Jesus and the Prostitute - Life of Christ Part 24

Well, this lady is the hottest item in Hollywood and she's not even a movie star. Never even made a movie.

Never even made a TV commercial. Her name is Heidi Fleiss. Heidi is 27 years old. She's the daughter of a very prominent Los Angeles pediatrician. She's a high school dropout and reportedly she's the Madame to the Stars. Have you been reading about this gal? Anyway, the point is she was arrested in June for pandering and for narcotics charges. But what really has Hollywood abuzz is Heidi's Little Black Book, which reportedly contains the names of dozens of highly visible and highly married movie stars as well as studio execs who use studio money to pay for sex and drugs. And Hollywood is already in heavy denial. I mean, people are issuing statements through their press agents and through their lawyers saying they never heard of Heidi Fleiss when nobody even accused them of it.

I mean, it's the most amazing thing I ever saw. It's a media field day. It's a talk show, grit fest, and you're going to hear a lot more of Heidi Fleiss before this is all over. He said, well, Lon, why do you bring her up? I mean, what has she got to do with anything? Well, the point is that Heidi Fleiss, pure and simple, is a prostitute.

Just like the lady that we're going to see comes to meet Jesus in our story for this morning, except that there's one big difference. And the big difference is that the movie stars and the moguls and the media, all of these people, none of them are interested in Heidi. They want to use her and they want to take advantage of her for their own purposes.

But nobody really cares about her. And I'm sure this woman who came to see Jesus had been used all her life by people trying to get what they wanted from her. But you see, the big difference is when Jesus Christ meets this prostitute, he's not interested in getting anything from her. He's not interested in what she can do for him. He's interested in what she can do for her. What he can do for her.

What he can give her. And what he wants to give her is he wants to give her a new life. He wants to heal her and make her clean and whole and fresh. He wants to give her a right reason for living and help her to achieve the dreams that she had for her life. He doesn't want to take anything from her.

He just wants to give her something. And that's what the story is all about. It's a very touching story.

And I hope after we read and study the story, we'll be able to answer the most important question for Heidi's life. And for your life and my life. And that is, so what?

Right. Let's look at the passage. Verse 36.

And this sense of being able to handle it themselves made them not only a very conceited bunch, but also a bunch that did not really have much use for Jesus Christ or anything he was offering. So why is it then that this Pharisee invites Jesus to come to dinner? Well, we don't know. It certainly wasn't because he believed in him or he honored him or he wanted to follow him. Maybe it was because he wanted to trap him and embarrass him or find some way to bad mouth him.

I don't know. But Jesus went. And suddenly an uninvited guest shows up. Verse 37. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. And so she entered his house.

We'll stop there for just a second. It's interesting to notice, isn't it, that this was a woman the entire town knew about. The Bible is very discreet in saying that it was a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town, but all commentators are agreed, and I agree with them, that that's a very polite way of saying that the woman was a prostitute. Everybody in the town knew about the sin she'd been involved in, and she heard Jesus was there, and she came to see him. Verse 38 says that when she first came into the room, she stood behind him at his feet weeping. She didn't immediately go to touching him or doing anything.

She stood there weeping. And the reason was because she wasn't sure how Jesus was going to respond to her. Would someone like Jesus let someone like her touch him? Would someone like Jesus allow someone like her to even approach and be near him?

And she wasn't sure, so she hesitated for a minute. But when Jesus made no move to object, she pressed on. And the Bible says that she stood there, and then she began to wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume all over them. What a scene.

What an incredible scene. Here's this woman kissing the feet of Jesus, wiping the dirt off, and his feet were dirty. Everybody's feet who walked around then in open sandals were filthy. And as we're going to learn later, the Pharisee had not even given him the courtesy of washing his own feet off before he ate.

His feet were filthy, and yet she kissed them. And she wept over his feet, and she washed his feet with her hair because of her gratitude for what God had done in her life, as we'll see in a minute. Well, the Pharisee didn't like this.

Verse 39. When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, if this man were really a prophet, if I'm right, and this man's really a prophet, if he really understood who God is, if he really understood who this woman is, if he really understood holiness, if he really understood what it meant to be a man of God, he would know who's touching him. He would know what kind of woman this is. He would know that she's a sinner. He would know that she's dirty, and she's unclean, and she's unfit to be around a holy man of God. How can he let a woman like this touch him? I wouldn't let her touch me. I wouldn't let her get near me.

