1 00:00:07,290 --> 00:00:09,740 Hey, so if there are kiddos who want to stick around, that's 2 00:00:09,750 --> 00:00:11,290 great. And if there's kiddos who want 3 00:00:11,300 --> 00:00:13,720 to go to Sunday school, also great. 4 00:00:13,910 --> 00:00:19,520 Now's your chance. I will say there's one room in 5 00:00:19,530 --> 00:00:23,510 this entire building that's like the coolest temperature wise. 6 00:00:24,140 --> 00:00:26,980 It's a good time. The back, the youth room there 7 00:00:26,990 --> 00:00:29,540 like that's that's where the AC works the best. 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:34,410 Just saying, if if you need to move at any point, that's the 9 00:00:34,420 --> 00:00:37,010 place. That's the place to be amazing. 10 00:00:37,020 --> 00:00:40,610 Thanks guys. Awesome. 11 00:00:40,660 --> 00:00:43,670 So let me introduce myself if I'm new, if I'm a new face to 12 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,010 you. Welcome, special welcome to you. 13 00:00:46,020 --> 00:00:49,390 My name is Grant and I'm one of the pastors here at the church. 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,630 We have and are working our way through the gospel of Luke. 15 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,240 And so that is what we're going to do this morning. 16 00:00:55,250 --> 00:00:58,270 We're going to wrap up Luke Chapter 7, which is a great 17 00:00:58,700 --> 00:01:02,720 picture into life inside the Kingdom in a very specific way. 18 00:01:02,730 --> 00:01:10,170 And so if you felt a specific or particular call or gifting or 19 00:01:10,180 --> 00:01:14,290 challenge in your life around hospitality and what it looks 20 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:17,750 like to live the life that is hospitable toward others like 21 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,360 this, I think is is for you. If hospitality and and hosting 22 00:01:21,370 --> 00:01:24,360 maybe makes you a little bit nervous and anxious like this 23 00:01:24,370 --> 00:01:26,490 also might be for you. I think it's a good challenge. 24 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:30,640 It's a good reminder to each of us about how life is meant to be 25 00:01:30,650 --> 00:01:35,110 lived inside the Kingdom. So what I want to do is pray and 26 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,480 then I'm going to read the passage for us. 27 00:01:37,490 --> 00:01:39,840 It's, it's a good chunk, but we're going to just going to 28 00:01:39,850 --> 00:01:44,200 slowly read through it and then we'll work our way through. 29 00:01:44,270 --> 00:01:49,220 So let me let me do that. Let me pray and away we go. 30 00:01:49,870 --> 00:01:52,180 God, thank you for the gift of your presence. 31 00:01:52,270 --> 00:01:55,310 Thanks that you're with us and thank you that we don't need to 32 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,520 wonder about that. Thank you that you promised to 33 00:01:57,530 --> 00:02:01,940 be where we are, to gather and dwell with us and in us. 34 00:02:01,950 --> 00:02:04,680 God, thanks for that. As we are church gather, we 35 00:02:04,690 --> 00:02:07,460 gather in confidence that your spirit is here. 36 00:02:07,990 --> 00:02:12,220 And so, God, whether we come fully confident ourselves as an 37 00:02:12,230 --> 00:02:15,730 individual that that you are here, or whether we come a 38 00:02:15,740 --> 00:02:19,230 little bit uncertain, whether we come with doubts and wonder 39 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,410 questions, whether we come with a little bit of fear. 40 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,490 We gotta pray that together as a community, we might live in this 41 00:02:26,500 --> 00:02:33,720 position of of wonder and faith and curiosity toward how you are 42 00:02:33,730 --> 00:02:36,470 calling us to be as we move forward as a church. 43 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,210 So again, thanks that you call us to do this thing called life 44 00:02:40,220 --> 00:02:44,170 together inside of community. So would you remind us of that 45 00:02:44,180 --> 00:02:47,130 today? I pray in Jesus name, Amen. 46 00:02:48,630 --> 00:02:52,870 So this is starting at verse 36 in Chapter 7. 