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THE GOSPEL IS A SHINING LIGHT
Luke 8:16-18 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas August 27, 2017 16 “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” — Luke 8:16-18, ESV When preaching through the Bible, it is usually best to take a text and make it stand on its own two feet. This one, however, walks with the assistance of the one that went before and the one that comes after. The entire context concerns how we hear, and respond, to the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the previous parable, four different responses are characterized by four different types of soil (ref. Luke 8:4-15). It should be clear that only the latter, good soil actually hears and properly responds to the gospel. The first three are in big trouble, unless they are converted into the fourth kind of fruit-bearing dirt. Only then can they consider themselves planted in the kingdom, or family, of God as depicted in the next passage (ref. Luke 8:19-21). But can dirt really change? Yes, it can. Laser surgery is required, however. In this short passage of Scripture, God is the surgeon and the light of the gospel is His scalpel. Christianity is Light I used to keep this lamp in my office, even though it did not work. I thought it looked nice, took up some necessary space on the table, but it never lit up. Eventually I got rid of it and replaced it with a lamp that actually shed some light. Lost people are like unlit lamps. Most of them look nice. They occupy necessary functions in society. But they do not shine the light of God and the gospel, which is the very purpose for which mankind was created. We should all love the first answer found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It reads, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This, however, requires light. In this parable of the lamp after the parable of the soils, God goes from being the sower to being the lighter. Man is the unlit lamp, spiritually dead and dimwitted until properly connected to a power source. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation” (ref. Romans 1:16). God, the Holy Spirit, turns on the light through the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived for our righteousness, died for our sins, and rose again for our eternal life. When the word of God and the gospel are properly preached, rightly heard, and truly received with repentance and faith, the power is connected and the light comes on. Sometimes the light comes on gradually, like a slow summer sunrise, like believers who grew up in a good Christian home and evangelical church. Other times, it flashes on like lighting, like it did to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road. In any case, God turns on the light, the light changes your life, and the light shines so that others can see it. Christianity Shines in Public God does not save us to hide us. God does not give us the good news to keep quiet about it. God turns on the light of Christianity in our lives in order to use us to give light to the world. “I am the light of the world. You are the light of the world” (ref. John 8:12 and Matthew 5:14). In our lifetimes there has come this tremendous pressure placed upon Christians to make their faith a completely private matter. There are no Bibles in our public schools, no prayer in the public square, and in our own Bible belt state of Arkansas the Ten Commandments have been run over with a pickup truck. It is okay to be Christian, says the spirit of the age, just keep it to yourself, in your home, and within the walls of your church building. How are we to respond to this juxtaposition between the word of God and the whims of this present world? Our options are cowardice, obnoxiousness, or courageous obedience. If you profess faith in Jesus Christ, but are afraid to share it or show it in public, you are a coward. And worse than a coward, you are almost certainly an unbeliever, like the ones described in the bad soils of the previous parable. If no one knows you are a Christian because you never speak of God and the gospel, because God and the gospel really do not interest you, or because you simply love worldly things more than godward things, then whatever profession of faith you have made is shallow and worthless. Cowards don’t keep professions of faith. On the other hand, if all of your Christianity consists of public displays, like Pharisees praying loudly on a street corner, or the kid who carries a ten-pound Bible to school but never reads it, or the politician who panders to the religious right after a night with his mistress, the you are an obnoxious hypocrite who does more damage to the cause of Christ than a hundred cowards. Light cannot be hidden, but light does not have to brazenly glare in people’s faces. It just has to shine, simply and consistently. It has to be lived, with a public life that fairly well exhibits your private life. It has to be lived and spoken when the opportunity presents itself. Other people should know when light walks into a room. Most will ignore it, some will seem threatened by it or make threats