WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:02.930 Over the years, Jeffrey and I have learned that 00:00:02.930 --> 00:00:05.549 the greatest battles we face are usually fought 00:00:05.549 --> 00:00:09.029 in our minds, but won with our mouths. When we've 00:00:09.029 --> 00:00:12.029 chosen to speak God's promises in the face of 00:00:12.029 --> 00:00:14.490 our fears, failures, and problems, we've seen 00:00:14.490 --> 00:00:18.289 God do what only He can do. This truth has changed 00:00:18.289 --> 00:00:21.809 our lives, and it's why we wrote Talk to Your 00:00:21.809 --> 00:00:24.530 Giants, to show you how to fight the good fight 00:00:24.530 --> 00:00:26.750 of faith, speak in agreement with God's Word, 00:00:26.890 --> 00:00:29.170 and discover the victory that comes when you 00:00:29.170 --> 00:00:39.310 stop talking Week number three in our series 00:00:39.310 --> 00:00:42.710 we've entitled Never Unnoticed. Now, how many 00:00:42.710 --> 00:00:44.490 of you have ever seen the show Candid Camera 00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:48.810 before? Yeah, it's a little throwback show. If 00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:51.750 you're not familiar with it, they would do like, 00:00:51.890 --> 00:00:55.359 they would do. crazy kind of, they'd pull people 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:01.340 into little scenarios with actors and put them 00:01:01.340 --> 00:01:05.359 in strange situations. And then at the end, it's 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:08.200 kind of like they would see how far the, you 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:10.560 wouldn't say contestant, but kind of the victim 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.659 in a sense, how far the victim would go along 00:01:13.659 --> 00:01:15.799 with what's happening. And then at the end, they 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:18.099 would jump out. When everything's about to collapse, 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:20.519 they would jump out and say, smile, you're on 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:25.099 candid camera. I read, about one of these, like 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:28.799 the most famous one that they did was they set 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:32.980 up cameras in an elevator. And as, you know, 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:36.099 an unexpecting person would walk into the elevator, 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:39.299 they would have actors, you know, eight actors 00:01:39.299 --> 00:01:41.340 in there. And then as soon as the door closed, 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:43.900 all the actors would turn around and face the 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:47.950 wall. Instead of facing the door, they would 00:01:47.950 --> 00:01:49.969 just all turn around at the same time and face 00:01:49.969 --> 00:01:52.890 the wall. And then they have cameras on the person 00:01:52.890 --> 00:01:56.530 going like, what? And it was interesting because 00:01:56.530 --> 00:02:00.090 like 90 % of the time, that person would just 00:02:00.090 --> 00:02:06.180 go, oh. and turn around with everyone else. And 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:10.360 they use this in psychology books, I even found 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:13.759 out, just like the lesson of conformity. When 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.560 we see a group doing something, we just naturally 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.520 do what everyone else does. But I thought that 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.550 was kind of an interesting thing. It brings about 00:02:23.550 --> 00:02:26.990 a point where we're never unnoticed, right? There's 00:02:26.990 --> 00:02:29.229 always cameras. There's always people watching, 00:02:29.370 --> 00:02:31.710 even in this gym, right? There's a camera there. 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:34.590 There's a camera in the hallway. There's no cameras 00:02:34.590 --> 00:02:36.770 in the bathroom, of course, but there's cameras 00:02:36.770 --> 00:02:40.569 all over everywhere you go, whether you're driving 00:02:40.569 --> 00:02:45.069 your car, right? Whether you're at work. A recent 00:02:45.069 --> 00:02:48.550 incident that happened, I was at Disney. Caitlin's 00:02:48.550 --> 00:02:52.629 dad, my father -in -law, was in town. So we took 00:02:52.629 --> 00:02:55.870 him like a couple days to the park and went to 00:02:55.870 --> 00:02:58.729 Magic Kingdom. And one of my favorite attractions 00:02:58.729 --> 00:03:01.229 is Pirates of the Caribbean. Who likes that ride? 00:03:01.930 --> 00:03:04.449 Yeah, it's a good ride, right? If you're not 00:03:04.449 --> 00:03:07.530 familiar with it, it's a slow -moving boat ride. 00:03:08.110 --> 00:03:10.710 And in the first scene, you kind of like launch 00:03:10.710 --> 00:03:13.689 off the platform. You get into the water, and 00:03:13.689 --> 00:03:17.590 it's a cave. It's a real dark, moody cave. There's 00:03:17.590 --> 00:03:19.849 ambience, you know, kind of set in the scene, 00:03:20.069 --> 00:03:23.930 you could say. And all of a sudden, Caitlin and 00:03:23.930 --> 00:03:27.310 I, we were in a row, and her dad was behind us. 00:03:27.349 --> 00:03:29.569 And all of a sudden, we just feel water, like 00:03:29.569 --> 00:03:32.870 a splash of water. And I'm like, I've rode this 00:03:32.870 --> 00:03:35.349 ride a hundred times. There's no water in this. 00:03:36.750 --> 00:03:39.509 I kid you not, over the intercom, like as soon 00:03:39.509 --> 00:03:42.569 as the water hit, all you hear is some little 00:03:42.569 --> 00:03:45.949 college girl going, please keep your hands inside 00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:49.430 the vehicle. Keep your hands, arms, feet, and 00:03:49.430 --> 00:03:53.030 legs inside the vehicle at all times. And her 00:03:53.030 --> 00:03:56.490 dad was just back there just cackling and just 00:03:56.490 --> 00:03:59.729 cutting up because he had scooped water and splashed 00:03:59.729 --> 00:04:05.009 us. The whole time I was thinking, like, who 00:04:05.009 --> 00:04:09.090 would do such a thing? You know, like, who would 00:04:09.090 --> 00:04:11.830 do that? And then, of course, he's back there, 00:04:11.849 --> 00:04:15.430 his hands wet, and he's just laughing. Yeah. 00:04:16.490 --> 00:04:20.589 Everyone say, never unnoticed. If you're on an 00:04:20.589 --> 00:04:22.810 attraction at Disney, if you're in, you know, 00:04:22.850 --> 00:04:26.949 anywhere, they're always watching, right? And 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:29.930 that gives us important fact just about everyday 00:04:29.930 --> 00:04:33.810 life. But then also we find in Scripture that 00:04:33.810 --> 00:04:37.889 Jesus and God notices everything. Everybody say, 00:04:37.930 --> 00:04:40.970 God notices everything. He notices everything. 00:04:41.769 --> 00:04:45.589 We've looked at in this series, Genesis 16. And 00:04:45.589 --> 00:04:49.829 in this account, we see the story of Abraham, 00:04:50.089 --> 00:04:54.509 Sarah, and Hagar. And now God had given Abraham 00:04:54.509 --> 00:04:57.589 a promise that he would be the father of many 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:00.529 nations. His descendants would outnumber the 00:05:00.529 --> 00:05:03.990 stars in the sky. But there was only one problem, 00:05:04.129 --> 00:05:07.389 right? He didn't have any offspring, no children. 00:05:07.490 --> 00:05:10.730 Sarah was barren, and so they could never conceive. 00:05:11.110 --> 00:05:14.810 And now they're... late in age, you know, up 00:05:14.810 --> 00:05:18.529 in their 80s and 90s, 90 year old, and they're 00:05:18.529 --> 00:05:23.329 like, well, God, you gave us this promise, but 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:27.629 in the natural, in our ability, it just doesn't 00:05:27.629 --> 00:05:30.910 seem like this can work, right? And often when 00:05:30.910 --> 00:05:33.569 God gives us his word or his promise, sometimes 00:05:33.569 --> 00:05:36.910 it kind of goes against what we naturally could 00:05:36.910 --> 00:05:40.589 do, right? Because the point is that what... 00:05:40.810 --> 00:05:44.589 God asks you to do, he will provide the means 00:05:44.589 --> 00:05:47.649 for you to accomplish it. It's up to him. It's 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:51.370 not for us and our effort, right? There was provision. 