47 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,070 If you want to follow along, it's not going to be on the 48 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,050 screens initially and then it will be as we work our way. 49 00:02:58,060 --> 00:03:01,010 It says when one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have 50 00:03:01,020 --> 00:03:05,150 dinner with him, he went to the Pharisees house and reclined at 51 00:03:05,220 --> 00:03:08,440 the table. A woman in that town who lived a 52 00:03:08,450 --> 00:03:12,130 sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees 53 00:03:12,140 --> 00:03:15,370 house. So she came there with an 54 00:03:15,380 --> 00:03:20,090 alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his 55 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:24,200 feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. 56 00:03:24,860 --> 00:03:29,200 Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured 57 00:03:29,210 --> 00:03:32,410 perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had 58 00:03:32,420 --> 00:03:35,610 invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a 59 00:03:35,620 --> 00:03:39,110 prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of 60 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,580 woman she is, that she is a Sinner. 61 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,690 Jesus answered him. Simon, I have something to tell 62 00:03:45,700 --> 00:03:49,150 you. Tell me, Teacher, he said two 63 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,210 people owed money. Jesus said to a certain money 64 00:03:52,220 --> 00:03:56,310 lender. 1 owed him 500 dinero, the other 50. 65 00:03:56,580 --> 00:04:00,540 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the 66 00:04:00,550 --> 00:04:04,520 debts of both. Now which of them will love him 67 00:04:04,580 --> 00:04:06,660 more? Simon replied. 68 00:04:06,670 --> 00:04:10,000 I suppose the one who had a bigger debt forgiven, you have 69 00:04:10,010 --> 00:04:14,560 judged correctly, Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman 70 00:04:14,570 --> 00:04:17,579 and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? 71 00:04:18,329 --> 00:04:21,380 I came into your house and you did not give me any water for my 72 00:04:21,390 --> 00:04:23,460 feet. But she wet my feet with her 73 00:04:23,470 --> 00:04:25,690 tears and wiped them with her hair. 74 00:04:26,190 --> 00:04:29,040 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I 75 00:04:29,050 --> 00:04:31,180 entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 76 00:04:31,470 --> 00:04:35,260 You did not put oil on my head, but she is poor, poured perfume 77 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,870 on my feet. Therefore I tell you, her many 78 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,010 sins have been forgiven, as her great love has shown. 79 00:04:43,660 --> 00:04:47,050 But whoever has been forgiven little loves little. 80 00:04:47,540 --> 00:04:50,810 Then Jesus said to her, Your sins are forgiven. 81 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,870 The other guests began to say among themselves, Who is this? 82 00:04:54,950 --> 00:04:59,500 Who even forgives sins? Jesus said to the woman. 83 00:04:59,510 --> 00:05:03,710 Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. 84 00:05:06,150 --> 00:05:09,420 So you don't have to put your hand up for this question and 85 00:05:09,910 --> 00:05:11,820 that's alright. If you want to put your hand up, 86 00:05:11,830 --> 00:05:14,220 that's also alright. But I'm curious how many of you 87 00:05:14,230 --> 00:05:19,300 enjoy hosting? Like actually life giving, Enjoy 88 00:05:19,370 --> 00:05:25,240 hosting in your homes, Yes. OK, I see a couple hands, which 89 00:05:25,250 --> 00:05:27,780 is a wonderful thing and a wonderful gift. 90 00:05:28,970 --> 00:05:31,800 How many of you enjoy those? I've been reading through, 91 00:05:32,150 --> 00:05:34,380 rereading actually, through The Hobbit. 92 00:05:34,390 --> 00:05:38,940 So Tolkens book The Hobbit, and it's something I do every few 93 00:05:38,950 --> 00:05:41,340 years because I'm just that kind of person, I guess. 94 00:05:41,350 --> 00:05:44,400 And I read through either either one of those or Lord of the 95 00:05:44,410 --> 00:05:47,700 Rings that to some degree every few years I kind of return to 96 00:05:47,710 --> 00:05:50,900 those stories, stories that I remember fondly from my 97 00:05:50,910 --> 00:05:52,740 childhood, I think is part of it. 98 00:05:52,750 --> 00:05:54,520 But I've been reading The Hobbit, and in the opening 99 00:05:54,530 --> 00:05:57,130 chapter of The Hobbit, maybe you know this, maybe not, there's a 100 00:05:57,140 --> 00:05:59,720 character named Gandalf, and he tricks a character named Bilbo 101 00:05:59,790 --> 00:06:03,980 into frantically running around hosting a party for a group of 102 00:06:03,990 --> 00:06:08,190 door dwarves who show up at his house unannounced. 