to it, but those whom God is calling will follow the light, the light you shine, into the kingdom of God. Margaret Thatcher famously said about leadership, “If you have to tell someone that you are in charge, then be assured you are not.” If you have to tell someone that you are a Christian, at least after they’ve known you for a good while, then you may well not be, for no one can really follow Jesus in secret. But if your light is on, let it shine, live it and tell it, and great will be your reward. Public Christianity is Rewarded Christ closes this short sermon with a thread that ties it together with the other two texts. It weaves a dire warning and the promise of a great reward. Again, it all depends upon what kind of soil you are, what kind of light you shine, and to whose family you truly belong. “Take care then how you hear,” Jesus said in verse 18. God has given us the gospel to speak (or write) and hear (or read). Other sections of the Bible give us instructions on careful preaching, but these three texts in Luke emphasize careful hearing (and response). How have you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ? Of course there is no reward for those who ignore or reject the gospel, only the opposite. The real shock, however, is for those who delude themselves into thinking that the silent, impotent faith they essentially abandoned years ago is going to get them into Heaven. It will not, and even their little ray of false assurance will be taken away from them at death or when Jesus comes again. The reward, however, for the true lights of the world, will be great, even exponential. It is not quantified in this passage. Jesus only says we get “more.” I have read of financial booms enjoyed by people who invested on the ground level, like first offerings of stock from Coca Cola or Apple. I have heard of cases of compound interest that enabled a small investment years ago to yield big dividends for the present and future. Investments are good. The best investment you will ever make is to give your life to, and for, the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is free but the cost of following Christ is very great. Shining the light will sap you of energy, cost you investments in other areas, and sometimes put you at risk from people who like to shoot at lights. But I cannot imagine my life without the Lord. It is meaningful, if not successful. It is comforting, if not comfortable. And it is rewarding, though the reward cannot be calculated at any monetary rate of exchange. All I know is that for all of the greatness of knowing Christ in this life, in the life to come there is “more.” I want it. You can have it. Just let the light of the gospel shine in you. Copyright © 2017 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved.
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THE GOSPEL IS AS PLAIN AS DIRT
Luke 8:4-15 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas August 13, 2017 4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. — Luke 8:4-15, ESV My grandfather had a saying about simple things. He would just say, “It’s as plain as dirt.” Pop grew up in an era when most people lived on dirt roads, had dirt yards instead of grassy lawns, and farmed or at least tended a garden, in the dirt of course, for food. Life was simpler then, dirt was everywhere, and it was all very plain. The environment in first century Palestine would not have been much different. As a matter of fact, if you go to modern Galilee, still a largely rural region, you can stand in one place and easily identify all four kinds of dirt, or soil, mentioned by Jesus in this parable. God wanted to make the gospel simple, as plain as dirt, to those He chose and who would choose to become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. A Gospel as Plain as Dirt The gospel is the good news that tells a person how to enter into and live forever in the kingdom of God. The door is Jesus, access is gained through repentance and faith, and inside one finds forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. Jesus spent approximately three years preaching the gospel before He went to the cross to purchase the gospel and rose again the third day to guarantee the gospel. How you hear and respond to the gospel determines your own eternal destiny. Nowhere is this any plainer than in this parable. As a matter of fact, it’s as plain as dirt. Some people hear and respond to the gospel like a dirt road, packed hard by frequent travel. The gospel seems to bounce off their heads like a rubber ball off a cement wall. The devil keeps them preoccupied with things other than the gospel, so the gospel does not seem to sink in, take root, and produce fruit. It’s as plain as dirt, right? Others hear and respond to the gospel in a shallow, insincere way, like a seed thrown in an inch of topsoil on top of limestone. It enters into the mind, but the heart underneath is hard and impenetrable. Therefore, the heart remains unregenerate and the will manufactures no fruit. It’s as plain as dirt, right? Still other soil seems better, accepting the word with a glad heart of desire to do the right