Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hey, good morning friends. If we haven't met, my name is Michael Chapay. I serve here as the campus pastor. Grateful you are here with us.
[00:00:08] I want to start not by diving into the scripture quite yet, but I wanted to say thank you.
[00:00:14] I know many of you have served these past few weeks at our SALT summer camp for our students and also for summer ignite. And I just want to say thank you. I've been spurred on by your service and just in the ways that are seen and the ways that are unseen. And really over this past year, my heart has been full to see how we serve. Many of you serve from the parking lot to the connection team to the first time guest table, all the way to grace kids, GSM in groups and all the different ways behind the scenes in leading groups and men's groups, things like that. I just want to say thank you.
[00:00:52] It matters so deeply. We are a church that lives together, that encourages one another. So thank you for being in the game with your talents and your time to serve because then we know many of you take off weeks to serve at these events. So I just again am so encouraged and grateful to God for you and the staff and the body that we have.
[00:01:12] And so with that, I want to also share a little bit about what's coming up in the month of July just so you have a heads up of what we are walking into. We call it family month of worship. We have family days of worship, but we have here at UB a family month of worship. And I want to share why, I want to share why we do this and why we do it and, and why I believe it's critical in the, in the formation of you and your kids and why it's not worth to skip four weeks if you do have kids, but to bring them into our gathering.
[00:01:44] So starting July 5th through July 26th, we will be having all of our elementary kiddos and Also our students 6th through 12th grade in our services.
[00:01:54] There will still be a preschool for the youngers, but elementary students are in here. And why do we do this?
[00:02:00] Well, one, they are a part of our body and aren't meant to be siloed off for 18 years of their lives.
[00:02:06] They are a part of our body. And for 1950 years this whole idea of kids ministry and student ministry wasn't a thing.
[00:02:15] And so they were a part of our gatherings. They were praying with the adults. They were a part and meaningful part of the life of our church. And so for four weeks we are saying, hey, can you bring your kids into this, we are glad they're here.
[00:02:29] We are going to. We are going to have certain songs they've been learning throughout this year, a part of our worship sets. We're going to have teaching geared at them. So we're not going to be necessarily talking about pornography on the week the kids are in here, but we're going to preach the gospel and they will hear the greatness of this God that we serve.
[00:02:49] And we will have different elements there. Scripture readers will be some kids folded into that and start students.
[00:02:55] So don't just take these four weeks off. Invest into being a part of this thing. It's something good, informational for them, but also, I'm not gonna lie, it's also for our team. It's also for our team to get a breather, to get a break. They pour out their lives each and every week for 11 months. And to have a moment to breathe and rest, I think is biblical. I think this whole idea of rest, God created, you know, and so we need that for our teams and for everyone who serves. And so, again, there will still be preschool for the littles, but I just want to let you know that that's coming and to be a part of it. And don't just be like, hey, I'm tapping out for four weeks. Bring them, we want them. And they're going to be a part of our gathering. So just to give you a heads up on that, now for our teaching, we're starting a new series this week, and it'll carry us through the end of July and where we'll pick up and actually teach through the letter to Titus for through the remainder of the summer.
[00:03:51] And so we'll talk about that. But I want to set up the series, rightly for us, so we understand where we're going the next six weeks.
[00:03:58] And one of the ways I want to do that is just to ask you a question, random question. What do you think are the most transformational inventions throughout human history?
[00:04:08] What are some of those most transformational human inventions throughout human history? Historians have debated it, but one of the ones they see is like the top of the list enlisting is this thing called the wheel, right?
[00:04:22] The wheel kind of is important in our modern world, right? Without the wheel, we wouldn't be able to be transported from point A to point B.
[00:04:31] It was essential in farming. It kind of is a big deal in our modern world. What else is on that list from historians? They said agriculture, the food that we get, the invention of agriculture and the processes that we get, the abundance of food that we have here in the United States comes from agriculture and the advances from over time there.