103 00:06:08,650 --> 00:06:13,280 So Gandalf puts a little mark on Bilbo's door and these dwarves 104 00:06:13,290 --> 00:06:15,390 show up and there's thirteen of them. 105 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,970 And you don't care or need to know, but Dwalin, Balin, Kili, 106 00:06:17,980 --> 00:06:20,890 Philly, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Beaufort, Beaufort, 107 00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:25,880 Bomber and Thorin are their names and I have it written 108 00:06:25,890 --> 00:06:31,510 down. It's OK, it's easy the list, but 109 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,140 listen, like as each arrives, here's the picture I want you to 110 00:06:34,150 --> 00:06:37,050 have as each of these characters arrive, they kind of arrive like 111 00:06:37,060 --> 00:06:38,690 one by one or two by two and then groups. 112 00:06:38,700 --> 00:06:41,610 They fall into Bilbo's house and he runs and you open the door. 113 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:43,570 He says, hey, welcome at your service. 114 00:06:43,580 --> 00:06:45,260 My name is Bill. When he takes their cloak and he 115 00:06:45,270 --> 00:06:47,930 hangs it up and then he runs back and forth over and over 116 00:06:47,940 --> 00:06:50,490 again from his pantry to his kitchen to the room where 117 00:06:50,500 --> 00:06:54,160 they're sitting frantically trying to host them and serve 118 00:06:54,170 --> 00:06:56,390 them. Well, this is the opening 119 00:06:56,460 --> 00:07:00,050 chapter. And Bilbo, I think, kind of 120 00:07:00,060 --> 00:07:02,630 represents he's an actualist and he's an anxious host in that 121 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,470 opening chapter, but he hosts well, it's important to him. 122 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,240 And so one by one and two by two and group by group, as these 123 00:07:09,310 --> 00:07:12,560 guys show up, he's running back and forth all over the place 124 00:07:12,570 --> 00:07:16,030 trying to take care of them, providing them food and 125 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,620 providing them drink. And then eventually, I think 126 00:07:19,630 --> 00:07:21,100 they end up doing their own dishes. 127 00:07:21,110 --> 00:07:25,020 But Bilbo was a good host. And maybe you enjoy hosting. 128 00:07:25,030 --> 00:07:29,200 And maybe that thought just, you know, fills your heart with joy. 129 00:07:30,490 --> 00:07:35,600 I remember as a kid, one dinner we're sitting down and eating 130 00:07:35,610 --> 00:07:40,180 middle of dinner and the doorbell rings and my dad, who's 131 00:07:40,190 --> 00:07:45,460 usually like the most organized person I knew growing up, looks 132 00:07:45,470 --> 00:07:52,100 up in shock and fear and dread and says across the table to my 133 00:07:52,110 --> 00:07:54,720 mom, oh, so and so is coming for dinner. 134 00:07:57,420 --> 00:08:02,100 And not only that, but they were staying overnight and it had 135 00:08:02,110 --> 00:08:05,440 completely slipped his mind. And so maybe you hear a story 136 00:08:05,450 --> 00:08:08,640 like this, You're like, man, hosting just makes me anxious. 137 00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:12,540 Yeah. And I'm not sure what to do. 138 00:08:12,820 --> 00:08:18,390 I just, I'm not sure how to be. Luke presents this story to us 139 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:24,280 and it's a story of radical hospitality, the story of like 140 00:08:24,290 --> 00:08:30,840 radical welcome and embrace, and it's also a story of radical 141 00:08:30,850 --> 00:08:38,150 rudeness or like in hospitality or anti hospitality. 142 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,260 So we've got these characters who represent on the one hand, 143 00:08:42,270 --> 00:08:46,540 what it means and looks like to be radically hospitable, and on 144 00:08:46,550 --> 00:08:50,030 the other hand what it looks like to be radically rude. 145 00:08:51,290 --> 00:08:55,420 And I think one of the realities is, like I've said, is that it's 146 00:08:55,430 --> 00:09:01,650 a story about how God's Kingdom is meant to be alright. 147 00:09:01,660 --> 00:09:05,950 What is it to look like? How are we to find ourselves in 148 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,230 it? How are we challenged to see 149 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,910 Jesus and others inside of this new life that Jesus has 150 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,670 constructed inside of his Kingdom? 