Oh! How could he do this? The Pharisee has a problem, and his problem is found right in this verse. His problem is that he was able to say very easily, she is a sinner. But he was not able to say, I am a sinner. See his problem? She's a sinner.

She's terrible. How could somebody who knows God even let her close to him? But what he wasn't able to see is that he was a sinner in the sight of God, just like she was. He couldn't see that. Her sins were sins of the flesh, like Heidi's.

I mean, they were out in the open for everybody to see. His sins were sins of the heart, which, friends, are much more deadly. Pride, arrogance, self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, much more deadly. And in God's mind, a sinner is a sinner. There's no difference. Jesus should have been just as concerned about letting this man get near him as this woman.

There was no difference. But the man was so hypocritical, and he was so judgmental, and it made Jesus really sad. And he said to the man, he said, you know, I've got a little story I need to tell you.

Look, verse 40. Jesus said to him, Simon, I've got something I need to tell you. Now, this is the first time we find out the man's name. You say, oh, really? I always thought this was Simon Peter that he was talking to.

Yeah, I did, too, for years and years and years. I thought this was Simon Peter. And I thought this is great because he gets it right. And I thought this is the only time Simon Peter ever got anything right that Jesus asked him.

This is great. But it isn't Simon Peter. It's Simon the Pharisee, OK?

And Simon says, OK, tell me. Jesus said, well, you know, there were two men and they both owed money to a moneylender, one of them owed him 500 bucks and the other one owed him 50 bucks. But neither one had enough money to pay. And so the moneylender, just out of the goodness of his heart, his graciousness, he forgave both of them and canceled their debts. Now, he said, Simon, which of them do you think would love that moneylender more? And Simon said, hedging his bets, he says, well, I suppose I mean, I'm not going to commit myself here, but I suppose. That it would be the one who had the bigger debt canceled. And Jesus said, you're right.

You're absolutely right. And he said, you know, Simon, maybe you and this woman here, you two people are the two people I'm talking about in this parable. And maybe the woman outwardly looks like she owes God a whole lot more than you do.

Maybe she's the one that owed five hundred dollars and you're the one who outwardly only owes 50. But that's not the point of the parable, Simon. The point of the story is not who owed more. The point of the story is that both people owed a debt and neither one of them could pay it.

Simon, that's the point. And that the moneylender, who, by the way, is God, agreed to forgive them both. Now, it's obvious the prostitute understands her condition. She was the one standing there weeping, washing his feet with her hair, crying over him and kissing him out of gratitude for the fact that God had forgiven her sin. But the point of the parable was to make Simon understand that he was just as needy and just as bankrupt in the eyes of God as this woman was. But the difference is he didn't have the sense to realize it.

He was too stupid to realize it. Jesus says to him, you know, Simon, the reason you don't love me very much is because you haven't been forgiven very much. And the reason you haven't been forgiven very much is because you haven't asked for it.

And the reason you haven't asked for it is because you don't believe you need it. And that's tragic. Look what he said. Verse 44. Then he turned towards the woman and he said to Simon, he pointed to the woman, he said, do you see this woman over here, Simon? I came to your house and you didn't give me any water to wash my feet, which was a common courtesy in that day. But this woman has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. And Simon, you see this woman?

You didn't give me a kiss. But this woman, since I entered your house, has not stopped kissing my feet. And Simon, you see this woman? You didn't put any oil on my head when I got here, but she has poured perfume all over my feet. Therefore, Simon, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much, but he who has been forgiven loves little. And in your case, Simon, he who doesn't love me at all hasn't been forgiven of anything.

Dear friends, I want to say something to you, and that is this. Doing business with God means that you have to do it according to a formula. It's a very simple formula, but you've got to do it according to the formula. And here's the formula.

The formula is this. We have all the need. God has all the supply.

Can I give it to you again? We have all the need. God has all the supply. There are a lot of people who want to do business with God, but they don't want to keep the formula.

They don't like the first half. We have all the need. They'll say things to you like, I don't have all that need. Take that sinner stuff somewhere else. Don't come here and talk to me about all this sinner stuff. Take it to the people who need it. I'm a pretty good person. I give money to the church. I do nice things for people. I'm not somebody that's in jail. I don't break the law. Take that sinner stuff where it belongs, down in the gutter.

Take that sinner stuff where it belongs, but not to me. I always tell people when you're sharing the gospel with somebody, one of the first questions to ask them is, how do you feel about your life right now? Are you satisfied with your life right now? And somebody who says to you, I'm satisfied with my life.