thing. But competing desires exist in the form of thorns, worldly riches and pleasures that tempt us for our time and treasure. The weeds win out, the heart bleeds but does not beat for Jesus, and still there is no fruit. It’s as plain a dirt, right? Finally, good soil is found that receives, believes, and conceives fruit because of the word of God and the gospel. The mind believes and the heart receives and the will is activated by love and obedience for the giver of the good seed on good soil. Is this the best way to receive the seed, or is this the only way? It’s as plain as dirt, right? The Disciples Didn’t Get It It’s as plain as dirt, right? Wrong, according to the twelve dumbfounded disciples who were the first followers of Jesus Christ. None of them raised a hand to ask questions of the Teacher in front of the crowd, embarrassed as they were by their ignorance. But after the crowd dispersed, they came to Jesus privately and admitted they couldn’t interpret the gospel on their own. They’re not alone. To this day, there are four different interpretations of the four soils, three out of four which are wrong. I’ll try to explain all four, then point you to Jesus’ crucial explanation of the one perfect fit. Some say the parable teaches that all people will be saved. It does not matter how you respond to God’s love, God loves everybody and would never send anybody to Hell. A slightly different version would be to say all Jews go to Heaven, since the word of God came to and through them. Or, a modern application of this error would be to see any person in any kind of Christian country or organization or church is a receptor of gospel salvation. No one who takes the Bible with any degree of seriousness can claim universalism or nationalism or baptismal regeneration as a means of salvation. Interpretation number two takes three of the four soils into the kingdom of God. Only the most hardened, sin-beaten, dirty rotten scoundrels are excluded from the kingdom of God, while everyone who has made any kind of profession of faith in Jesus is going in. It does not matter if the profession of faith is not practiced. Who needs the church, spiritual disciplines, or the evidence of good works to get into Heaven? Just pray that sinner’s prayer and ask Jesus into your heart and you are set for life. I wouldn’t stake my soul on this soil, would you? Interpretation number three takes two and leaves two, and you know which two they’re talking about. The hard-hearted and insincere are excluded, while those who struggle with Jesus and the world, and those who overcome the world through Jesus, are both considered kingdom dwellers. An alternative to this view claims the third, thorn-ridden soil had salvation but lost it, but this flies in the face of better theology which shows that salvation, when it is genuine, cannot be lost. But, it can be faked, as the third soil does, until the fork in the road appears and they take the one most traveled. This brings us to the fourth view, the one with the best evidence of rightly hearing and accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is seed, there is root, and there is fruit, all three for the first time in this fourth soil. This minority on the narrow road are the true followers of Jesus Christ and legal citizens of the kingdom of God. They are not without flaw, and different levels of fruit are produced in broader tellings of the parable, but they all fit the bill. This seems as plain as dirt to me, but what does Jesus say? Christ’s Key Explanation The key to this parable is found in four tiny little prepositions in Jesus’ preaching and teaching of the parable. In the first sowing of the seed, it fell “along” the path, never entering into the soil. In the second, it went “on” the rock, but not in the soil. The third, “among” thorns, but not in fruit-producing plant soil. Only the fourth penetrated “into good soil” and “in an honest and good heart.” There is a great difference between being “along” the side of a house, “on” the roof of a house, “among” a neighborhood of houses, and actually being “in” the house. Only in the last soil does the word of God and the gospel get in. Only it is called good, and only the good soil represents good souls who find a permanent home in the kingdom of God. Look around and you can see that most people are not into Jesus, the church, the Bible, discipleship, and kingdom work. Most have never made any kind of profession of faith. Most who have made professions of faith split as soon as they got their drivers license. Many more quit on God as soon as problems or pleasures seem bigger than Him. What’s wrong with the people pictured in the first three soils of the parable? They are not into Jesus because Jesus has never gotten into them, into their mind and heart and will. Real repentance runs deep and true faith takes root and bears fruit. This is the meaning of the parable, the gospel, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Christ, in this parable alone, makes the gospel as plain as dirt. The Gospel for Today Times have changed since my Pop was a boy, but the gospel has not. It is still as plain as dirt. So