151 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,290 What is not, though, and I found this interesting to unfold as I 152 00:09:19,300 --> 00:09:23,370 was reading and studying my way through this passage, is that 153 00:09:23,380 --> 00:09:28,130 it's not actually all that uncommon of a story as at least 154 00:09:28,140 --> 00:09:30,530 I tend to think it might have been. 155 00:09:30,540 --> 00:09:33,270 I look at this story and it's like it's awkward from the 156 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:35,880 beginning. And I'm not sure who's supposed 157 00:09:35,890 --> 00:09:37,590 to be there and who's not supposed to be there. 158 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,760 And how do you get into a home that you aren't supposed to be 159 00:09:40,770 --> 00:09:42,860 in, in the 1st place? Like what's really going on 160 00:09:42,870 --> 00:09:44,700 here? And so that's what I want to do 161 00:09:44,710 --> 00:09:49,760 a little bit this morning, as it were, set the table for this 162 00:09:49,770 --> 00:09:54,920 encounter between Jesus the woman and Simon the Pharisee. 163 00:09:55,550 --> 00:10:00,040 So when one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner 164 00:10:00,050 --> 00:10:02,000 with him, that's the first thing we're told. 165 00:10:02,010 --> 00:10:04,620 He's invited Jesus to have dinner with him. 166 00:10:04,670 --> 00:10:07,000 He went to the fair, sees that his Jesus went to the fairies 167 00:10:07,010 --> 00:10:10,430 house and reclined at the table. This is a common way to eat in 168 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,350 the Middle East. Reclined, not sitting properly, 169 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,640 like just not up, like we would consider sitting at a table, but 170 00:10:16,650 --> 00:10:20,680 actually reclined down to eat. A woman in that town who lived a 171 00:10:20,690 --> 00:10:23,280 sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees 172 00:10:23,290 --> 00:10:25,420 house. So she came there with an 173 00:10:25,430 --> 00:10:28,860 alabaster jar of perfume. She's arrived and she's come 174 00:10:28,930 --> 00:10:33,060 with a purpose, and Luke has already told us what that 175 00:10:33,070 --> 00:10:34,980 purpose is. But Jesus is eating with a 176 00:10:34,990 --> 00:10:38,740 Pharisee and on the one hand, you might go like, well, why? 177 00:10:39,790 --> 00:10:42,720 Why would Jesus eat with a fair say go Jesus ate with tax 178 00:10:42,730 --> 00:10:45,980 collectors and sinners. So why not also Pharisees? 179 00:10:46,630 --> 00:10:49,390 I imagine this Pharisee though, he's invited Jesus maybe 180 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,160 thinking to himself, you can picture this like I've gotta 181 00:10:52,170 --> 00:10:55,880 figure this guy out. So Pharisee, teacher of the law, 182 00:10:55,890 --> 00:11:00,480 like religious, very strict observance of the law, like 183 00:11:00,490 --> 00:11:03,420 what's Jesus going and what's he's going around teaching now? 184 00:11:03,430 --> 00:11:05,960 And he's preaching, he's healing and he's casting out demons. 185 00:11:05,970 --> 00:11:08,580 Like what is this all about? I've got maybe Simon is 186 00:11:08,590 --> 00:11:11,650 thinking, I've got to figure this Jesus out for myself. 187 00:11:11,660 --> 00:11:14,820 Who is Jesus? Maybe he's decided that maybe 188 00:11:14,830 --> 00:11:18,210 this guys gaining a little bit too much popularity for us to 189 00:11:18,220 --> 00:11:21,430 feel comfortable with and fame. But on the other hand, maybe 190 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,650 he's thought this guy's gaining a little bit of popularity and 191 00:11:24,660 --> 00:11:28,260 fame and like, I gotta hitch my wagon to his success. 192 00:11:30,530 --> 00:11:33,380 Maybe he invites Jesus into his home because of what other 193 00:11:33,390 --> 00:11:36,510 people are going to think when they see, oh, Jesus has gone to 194 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:41,350 this guy's house and he's eating with Simon, right? 195 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:46,160 Wondering who might see Jesus enter his Simon's home to 196 00:11:46,170 --> 00:11:48,580 recline Anita at his Simon's table. 197 00:11:48,590 --> 00:11:53,240 Like maybe he's in it trying to figure out if he can also saddle 198 00:11:53,250 --> 00:11:56,720 up to Jesus and gain a little bit of authority and popularity 199 00:11:56,730 --> 00:12:00,260 because of it. But we're told again, so Jesus 200 00:12:00,270 --> 00:12:02,460 eat there. He arrives, He reclines to eat 201 00:12:02,530 --> 00:12:04,600 again, lounging. Common practice. 