I love the way it's going. Everything's hunky-dory, and things are perfect with me. They are not a candidate for coming to know Christ at that moment because they don't believe they have a need. Simon was that way. What did Simon say? Simon said, she is a sinner. She is a sinner. But Simon didn't believe he was.

Simon also messed up the second half. The second half is, we have all the need. God has all the supply. There are people who say, hey, look, maybe I got a little need when it comes to God.

All right, maybe so I'm not perfect, so maybe I've done a few things wrong, but it's nothing I can't handle myself. I'll go do a few religious good works. I'll sing in the choir. I'll give some money to the church. I'll help some old ladies across the street. I'll do some nice little religious things.

And you know what? As a result of that, I'll work it out with me and God. I'll be as good as everybody else was, and I can work my way into heaven and solve this problem.

Thank you very much. That's what Simon thought. He had 613 little ways in which he was going to solve the problem all by himself. And may I say to you that that's the foundation of every false religion in the world. And I'm categorizing every religion as false except for true biblical Christianity.

Every one of them is false because every one of them messes up the second half of the formula. The second half of the formula is God alone has the supply, not you and me. And no matter whether you try to work your way to heaven in some ritualistic way through eastern religions or through some kind of Protestant religion or through some kind of Jewish religion or through some kind of New Age movement or through Mormonism or through Jehovah's Witnesses, it doesn't matter. If you think you can supply what you're missing in the sight of God, then you've messed up the formula. Because did you hear the parable? Neither one of them could pay the debt, and you can't either. Nobody can.

Simon thought he could, but he couldn't. Friends, only people who keep both sides of the formula can do business with God. I have all the need. God has all the supply. And that's how the prostitute saw her life, and that's how the Pharisee didn't. You know, when it comes to salvation, when it comes to eternal life, when it comes to your relationship with God, you're either going to see yourself one of these two ways. There is no middle ground. You're either a Pharisee thinker or you're a prostitute thinker.

I mean, that's pretty much the way it is. A Pharisee thinker says, I don't really have that much need. I'm pretty much okay.

I'm a pretty good person. And the little bit of need I have, I can handle it myself. A prostitute thinker says, I owe God a debt. I can never pay. I can't handle it myself. My only alternative is to admit my utter helplessness and trust God to do for me what I cannot do for myself.

That's it. And you're one or the other when it comes to how you see yourself and how you see God. On the cross, Jesus Christ did something for you that you can't do for yourself. He paid for your sins, and he'll forgive your sins and the sins of anyone else in this world who's willing to approach him like the prostitute did.

But those are the only people that he does business with. So let me ask you this morning, are you a prostitute thinker or Pharisee thinker? It's pretty important which one you are because look what the rest of the chapter says. Verse 48. Then Jesus said to her, your sins are forgiven.

Now let's go back and read that again. Then Jesus said to who? Did he say it to him?

Uh-uh. He said it only to one of them. Then Jesus said to her, your sins are forgiven. And why did he say it to her?

Because she's the only one who came according to the formula. The other guy wouldn't do it. And the other guests began to say among themselves, who is this that can even forgive sin? And Jesus said, don't worry about them. Don't worry what they're saying.

Trust me. Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has delivered you. Now go your way. Go in peace. My dear friend, the hardest part in coming to know Jesus Christ in a real and personal way, and the hardest part of living as a Christian every day and letting him operate in your life, is being willing to accept the fact that you have all the need and he has all the supply.

Cross that bridge and the rest of it's easy. But most of us in a culture that tries to convince us that we're okay, we're doing fine, and teaches us to be arrogant, self-sufficient, and to take care of everything ourselves in a culture like ours, most of us have a very hard time humiliating ourselves to admit that we have all the need and God has all the supply. When I was a student down at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, I got into drugs pretty heavily trying to enlighten myself. And I was born and raised Jewish.

And I came out of a Jewish environment, conceited, self-righteous, self-sufficient, sure that as a Jewish person I can handle anything that came along and I was fine with God and I didn't need anything and I was doing just great, me and God, we were hunky-dory, we were mates. And I went off to college and my life began to fall apart but I knew it wasn't because of my relationship with God, because me and God, we were fine. So I began doing some psychedelic drugs trying to enlighten myself and trying to find some real answers to life, trying to get better, trying to become, you know, a peace child, sixties type thing.