let me close with some gospel advice for all the dirty people out there. If you find yourself in one of the first three soils, you had better drop down into the good dirt immediately. Open your eyes and ears. Ask God to replace that hard heart with a new heart for God. Do not put your hand to the plow and turn back to this present world. Believe and bear fruit for the kingdom of God. If you are confident you are planted in good soil as a true believer in Jesus Christ, then start sowing. The best fruit you can bear is bearing witness to the gospel so that others might hear, believe, and be converted. We are the sowers, preachers and parishioners, of the word of God and the gospel. God is sovereign, but if we do not sow, the kingdom will not grow. It’s as plain as dirt. Copyright © 2017 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. WOMEN IN MINISTRY
Luke 8:1-3 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas August 13, 2017 1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. — Luke 8:1-3, ESV Luke has been called by some commentators “the Gospel of women.” There are over twenty prominent women mentioned in the Gospel, most of whom are exclusive to Luke, some of whom we meet in this summary text (such short summary or excursive passages are also peculiar to Luke). These three verses and these three named woman give us a historical look at one of the most controversial subjects in the church today, namely women in ministry. I will say at the outset that no movement of any kind, religious or otherwise, has done more to promote the equality of women than New Testament Christianity. It is ironic, therefore, that the modern church still has a lot to learn, even though two-thirds of her (yes, the word for “church” in Holy Scripture is a feminine noun) members are female. Women and men need to learn that women are just as valuable as men to the church and the cause of Christ, and it is the Head of the church, Jesus Christ, who established this equality. The Ministry of Jesus Women in ministry, and men for that matter, flow from the ministry of Jesus, which we see flowing faithfully in this transitional text. Here we find our Lord doing the three things He did virtually every day of His earthly ministry. Jesus pilgrimed, Jesus preached the gospel, and Jesus planted seeds so the visible expression of the kingdom of God, also known as the church, would grow. And, Christ trained His followers to do the same, both men and women. Luke summarizes Jesus by saying, “He went on through cities and villages.” Born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, and based in Capernaum, Jesus was a man of many places. His ministry was mostly mobile, His possessions were few, and He viewed life on earth as an extremely brief visit. Ministry begins with such a world view. If we become too attached to this present world, if we value possessions more than people, and if we lose sight of the infinite weight of eternity, we will not minister to people. Most ministry does not require a nomadic existence, nor extreme austerity. But it does require a sense of priority and urgency, like Jesus demonstrated. The time is short, so what will we do? What Jesus did, of course: preach the gospel, plant and grow churches. “Proclaiming and bringing good news (the gospel)” is not just Jesus’ job. Nor is it the exclusive work of ordained pastors and commissioned missionaries. It is a privilege and responsibility for every member of the body of Christ. It requires no more training than simply being a follower of Christ. It does not necessarily entail the preparation and delivery of sermons, only a short testimony of your own experience of grace. It should be devoid of judgment and coercion, for only God knows the human heart and only God can convert a sinner into a saint. You only need a little “guts,” an internal organ which can be found in both men and women. The object of all ministry is to bring people into “the kingdom of God.” In the Old Covenant, this would mean citizenship and participation in the nation of Israel. In the New Covenant brought about by Jesus’ ministry, it means membership and participation in a local church. We all should share in the maintaining and multiplying members for our assigned churches, whether we be men or women. Gospel ministry is something we all, regardless of gender, should be involved in on a daily basis. Men and woman must show the compassion of Christ and communicate the gospel to family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. But is there any difference in the way men and women do ministry? Early on, there was. The Mixed Men Men are not named here, only numbered. The names of “the twelve” are well-known and can be found elsewhere. They truly are a mixed lot. Some became famous, others remain obscure. Simon Peter became the first Pope for Roman Catholics, while Simon the less must have gone the Protestant way because he became much lesser known. The same difference can be stated for James (brother of John) and James the Less, and I doubt anyone is called less in Heaven. And, who knows whatever happened to the other Judas? These men did some outstanding