202 00:12:05,950 --> 00:12:08,940 And so I picture this encounter kind of unfolding and Simon 203 00:12:08,950 --> 00:12:11,100 thinking to himself, like, oh, it's working. 204 00:12:11,850 --> 00:12:15,340 Jesus showed up, he came, he's here, he's heating. 205 00:12:15,350 --> 00:12:18,240 Like people can see this happening around us. 206 00:12:18,250 --> 00:12:24,090 Like, this is great plans unfolding when the woman enters 207 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,150 the house. Only we're not told that it's 208 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:32,870 just any woman, but a woman who is considered sinful, one who, 209 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:37,450 quote, lived a sinful life. And Simon knows it. 210 00:12:38,290 --> 00:12:41,020 And Luke, Luke's got to make sure he wants to make sure that 211 00:12:41,030 --> 00:12:46,310 we know it from the start, what people thought about this woman. 212 00:12:47,220 --> 00:12:49,530 And so again, I, I kind of picture like Simon's guy getting 213 00:12:49,540 --> 00:12:51,940 concerned at this point, like what's going on? 214 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:57,260 Why is she here and what are people going to think when they 215 00:12:57,270 --> 00:13:01,840 see her here now, like the plans not going quite as he had 216 00:13:01,850 --> 00:13:03,810 thought it would. Now, I don't think Simon's as 217 00:13:03,820 --> 00:13:07,250 concerned with the fact that someone else is there. 218 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,920 We're going to find out that there's other guests, right, who 219 00:13:09,930 --> 00:13:13,950 are also invited. And homes in this time and area 220 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:18,330 were designed to be open privacy as we would consider it, like in 221 00:13:18,340 --> 00:13:21,050 Canada, in the West and North America, not quite the same 222 00:13:21,060 --> 00:13:24,370 thing they've got going on in Jesus's day. 223 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,010 In fact, many doors, what we would call doors openings, 224 00:13:28,020 --> 00:13:32,350 didn't actually even have a door that would close in front of it. 225 00:13:32,420 --> 00:13:36,450 So privacy a little bit less of a priority. 226 00:13:36,510 --> 00:13:40,420 People could come and go and enter and exit one another's 227 00:13:40,430 --> 00:13:43,460 homes easily. Again, like I remember I'm we 228 00:13:43,470 --> 00:13:46,420 moved to a small town. So we lived in New Jersey, 229 00:13:46,430 --> 00:13:51,040 Connie and I, for school. And then we moved from there to 230 00:13:51,050 --> 00:13:55,600 a very little town to a smaller still little town. 231 00:13:55,730 --> 00:13:59,400 And like, I worked in one of the most dangerous cities in North 232 00:13:59,410 --> 00:14:03,050 America in the world while we were in Princeton, while we were 233 00:14:03,060 --> 00:14:05,260 in Jersey. And so we moved there and I 234 00:14:05,270 --> 00:14:07,230 found out that one of my colleagues, he's like, yeah, 235 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:08,810 just come over. And I was like, OK, but are you 236 00:14:08,820 --> 00:14:10,230 gonna be home? No, I'm not going to be home. 237 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:11,400 OK. Well, do I need a key to get in 238 00:14:11,410 --> 00:14:13,850 your house? Like, no doors wide open. 239 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:16,620 Like, doors open, garage door open, everything. 240 00:14:16,630 --> 00:14:18,350 That's just how they live. And I, I love it. 241 00:14:18,540 --> 00:14:21,690 So doors are open, privacy not as big of a deal. 242 00:14:21,700 --> 00:14:24,670 People would come in and out. So the fact that there are other 243 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,350 people here isn't of concern to Simon. 244 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:33,260 What is of concern to him is who this particular someone is who 245 00:14:33,270 --> 00:14:37,260 has entered into his, what he thinks is his story. 246 00:14:37,570 --> 00:14:40,270 So this woman, she shows up, she's come there very 247 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,950 specifically with an alabaster jar of perfume to anoint Jesus. 