[00:04:53] The printing press was on that list. It kind of is important that a few people don't hold all of the knowledge. But the printing press enabled the commoner, the masses, to engage in understanding the Bible and understanding knowledge. So that was one of the most transformational inventions. They say electricity, kind of a big deal.
[00:05:15] I am grateful to the Lord for electricity, especially when it goes out. When it comes back on, I'm like, praise Lord Jesus for it. And so many people even live without it, But I am grateful for it. The Internet kind of changed things as well. AI, they're saying it's going to be one of the most transformational things in our world going forward. Like, those were all transformational things. I thank God for coffee. I think it's. And double stuffed Oreos. They're a wheel, you know what I mean? They're the shape of a wheel.
[00:05:46] But minus those two coffee and double stuffed Oreos, those were on the list of historians, top things, transformative inventions that there were.
[00:05:57] But as I was thinking and looking at those lists, I thought one of the most influential inventions in human history was left off that we rarely talk about. But it's the table, the table that we eat at.
[00:06:11] Because while all other invention changed how people traveled, how they worked, how they communicated, the table changed how people connected.
[00:06:21] Around tables, stories were shaped, stories were shared, communities were built, treaties were made, and lives were changed.
[00:06:32] And if you look throughout Scripture, the table is an important part, an important gathering place for transformation to happen.
[00:06:41] And when we read the Gospels, we discover that Jesus seemed to understand that truth too.
[00:06:47] Because again and again, some of his most transformative moments happened around a table.
[00:06:53] And so in line with the event that we have in June and July, where we're calling, we call the table, where you can meet one another.
[00:07:00] We're gonna be teaching through a series called the Table, where we will be seeing encounters Jesus had at tables with people and how those encounters led to transformation in different ways.
[00:07:12] And so now we'll pick up in Luke 7 what the Nicholson's read from 36 through 50. So if you wanna turn there, we will look at this forgiveness table that is on display. And so while you're turning there, I wanna set up the context for us as we step into this dinner party.
[00:07:31] You see, it's important to remember where Luke places the story.
[00:07:35] And so Jesus ministry is gaining attention, crowds are growing, opinions about him are getting spread that are increasingly divided.
[00:07:46] And just before this account, Jesus describes himself as the one accused of what? Being a friend of tax collectors, sinners.
[00:07:56] The religious leaders are skeptical, while broken and sinful people are being drawn to him.
[00:08:04] And into that tension comes an invitation from a Pharisee that we will see, named Simon, to share a meal.
[00:08:11] And what begins as an ordinary dinner quickly becomes a powerful display of the Gospel as two very different people sitting, sit at or at, or at, or are at the same table, both needing forgiveness, but only one recognizing it.
[00:08:27] Two people, same dad. Only one valid response.
[00:08:32] And so we're going to start off by reading in Luke 7:36,39, it says this.
[00:08:42] One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house, and he reclined at table.
[00:08:50] 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.
[00:09:01] 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.
[00:09:13] 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.
[00:09:28] We'll stop there.
[00:09:30] What is this account laying out for us at the outset?
[00:09:34] It's laying out for us at the outset the characters that are at the tabor, that are in view by Luke. And outside of Jesus, there's two Simon the Pharisee and this unnamed woman. Two very different people at the table.
[00:09:51] And there's potentially more. There are more at the table. But Luke wants us to have these two people in mind when we approach this passage. And so let's do a quick characterization of what we see of the two people at the table.
[00:10:05] One, first off, Simon. What is it? Simon the Pharisee. The name implies his reputation.
[00:10:14] The Pharisee himself, Simon. He's a religious elite, a learned man of the Scriptures, educated, respected, a moral man. He's the host of the dinner. And people would look up to him of that's a picture of what right living is like this man.
[00:10:34] He's the host.
[00:10:36] But as we get later on in the passage that I read, what else do we see about him?