And I'll never forget I was about 20 years old and I was sitting on the little wall in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It was 2 o'clock in the morning, we were tripped out on LSD, me and this friend of mine sitting next to me and I was talking and I said to him, you know, I said I've been doing all these drugs and I've been doing all these psychedelics and I'm supposed to be getting better and I'm supposed to be getting enlightened and I'm supposed to be growing and becoming a peace child and a love person. But I feel like I'm getting worse. I mean I feel like I'm getting more selfish and I feel like I'm getting more self-centered and I feel like I'm becoming more manipulative and I feel like I'm just becoming more awful.

How could this be? I'm going the wrong direction. I'll never forget what he said to me. He said to me, Lon, have you ever thought about the fact that maybe you're not becoming worse, maybe you're becoming more honest about what you've been all the time. And I went, oh man, well that's too heavy, this is 2 o'clock in the morning but I can't deal with this.

But I tell you what, that comment made a profound impact on me because the more I began thinking about it, the more I became convinced he was right. All the drugs had done was strip away all this conditioning about what a great guy I was that I had put on myself and about how righteous I was and how everything was all right. It had stripped it away and made me see myself for what I really was and it was ugly.

I didn't like it. And what's worse, I didn't know how to change it. I tried everything I could think of and it made me come to the point of saying, you know, Lon, you have a serious problem and you can't fix it. And folks, that was the very first step and the most important in my coming to know Jesus Christ as my personal savior.

When I got to the point where I could honestly admit that to myself, you have a problem and you can't fix it, then I was ready to start hearing from Christ. That's the hardest thing for people to get over and maybe you're here and that's the hard thing for you to get over. Maybe you wear $500 suits and $400 dresses and you drive Mercedes and nice cars and you're a nice upstanding person. Folks, you're just like Simon if that's where you are. And maybe we got some folks here who just like the prostitute.

That's okay too. Either way, it doesn't matter whether you owe God outwardly $500 or you owe God $50 outwardly. The point is we've all got a debt we can't handle and we've got to admit it before we can do business with God. I should hope you're a prostitute thinker because prostitute thinkers get their sins forgiven by God. Pharisee thinkers don't. You say, Lon, this is great.

This is really great. I mean, I'm going to go out tomorrow and somebody's going to ask me what I learned in church Sunday and I'm going to tell them in church Sunday my pastor told me I need to think like a prostitute. I mean, how's that going to sound out there in the marketplace?

Well, my advice is show them this prostitute and tell them you need to think like this one and maybe they need to think like them too. That's our passage but it still leaves us with a real important question and that is? So what? Thank you.

All right. Now, you know, I've already given you, there's a great message even in what I've already shared with you but there's another great message in here that I want you to see and that is a message about the way God sees people. Would you notice the way the Pharisees saw this prostitute? He saw her for what she had been and what had she been? She'd been a hooker, right? And he saw her for what she was and what was she? She's a hooker. But how did Jesus see her? Jesus did not see this woman for what she had been and he didn't see her for what she was.

Jesus saw this woman for what she could be, what she could be with the healing love of Jesus Christ operating in her life. You know there's a new book out. You want to know the title of it? It's a real book.

This is no lie. The title of the book is I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional. It's a great book.

Isn't that a great title? It's a great book and you know what the theme of the book is? The theme of the book is we're all screwed up. Everybody's screwed up. You may be screwed up differently than I'm screwed up but everybody's screwed up and it's okay. That's the way it really is and it's true.

You know what? The world system out there loves to take people's weaknesses and we all have them and the world system loves to cast those weaknesses in cement. The world system loves to make people prisoners of their faults for the rest of their lives. The world system loves to condemn people to being the victims of their problems forever and putting people in a box and saying this is what you have been, this is what you are and this is what you always what?

Will be. We hear students talk about that, high schoolers. I hear people say he's just a geek and he'll always be a geek. But what are we really saying? We're saying we're putting this guy in a box. All right, maybe he's got a few problems, maybe he's a little weird at school but he's always going to be just as weird and just as messed up. We put him in a box.

We do the same thing with guys. We say, well, he's a klutz. He'll always be a klutz.

Pick all your expensive things up before he comes over because he's a klutz and he's going to knock them over. What are we doing? We're boxing people in saying this is what he's going to be the rest of his life. Well, he's mindless or she's stuck up or she's got low morals or she's weird and we box people in for the rest of their lives, for the rest of her life. Heidi Fleiss, as far as Hollywood is concerned, is what?

A prostitute. But you know what? Jesus Christ doesn't do that to people. He's different. He knows you messed up but that doesn't bother him.

That doesn't upset him because he also knows that his love changes people. This is how Jesus looked at that prostitute, friends. He looked beyond her fault. Did she have a fault?