248 00:14:45,900 --> 00:14:50,810 As she stood behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet 249 00:14:50,820 --> 00:14:57,940 his feet with her tears. And then she wiped them with her 250 00:14:57,950 --> 00:15:02,440 hair and kiss them, poured perfume on them. 251 00:15:04,090 --> 00:15:09,160 Now, I think if you kind of stay with the narrative, Simon might 252 00:15:09,170 --> 00:15:11,700 be wondering whether or not things have gotten out of 253 00:15:11,710 --> 00:15:16,290 control. No, not for the reasons we tend 254 00:15:16,300 --> 00:15:19,170 to think, though, right? Not. 255 00:15:19,180 --> 00:15:22,650 Not because of what the woman is doing is outrageously awkward, 256 00:15:22,660 --> 00:15:26,410 or because there's some tension here between her and Jesus, or 257 00:15:26,460 --> 00:15:30,290 because these are outlandishly bizarre things to do, but 258 00:15:30,300 --> 00:15:33,530 because they're very pointed things that she does. 259 00:15:34,930 --> 00:15:42,950 Jesus has entered Simon's house. Simon is the host, and yet this 260 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:49,970 woman is doing the very things that Simon should do as host. 261 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,230 This woman, who Simon thinks and sees as only sinful, is actually 262 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:58,060 fulfilling, in a better, greater capacity, the rule and the 263 00:15:58,070 --> 00:16:02,780 responsibility of host. Jesus entered his house. 264 00:16:02,830 --> 00:16:06,640 Simon was the host. He was the one who ought to have 265 00:16:06,650 --> 00:16:11,080 washed Jesus's feet, provided him water to do so, anointed him 266 00:16:11,090 --> 00:16:14,690 with oil to refresh him ahead of their meal, and then greeted him 267 00:16:14,700 --> 00:16:16,900 with a kiss. Those were the job, the 268 00:16:16,910 --> 00:16:22,210 responsibilities of the host, and he hadn't done them. 269 00:16:22,910 --> 00:16:27,760 So this woman who he sees as sinful has filled the gap of 270 00:16:27,770 --> 00:16:35,940 hospitality, and she's done it in a radical way, in a way that 271 00:16:35,950 --> 00:16:40,490 doesn't look like every other host in every other house. 272 00:16:41,750 --> 00:16:43,460 These were the tasks of the host. 273 00:16:43,870 --> 00:16:49,720 It was Simon's responsibility. And yet this woman has fulfilled 274 00:16:49,730 --> 00:16:52,940 them. Picture inviting somebody to 275 00:16:52,950 --> 00:16:57,410 your house and into your home. Except that maybe you don't 276 00:16:57,420 --> 00:16:59,570 actually invite them all the way into your house. 277 00:16:59,580 --> 00:17:06,200 You're like you stand out on the porch and not offering them like 278 00:17:06,210 --> 00:17:10,540 anything to drink, not saying, hey, come in and sit down. 279 00:17:10,750 --> 00:17:13,480 Can I like can I take your coat and always wearing a coat today, 280 00:17:13,490 --> 00:17:15,839 but like can Ioffer you a cool washcloth? 281 00:17:15,849 --> 00:17:21,190 It's 33° outside, like these are the things that we're expected. 282 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,910 Simon though, however, I don't think really sees what's going 283 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:31,870 on, at least not initially. So when the Pharisee, if we 284 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,940 continue, who had invited him, saw this, he said to himself, if 285 00:17:34,950 --> 00:17:39,820 this man were a prophet, he would have known who is touching 286 00:17:39,830 --> 00:17:44,600 him and what kind of woman she is, that she is a Sinner. 287 00:17:44,850 --> 00:17:48,920 If this man were really who he says he is, if he really is a 288 00:17:48,930 --> 00:17:54,600 prophet, if he really is the Messiah, if he really is, then 289 00:17:54,610 --> 00:17:57,360 he would have known. We see this often with Jesus. 290 00:17:57,370 --> 00:17:58,700 We see it often with the Pharisees. 291 00:17:58,710 --> 00:18:01,640 We see it often with the crowds and the people wondering at how 292 00:18:01,650 --> 00:18:06,260 Jesus is toward the world because it doesn't meet their 293 00:18:06,270 --> 00:18:09,180 expectations, which is what we've talked about in weeks 294 00:18:09,190 --> 00:18:11,960 past. If this man were a prophecy, 295 00:18:11,970 --> 00:18:14,120 sees Simon, sees what's happening, and he immediately 296 00:18:14,130 --> 00:18:17,720 jumps to this place of judgment. He's judging. 297 00:18:17,820 --> 00:18:26,370 He's judging the woman to be sinful, and he's judging Jesus 298 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:30,310 because he's letting her touch his feet in his head. 299 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:34,710 In other words, like Jesus is clear in Simon's mind, Jesus 300 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,130 cannot be a great prophet, let alone the Messiah. 