[00:10:44] While Simon invites Jesus into his home, there are clues that he has no real understanding of who this Jesus really is.
[00:10:52] By verse 39. What do we see?
[00:10:55] We see Simon casting judgment over not only this unnamed woman, but also Jesus himself.
[00:11:03] He believes he can accurately assess both of them.
[00:11:09] Simon's defining characteristic is not his morality, it's really his self confidence and pride.
[00:11:15] He sees this woman's sin very clearly, but he fails to see and is completely blind to his own need.
[00:11:23] Who else do we see? Like I said, this unnamed woman.
[00:11:27] And how does Luke describe her?
[00:11:31] A woman of the city who was a sinner. I don't know about you, but if I'm to be remembered in history, a woman of the city whose name is. I don't want my name to be associated with just a sinner or sexual promiscuity like that's not a great obituary that I hope to aim for. But that's what we see in the scripture here for this woman. Unnamed commentaries. The wording strongly suggests a woman whose sins were publicly known and generally associated with sexual misconduct.
[00:12:07] Luke avoids naming the specific sin, but there's a strong connection there.
[00:12:13] So we have someone who is publicly known, notoriously for their sinful lifestyle that she is in.
[00:12:19] And I love this account because what we learn is that when she hears about Jesus sitting and reclining at table, she just busts in, alabaster, jar in hand, weeping, broken, wiping her tears on Jesus feet with her hair. So no name, no title, no accomplishments, no reputation worth mentioning. She is everything Simon is not.
[00:12:50] Because Simon is respected, she is disgraced.
[00:12:56] Simon is welcomed by the crowds. She is unwanted. Simon is religiously admired and looked up to. She is morally condemned. Simon hosts the dinner, she interrupts it.
[00:13:10] But unlike Simon, she understands something crucial.
[00:13:15] And here it is. She has nothing to offer Jesus except her need.
[00:13:21] She understands what Simon does not. She understands she has nothing to offer this man that she is with other than her great need.
[00:13:32] And so, before we move to unpack the scripture more, I think we need to pause and ask a question.
[00:13:41] Which person at the table sounds more like you and me?
[00:13:49] Because if we're being honest, we love to think that we are in the same posture as the woman, continuously knowing their need before this holy God, that we know who we want to be, the one at Jesus feet. We want to be overwhelmed by his grace. But here is the rub. If we're not careful and daily discipling our own hearts, if we're not careful, years of good church attendance, Sunday taking in Sunday mornings, moral living, religious activity can slowly make us look a lot more like Simon that we'd ever dare admit.
[00:14:30] You see, Simon never slept Around.
[00:14:33] From what we read, he wasn't a criminal.
[00:14:36] He was a religious man that sat near Jesus while remaining blind to his own need for Jesus.
[00:14:44] So let me ask you this, and the question will be on the screen.
[00:14:48] When was the last time you were genuinely broken over your own sin rather than frustrated by someone else's sin?
[00:14:58] When was the last time you were genuinely broken over your own sin and need instead of frustrated by someone else's?
[00:15:07] I know one of the main issues within marriage and it's so easy to get to this place is and say, hey, they need to get right without being blind to what I need to do to serve the other spouse in the relationship. In relationships with family or friends, we're so quick to count out everyone else's sin or falling short, but we're not really always aware of our own need because we're quick to point out others, but not genuinely broken over our own sin because that's the difference. At this table, Simon is consumed with her need and not his own.
[00:15:49] The woman is consumed with her own and not with his.
[00:15:54] And there are two different people that Jesus encounters at the table. Which one do you find yourself more aligning with today with where you are?
[00:16:04] So we see two people at this table, but what else do we see? We see the same debt, two different sizes. And so we'll unpack that a little bit here.
[00:16:15] Jesus goes into a short parable as he talks to Simon. It's in verses 40 through 43, I believe. And so we'll read it.