00:05:51.490 --> 00:05:55.970 There was a promise and a word, and God wanted 00:05:55.970 --> 00:06:00.829 them to just believe it, to not consider Abram's 00:06:00.829 --> 00:06:07.930 age, the barrenness of Sarah's womb. But we find 00:06:07.930 --> 00:06:13.379 that Sarah had this idea, you know. They knew 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:15.899 what the Word of God was. They knew what would 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:17.819 happen, but they're like, well, let's try to 00:06:17.819 --> 00:06:22.279 make it happen our way. I mean, if you know, 00:06:22.339 --> 00:06:26.620 that's not a good idea. You know, God doesn't 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:30.259 need any help, right? He doesn't need any help. 00:06:30.660 --> 00:06:34.720 Somebody say amen. God doesn't need your help, 00:06:34.819 --> 00:06:39.540 right? He needs your cooperation. He doesn't 00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:41.600 need your help to bring his promises to pass. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.180 But they had this idea. They said, well, God, 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:46.759 you're taking a long time here, and you keep 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:48.660 telling me that the promise and the promised 00:06:48.660 --> 00:06:51.319 son. So what about this? Why don't they had, 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:55.540 Sarah had picked up an Egyptian bond servant, 00:06:55.699 --> 00:07:00.019 and she was like, maybe I will give this bond 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:03.040 servant to you, Abram. You know, you have like 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:06.649 a surrogate mother and child. For the next generation, 00:07:06.829 --> 00:07:12.089 that way will fulfill God's promise. Their way. 00:07:12.310 --> 00:07:16.629 Everybody say their way. Their way. And so that 00:07:16.629 --> 00:07:19.990 happens. Abraham's like, okay. And they do it. 00:07:20.110 --> 00:07:23.550 And then she's pregnant, right? So everyone's 00:07:23.550 --> 00:07:25.930 happy. They think, oh, wow, this is it. Well, 00:07:25.990 --> 00:07:29.350 then all of a sudden, Hagar kind of starts getting 00:07:29.350 --> 00:07:32.000 an attitude. As we know in the Bible, she gets 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.600 a little attitude. I imagine it doesn't say, 00:07:34.779 --> 00:07:37.839 but it says that, you know, she kind of treated 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:41.279 Sarah with contempt. She kind of said something 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:45.699 like, look, I'm pregnant. You can't get pregnant. 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:48.399 Look at me. How many of you know that would cause 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:50.959 some problems? That would cause some problems 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:53.720 in a marriage, right? That would cause some issues. 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:56.160 She's kind of like bragging about like, look, 00:07:56.199 --> 00:07:59.769 look what happened. Well, this made Sarah very 00:07:59.769 --> 00:08:03.310 angry, and Sarah began to make her life really 00:08:03.310 --> 00:08:07.350 difficult. And I like what Scripture says. Sarah 00:08:07.350 --> 00:08:11.790 goes, well, what do you want me to do? What do 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:13.769 you want me to do about this woman? She's treating 00:08:13.769 --> 00:08:21.110 me bad. And Abram, at this time, before God changed 00:08:21.110 --> 00:08:23.370 his name to Abraham, he said what every man would 00:08:23.370 --> 00:08:25.410 probably say. He was like, do whatever you want 00:08:25.410 --> 00:08:28.290 to do, honey. Just do. Whatever you feel like 00:08:28.290 --> 00:08:32.870 you need to do, do it. And so there was a little 00:08:32.870 --> 00:08:34.470 bit of strife and a little bit of contention 00:08:34.470 --> 00:08:39.730 there. But something really cool happens in our 00:08:39.730 --> 00:08:43.809 story. Hagar, she runs away into the wilderness. 00:08:45.370 --> 00:08:48.370 She thinks, I'm just going to run away. I get 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:50.629 away from this problem. I'm going to go out by 00:08:50.629 --> 00:08:54.129 myself. Probably just to die, you know, is probably 00:08:54.129 --> 00:08:56.309 what she thought. Or maybe somebody would come. 00:08:56.429 --> 00:08:59.070 But she's just out in the wilderness. She's crying. 00:08:59.190 --> 00:09:04.269 She's all alone. And what happens? God sees her. 00:09:04.470 --> 00:09:07.649 Everybody say, God sees her. Because you're never 00:09:07.649 --> 00:09:10.889 unnoticed by God. Even in this, like, really 00:09:10.889 --> 00:09:14.309 dark place, she's out there. She thinks she's 00:09:14.309 --> 00:09:19.850 all alone. And God notices her. It says, the 00:09:19.850 --> 00:09:22.889 angel of the Lord appeared to her in the wilderness. 00:09:24.169 --> 00:09:27.730 An angel of the Lord. Now, theologians call this 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:30.750 a theophany or a Christophany, meaning that it's 00:09:30.750 --> 00:09:33.590 not just an angel. This was an appearance, a 00:09:33.590 --> 00:09:38.210 manifestation of God himself in angel form, appearing 00:09:38.210 --> 00:09:41.429 to her and talking to her. And then he starts 00:09:41.429 --> 00:09:45.289 giving her promises because that's how good God 00:09:45.289 --> 00:09:49.090 is. Right? No matter how far you run, no matter 00:09:49.090 --> 00:09:52.090 what situation you find yourself in, God is there. 00:09:52.210 --> 00:09:56.230 Amen. God is with you. He sees you. God told 00:09:56.230 --> 00:09:59.090 Hagar, said, you're going to have this son. His 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:01.350 name is going to be Ishmael. And you know what 00:10:01.350 --> 00:10:07.970 the name means? God hears me. Say, God hears 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:14.090 me. And then Hagar goes, you are the God, El 00:10:14.090 --> 00:10:20.049 Roy. The supreme mighty God who sees me. And 00:10:20.049 --> 00:10:23.690 this is God revealing himself to her. And she's 00:10:23.690 --> 00:10:25.549 getting filled with this. And she's saying, yes, 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:29.590 God, you hear me. You see me. And then they named 00:10:29.590 --> 00:10:32.549 the land that where she was at. The living God 00:10:32.549 --> 00:10:36.350 sees me. Became the ground that she was standing 00:10:36.350 --> 00:10:41.909 on. How good is God? How faithful is God? How 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:46.330 merciful is God? We're never unnoticed. Someone 00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:50.990 say never unnoticed. The supreme and mighty God, 00:10:51.190 --> 00:10:56.950 he sees us personally. He sees every tear, every 00:10:56.950 --> 00:11:01.909 act of obedience, every sacrifice, every act 00:11:01.909 --> 00:11:04.429 of faithfulness, nothing. Everybody say nothing. 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:08.009 Nothing goes unnoticed by God. I know it's warm 00:11:08.009 --> 00:11:09.889 in here this morning. You got to stay with me. 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:12.669 I'm trying to keep going here. Let's listen. 00:11:13.899 --> 00:11:17.279 We see this applied again in Scripture in 2 Chronicles 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:21.700 16, 9. It's a verse that I grew up hearing a 00:11:21.700 --> 00:11:24.860 lot. It says this, For the eyes of the Lord run 00:11:24.860 --> 00:11:27.460 to and fro, meaning back and forth, throughout 00:11:27.460 --> 00:11:31.879 the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:37.419 of those whose heart is loyal to him. So God's 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:41.570 not just looking, right? He's not just... aimlessly 00:11:41.570 --> 00:11:44.049 looking. No, he's looking for something specific. 00:11:44.929 --> 00:11:47.490 What does the word say here? He's looking for 00:11:47.490 --> 00:11:51.389 what? He's not looking for talent, influence, 00:11:51.690 --> 00:11:57.330 things that we look for, put -togetherness, you 00:11:57.330 --> 00:12:00.350 could say. He's searching for something very 00:12:00.350 --> 00:12:02.769 particular, searching for hearts. Everybody say 00:12:02.769 --> 00:12:06.850 heart. Hearts that are loyal, that are fully 00:12:06.850 --> 00:12:10.860 committed. unwavering, you could say, to him. 00:12:12.860 --> 00:12:17.399 He's looking for a fully committed heart. Because, 00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:20.899 listen, God does not just simply observe. He 00:12:20.899 --> 00:12:24.460 responds. What did this verse say? Look at it. 