301 00:18:38,140 --> 00:18:40,970 Jesus cannot be who he says he is because he is allowing A 302 00:18:40,980 --> 00:18:44,990 sinful woman to touch him and listen. 303 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:52,730 Like I just wonder if we judge our judged by those we associate 304 00:18:52,740 --> 00:18:57,130 with, by those we invite into our lives, by those whose lives 305 00:18:57,140 --> 00:19:03,520 we engage with. The Pharisee has brought Jesus 306 00:19:03,530 --> 00:19:06,970 in for a meal and there are others gathered around. 307 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,760 And again, like, maybe it is just to figure out who Jesus is, 308 00:19:10,770 --> 00:19:15,540 but I think genuinely, I think this guy is trying to gain 309 00:19:15,550 --> 00:19:21,050 authority because of who Jesus is and because he's seen to be 310 00:19:21,060 --> 00:19:26,290 sharing a meal with Jesus. I think the Pharisee wants the 311 00:19:26,300 --> 00:19:32,380 benefit of knowing Jesus without the sacrifice of being known by 312 00:19:32,390 --> 00:19:36,180 Jesus. And in other words, what I mean 313 00:19:36,190 --> 00:19:39,220 is like he wants people to see that he knows Jesus. 314 00:19:39,470 --> 00:19:41,640 He wants to be associated with Jesus. 315 00:19:42,110 --> 00:19:44,630 He wants people to see, listen, like I'm friends with this new 316 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:46,360 radical teacher. See this. 317 00:19:47,490 --> 00:19:55,660 But he doesn't want to have his life changed at all by Jesus. 318 00:19:56,410 --> 00:19:59,100 I don't think he wants to wrestle with the internal heart 319 00:19:59,110 --> 00:20:03,260 transformation that needs to happen when Jesus truly enters 320 00:20:03,310 --> 00:20:08,680 into your home. Simon wants what's external, not 321 00:20:08,690 --> 00:20:15,040 what is internal. No, I think our inclination at 322 00:20:15,050 --> 00:20:19,550 times is to compare rather ourselves and to compare the 323 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:24,010 Pharisee with Jesus. And and one of the typical third 324 00:20:24,020 --> 00:20:27,490 ways I I hear this passage fleshed out is listen like the 325 00:20:27,500 --> 00:20:31,190 Pharisee judges, but Jesus embraces, so let's be like 326 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:32,790 Jesus. That's a good point to make. 327 00:20:33,470 --> 00:20:35,580 The Pharisee condemns, Jesus forgives. 328 00:20:35,590 --> 00:20:37,940 Let's let's be like Jesus again. That's a good point to make. 329 00:20:38,010 --> 00:20:42,440 The Pharisee would really rather exclude, would really rather put 330 00:20:42,450 --> 00:20:45,680 away and clean up his life and just pretend that everything is 331 00:20:45,690 --> 00:20:48,760 neat and tidy on the outside so that people can see and and not 332 00:20:48,770 --> 00:20:50,480 deal with what's going on inside. 333 00:20:50,490 --> 00:20:58,740 And Jesus includes and welcomes, and then even forgives. 334 00:20:59,940 --> 00:21:03,030 But the real comparison is not between Jesus and the Pharisee 335 00:21:03,100 --> 00:21:06,890 toward the woman, but between the woman and the Pharisee 336 00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:10,050 toward Jesus. The comparison that we're meant 337 00:21:10,060 --> 00:21:12,710 to make is not to align ourselves and see ourselves as 338 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,090 Jesus would be like great look at us, we're like Jesus. 339 00:21:15,340 --> 00:21:18,990 We are meant to find ourselves wrestling out between the 340 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:24,220 Pharisee and the woman in how we are toward Jesus. 341 00:21:26,190 --> 00:21:30,180 So G's answers, Simon. Simon, I have something to tell 342 00:21:30,190 --> 00:21:36,580 you. Notice here that Simon Says I'm 343 00:21:36,590 --> 00:21:39,200 not going to be able to find it quickly enough, Simon Says to 344 00:21:39,210 --> 00:21:44,140 himself. So Simon invited. 345 00:21:44,150 --> 00:21:46,780 Jesus saw this, he said to himself. 346 00:21:47,820 --> 00:21:52,800 Jesus answered him. Simon, I have something to tell 347 00:21:52,810 --> 00:21:55,060 you. Tell me, teacher, he said. 348 00:21:55,070 --> 00:21:57,300 Now at that point I would have stopped and been like, how did 349 00:21:57,310 --> 00:22:02,000 you know what I was thinking? But Jesus continues. 