[00:16:28] And Jesus answering, simon, it's funny, Simon's asking, you know, said this to himself. And now Jesus answers, I love this. Jesus juke here. And he says this. And Jesus answering said to him, simon, I have something to say to you.
[00:16:42] And he answered, say it, teacher.
[00:16:45] A certain money lender had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50.
[00:16:53] When they could not pay both of them be mindful of that, he canceled the debt of both.
[00:16:59] Now which of them will love him more?
[00:17:03] Simon answered, the one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, you have judged rightly.
[00:17:12] I don't know about you, but I hate debt.
[00:17:16] Like I come from a Dave Ramsey esque background.
[00:17:21] I don't agree with necessarily. I don't live according to everything Dave Ramsey had. But I hate debt. And that's what I learned from him.
[00:17:29] And if you're gonna say, well, like I have a finance degree and a finance background and you wanna talk to me like, debt is a tool to make money. We can talk about that after. And I know that it's just not the way I roll. Okay? So I like to stay out of debt. Why?
[00:17:45] Because debt, by its very nature is something that is owed.
[00:17:49] Something that until I'm out from under, I don't have complete freedom.
[00:17:54] And the more debt I have, be it a car loan, student loans, any of you got those loan from a family member, right? Or any other type of debt, I feel restricted and I feel not able to be free.
[00:18:09] I mean, that's the reason why within marriage, one of the biggest stressors is finances. And debt is one of those biggest stressors in marriage.
[00:18:18] I don't know, like the US government has 40t trillion in debt. That's a lot of debt.
[00:18:28] And there's restriction that exists there when we are in debt. And it causes stress and we aren't better if we're being honest because of it.
[00:18:39] That is the very nature and consequences of debt at the base level. And the more I owe, the more weight and pressure and stress I feel in parts of my life.
[00:18:51] And Jesus brings this parable speaking about directly into Simon's blindness.
[00:18:58] He says, simon, which debtor will love the money lender more?
[00:19:02] The one forgiven a smaller debt or one forgiven a larger debt?
[00:19:06] And how does Simon respond? Almost reluctantly, I suppose. The one for whom he canceled the larger debt.
[00:19:12] And Jesus says, hey, you've judged rightly.
[00:19:16] And I love when Jesus he says, but they both could not pay.
[00:19:22] Like the level of love by the debt forgiven was. You respond greater when the greater debt is forgiven. But they still both owed the same debt. They still owed debt. That was the commonality that Jesus was also trying to draw out from this small parable.
[00:19:40] He's not just merely talking about the size of the debt, he's exposing Simon's heart.
[00:19:46] Simon can correctly evaluate the parable, but he cannot correctly evaluate himself.
[00:19:53] The point isn't that one debtor had the debt and the other didn't. Both were debtors, both were unable to pay and were at the mercy of the moneylender.
[00:20:03] The difference was not their need for grace. The difference was the awareness of it.
[00:20:10] You see, at this table, Jesus was revealing a commonality that Simon, the Pharisee, this unnamed woman, and every one of us share in this room our need for forgiveness from sin. The debt we all owe to God, like God designed us in the garden to be with him, to walk with him, to push back darkness and create with him. And we chose. Adam chose his own way. And that has pervaded all of humanity. And we start at debt because we can't right ourselves.
[00:20:40] We can't honor God with how we are born, with a perfect and holy God.
[00:20:47] That's why the apostle Paul sums it up in Romans 3:23, what all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
[00:20:56] And then moving a few chapters later in 6:23, how does it open? For the wages of sin is what death, our sin deserves death apart from a holy God.
[00:21:10] Paul is using financial language. Wages, payment, debt. What have our sins earned? Death, A debt we cannot repay. A debt that gives us a commonality among all humanity.
[00:21:23] That is what exactly Jesus says about these two debtors. One owes 500, one owes 50. Different amounts, same problem. Neither can pay.
[00:21:32] And that's the uncomfortable reality for all of us.