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:29.000 What's the purpose of him looking? When he finds 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:33.580 the loyal heart, when he finds the committed 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:39.950 heart, what does he do? He shows. He's looking 00:12:39.950 --> 00:12:45.289 to show himself. And a particular character of 00:12:45.289 --> 00:12:51.070 himself, right? Show himself strong. Everybody 00:12:51.070 --> 00:12:59.590 say strong. How mighty. How big he is. So he's 00:12:59.590 --> 00:13:02.340 wanting to reveal something. He's looking for 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:05.600 a heart. When he finds that loyal heart, he shows 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:11.240 them just how big he is. Just how mighty he is 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:19.360 on behalf of those. Do you see that this morning? 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.659 On behalf of those. Because the big things that 00:13:22.659 --> 00:13:26.059 God wants to do in your life are through you. 00:13:29.230 --> 00:13:31.830 He wants to do big and awesome things through 00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:36.190 you. He's waiting on your cooperation with the 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:40.070 promise. He's going to fulfill. He makes the 00:13:40.070 --> 00:13:42.669 provision. But as soon as you align yourself 00:13:42.669 --> 00:13:45.929 and just say, God, I give you everything. God, 00:13:45.970 --> 00:13:49.970 my whole heart, my whole life, when we turn to 00:13:49.970 --> 00:13:54.250 him, instead of turning to the problem, When 00:13:54.250 --> 00:13:58.190 we turn to the supernatural, instead of just 00:13:58.190 --> 00:14:04.409 looking at the natural, God's going to do big 00:14:04.409 --> 00:14:08.090 things through you. That's his plan for you. 00:14:10.110 --> 00:14:15.090 Think about that. God wants to show just how 00:14:15.090 --> 00:14:25.320 big he is to the world through you. I'm going 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:30.759 to keep moving. Notice, throughout this series, 00:14:30.940 --> 00:14:33.860 we've been studying several biblical accounts. 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:36.820 Kind of like series is like this. We're going 00:14:36.820 --> 00:14:38.980 through stories. I mean, if you like stories, 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:41.480 everybody loves a good story. We've been studying 00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:44.259 several biblical accounts where God sees the 00:14:44.259 --> 00:14:46.980 hearts. Everybody say hearts. Sees the hearts 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.779 of people, and then he reveals to us what he 00:14:50.779 --> 00:14:54.830 sees. Right? He shows us. Why would he do that? 00:14:55.049 --> 00:14:58.110 Is it because he doesn't know? He knows and he's 00:14:58.110 --> 00:15:01.309 wanting to get our attention on something. He's 00:15:01.309 --> 00:15:02.690 wanting to get his people. He's saying, look 00:15:02.690 --> 00:15:06.009 at this. Whether it be his disciples or the people 00:15:06.009 --> 00:15:09.789 around him or now us today, the church, right? 00:15:10.309 --> 00:15:14.049 He's revealing something to us. So now let's 00:15:14.049 --> 00:15:16.269 turn in our Bibles to our story today. If you 00:15:16.269 --> 00:15:19.350 have your Bible, we're looking at Luke 7, 36 00:15:19.350 --> 00:15:24.039 through 47. And we'll begin reading. I'm reading 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:26.639 out of the New Living Translation, unless it's 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:31.980 otherwise noted. But let's read together. One 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:35.460 of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:43.320 him. That's nice. That ain't that nice. So Jesus 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:47.100 went, went to his home, and sat down to eat. 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:51.669 Wow. If he gets an invite, he's coming to eat. 00:15:52.029 --> 00:15:56.590 Yeah, he said, I'm coming. Invited him in. When 00:15:56.590 --> 00:15:59.549 a certain immoral woman from that city, everybody 00:15:59.549 --> 00:16:02.830 say immoral woman, immoral woman from that city 00:16:02.830 --> 00:16:05.850 heard that he was eating there, she brought a 00:16:05.850 --> 00:16:09.950 beautiful alabaster jar. Get this, when she heard, 00:16:10.090 --> 00:16:13.490 everybody say when she heard, she brought. She 00:16:13.490 --> 00:16:15.789 brought. So when she heard he was eating there, 00:16:15.830 --> 00:16:18.470 Jesus was eating in this Pharisee's home, she 00:16:18.470 --> 00:16:22.659 brought. prepared a beautiful alabaster jar filled 00:16:22.659 --> 00:16:27.200 with expensive perfume. I wanted to get your 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.759 attention on how Luke describes this woman as 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:35.120 an immoral woman. She must be known sinner. Now, 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:38.200 theologians often speculate what that means, 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:41.259 but all we really know from Scripture is that 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:45.480 her reputation is known more than her identity, 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:49.639 right? She's known as the sinful woman, this 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:53.500 immoral woman. That's her identity almost, right? 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:55.820 We don't have a name. We don't have what she 00:16:55.820 --> 00:16:58.639 did. We just have a moral woman, as Luke records. 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:04.200 But something special about her. When she heard 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:08.519 where Jesus was, her heart wanted to give. Everybody 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:12.200 say her heart. Her heart wanted to give. And 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:14.519 it's interesting, though, that she knew exactly 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:19.000 what she wanted to give. Right? It doesn't say 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.000 like she kind of went, well, what should I give? 00:17:21.059 --> 00:17:23.440 Why should I give? No one asked her to bring 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:27.039 anything. No one invited her to the party. Right? 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:32.960 But when she heard Jesus was in the house, her 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:36.339 heart wanted to give. And this reminds us of 00:17:36.339 --> 00:17:38.119 the verse that we just shared during the offering, 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:42.160 right? In 2 Corinthians 9, 7, you must each decide 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:45.359 in your heart how much to give. Is this not what 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.380 took place here? She's purposing in her heart 00:17:48.380 --> 00:17:51.640 what to give. Don't give reluctantly or in response 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:55.440 to pressure. No one pressured her. There was 00:17:55.440 --> 00:18:00.500 no precedence. She just said, I have a gift for 00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:06.880 this man, for Jesus. And she goes to him. I imagine 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:10.700 she went to him cheerfully. Let's keep reading. 00:18:10.779 --> 00:18:13.359 When a certain immoral woman from the city heard 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:15.140 he was eating there, she brought a beautiful 00:18:15.140 --> 00:18:18.259 alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume, 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:22.720 verse 38. Then, I like it, you know, the Bible 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.000 just sometimes just says then, and you just magically 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:27.900 go from her home to getting this jar to all of 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:29.680 a sudden, now we're just, boom, she's there in 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:35.900 the house. Then, she knelt down behind him at 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:39.809 his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet. 00:18:39.930 --> 00:18:43.750 She wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept 00:18:43.750 --> 00:18:47.069 kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. 