Yes. But Jesus looked beyond her fault and he saw what she could be for God, what she could be if she'd embraced Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior, what she could be if she would turn his healing love loose in her life, what she could be if she would let God begin from the inside out to supernaturally change her the way he can do and the way he wanted to do. He knew that she could become a different transformed human being and that's how he looked at that woman. And that's how Jesus Christ looks at you.

And that's how he looks at me and that's how he looks at everybody in this world. We all have aspirations. We all have goals. We all have dreams but sin is a big blocker.

It gets in the way and we can't get to those dreams. We can't be what God made us to be and we end up being what we are and what we have been. And Jesus comes along and says, I can help make you what you could be and what I created you to be if you'll let me. But you can't do it yourself. You've done the best you can.

That's how you ended up here. But you give it to me and I can get you there. I'll make you what you can be. There's a great verse I want to show you. It's in the New Testament. It's in 2 Corinthians 5. If you're in our copy of the Bible, it's page 819.

Would you turn there with me? 2 Corinthians 5, 819 in our copy, verse 17. This is kind of like the story of my life, this verse.

And I think if you know Christ, it's probably the story of your life. Here's what the verse says. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Therefore, Paul says, if anyone is in Christ, now stop for a second. What did it say?

If what? Anyone is in Christ. Now does anyone mean anyone?

You bet it does. Does anyone mean a guy who wears $500 suits? Yes. Does it mean a lady who wears $400 dresses and drives a Mercedes? Yes.

Does it mean people who sleep on a heating grate? Yes. Does it mean prostitutes? Yes. Does it mean drug addicts? Yes. Does it mean everyday run-of-the-mill people like most of us who are just doing the best we can to get by? Yes. What does it mean?

Anyone means anyone, right? If anyone gives their life to Jesus Christ and is in Christ, watch. That person becomes a new creature. Old things start to pass away. New things start to come.

And they don't start to come because you and I are able to conjure them up or whoop them up in our own energy. They come because a new force has entered our life. Jesus Christ has entered our life. And the healing love of God begins to operate in our life and begins from the inside out to transform us and enable us to become the people God created us to be from the beginning, but that we could never get to by ourselves. And I want to tell you something, there's not a person I know of who really knows Jesus Christ in a personal way, who won't stand up and testify to the truth of this verse. They will say, I may not be everything I ought to be, but thanks to God, I'm not what I used to be.

I may not be what I ought to be, but thanks to God, I am not what I used to be. The world sees people through the eyes of the Pharisee. And how did the Pharisee see this woman? He said to Jesus, forget her. She's a lost cause. She's hopeless. She's trash. Throw her away, Jesus. You don't want anything to do with a woman like this. We've thrown her away.

You should. Ah, but not God. No, no. God sees people through the eyes of this verse and God sees people not for what they are, for what he knows he can make them. And my dear friend, God doesn't care how you and I look when he first gets us. He doesn't care because he knows he's not going to leave us the way he finds us. He's going to transform our lives.

And that's the, I think the best part about knowing Jesus Christ is he doesn't leave you where he finds you. When I think of this, I think of John Newton. You say, John Newton, John Newton. All right, I know I heard that name somewhere. Is he the guy that invented that cookie?

No, no, not the same guy. By the way, you know now they don't just have Fig Newtons. They have Apple Newtons, raspberry Newtons, peach Newtons. Did you know that?

They really do. I mean, there's all kinds of Newtons now where it used to be just Fig. Now you got all kinds of, well anyway, no, this is not the same guy. John Newton was the guy who wrote Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I'm found was blind, but now I see. How did the world see John Newton? The world saw John Newton as the cruel slave runner that he was. But Jesus Christ looked past that and saw John Newton for the tender pastor he could become. And how about Fanny Crosby?

The world saw Fanny Crosby as a handicapped little blind girl who had no future whatsoever. But Jesus looked beyond that and saw Fanny Crosby as the greatest American hymn writer in history that she could become. Chuck Colson, the world saw Chuck Colson as the ruthless, arrogant, self-reliant, marine, thank you, the hatchet man to the president that he was. But Jesus Christ looked beyond that and saw Chuck Colson as the compassionate leader of prison fellowship that he could become. And Lon Solomon, hey, I tell you, the world saw me as an insecure, neurotic, drug-abusing, confused young man. I'm sure glad Jesus Christ looked beyond that and saw me for what I could become. Heidi Fleiss, huh, the world sees her as a whore. Jesus Christ looks beyond that and sees her for the woman of God that she could become. If she'd only recognize her need for Jesus Christ and let him into her life.

