This morning we will be covering the sixth of our eight core values. I spent two weeks on spiritual gifts and last week I may have confused you a bit when I taught on the gifts of tongues and prophecy so this week we will cover a topic we all understand and practice consistently, compassionate outreach (smile). Notice that every one of our core values has at least two words. (Overhead). If I cover up half of it we still have core values. The first one would be that we believe in Scripture. But it is not enough that we believe in Scripture, we believe in the Centrality of Scripture or that the teachings of the Bible should be the center of our church and our lives, that all of our personal decisions and world view is founded on Scripture.

We believe in leadership, but every organization has leadership. Our core values is developing leadership. We believe that spiritual growth is normal and that every believer can grow to the point of being a leader in their sphere of influence and area of ministry. As I said a few weeks ago, we believe in ministry, but more than that, ministry that is based on a growing understanding and application of our spiritual gifts. You serve in a ministry of music because you are gifted in music. You serve in a teaching ministry because you have the gift of teaching.

Finally to today’s topic. We believe in outreach. We believe that every person is lost without Christ, therefore we need to tell others about Jesus, we need to get the gospel to them. We believe in outreach, but HOW do we do this? Do we hand out tracts on the street? Do we carry signs on our back reading, "Repent and believe in Christ"? You see if it was enough to get information to people we could do these things. We could wear a sign on our back or a big sandwich board everywhere we go. Everyone who read the message would immediately repent of their sin and decide to follow Christ for the rest of their lives. That would be outreach, would it not? But we know full well that this won’t work. This is why the Bible teaches us that we must have compassionate outreach. People decide to repent and follow Christ not from a message on a sign or even a message spoken from our lips, but from a message spoken through our lips and spoken through our lives. When the compassion and love of Christ flows through our lives, people will understand and want to follow Christ. When we speak the message with our lips but don’t live it with our lives, people reject the message.

This passage in Luke seven shows us how Jesus reached out with compassion and how we can follow his lead. Let’s start reading at verse 33. [read 33-34] Jesus is accused of being a friend of sinners. Those who accused him of this did not intend for it to be a complement. But Jesus did not reject the title of friend of sinners. In reality Luke probably put this story in this very place to illustrate that Jesus was indeed a friend of sinners. [Read 36-39] The Pharisee who invited Jesus to dinner classified this woman weeping at the feet of Jesus as a sinner. Most people who have studied this passage believe this woman was probably a prostitute. She would have been easily identified by her clothes and appearance that she was NOT one of the prominent women of the city. Were there any other sinners in this story? The sins of this woman were obvious to everyone. But the sins of Simon the Pharisee were hidden to all but Simon himself. To Jesus everyone was a sinner in need of God. To Jesus it did not mater if you had sinned ten times, ten thousand times or ten million times. God’s standard is perfection and no one can meet that standard.

I was talking with a friend at the Landmark Center this week who has been reading the Bible to his 5 year old daughter. If he has a question he comes to Jeff and I for answers. He was reading about Moses presenting the 10 commandments on Mt Sinai. He had also recently read about Moses killing the Egyptian who had been beating a fellow Hebrew slave. Do you remember that story? Moses killed the Egyptian in cold blood and buried his lifeless body in the desert sand. Forty years later Moses is standing on Mt Sinai holding the two tablets of stone inscribed with the very hand of God. What does one of those commandments say? Thou shalt not murder. WHO was holding the stone tablets? A murderer! My friend was struggling with how this could be–how a known murderer could bring the laws of God to the people. Instead of being a question too difficult to answer, which happens sometimes, this became the perfect opportunity to speak of Christ. This example shows that not even a great man like Moses can keep the law of God. Moses did not claim that he had perfectly obeyed the law. He was simply God’s messenger bringing the law to the people so that everyone would know they were a sinner. That is why God also instituted the sacrificial system. God did not say, IF you sin, then go through these steps of repentance, but WHEN you sin, go through these steps of repentance. The sacrificial system was put into place to remind each person of their sin. Why would they need to be reminded of their sin? So that they would turn to God for forgiveness. Through their daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sacrifices, their need for God was repeatedly pounded into their hearts and minds. I’m a sinner and I need God...I’m a sinner and I need God.

Are you a friend of sinners? When I use this term I am referring to every person on the planet who does not know Jesus Christ. Think for a moment, do you have friends who need to find God or do you only have friends who already know God? Don’t forget, you have two options when it comes to outreach–wear a sign on your back saying you are a Christian or be friends with non-Christians and show them you are a Christian. I am not implying that this is easy, but that it is the only way. How do sinners act? They act like sinners! Maybe you don’t have unbelievers for friends because you do not want to get tainted by their sin. This was the case with Simon the Pharisee. Remember how we got a glimpse into his inner thoughts. "If Jesus only knew what kind of a woman she is, what kinds of sinful things she has done. Surely he would not want to be near her, let alone letting her touch his feet!" Is it possible for unbelievers to bring us down and weaken our faith? Yes it is possible. It is dangerous business to be a friend of sinners. If you have young children in your family, then you may think like Karen and I. We are sometimes hesitant to get involved with some families because we are afraid that our children will pick up bad habits from the other kids. God does not want you to destroy your family or to cause you to sin, but you must not leave here this morning thinking you can do outreach without getting your hands dirty. Compassionate outreach demands being friends with those who need the compassion and forgiveness of Christ.