00:18:49.309 --> 00:18:52.509 I want you to think about this, not just in the 00:18:52.509 --> 00:18:54.769 story that you've always heard. Maybe if you've 00:18:54.769 --> 00:18:57.750 grown up in church, this is a familiar story 00:18:57.750 --> 00:19:01.529 that we talk about. But I want you to think about 00:19:01.529 --> 00:19:04.009 it this way, that her actions reveal something 00:19:04.009 --> 00:19:09.559 about her heart. her actions reveal that she 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:14.920 noticed what had been neglected. And this clearly 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.579 moved her. If you know the historical context 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:21.140 of the time, there was a normal custom in a house. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.400 When you invited someone over, because they didn't 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:28.140 have Nikes and Adidas and those kind of things 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:31.700 and boots, they had open sandals. And the streets 00:19:31.700 --> 00:19:34.779 were not paved. It was just dirt. And animals 00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:37.759 traveled down the highway. You get the image. 00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:41.079 You fill in the blank. So it's dirty. The climate's 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:43.119 kind of like Florida, where it's hot and sticky 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:46.579 and humid, right? How many of you, if you just 00:19:46.579 --> 00:19:49.039 walked around in the sand all day in hot, humid 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.779 Florida, your feet would stink, you know? You 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:55.039 know what I'm saying? Your feet would be dirty. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.299 And it's like, before you come into someone's 00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:02.299 house, their custom was, it wasn't like Southern 00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:05.359 hospitality, where it'd be like, okay, you boys 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:08.500 come in and go freshen up, right, before dinner. 00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:13.579 Their custom was the lowest servant of the household 00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:16.740 or the host even would sit and as people would 00:20:16.740 --> 00:20:18.880 come through the door, they would take a bowl 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:23.460 of water and a towel and wipe their feet and 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:25.859 then give them a little bit of oil for their 00:20:25.859 --> 00:20:28.700 hair because they didn't have like Old Spice 00:20:28.700 --> 00:20:30.359 or something. You know, they'd just give a little 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:35.440 bit of oil. Just make them smell better. And 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.240 then they would go on in. And see, when they 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:39.720 dined, they wouldn't sit in chairs. They would 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:42.480 sit on pillows with their feet kind of over to 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:45.220 the side. You imagine, like, you wouldn't want 00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:47.099 to be eating with someone and their feet just 00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:52.059 kind of aromatically going. That might be a little 00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:56.839 much, right? So this was important. This was 00:20:56.839 --> 00:20:59.700 normal. Everybody say normal. Everybody say custom. 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:03.940 And the common courtesy, though, was not given. 00:21:04.940 --> 00:21:10.559 It was not given. But Jesus is there. Verse 39, 00:21:10.740 --> 00:21:13.700 when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:17.019 Now notice what the Pharisee saw. He didn't think 00:21:17.019 --> 00:21:21.240 about Jesus not having washed feet or anyone 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:24.740 else there. He just invited him over to dinner, 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:26.660 and they all sit down. They immediately start. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:31.140 But when the Pharisee who had invited him, Jesus, 00:21:31.140 --> 00:21:34.460 saw this, he said to himself, everybody say himself, 00:21:34.859 --> 00:21:38.640 he said in his mind, right? He said, if this 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:44.140 man were a prophet, everybody say heart, we're 00:21:44.140 --> 00:21:45.819 seeing his heart here, and that's why it's being 00:21:45.819 --> 00:21:48.680 noted. If this man were a prophet, talking about 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:53.059 Jesus, he would know what kind of woman is touching 00:21:53.059 --> 00:22:02.269 him. She's a sinner. If he only knew. If he was 00:22:02.269 --> 00:22:06.430 a real prophet, right? We can see here his heart. 00:22:06.470 --> 00:22:11.230 He had no respect about Jesus. He's inviting 00:22:11.230 --> 00:22:13.789 him into his home, maybe curious, maybe something's 00:22:13.789 --> 00:22:16.250 going on, but there's no intention of courtesy 00:22:16.250 --> 00:22:18.970 or even what you would do for just your friend 00:22:18.970 --> 00:22:21.410 or your neighbor down the street. This is not 00:22:21.410 --> 00:22:24.650 being given. It's neglected, right? It's intentional. 00:22:27.150 --> 00:22:33.670 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. Let me read 00:22:33.670 --> 00:22:39.289 that again. Jesus answered his thoughts. Hello. 00:22:40.130 --> 00:22:46.170 Wouldn't that get your attention? Simon, he said 00:22:46.170 --> 00:22:49.789 to the Pharisee, I have something to say to you. 00:22:51.509 --> 00:22:55.210 Uh -oh. I have something to say to you. Now, 00:22:55.230 --> 00:22:58.440 I honestly, believe, like this is not in the, 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:01.640 I'm just speculating. I honestly believe that 00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:05.819 Jesus, he wasn't concerned that his feet were 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:09.160 not washed, right? He probably, you know, of 00:23:09.160 --> 00:23:10.980 course he acknowledged that like this custom 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:13.740 had not been done, but I don't think that he 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:15.920 was like, I'm going to say something. Should 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:17.420 I say something? No, I'm going to say something. 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:20.720 Like, right? He wasn't going to cause a scene. 00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:23.240 He wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:29.890 Why? He's in some other man's home, right? That's 00:23:29.890 --> 00:23:31.289 his decision. He's not going to say anything. 00:23:31.430 --> 00:23:35.150 But as soon as this man, in his heart, in his 00:23:35.150 --> 00:23:39.410 mind, starts judging Jesus, saying, who does 00:23:39.410 --> 00:23:41.430 this man think he is? He's not even a prophet. 00:23:41.589 --> 00:23:45.529 As soon as he starts judging this woman, this 00:23:45.529 --> 00:23:49.529 sinner touching you, who do you think you are? 00:23:51.390 --> 00:23:54.369 You said Simon. I have something to say to you. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:58.920 What does he say? Then Jesus told him this story. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:03.619 A man loaned money to two people, 500 pieces 00:24:03.619 --> 00:24:06.460 of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other, 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:11.240 but neither of them could repay him. So he kindly, 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:14.920 everybody say kindly, kindly forgave them both, 00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:20.079 canceling their debts. Then he asked this, who 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:30.630 do you suppose loved him more? Notice what Jesus 00:24:30.630 --> 00:24:35.650 said. Who's supposed loved him more? Simon answered, 00:24:35.809 --> 00:24:38.470 I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger 00:24:38.470 --> 00:24:43.470 debt. That's right, Jesus said. So in Jesus' 00:24:43.609 --> 00:24:47.670 story, listen, in Jesus' story, a person's love, 00:24:47.769 --> 00:24:52.250 everybody say love, love is proportionate. to 00:24:52.250 --> 00:24:57.109 their recognition of how much they have been 00:24:57.109 --> 00:25:02.329 forgiven. It's proportionate. As we see, the 00:25:02.329 --> 00:25:07.470 person who realized how much that 500 denarii, 00:25:07.490 --> 00:25:10.970 when they realized how large that was, when they 00:25:10.970 --> 00:25:13.849 were mindful of how large that was, they loved 00:25:13.849 --> 00:25:19.859 the debtor more, right? They realized how much 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:22.900 had been forgiven. But the person who had little 00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:28.440 and forgiven little, they loved little. So here 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:31.460 this story puts two and two together for us, 00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:33.579 right? Because Jesus wasn't just sharing a good 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:38.059 moral story. He was teaching something to Simon 00:25:38.059 --> 00:25:40.539 and sharing something to those who were involved. 