things and they did some horrible things. No woman probably ever preached like Peter preached, or wrote like John wrote, or gained as much missionary ground as Paul. But, no woman ever betrayed the Lord, it was a man named Judas Iscariot. No woman ever denied knowing the Lord three times, as one Simon Peter. No women ever asked Jesus to rain down thunder and lighting on earth in order to kill an entire city, but James and the beloved John did exactly that. And no woman ever rounded up Christians to have them tortured and killed, like Saul of Tarsus before he became the Apostle Paul. The early picture of men ministering in the church is quite mixed, while the specific stories of women, albeit fewer, are much more positive and constructive. Such characters and stories have often been overlooked in the male-dominated church, but Scripture screams out a few of their names here. The Marvelous Women Mary Magdalene has gotten a lot of bad press over the years. She was not the sinful woman of the previous passage. She was not Jesus’ love interest or wife. She was not involved in any scandal we know of, saved being possessed by seven demons (which is not necessarily a sin in and of itself). All we know is that Jesus ministered to her, then she became a minister. He passed by her home town of Magdala, preached the gospel to her, exorcized her demons, and added her to His church. After this, Mary became a minister of the gospel, alongside the men, alongside “many other (women),” including Joanna and Suzanna. The latter two we know little about. Joanna was the wife of a prominent man in King Herod’s administration, which means the gospel had reached low and high. She appears once more in the Gospels, once again alongside Mary Magdalene and other women, as the first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Suzanna is only found here, in Luke’s woman-loving Gospel, but once is enough to make her a significant minister of the gospel. All three may have been well off, for they “provided” (literally deaconed) for the early church. Note also that in the original language, a feminine pronoun is used to describe the “many others” mentioned who were ministering the gospel along with Jesus. The specific number of women is not mentioned, but I would estimate there had to be at least two dozen of them, which would make their membership makeup much like the church today, a majority of women. The Message for Today While women still make up the majority of church members today, they fill an infinitesimally small percentage of leadership roles. We must admit that main cause is male chauvinism. It is a sin as old as the Scriptures. But thanks in large part to New Testament Christianity, our generation is the first in history to see this discrimination erased, almost everywhere except the church. So what are the men and women of the church of today supposed to do? First of all, we must be ministry oriented. In other words, every member of the church is a minister of the gospel, male or female. Though I have focused on gender in this sermon, the text is really not about gender, but ministry. Every person who has been touched by the ministry of Jesus should minister Jesus to others. Whatever your role in society or church, use your equal-opportunity, God-given position to stake a claim for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, let us all share Christ one-on-one, in small groups, or with large audiences, as God gives us the opportunity. Ministry brings members into the church. Then, when it comes to church membership and leadership, we must let Scripture lead and culture follow. I must warn you, however, this approach cuts both ways. Scripture is supreme over culture, but Scripture cannot be correctly interpreted and applied without understanding culture. Let me give an Old Testament and New Testament example, then close with a way forward for today. In the Old Testament era, men ruled over women in Israel. However, equality burst out at times with women leaders (like Miriam), women judges (like Deborah), and women preachers (like Huldah). Misogyny was a rampant as polygamy and equally as sinful. God tolerated both as an acknowledged part of the culture, but never condoned either one. Many interpreters do believe women’s subservience to men was part of the Edenic curse (ref. Genesis 3:16), but this curse is lifted by Christ (ref. Galatians 3:28). In the New Testament, including Luke’s woman-loving Gospel, we find Jesus commissioning twelve males (to parallel with the twelve tribes of Israel) but also including “many other” females in His ministry. When Christ’s work on earth is done, it is women who first preach the full gospel (death and resurrection). Of course, first century culture was just as patriarchal as Old Testament times, so only men learned languages, received educations, and filled leadership roles. But like in olden days, equality occasionally shined through women preachers (the resurrection witnesses, the promise of Pentecost, Philip’s daughters, etc.), deacons (Phoebe in Romans 16:1, also note the many other women in that chapter), and other prominent pillars of the early church (Dorcas, Priscilla, Lois and Eunice, etc.). Admittedly, Paul’s epistles contain some gender-specific language regarding women having their heads covered and mouths closed in church. But could not such commands be culturally conditioned? I don’t see many women wearing hats in the church today and I love to hear them sing, pray, and even speak. The two greatest preachers I have ever heard in my life have recently gone on to be with the Lord, and they are male and female: Haddon Robinson and Elizabeth Elliot. Liberal and conservative churches now ordain women to every post available in the church. I do not think the liberal basis for doing so is right and I do not think the conservative egalitarian position is wrong. At the end of the day, it is a matter for the local church to decide, then of all the members, male and female, should promote unity with the policy, be it complimentarian or egalitarian. And remember, the main thing Jesus wants is for women and men to minister to others by delivering the gospel and doing good works. For ministry, you do not have to be ordained. For ministry, it does not matter if you are a woman or a man. Copyright © 2017 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. A NEW LIFE
Luke 7:36-50 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas August 6, 2017 36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” — Luke 7:36-50, ESV Have you ever wanted a change, a fresh start, a new life? Maybe you are unhappy with your looks, and you dream of a change that will make you look like a fabulous movie star. Maybe you have messed up at school or work, your GPA is so low or your work is so poor that you are about to be kicked out, and you long to just start over and do it right. Maybe you are a mobster who has just ratted out your gang and you desperately need a new identity, a new home, and a new life. Such scenes play out in fiction, real life, and Holy Scripture. We meet a person in desperate need of a new life in this passage. She has an old life that is not worth living. She meets someone who is the way, tells the truth, and in Himself offers new life. A new life she needs and a new life she gets, but is she the only one in this story who needs a genuine conversion? The Old Life We actually know very little about this woman and her old life, except that it was not a good one. Her name is not mentioned (unlike Mary in the other, late perfume-laden anointing of Jesus mentioned in Matthew 26:7, Mark 14:3, and John 12:3). She is simply referred to as a “sinner” (not the mayor or the doctor or the coach). First century sensibilities were similar to twenty-first century sensibilities, in the sense that we seldom see ourselves as sinners, only certain other people. And when we call them the “s” word, it means they’ve done something, to use another “s” word, scandalous. This woman’s sin was almost certainly sexual. If she had been a thief or a killer, I doubt she would have been running around loose. But she was a loose woman, in more ways than one. Maybe she was abused or neglected as a child, and the psychological effects affected her sexuality. Maybe she succumbed to temptation as a teenager and a promiscuous pattern played out. Maybe as a single, female adult in a totally patriarchal world (note that no one ever calls a man a loose man), the world’s oldest profession was the only way she could make a living. But her life was not right. She knew it, and hated herself for it. Furthermore, everybody else knew it, and scorned her, too. “Oh, God,” she must have often thought to preface a prayer for a new life. Then one day, in her town, God showed up in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Way, the Truth, and the Life Jesus is in the early to middle part of His Galilean ministry (the other anointing, Mary’s, took place late in His ministry in Judea). He is busy crossing over a collection of barriers. Racial barriers have been broken by helping a Roman and his sick servant. Gender barriers have been tossed by helping a woman by restoring her dead son. Now moral barriers are cast aside when Jesus, and Jesus alone, cares for this castaway, sinful woman. On the eve of this episode Jesus had preached a sermon with familiar words recorded in another Gospel: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (ref. Matthew 11:28-30). This woman was exhausted by the heavy burden and hard labor of sin. She was a slave to her passions or her paramours, perhaps both. She’d had enough of the turned up noses, pointed fingers, and raunchy nicknames. It was time to find a new way, it was time to embrace new truth, it was time to embrace a brand new life. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (ref. John 14:6) I think when she first heard that this preacher, who actually is more than a prophet, who in reality is the Messiah, she probably hid. But something or someone drew her out. The something is called grace and the someone is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit brought her to the Son so that the Father could give her what she needed more than anything else, a brand new life. As her heart changed, she brought her sin and shame to Jesus, who, unlike the other men at the table, was not ashamed of her. She took her life savings, which had been poured into this perfume, and poured it out upon Jesus. It was a sweet-smelling sacrifice of repentance and faith. She humbly worshiped the Lord and did not care what other people thought, said, or did. She had found the way. She had come to the truth. She had a brand new life. The New Life Christ’s words confirmed she was born again into a brand new life. Jesus recognized faith in the heart of that formerly sinful woman. I say formally, for the Lord pronounced that her sins were forgiven. He did not call her names, like “sinner,” but called her “saved,” and bid her to “go in peace.” New life begins with conviction of sin. It must be deep, beyond shame and the scandal of getting caught. It must be wide, not only grieving over harm done to self, or to others, but to God. It must result in repentance, a turning away from sin and sinful habits. New life turns away from sin and turns to God. Turning to God is called faith. It also must be deep and wide, an abiding trust, a radical pledge of obedience. Faith gives to God everything and is willing to do for God anything His word and Spirit commands. Repentance and faith result in new life, and new life itself is a gift from God. God is holy, and He never condones sin and is bound by His nature to punish sinners. Yet, God is love, and He never condemns sinners who come to him for grace and mercy, in repentance and faith, to the Lord Jesus Christ. This woman received the gift of salvation, and her new home is now in Heaven, far away from the pointing fingers of Pharisees. Your Life Speaking of the Pharisees, let’s not leave them out of the story, for they are central. The meeting between Jesus and the woman happens in a Pharisee’s house. The parable that pulls this whole plot together is told to the Pharisees. And, you and I in the church today are probably best represented in this story not by Jesus, not by the woman, but by the Pharisees. I say this because none of us would dare claim we are as good as Jesus, and few of us would admit we are as bad as the woman. We are the more like middle men, sinning just a little, loving just a little. If so, we’re safe, right? Are Pharisees ever safe in the Gospels? The parable Jesus punched into this dinner party was razor sharp and rich with sarcasm, apropos for a sermon spoken to the Pharisees. The sharp edge cuts first, then the sarcasm is poured in. Let me explain. Here is the sharp part: “They could not pay,” Jesus said in verse 42. It does not matter if you are the town prostitute or the town pastor, you have a sin debt before God that you cannot pay. The punishment for non-payment is divine wrath and eternal separation from God. But, a pardon is possible by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The penalty is for those who do not believe they need a pardon, and the pardon is for those who come to God by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Here is the sarcastic part: “He who is forgiven little, loves little” (verse 47). If you think you just need a “little” forgiveness, if your life reflects a “little” love for the Lord, then you are deceiving yourself a lot. The sinful woman in this passage came clean. The smug, self-righteous Pharisees seemed to not know the first thing about sin and salvation, grace and mercy, forgiveness and eternal life. So, who was saved in this passage, the woman or the Pharisee? Who had faith in this passage, the woman or the Pharisee? Who walked away in “peace” in this passage the woman or the Pharisee? So who’s life is your life, the woman’s or the Pharisee’s? Some of you may have been genuinely converted to Christ as a young age, before you had an opportunity to live out on the streets or engage in organized crime. But did sin, does sin, make you ashamed, convicted, disdainful of it? Is your love for Christ sincere, consistent, passionate? Would you give to Him your last dime or drop of perfume? Is your love little or much? Some of you may be genuinely religious, but not converted, like the Pharisees. They were bad but not all bad. They were lost, but as Jesus once told one of them, not far from the kingdom of God. They did have a disdain for sin, albeit other people’s, and they did have a little love for God. Their biggest problem is that they loved themselves the most and were satisfied with the old life. Get, or make sure you’ve got, a new life in Jesus Christ. Confess your sins, commit your ways and means, come to the Savior. For a new life is the only life worth living, and the only life that lasts. Copyright © 2017 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. |
AuthorDr. Charles F. "Chuck" DeVane, Jr., is the Pastor of Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His weekly sermon article, "The Gospel Truth," has been published in newspapers in Arkansas and Georgia. Dr. DeVane is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and has served in the pastorate for over 20 years. Contact Pastor Chuck at PastorChuck@lakehamiltonbaptistchurch.org
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