And dear friend, I don't know what your background is or your situation is, but I can tell you, no matter what you've been or what you are, Jesus Christ sees you for what he can make you if you'll let him. And I think that's kind of special. Years ago, someone gave me a little poem, and I don't really like poetry. In fact, I almost didn't graduate from high school because of poetry.

Can any of you relate to that? I had an 11th grade English teacher who said to me, Mr. Solomon, you are going to learn poetry or you will never graduate from Woodrow Wilson High School, and she made me her personal project. I learned some poetry.

I still don't like it, but I learned some. But I love this poem, and I filed it away. It's kind of old and yellow.

Can you see that? But I've always wanted to use this poem, and this seems like a great time. The title of it is The Touch of the Master's Hand.

It goes like this. Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while. To waste much time on that old violin, but he held it up with a smile. What am I bid, good folks?

He cried. Who'll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar, now two, only two, two dollars, and who'll make it three?

Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three, but no. From the room far back, a gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow, then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up all of the strings. He played a melody, pure and sweet, as sweet as the angel sings. The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, said, Now what am I bid for this old violin? And he held it up with the bow, a thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand, and who'll make it three? Three thousand once, three thousand twice, and going and gone, said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried.

We don't quite understand what changed its worth. And the man replied, Twas the touch of the master's hand. And many a person, with their life out of tune, and battered and torn by sin, is auctioned a cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like that old violin, a mess of pottage, a glass of wine, a game, and they travel on, they're going once and going twice, they're going and almost gone, but the master comes, and the foolish crowd can never quite understand the worth of a soul, and the change that's wrought by the touch of the master's hand. Isn't that a great poem?

And what's best about it is, it's true. My dear friend, the touch of the master's hand is what you need today, it's what I need today, it's what every person in this world needs today, it's what your friends need and your relatives need and your co-workers need. And you know, God wants to touch our lives, he wants to touch those people's lives that you know, God help us not to look at those people the way the Pharisee looked at that woman, God help us to look past those people's faults, even if those faults irritate us so bad we want to strangle them.

We've got to look past those faults to what God could make that person, if they'd only give their life to Christ, that's the seed of evangelism, not seeing people for what they are, or for what they have been, but for what they can be. And God wants to touch your life too, you say, well Lon, what do you have to do for God to touch your life like this? Not much at all, it's real simple, all you have to do is come to him like the prostitute did, saying I have all the need, and God you've got all the supply. Even as a Christian, going out of your home every day saying God, I can't be today the person you want me to be, I've got all the need, but God, I'm so grateful you've got all the supply. You're a great team, I've got the need, you've got the supply, let's team up today, and you do what has to be done through me.

I think there's a lot of Christians who are determined that they can work it all out themselves and be everything God wants them to be by their own energy and their own effort. You can't, it's the touch of the master's hand, whether you're Christian or you're not, that's the solution. May God help you reach out this morning and grab it, let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I'm so grateful in a world that steps on old violins and sells old violins cheap, throws them on the trash pile, and says forget them, they're no use. And some of us know what it's like to be treated like one of those old violins. I'm so glad, Lord, that there's you.

I'm so glad that there's the touch of your hand, for there is no violin anywhere in this world, no matter how battered and beaten, that your hands can't take and that you can't play a great song from that violin for your glory. Lord Jesus, I pray today that you'd speak to the hearts of people who are here, many of whom I think feel like an old violin. Speak to the people here who've never trusted you in a real and personal way as their Savior and their Lord. Lord show them that their dreams and their aspirations, they can't achieve them in their own energy. No reason is too powerful in their lives.

But you can make them everything they were created to be if they'll just give you a chance. And for those of us who are Christians, I pray, dear Father, that you would remind us that even as Christians, it's still the touch of the Master's hand that makes us the people that you want us to be. Forgive us for our self-sufficiency even as Christians.

Being so sure we can hack it out ourselves. Teach us what it means to be like the prostitute who simply confessed she was helpless and turned to you for the supply. And if you're here this morning and you feel like there's some things that you need to tell God, that you need to humble yourself and ask for His touch, I'm going to give you just a minute of silence so you can pray to Him this morning. Father I ask you to take the prayers that you've heard this morning.

People humbling themselves before you and asking for help. And I pray you would be swift to help them. Thank you that in a world that throws old violence away, there's still the touch of the Master's hand. Thank you for giving us the privilege of not only experiencing it, but telling other people about it. Make us faithful to do so, we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.