[00:21:37] The issue is not whether we have a sin debt before God. Scripture is crystal clear that we do. The issue is whether we recognize it.
[00:21:47] And that's what I want to press into us.
[00:21:50] The issue is not necessarily the size of the debt. The issue is that we all have it. Every one of us stands before a holy God, spiritually bankrupt on our own earnings, unable to pay what sin had earned.
[00:22:04] The difference between Simon and the woman was not that one needed forgiveness and the other didn't. The difference was one knew it and the other didn't.
[00:22:12] And here's what happens when we forget our debt, our grievous debt before a holy God.
[00:22:17] It's very easy for us to coast on cruise control and our reminder for forgiveness.
[00:22:25] And I tend to highlight others debts and minimize my own.
[00:22:30] I tend to get frustrated quicker to name others faults and lose sight of my own. I tend to take the plank out of someone else's eye or call them out rather than them quickly to purge it out of my own eye.
[00:22:44] All because I've lost sight of the gravity of forgiveness I needed for my sin and my debt.
[00:22:51] So let me ask you this.
[00:22:54] It's a question I want you to ask yourself.
[00:22:58] Have I forgotten how spiritually bankrupt I was apart from God's grace?
[00:23:05] Like have I lost sight of my utter need that I could not pay my debt on my own?
[00:23:12] Or have I become so comfortable with thinking and forgetting the grace of God that I needed to restore me what I couldn't restore myself?
[00:23:22] When we lose sight of God's grace and our great debt before a holy God, we tend to get critical and forget our own sin and debt, just like Simon did.
[00:23:33] And this unnamed woman realized her great debt.
[00:23:38] And what we see next is what someone who truly understands the forgiveness of Jesus and how they respond when someone understands that he is the source and depth of their forgiveness, it changes their response, it changes their worship, it changes their affection, it changes their love for Jesus.
[00:23:58] And nowhere is this more evident in what Jesus says next in Luke 7:44:50. We'll read it together.
[00:24:05] Or I will read it.
[00:24:07] I will read it to you.
[00:24:13] Then, turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, do you see this woman?
[00:24:19] 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.
[00:24:27] You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet.
[00:24:34] You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
[00:24:40] Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but he who is forgiven little loves little.
[00:24:53] And he said to her, your sins are forgiven.
[00:24:59] Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, who is this who even forgives?
[00:25:07] And I just think he looks at her and he said to the woman, your faith has saved you go in peace.
[00:25:14] I love this part of the story.
[00:25:17] Jesus to this unsaved, unnamed woman, this woman of the city, this woman whose sin was known by many while looking at the one who doesn't see his own debt and need and says to Simon, she knows her great debt.
[00:25:30] She knows her great need.
[00:25:32] She knows that my presence is the only one that can heal. So that's why she busted down the door to run to me, not even invited into the table. But she goes to the table, ointment in hand, tears streaming down her face and hair, being mopping up Jesus feet, and is only revealing her great need.
[00:25:53] And she worships him.
[00:25:57] You see her response, this unnamed woman, this account that we wouldn't want to have informs what is a forerunners to what our response should be to the gospel every single day.
[00:26:09] Because this woman understood something that Simon missed.
[00:26:14] She understood that forgiveness is not something you earn, it's something you receive. She brought nothing to Jesus except her need, her brokenness, her little faith, which was great faith.
[00:26:27] And Jesus met her with the very four words we long to hear. Your sins are forgiven.
[00:26:36] Like that's the gospel.
[00:26:39] The debt we could not pay, Jesus paid ultimately at the cross.
[00:26:43] The judgment we deserved for our sin, Jesus absorbed. The death our sin earned. Jesus took upon himself at the cross, and three days later he rose again, providing life, forgiveness and peace, and is available to us who receive and repent and believe his good news.
[00:27:04] Notice Jesus doesn't tell the woman, hey, go and earn your forgiveness. Go clean yourself up, come back, and then we'll talk about it.