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:44.640 And this story, think about it, explains why 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:50.980 this woman is acting so extravagantly. That's 00:25:50.980 --> 00:25:53.900 what's happening here. Because why would you 00:25:53.900 --> 00:25:57.299 show up to a house uninvited? Why would you cry? 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.700 Why would you kneel? Why would you weep? Why 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:03.599 would you wash someone's feet with your tears 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:06.680 and your hair? Why would you give such an extravagant 00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:11.000 gift to someone? That makes no sense in the natural. 00:26:14.660 --> 00:26:21.400 Love. That's why. That's why. And Jesus is saying 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:25.180 it by sharing this story. He's like, her inhibited 00:26:25.180 --> 00:26:29.380 display of love is the natural response of a 00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:34.079 heart that has experienced, that recognizes, 00:26:34.420 --> 00:26:42.140 that acknowledges the unconditional, unchanging 00:26:42.140 --> 00:26:50.779 love of God. Because when you get a hold of it, 00:26:50.859 --> 00:26:55.180 when you see it, you see just how big God is. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:02.559 Just how strong His love is. And it changes you. 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:07.640 Changes what you do. Changes what you prioritize 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:13.880 in this life. We see that. And gifts, right, 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:16.440 are universal expressions of love. You could 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.920 go anywhere in the world and give a gift, right? 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:23.019 And it'd be seen as love to them, right? And 00:27:23.019 --> 00:27:26.119 we see this in Scripture, John 3, 16. For God 00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:30.839 so loved the world that He, what? Gave, right? 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:35.839 The Father gave the Son. The Son gave His life. 00:27:35.960 --> 00:27:43.140 The Spirit gives gifts. Love. Always gives. Say 00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:49.240 that with me. Love always gives. It doesn't have 00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:54.839 to. It's not required. It's not pressure. Because 00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:58.000 if it's pressured, it's not real love. If it's 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:03.519 forced, it's not real love. It must be given 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:12.019 cheerfully from a heart of love. And I want you 00:28:12.019 --> 00:28:17.259 to think about this. She's acknowledging something 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:20.079 about Jesus, and we're going to see what in a 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:25.619 second. But you and I, what do we give God to 00:28:25.619 --> 00:28:29.259 show him how much we love him? I want to ask, 00:28:29.380 --> 00:28:31.380 I just want you to think about this real quick. 00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:36.299 Take a moment. What do you and I give God? What 00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:42.619 do we have? What do we have? Because God made 00:28:42.619 --> 00:28:46.660 everything. God owns everything. It's all his, 00:28:46.980 --> 00:28:52.799 right? It's all his. So what do you and I have 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:58.000 in the natural that we can do to give a holy 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:01.240 God who has everything? What can we give him? 00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:10.000 We give God our worship. That is our demonstration 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.900 of love. That is the gift of love that we give 00:29:14.900 --> 00:29:21.420 a holy God is our worship. That's the only thing 00:29:21.420 --> 00:29:26.940 we can give him. But I want to notice in this 00:29:26.940 --> 00:29:28.920 story, we're going to keep reading. Let's notice, 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:32.579 what does God see? What does God call attention 00:29:32.579 --> 00:29:37.900 to now in this moment? Continue reading verse 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:42.259 44. Then he, Jesus, get this, turns to the woman 00:29:42.259 --> 00:29:48.019 and says to Simon. I like that. He says, look 00:29:48.019 --> 00:29:53.400 at this woman. Look at this woman. Simon only 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:57.480 saw a sinful woman. Think about it. He only saw. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:00.400 Others only viewed her as just this uninvited 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:04.039 guest that didn't belong there. Wasn't worthy 00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:07.859 to be there. Wasn't good enough to be there. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:11.279 That's what everyone else saw. But only Jesus 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:17.299 truly saw her. Because God sees. He is the supreme 00:30:17.299 --> 00:30:21.779 mighty God who sees you. Amen? He hears you. 00:30:21.940 --> 00:30:28.579 And he sees this woman for who she is. He notices 00:30:28.579 --> 00:30:40.640 her heart. Jesus saw beyond her reputation. He 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:46.960 sees a redeemed heart. He says, look at this 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:51.079 woman, Simon. Look at her kneeling here. What 00:30:51.079 --> 00:30:53.819 is kneeling? She's kneeling at his feet. It's 00:30:53.819 --> 00:30:58.680 a posture of worship. It's humility. It's submission. 00:31:00.359 --> 00:31:07.599 It's honor. Kneeling before a holy God. She's 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:10.140 worshiping him. Then Jesus points out two things. 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:14.599 Simon's lack of giving. And then he points out 00:31:14.599 --> 00:31:17.460 the woman's four gifts. Everybody say four gifts. 00:31:19.660 --> 00:31:22.700 Now, throughout the Gospels, we see this story. 00:31:22.859 --> 00:31:25.319 We see four different tellings of this story. 00:31:25.500 --> 00:31:30.339 But in our study, we've seen that this sort of 00:31:30.339 --> 00:31:34.259 thing. The same similar incident happens at least 00:31:34.259 --> 00:31:38.980 three times in Jesus' earthly ministry. This 00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:41.140 is not when you see it in the different Gospels, 00:31:41.140 --> 00:31:44.960 each one is a different account. This story in 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:47.700 Luke 7 happens very early on in Jesus' ministry. 00:31:49.640 --> 00:31:54.140 And notice, the later one is for his anointing 00:31:54.140 --> 00:31:57.599 to, right? For his death, for his coming death 00:31:57.599 --> 00:31:59.779 is the reasoning for it. It happens in two different 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:02.799 locations. One is this immoral sinner. Another 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:07.799 one is Mary. Martha, Mary at Lazarus' house, 00:32:08.019 --> 00:32:10.980 not the Pharisees' house. I mean, there's all 00:32:10.980 --> 00:32:14.359 these different things. This is just one of these 00:32:14.359 --> 00:32:18.839 stories. And I want to point out to you that 00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:24.079 what's the focus of this story? Some of the accounts 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:26.980 focus on, and so many sermons that I've heard 00:32:26.980 --> 00:32:29.640 before on this story, right? It's always just 00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:33.160 on the monetary value of the gift that was given. 