his judgmental holier than thou knows. He couldn't see that he needed the grace of God.

But what I like is this. Jesus Christ is right in the presence of this bigoted Pharisee and his friends. And right in the midst of these people, Jesus speaks these kind words to this woman who perhaps had not heard kind words for years from a man. And Jesus says to her tenderly, Lady, you are forgiven.

It's not only a restoration of forgiveness, but her dignity is restored because she is in the presence of the only one who can speak her clean. And if the man who is at the center of the universe, Jesus Christ, would not have spoken her clean. What if Jesus would have been a Pharisee? What if Jesus would have said, well, you know, don't touch me. Lady, don't you understand I'm the son of God? Don't you understand how holy I am? Go back out onto the streets where you belong.

You don't even belong in this place. What would this dear lady have done? The only thing that she could have thought of maybe to do is to commit suicide because if you're in the presence of the most holy God and the only one who is able to speak you clean and he condemns you, where do you go from there? There is no other place to go. My friend today, no matter who you are, no matter what you have done, there is no other place to go. Jesus is able to speak you clean. I hope that you come to him today in repentance and faith, receiving the gift of eternal life, receiving not only the gift of eternal life, but the very sense of his presence that comes to all those who are cleansed.

Being to win exists to give you resources to help you manage this life, run successfully all the way to the finish line as we frequently mention. We exist in order to share the good news of the gospel with many. My wife and I have written a book entitled Life Changing Bible Verses You Should Know. It's really a book that has 30 or 40 different topics, two or three pages each. Let me simply read some of them, adversity, anxiety, the armor of God, assurance.

I'm jumping down now to forgiveness, to justification, to redemption, to the fear of the Lord, all of these topics. For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours. Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And thanks in advance for helping us. Messages like the one that you have just listened to are going to thousands upon thousands of people.

Right now, you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Life changing Bible verses you should know. It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life.

Sometimes the questions we receive at Running to Win break our hearts. John listens to our program and here is his story. I was a school administrator for a parochial school. I committed adultery.

That resulted in an innocent child. The church has removed me from my call and now I'm unemployed. I listened to your program today and my question is now simply this. Should my wife and I tell our children?

Well, my dear friend, a couple of things. First of all, if your children are going to find out anyway and I suspect that they will, it would be best for you to tell them because it certainly is better that they hear it from their parents than they hear it from friends or through some other route. And you may be paying alimony. There may be connections that are involved as a result of what happened and the children need to know about that. Of course, you've not told me how old the children are and I would say that on the other side of the ledger, if indeed there is no way for your children to ever find out, then I would say that they don't need to know. I think as long as this difficult issue is resolved between you and your wife, hopefully you and the church, because apparently the church knew all about this, then that would be sufficient. It is not necessary that our children know everything about their parents and the sins that their parents have committed. But my suspicion is these children will find out anyway.

So, I think at some point when they are at the right age, you just need to tell them. Thank you, John, for sharing your question. Thank you, Pastor Lutzer, for that compassionate counsel. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or, call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. The woman who wiped her tears from Jesus' feet knew that this man could restore her dignity as well as forgive her moral sins. Next time on Running to Win, our series on Restoring the Soul continues. We'll turn again to Luke chapter 7 and hear about the key elements of one woman's return to dignity.

Could this be your story? Plan to tune in. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.