[00:27:13] No, he says, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Live in peace.
[00:27:21] And maybe, maybe that is the exact invitation at this table that we need today.
[00:27:29] For some of us, maybe we need to acknowledge that we've drifted to be like Simon the Pharisee, forgetting our sin, forgetting our debt that required forgiveness from the moneylender, the mercy of the One. And we're quick to so point out the flaws in others. And we're so slow to point out the brokenness in us.
[00:27:57] Maybe you've drifted to be like Simon the Pharisee.
[00:28:02] Or maybe you're like this unnamed woman who you know the greatness of your shame and guilt, and you carry it around every day. Some of it's known, maybe by others. Maybe some of it's not a past you wish you could rewrite.
[00:28:19] But the good news at this table is that Jesus is not repelled by repentant sinners. He welcomes them and laid out his life for you and them today. And he says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest. I will give you peace.
[00:28:39] The question from this table is not how large is your debt. The question is, will you bring it to Jesus, the One who paid it all?
[00:28:48] Because the people who leave change aren't the one who think they need little forgiveness. The people who leave change are the ones who can come honestly, humbly and desperately and crash into the table that Jesus has laid out for us to receive his love, to receive his mercy, to receive his grace.
[00:29:07] So today, whether your story looks more like Simon's or more like this woman's, the invitation is the same. Come to Jesus. Bring your sin, bring your pride, bring it into the light, bring your debt.
[00:29:18] And hear the words that have changed countless lives that I pray we remember every day. Your sins are forgiven.
[00:29:28] Every single Sunday going forward, I just want to let you know that I am here always waiting to pray alongside our elders, waiting to pray alongside you and with you. My heart is that we, as a people come zealously with everything, not things, remaining hidden and bringing them into light. And we want to pray with you for those things.
[00:29:52] And as I close, when the truth of this table and what Jesus was saying at this table sinks into our heart, the only fitting response is the response of this unnamed woman, this woman of the city, this sinner.
[00:30:05] Love, worship, gratitude, surrender, and a life poured out at the feet of Jesus Church. Let's pray.
[00:30:22] God, I thank you.
[00:30:25] I thank you that we were created to walk with you, to know you, to glorify you, to worship you.
[00:30:34] And though we chose our own way and we sinned and we chose disobedience, God, that you didn't let that stop you from loving us. You, at just the right time, sent your one and only son, Jesus to walk with us, to sit at tables with people like this unnamed woman and even Simon the Pharisee. And you love them where they are, speaking your life and your truth to them. And my heart for us is that we are continually reminded that we are invited to a table we did not deserve or earn or do anything to be brought to. But because of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, the hero that walked to the cross and took on our sin, our shame, we are invited to a table that we don't deserve if we repent and believe in you.
[00:31:23] And at this table there is feasting, there is life, and there is peace today.
[00:31:34] And God, my prayer today is that shame doesn't have the final word, guilt doesn't have the final word, but that you have the final word. And we come rushing to you, the one who's the author of all things, who set the table before us, that you are inviting people to come eat and feast from, to have abundant life.
[00:31:55] But it only comes by repenting and believing that Jesus is the hero and we are not.
[00:32:02] And for the ones that relate to Simon the Pharisee today, I pray they understand the greatness of their debt that was paid on their behalf. And it's the money lender that gets the glory, not them.
[00:32:18] And they repent of their pride or their self confidence. And they only come to the feet of Jesus with their need to be restored and healed.
[00:32:28] So whether we identify with Simon the Pharisee or this unnamed woman, I pray we just come and worship humbly before you, knowing you're the one who prepared the table for us. And we can feast because of your grace and your grace alone.
[00:32:40] God, we need you. And apart from you, we can do absolutely nothing.
[00:32:44] And I pray repentance in our body. I pray salvation in our body. And I pray newness of life in our body. In Jesus strong, mighty and precious name I pray. Amen. Church, let us stand and sing in response to the word today.