00:32:34.299 --> 00:32:38.140 That's the focus, right? And there's a time and 00:32:38.140 --> 00:32:40.420 there's a place for that. But this morning, I 00:32:40.420 --> 00:32:43.339 felt led that we should look at this account 00:32:43.339 --> 00:32:48.329 where the focus is not on the amount. The focus, 00:32:48.369 --> 00:32:50.809 though, in what Jesus calls our attention to 00:32:50.809 --> 00:32:54.289 is what she gave, the content of what she gave. 00:32:55.109 --> 00:33:00.329 And that is way beyond the amount she gave. That's 00:33:00.329 --> 00:33:03.690 the unimportant part. If you get focused on that, 00:33:03.809 --> 00:33:05.609 you're going to miss the point of the story. 00:33:08.609 --> 00:33:11.970 Let's look what Jesus calls our attention to. 00:33:13.829 --> 00:33:17.240 Jesus, again, he's... Looking at the woman, but 00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:21.759 talking to Simon. When I entered your home, you 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:24.480 didn't offer me water to wash the dust from my 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:30.019 feet. It's custom. But she has washed them with 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:41.019 her tears. What's the first thing she gave? God's 00:33:41.019 --> 00:33:44.259 noticing this. Shouldn't we notice this? Shouldn't 00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:47.380 this get our attention? Our spirits should kind 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:53.619 of be like, oh. Simon, you gave me nothing. Not 00:33:53.619 --> 00:33:59.359 even something, not even a bowl of water. Just 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:03.319 what you have. You gave me nothing. She gave 00:34:03.319 --> 00:34:11.400 me tears. Tears are the water of the heart. It's 00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:16.619 the emotional overflow. of true affection, gratitude, 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:24.139 recognition of what Jesus meant to her. She gave 00:34:24.139 --> 00:34:28.480 her tears. The greatest commandment is what? 00:34:28.659 --> 00:34:32.840 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your 00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:37.980 soul, and your strength. Is there any part of 00:34:37.980 --> 00:34:40.019 a person that we're not supposed to be loving 00:34:40.019 --> 00:34:46.019 God with? The heart is kardia, meaning the sphere 00:34:46.019 --> 00:34:49.519 of your existence. The soul, your mind, your 00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:52.719 will, your emotions. How many of you have thought 00:34:52.719 --> 00:34:55.760 about that? That your emotions demonstrate and 00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:01.460 express love to God, gratitude to Him. How often 00:35:01.460 --> 00:35:05.559 when you feel your emotions, are they directed 00:35:05.559 --> 00:35:11.659 in worship? How often are your thoughts intentionally 00:35:11.659 --> 00:35:14.820 worshiping the King of kings and Lord of lords? 00:35:19.619 --> 00:35:23.559 All your strength, all your might, every work 00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:30.460 of your hand is worship. When you're at your 00:35:30.460 --> 00:35:32.940 job, when you're at your business, when you're 00:35:32.940 --> 00:35:34.900 at someone else's business, you're supposed to 00:35:34.900 --> 00:35:37.480 be faithful in the small things, faithful in 00:35:37.480 --> 00:35:41.380 that which is another man's. That your job, when 00:35:41.380 --> 00:35:44.719 you're performing it, you're performing it either 00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:50.599 from a heart of worship or from a heart of, I'm 00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:53.280 working for this, I'm earning this. This is the 00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:57.969 work of my hand. This is what I can do. This 00:35:57.969 --> 00:36:01.289 is how I provide. This is how I have to live. 00:36:03.969 --> 00:36:07.949 That's not worship. And then we come to church 00:36:07.949 --> 00:36:11.110 and we're like, oh, okay. No, it's worship when, 00:36:11.170 --> 00:36:18.449 in all things, every part of you calls to worship 00:36:18.449 --> 00:36:24.139 God. And she, here, she's giving her tears. You 00:36:24.139 --> 00:36:26.159 know, when you cry, it's just like an emotional 00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:28.679 overload, right? Like, you know, just your whole 00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:30.860 heart and your whole being just kind of wells 00:36:30.860 --> 00:36:33.920 up and you just can't control it. Tears are not 00:36:33.920 --> 00:36:36.719 naturally just turned on or turned off. She's 00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:39.539 coming in and she's seeing what's been neglected, 00:36:39.739 --> 00:36:42.579 what's been forgotten, what's happened. She's 00:36:42.579 --> 00:36:47.320 seeing, she came to give a gift. She came to 00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:52.230 give a gift. She should be happy. But when she 00:36:52.230 --> 00:36:54.869 sees what's being done and what's been not done, 00:36:55.030 --> 00:36:59.730 right, it breaks her heart. It breaks her heart. 00:37:00.889 --> 00:37:03.349 Jesus continues, So when I entered your home, 00:37:03.429 --> 00:37:06.429 you did not offer me water to wash the dust from 00:37:06.429 --> 00:37:09.070 my feet, but she has washed them with her tears 00:37:09.070 --> 00:37:13.400 and then wiped them with her hair. In their culture, 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:16.320 this was very provocative to be done. Usually 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:18.599 they'd have their hair up. To let their hair 00:37:18.599 --> 00:37:21.000 down in the presence of, you know, people, that 00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:24.500 was like, that was pretty weird. This was not 00:37:24.500 --> 00:37:27.980 normal. But she lets her hair down, and she begins 00:37:27.980 --> 00:37:32.219 to wipe. Think of how gross that is. I just want 00:37:32.219 --> 00:37:36.260 you to, like, let's be real for a moment. I wouldn't 00:37:36.260 --> 00:37:38.840 do that. You know what I'm saying? Would you 00:37:38.840 --> 00:37:41.260 really do that? She lets her hair down and she 00:37:41.260 --> 00:37:45.780 wipes his feet. She didn't have a rag. She didn't 00:37:45.780 --> 00:37:48.039 have water. She didn't have a towel. She's like, 00:37:48.119 --> 00:37:53.679 but something needs to be done. So she used what 00:37:53.679 --> 00:37:57.639 she had. She gave her service. Everybody say 00:37:57.639 --> 00:38:01.000 service. She provided the service that should 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:03.820 have been done. She lowers herself as a servant 00:38:03.820 --> 00:38:09.539 and cleaned Jesus' feet. with her hair. It was 00:38:09.539 --> 00:38:13.659 not what she prepared to give. It's not how she 00:38:13.659 --> 00:38:17.420 envisioned or planned this encounter would go, 00:38:17.500 --> 00:38:22.559 right? But when she saw the need, she refused 00:38:22.559 --> 00:38:27.260 to let any excuse, no towel, not even the perception 00:38:27.260 --> 00:38:30.960 of the others, the embarrassment, get in the 00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:34.760 way of and keep her from giving God the honor 00:38:34.760 --> 00:38:45.400 he deserves. Amen. Let nothing keep you. Let 00:38:45.400 --> 00:38:48.539 nothing hinder you in the perception of others 00:38:48.539 --> 00:38:55.199 from worshiping a holy God, the King of kings, 00:38:55.460 --> 00:38:59.920 the Lord of lords, for showing your worship and 00:38:59.920 --> 00:39:04.619 your love to him. Jesus continues, you didn't 00:39:04.619 --> 00:39:08.099 greet me with a kiss. But from the time I first 00:39:08.099 --> 00:39:10.940 came in, she has not stopped. Everybody say, 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:14.159 not stopped. She's not stopped kissing my feet. 00:39:14.659 --> 00:39:20.179 She gave her affection. She gave her tears. She 00:39:20.179 --> 00:39:22.880 gave her service. Now she's given her affection 00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:28.340 to a holy God. See, her worship was not passive 00:39:28.340 --> 00:39:33.519 or reserved. It was not, I wonder what everyone's 00:39:33.519 --> 00:39:36.210 going to think. I