If you are not yet convinced that we should be a friend of sinners, next Jesus gives us the reason for doing so. Jesus knew the inner thoughts of Simon the Pharisee so he told him a story. [read 40-43] A denarii is worth a day’s wage. Instead of thinking in dollar amounts, think that the first man owed 2 years worth of work while the second man owed only 10 weeks of work. In this culture you could not file for bankruptcy or have your debts erased cleanly. You essentially became a slave to the lender until your debt was paid off. That is why the book of Proverbs says that the borrower is servant to the lender. But in this story both of the debts were canceled. Because it would have been almost unheard of to cancel such a big debt, the answer to Jesus’ question is obvious, "Now which of them will love him more?" How does Jesus want us to respond to this story? He wants us to know that this woman with all of her sins is exactly what we once were before our sins were forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Christ. This is exactly what Simon the Pharisee does not see. He doesn’t think he needs anything, he truly believes he is a righteous and holy man and that God will accept him as he is.

Therefore to truly reach out with compassion we have to first Understand the compassion that we have been shown. When we see this woman we should all say, that was me without Christ. I was lost and miserable. When we see this woman we should all say, that would still be me if it were not for Christ. Compassion is often understood as feeling sorry for someone else. If we defined compassion this way we would see this woman and think, "She has led such a hard life, she probably had a bad childhood and has lived her entire life in poverty and prostitution. I really feel badly for her, maybe I can help." Instead true compassion goes like this. I have been given far more than I deserve. I deserve eternal death, but God gave me eternal life. Why am I not like this woman right now? Only by the grace and compassion of God. Pick up the newspapers, watch the news. Why are you and I not homeless and penniless? Only by the grace and compassion of God. Why are you and I not starving to death in Africa? Only by the grace and compassion of God.

True compassion flows out of our own experience of compassion and forgiveness. Think about a non-Christian you know who is difficult to love, maybe a little bit mean as well. Maybe they are a member of your family, maybe a difficult neighbor or a co-worker. Why are they mean and hard to love? Because they don’t know Christ. So should we be angry with them because they don’t know Christ? Shouldn’t we have compassion on them because at one time we were like them? Do they deserve our compassion? No, but we didn’t deserve God’s compassion, but he gave it anyway. Jesus was a friend of sinners because he is the perfection of love. We should be a friend of sinners because we have been shown undeserved and unlimited compassion.

So when we read about this woman weeping at the feet of Jesus, when we get a vision of her in our minds, take a good look at her. Look carefully into her face because when you do, you are looking into a mirror. You are looking into the face of who you once were and you are looking into the face of who you are now. This woman had been set free, her sins were forgiven, her debts were canceled! She is weeping tears of gratitude. She is not crying because she knows she is sinful. She is not crying because she feels so guilty for all the bad things she has done. She is crying because she is free, she is crying because she is forgiven. She is exploding with joy, her heart is so bursting with gratitude that all she can do is cry. She is at the feet of the very one who set her free and she cried tears of worship. If she could speak through her tears she would say, "My Lord and my God! You set me free, I can’t believe it, you set me free!" That is why Jesus said, Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven–for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little, loves little." This verse is worded a little awkwardly in the NIV. It almost appears as if Jesus forgave her sins because she loved Him so much. Just the opposite is true, her great demonstration of love and worship is the result of her forgiveness, not the cause of her forgiveness.

How do we reach out with compassion? We befriend non-Christians and demonstrate true compassion to them because we have been shown true compassion. If we do that, will they suddenly become believers? No they won’t. You need compassion but you also need the truth. Therefore the third essential component is to Introduce others to the Forgiver of sins.

From this text, who did Simon think Jesus was? Simon thought, "If this man were a prophet he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is." Do you realize that Simon was right? If Jesus were a prophet he WOULD know who the woman was. Jesus did know who she was, Simon only thought he did not because he wrongly assumed Jesus would shun her if he did know. So we can construct a hierarchy in Simon’s mind. For him, obviously God would be at the top. Next would come a prophet of God. Third would be ordinary men and at the very bottom of the rung would be sinners. God–prophet-ordinary men–sinners. Obviously Simon did not think Jesus to be God so he gave him a shot at being a prophet. Since Jesus did not shun the woman Simon knocked Jesus down to the next level of an ordinary man. He was better than the sinful woman, but he was no prophet. Simon was certain of that...until Jesus said what is recorded in verse 48, "Your sins are forgiven." The other prominent guests probably came to the same conclusion as Simon, that Jesus was an ordinary man. So when Jesus claimed to forgive sins, they were shocked! "Who is this who even forgives sins?" Who alone can forgive sins? God. Who is Jesus? Not a prophet but an ordinary man–but he is claiming to be God!

Who in that room knew Jesus’ identity? Only the woman knew. When you befriend unbelievers, who will know Jesus’ identity? Only you will know. The unbelievers that you know and befriend will have all kinds of misunderstandings about Jesus. Some will think he was a good teacher. Some will even call him the Son of God, but they don’t know him. Their attitude is similar to that of Simon’s–they don’t understand that they need to be forgiven. Who is going to tell them? You are God’s messenger to share the good news. You can love them all you want, you can be filled with compassion towards them, but that is not enough. They won’t learn how to become a Christian by osmosis. The knowledge won’t seep into their minds just by being close to them. You have to tell them!

How to do this? Books, tapes, verses, testimony, songs, have someone else do it. If you want to help someone become a Christian, we can help you do that. Sometimes all you can do is to pray. Kellyn was our evangelist with Karen’s mom.

Rich Maurer

February 24, 2002