Sermon Tone Analysis

Big Idea

Love shows through action when forgiveness is grasped

We should love much because we have been forgiven much

Love Jesus recklessly for his total forgiveness

Reckless Love

“I would do anything for love - but I won’t do that” - who remembers that famous line?

If you were making a top-10 of the world’s greatest acts of love, what would you put in there?

What about:

King Nebuchadnezzar

His Queen, Ameetis, was homesick.

Around 600 B.C., she married King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon for political reasons.

But the Babylonian landscape - modern-day Iraq - was a dull flat desert, and she missed her home country, lush and mountainous.

So Nebuchadnezzar commissioned the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, spectacular planted terraces that seemed to float in midair.

The gardens were hailed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

All for the love of his queen.

Not bad, ‘eh?

Your very own wonder of the world.

Or what about..

Wagner, famous composer-dude

On Christmas morning in 1870, Wagner secretly assembled 17 musicians on the stairs leading to the bedroom of his wife.

As she slept, they started to play (with Wagner conducting) a piece he had written just for her.

How’s that?

Your own composition and orchestra?

Or what about this:

King Edward 8th

Back in the day, when a royal marrying an actress from an American TV drama was still was a big “no-no”, it came as a huge shock when in 1938 King Edward abdicated the throne - gave it up - to marry the love of his life, a commoner.

Edward gave up his whole life to marry Wallis Simpson, an ordinary American, shunned by the royal family.

How’s that for an act of love?

Giving up a throne?!

Amazing.

But what about you: what’s your greatest act of love in your whole life?

I bet there are some awesome stories in this room.

Maybe a great icebreaker in smallgroups this evening!

[pause]

Well, today we’re going to see a great act of love - one directed towards Jesus.

And it’s not just something that makes us go “awwwwwww” - it’s one that has something pretty profound to teach us.

If you’ve not been with us before, we’ve been working our way through the story of Jesus’ life, following the Gospel of Luke, one of the four biographies of Jesus contained in the Bible.

Grab a bible, find Luke Chapter 7, and let’s read the next part of the story together.

Page xxxxx, chapter 7 - that’s the big number - verse 36 - that’s the small one.

3 Reading

5 Turning the page

Story so far: lots of miracles; deliverance from evil spirits, healing, even a resurrection from the dead.

Last week Jesus pointed John to these signs - signs which show who Jesus is.

Now the story moves on and we should notice there’s no physical healing or deliverance from evil spirits in this section.

Just a meal.

Jesus is about more than these signs; the signs point to something - Something even bigger and more significant.

Something which this unlikely hero, this notorious woman sinner, has grasped.

6 An unlikely hero

Woman isn’t sick.

Woman isn’t possessed (though her actions shock).

Woman’s just pouring out love.

Who is she? we don’t really know.

No name.

What has she done?

No detail.

v37 “A woman in that town who lived a sinful life” is all we have.

It seems that everyone knows - this pharisee, Simon; the people of the town; Jesus.

Everyone knows - but no-one bothers to tell us.

Why? because it’s not important.

who she is and what she’s done wrong isn’t the point.

It’s what’s been done for her.

7 You might wonder how she got in but in those days meals like this were open; anyone could come and listen (but not eat!)

She doesn’t say a word.

But her actions speak louder than any words she could have said.

This woman pours out her love for Jesus - v38 reads like it’s a developing series of actions which take a while to get through.

weeping; wiping; kissing; perfume.

Her behaviour!

It’s not dinner party etiquette at all - it’s seriously over-the-top; perhaps a years’ wages worth in that bottle!

Done now - can’t put it back.

9 A telling response

What does watching Simon think?

Keep away, sinner - I don’t want to catch anything

(a sinner’s a sinner; she’s had her three strikes, she’s out - can’t weasel your way back in here young lady no matter what)

But Jesus doesn’t keep her at a distance - he accepts her love; he could have pulled away from her; he could have told her to stop, to get out.

But he does more than just accept her love - he welcomes it; Simon thinks that’s because he’s clueless - doesn’t really know who she is.

But it turns out Simon’s the one that’s clueless.

Jesus knows something Simon doesn’t - well, ok, more than one thing:

First, he know what Simon’s thinking - he answers his thoughts v40

Second, he knows what she’s thinking.

He knows why she’s acting this way.

Jesus’ parable: two debtors; denari = week’s wage so both serious, neither could pay; both forgiven.

What’s Jesus’ point?

People love in proportion to what has been done for them

Jesus’ analysis v44-46: she’s loved him far more than Simon.

A whole list of comparisons.

Simon actually scores zero - not clear whether he should have done all those things, or whether he just could have done them - but either way, Simon’s had plenty of opportunity to demonstrate love towards Jesus - and apart from inviting Jesus to the meal in the first place, he’s not done anything.

why?

From the parable, Simon doesn’t think he owes anything or has received anything

11:30 Forgiven through faith

The woman’s at the very opposite end of the spectrum [move].

She obviously knows she had a massive debt - it seems everyone else does too.

But she also knows she’s found massive forgiveness - so she’s expressing this massive love.

And she knows it’s Jesus who has done this - he’s the one she’s shamelessly pouring out this astonishingly audacious love on.

Now it’s important we see that her love is the response to how good God is, not the cause of his goodness in forgiving; it’s free grace that’s on display here.

Parable is clear on this.

Jesus explanation clear v47 “her many sins have been forgiven - as her great love has shown”; Jesus’ declaration v48 clear in the original language - it’s in what’s called the perfect tense, used to describe past completed actions with present significance.

Jesus isn’t forgiving then and there - he’s declaring it’s already done - for her benefit and those around her.

How’d this forgiveness happen?

What led to that cancelling of debt?

Parable doesn’t give us much to go on - the moneylender just chooses to forgive.