wonder how they're going to 00:39:36.210 --> 00:39:39.010 look at me. I wonder what's going to happen after 00:39:39.010 --> 00:39:43.530 this encounter of me acting so extra. What's 00:39:43.530 --> 00:39:46.050 the consequence of this action? No, none of that 00:39:46.050 --> 00:39:50.489 was in her head. She had something to give. And 00:39:50.489 --> 00:39:52.449 she wasn't going to let anyone get in the way. 00:39:52.849 --> 00:39:57.050 Any thought get in the way. And I want you to 00:39:57.050 --> 00:40:02.400 see the physicality of her worship. Too often, 00:40:02.440 --> 00:40:07.079 we think worship is just, oh, I can just mentally 00:40:07.079 --> 00:40:11.920 worship God. That me just thinking good thoughts 00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:16.400 of love and adoration to Him, that's what is 00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:19.599 required of me. You know, some people are loud 00:40:19.599 --> 00:40:22.519 and some people, you know, do these things. They're 00:40:22.519 --> 00:40:26.960 real, you know, they're comfortable. Uh -huh. 00:40:28.780 --> 00:40:30.619 You know, some people are comfortable with that, 00:40:30.639 --> 00:40:35.000 but me, I'm just, you know, I just don't feel 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:42.519 comfortable about that. Worship is physical. 00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:46.099 She didn't just sit there and go, man, I'm kissing 00:40:46.099 --> 00:40:48.420 your feet, God. I'm kissing his feet. I'm kissing 00:40:48.420 --> 00:40:52.840 it. I adore you. I worship you. I love you. She's 00:40:52.840 --> 00:40:57.260 not just thinking it. Because real love is not 00:40:57.260 --> 00:41:05.489 words. Husbands and wives, if your spouse only 00:41:05.489 --> 00:41:12.429 thought in their head they loved you, would you 00:41:12.429 --> 00:41:16.849 feel the love? If they only thought it, they 00:41:16.849 --> 00:41:20.750 never said it, they never demonstrated it, would 00:41:20.750 --> 00:41:24.030 you feel loved? Would you even truly know that 00:41:24.030 --> 00:41:28.730 they loved you? Unless love is demonstrated, 00:41:30.759 --> 00:41:35.440 Unless it is physically acted out? Come on now. 00:41:36.659 --> 00:41:41.599 Come on now. And we see Jesus is acknowledging 00:41:41.599 --> 00:41:47.039 this. He's not saying, ooh, this is gross. He's 00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:48.860 not turning her away. He's like, I didn't ask 00:41:48.860 --> 00:41:52.210 for this. He's just sitting there letting it 00:41:52.210 --> 00:41:54.989 happen because he sees her heart. He sees her 00:41:54.989 --> 00:41:57.210 love being poured out through her affection. 00:41:57.550 --> 00:42:00.130 She's just kissing his feet. Some people are 00:42:00.130 --> 00:42:02.789 asking, how could she do this? She's asking, 00:42:02.949 --> 00:42:11.630 how could I not? How could I not? She recognized 00:42:11.630 --> 00:42:17.760 Jesus. Think about it. Think about this. Jesus, 00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:24.400 God, the Messiah, was in Simon's house. Everyone 00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:29.539 had an opportunity to give him. Everyone had 00:42:29.539 --> 00:42:33.380 an opportunity to see him for who he really is. 00:42:33.820 --> 00:42:40.940 But only this immoral, sinful woman comes. Come 00:42:40.940 --> 00:42:44.480 on. She comes. She gets the gift and puts all 00:42:44.480 --> 00:42:51.570 these guys to shame. I love it. She's like, nothing's 00:42:51.570 --> 00:42:53.730 getting in the way. This is how you worship God. 00:42:56.210 --> 00:43:03.690 This is how much he means to me. True love always 00:43:03.690 --> 00:43:08.150 finds expression and demonstration because worship 00:43:08.150 --> 00:43:11.469 is not just attendance. Look to your neighbor 00:43:11.469 --> 00:43:15.030 and say, worship is not attendance. It's demonstrating. 00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:22.440 Your affection. Churches all across America, 00:43:22.539 --> 00:43:25.659 people come to the presence of God and they just 00:43:25.659 --> 00:43:28.039 attend and they think that they're worshiping. 00:43:29.139 --> 00:43:31.880 But when we gather together, when the church 00:43:31.880 --> 00:43:37.260 meets, have you thought about this? What are 00:43:37.260 --> 00:43:42.800 we doing here? What am I giving to God? Do I 00:43:42.800 --> 00:43:47.079 think my just attendance is now worship to Him? 00:43:49.739 --> 00:43:52.760 You know, I just kind of roll out of bed and 00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:56.179 I'm coming and I'm just here and my mind's thinking 00:43:56.179 --> 00:43:58.480 about what I'm going to eat for dinner or what 00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:00.900 I've got to do later. I've got to cut the grass. 00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:03.360 My grass is so high right now. You know, your 00:44:03.360 --> 00:44:04.920 mind goes in a hundred different directions. 00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:13.329 Are you here? Are you giving God something? Are 00:44:13.329 --> 00:44:17.969 you just here to get something and then mad when 00:44:17.969 --> 00:44:19.849 you don't receive it, but you're not even giving 00:44:19.849 --> 00:44:21.989 him the attention and the honor that he deserves? 00:44:24.369 --> 00:44:26.550 You're not giving him your heart. You're not 00:44:26.550 --> 00:44:28.989 giving him your soul. You're not giving him your 00:44:28.989 --> 00:44:38.309 strength. It's not just about attendance, folks. 00:44:41.519 --> 00:44:46.619 When we come together, we give God. We're giving 00:44:46.619 --> 00:44:56.039 Him. This is for Him. This is for Him. This is 00:44:56.039 --> 00:45:01.199 to Him. When we sing songs, it's to Him. The 00:45:01.199 --> 00:45:08.380 generosity is not measured by how well you can 00:45:08.380 --> 00:45:15.699 sing. Thank God. It's not measured by how much 00:45:15.699 --> 00:45:22.840 you bring. It's measured how much of your heart 00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:32.719 you bring. How much heart do you bring? How much 00:45:32.719 --> 00:45:39.420 affection do you bring? How much service do you 00:45:39.420 --> 00:45:45.750 bring? That's worship. That's love. That's how 00:45:45.750 --> 00:45:53.170 we give God. That's why we do what we do. Continuing 00:45:53.170 --> 00:45:56.730 on, verse 46. You neglected the courtesy of olive 00:45:56.730 --> 00:46:00.050 oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my 00:46:00.050 --> 00:46:05.670 feet. Notice this contrast, right? Supposed to 00:46:05.670 --> 00:46:08.690 put the anointing on the head. She has anointed 00:46:08.690 --> 00:46:14.980 the stinkiest part. She poured the most valuable 00:46:14.980 --> 00:46:17.900 thing on what we would consider the most invaluable 00:46:17.900 --> 00:46:23.719 thing, right? On the lowest thing. She anointed 00:46:23.719 --> 00:46:26.880 my feet with rare perfume. She gave her treasure. 00:46:28.280 --> 00:46:32.670 The alabaster flask represented... intentional 00:46:32.670 --> 00:46:35.550 sacrifice. Remember at the beginning of our story, 00:46:35.630 --> 00:46:38.530 when she heard Jesus was in the house, she immediately 00:46:38.530 --> 00:46:41.090 prepared the alabaster jar. She said, this is 00:46:41.090 --> 00:46:43.349 what I'm going to bring. This is my offering. 00:46:43.510 --> 00:46:47.389 This is my sacrifice. And all throughout the 00:46:47.389 --> 00:46:50.829 Bible, what is sacrifice seen as? In the Old 00:46:50.829 --> 00:46:56.010 Testament, sacrifice was seen as worship. She's 00:46:56.010 --> 00:46:58.849 bringing her worship to God by bringing her treasure 00:46:58.849 --> 00:47:03.300 to God. She's giving God her love by bringing 00:47:03.300 --> 00:47:07.760 the thing that cost her something. She didn't 00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:11.139 give what was convenient. She gave what was costly. 00:47:12.980 --> 00:47:19.699 Cost her something. This reminds us in Matthew 00:47:19.699 --> 00:47:23.440 6, 21, says this, Wherever your treasure is, 00:47:23.820 --> 00:47:28.460 there the desires of your heart will also be. 00:47:30.119 --> 00:47:33.420 What is this saying? What you give, listen church, 00:47:33.659 --> 00:47:37.300 what you give reveals what your heart treasures. 00:47:42.139 --> 00:47:47.539 What you give reveals your heart. What you deem 00:47:47.539 --> 00:47:53.739 as valuable, what you esteem most. I think we 00:47:53.739 --> 00:47:57.099 spend our time more making money. than anything 00:47:57.099 --> 00:47:59.219 else, more than sleeping, more than, you know, 00:47:59.219 --> 00:48:01.099 we go, we do our jobs, we do all that kind of 00:48:01.099 --> 00:48:04.380 stuff, right? She probably worked a long time 00:48:04.380 --> 00:48:06.519 for this. We don't know exact value, but she 00:48:06.519 --> 00:48:09.039 worked a long time. This was a valuable gift. 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:14.260 And it proves where her heart was at. And notice 00:48:14.260 --> 00:48:19.199 that Jesus mentions every gift she brought. He's 00:48:19.199 --> 00:48:22.800 the one who points it out. He noticed her tears. 00:48:23.460 --> 00:48:27.219 He noticed her service. He notices her affection, 00:48:27.420 --> 00:48:32.320 and he notices the offering. Then, it doesn't 00:48:32.320 --> 00:48:34.980 stop, he reveals the reason behind these gifts. 00:48:35.840 --> 00:48:41.539 Listen. I tell you, her sins, and they are many, 00:48:41.719 --> 00:48:45.579 have been, everybody say have been, have been 00:48:45.579 --> 00:48:49.400 forgiven. I've heard this preached a lot where, 00:48:49.519 --> 00:48:52.940 you know, God is forgiving her sins in this moment. 00:48:55.519 --> 00:48:57.400 That's kind of twisted too, because when you 00:48:57.400 --> 00:49:00.699 think about it, it conveys the image of she's 00:49:00.699 --> 00:49:03.920 working for her salvation. And that's not who 00:49:03.920 --> 00:49:09.579 God is. So what this story is really about, listen, 00:49:09.679 --> 00:49:15.500 is that a heart that has loved recognizes, come 00:49:15.500 --> 00:49:20.880 on, recognizes the weight and the value of what's 00:49:20.880 --> 00:49:24.539 been forgiven. And because she recognized such 00:49:24.539 --> 00:49:27.920 a great value of what she has already been forgiven, 00:49:28.099 --> 00:49:31.739 right? She's acting in accordance with how much 00:49:31.739 --> 00:49:35.539 she valued that. How much that meant to her. 00:49:36.559 --> 00:49:39.159 This is why she's acting this way. Because she 00:49:39.159 --> 00:49:45.900 has been forgiven. So, because she has shown 00:49:45.900 --> 00:49:52.039 me much love. She has shown me. She has given 00:49:52.039 --> 00:49:57.619 me much love. But a person who is forgiven little 00:49:57.619 --> 00:50:02.739 only shows little love. Right? This word here 00:50:02.739 --> 00:50:05.639 means to send away. It means her sins, God sent 00:50:05.639 --> 00:50:09.019 them away. To leave, to forgive. They were abandoned 00:50:09.019 --> 00:50:14.460 from her. That's what it conveys. And it's important 00:50:14.460 --> 00:50:16.960 to realize that this story is not isolated from 00:50:16.960 --> 00:50:18.820 the rest of the Bible. The Bible's not written 00:50:18.820 --> 00:50:21.619 in a vacuum, right? Each story is not just in 00:50:21.619 --> 00:50:24.900 a vacuum. It's not isolated. And I believe that 00:50:24.900 --> 00:50:27.019 her actions, even though it's not specifically 00:50:27.019 --> 00:50:30.199 stated in Scripture, I believe because of what 00:50:30.199 --> 00:50:33.719 Jesus says and because of these points that build, 00:50:33.820 --> 00:50:37.039 listen, that her actions speak louder than the 00:50:37.039 --> 00:50:40.260 words, right? Her actions reveal something else, 00:50:40.280 --> 00:50:43.639 that Jesus had already encountered her. Jesus 00:50:43.639 --> 00:50:46.719 at some point had forgiven her at an earlier 00:50:46.719 --> 00:50:50.380 time, and His words of forgiveness are confirmation. 00:50:51.289 --> 00:50:56.469 of a previous experience. Because he's looking 00:50:56.469 --> 00:50:59.289 at her and he's not, he's just receiving worship. 00:50:59.769 --> 00:51:02.570 He's receiving her love. She's showing me love. 00:51:02.869 --> 00:51:05.969 What's the reasoning though? Because she's been 00:51:05.969 --> 00:51:14.170 forgiven. Man, if I was a disciple, if I was 00:51:14.170 --> 00:51:17.309 Luke in that room and I'm like, I've got it. 00:51:17.679 --> 00:51:20.079 thinking I have it all figured out. And then 00:51:20.079 --> 00:51:24.380 Jesus is like, all you people just think proximity 00:51:24.380 --> 00:51:30.000 is intimacy. All you, you know, you sitting around 00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:33.199 and Jesus is saying, look, just because I'm in 00:51:33.199 --> 00:51:35.139 your presence, it doesn't mean you're offering 00:51:35.139 --> 00:51:37.500 me anything. It doesn't mean you're showing me 00:51:37.500 --> 00:51:40.900 love. Just because you show up and you're near 00:51:40.900 --> 00:51:43.820 does not mean that you have turned your attention 00:51:43.820 --> 00:51:47.019 and turned the intentions of your heart to him. 00:51:47.519 --> 00:51:50.199 It does not mean you're abiding in Him. The Son 00:51:50.199 --> 00:51:53.219 of the living God, the Holy Spirit, lives in 00:51:53.219 --> 00:51:57.280 you. Amen? The Holy Spirit is in you. But that 00:51:57.280 --> 00:52:09.400 doesn't mean you're abiding in Him. It's okay. 00:52:11.420 --> 00:52:14.739 His words of forgiveness are confirmation of 00:52:14.739 --> 00:52:19.199 this experience. He says, I tell you, her sins, 00:52:19.219 --> 00:52:21.980 and they are many, have been forgiven, so she 00:52:21.980 --> 00:52:26.000 has shown me much love. Her great demonstration 00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:30.599 of love, her generosity, her worship, is due 00:52:30.599 --> 00:52:33.599 to her being mindful of and captivated by Jesus' 00:52:33.780 --> 00:52:38.400 forgiveness and mercy. She's the one who saw 00:52:38.400 --> 00:52:42.179 his splendor. She's the one who sees what the 00:52:42.179 --> 00:52:46.639 others took for granted. So my question with 00:52:46.639 --> 00:52:52.099 you this morning, who are you more like? I can't 00:52:52.099 --> 00:52:55.659 answer this. Your spouse can't answer this. Your 00:52:55.659 --> 00:52:57.559 family can't answer this. The people you're sitting 00:52:57.559 --> 00:52:59.760 around can't answer this. Only you know. Who 00:52:59.760 --> 00:53:06.059 are you more like? Are you like Simon? Are you 00:53:06.059 --> 00:53:11.269 like this woman? And we can know that, we can 00:53:11.269 --> 00:53:14.610 answer that by determining the worship that we 00:53:14.610 --> 00:53:19.409 give and the love that we give God. The affections 00:53:19.409 --> 00:53:26.829 of our heart. Jesus noticed everything the woman 00:53:26.829 --> 00:53:29.769 gave, but he also points out what Simon withheld. 00:53:30.650 --> 00:53:36.130 It's important to realize that. He gave no water, 00:53:36.190 --> 00:53:42.670 no kiss. And no oil. But everyone gives something. 00:53:43.869 --> 00:53:51.090 Some give worship. Some give indifference. Some 00:53:51.090 --> 00:53:58.989 give honor. And some give excuses. Some give 00:53:58.989 --> 00:54:06.170 their all. Some give their leftovers. Who are 00:54:06.170 --> 00:54:11.860 you more like? True worship, then, gives its 00:54:11.860 --> 00:54:15.400 attention, gives its submission, it gives its 00:54:15.400 --> 00:54:18.980 affection and praise, it gives its service and 00:54:18.980 --> 00:54:23.599 it gives its treasure. Not out of duty, not out 00:54:23.599 --> 00:54:28.539 of obligation, but a cheerful heart. Amen? We 00:54:28.539 --> 00:54:33.739 give him the only thing we really can. He doesn't 00:54:33.739 --> 00:54:39.239 need it, but he deserves it. He deserves it. 00:54:41.440 --> 00:54:46.840 And if you don't think he deserves it, you need 00:54:46.840 --> 00:54:51.239 to check your heart. Who are you more like? When 00:54:51.239 --> 00:54:54.179 that thought enters your head, who is that thought 00:54:54.179 --> 00:54:57.639 more like? Is it more like Simon? Or is it more 00:54:57.639 --> 00:55:03.239 like this woman? Right? Your sacrifice, your 00:55:03.239 --> 00:55:06.219 displays of trust, and your obedience, your generosity, 00:55:06.440 --> 00:55:10.960 your worship, Never, everybody say never, never 00:55:10.960 --> 00:55:15.860 go unnoticed by God. Amen. They never go unnoticed. 00:55:17.019 --> 00:55:20.380 Maybe you're here this morning and maybe God's 00:55:20.380 --> 00:55:22.800 told you to do something. He's given you a promise 00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:27.219 and you're waiting on its fulfillment. Notice 00:55:27.219 --> 00:55:32.460 that what you have done in faith is never unnoticed. 00:55:35.820 --> 00:55:41.179 Never unnoticed by him. Wait. Don't waver. Hold 00:55:41.179 --> 00:55:46.920 fast. Steady your heart. Be loyal to him. Fully 00:55:46.920 --> 00:55:53.039 committed in all things. Right? Because he wants 00:55:53.039 --> 00:56:02.119 to show you just how big he is. God always sees. 00:56:03.179 --> 00:56:08.619 Faith activates his promises, right? He always 00:56:08.619 --> 00:56:12.219 sees. We don't give God to receive anything. 00:56:12.539 --> 00:56:18.599 We give to God by faith in his promises, in his 00:56:18.599 --> 00:56:24.099 finished work, and out of the heart of adoration. 00:56:25.019 --> 00:56:27.820 This online worship experience was brought to 00:56:27.820 --> 00:56:30.559 you by the friends and partners of Elation Church.