350 00:22:02,010 --> 00:22:04,580 He says two people owed money to a certain money lender, 1 owed 351 00:22:04,590 --> 00:22:07,660 him 500 genera and the other 50. Neither of them had enough money 352 00:22:07,670 --> 00:22:11,310 to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. 353 00:22:13,260 --> 00:22:15,970 Now which of them will love him more? 354 00:22:16,020 --> 00:22:18,810 So I'm gonna replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt 355 00:22:18,820 --> 00:22:21,270 forgiven. You have judged correctly, Jesus 356 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,570 said. Then he turned toward the woman 357 00:22:23,580 --> 00:22:26,050 and said to her, do you see this woman as her sorry said to 358 00:22:26,060 --> 00:22:29,810 Simon, do you see this woman? I came into your house, You did 359 00:22:29,820 --> 00:22:32,430 not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with 360 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:33,910 her tears and wiped them with her hair. 361 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,970 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman from the time I 362 00:22:36,980 --> 00:22:38,710 entered has not stopped kissing my feet. 363 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:44,470 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on 364 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,350 them. And again, when Jesus, what 365 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:52,220 Jesus is saying very clearly to Simon, because a first of all, I 366 00:22:52,230 --> 00:22:55,660 knew what you were thinking. I knew what you were thinking. 367 00:22:55,670 --> 00:22:59,200 I knew the thoughts that were rattling around inside your head 368 00:22:59,210 --> 00:23:01,660 and your heart. I know you. 369 00:23:01,970 --> 00:23:06,640 And then he said, I see you. I saw what you did, or rather 370 00:23:06,650 --> 00:23:09,840 what you didn't do, He said You did not. 371 00:23:09,890 --> 00:23:15,460 You did not give me any water. You did not give me a kiss. 372 00:23:15,790 --> 00:23:20,790 You did not put oil on my head. But she did. 373 00:23:22,030 --> 00:23:25,240 And not only that, Simon, but she did more. 374 00:23:25,940 --> 00:23:29,510 She did more than what was expected or what was common as a 375 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,850 host. She wet my feet with her tears, 376 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:37,350 wiped them with her hair. She brought the perfume. 377 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:39,970 She anointed. Jesus is not. 378 00:23:39,980 --> 00:23:45,200 Jesus is ahead, but Jesus's feet at every turn. 379 00:23:45,530 --> 00:23:50,180 She was not only hospitable, but radically hospitable. 380 00:23:50,250 --> 00:23:52,520 Not only is this woman fulfilling the role and the duty 381 00:23:52,530 --> 00:23:55,360 of host, one who welcomes and who welcomes well, but she's 382 00:23:55,370 --> 00:23:57,910 doing it in an outrageously generous way. 383 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,390 That is what we are supposed to see here, even uncomfortably so, 384 00:24:04,420 --> 00:24:06,350 with all that she has available to her. 385 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:07,690 Like this is it. This is what she's got. 386 00:24:07,700 --> 00:24:11,550 She doesn't have access to what Simon has access to. 387 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,970 She doesn't just show what hospitality is like, she shows 388 00:24:13,980 --> 00:24:17,020 what radical hospitality can be like. 389 00:24:19,190 --> 00:24:21,230 And Jesus points it out. It's not for show. 390 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,270 It's not because it's her responsibility. 391 00:24:24,580 --> 00:24:28,170 It's not because she has to or because Jesus entered her house. 392 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:33,480 It's not to earn respect. It's not to earn something 393 00:24:33,570 --> 00:24:37,680 respect or otherwise authority from others witnessing the the 394 00:24:37,690 --> 00:24:41,920 event. It is entirely based on the 395 00:24:41,930 --> 00:24:44,590 state of her heart. Jesus says. 396 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:49,970 Like this woman knows what it means to be forgiven, and she 397 00:24:49,980 --> 00:24:52,890 knows what it means to love. Well, because she has been 398 00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:56,320 forgiven, she knows it. She probably knows that she 399 00:24:56,330 --> 00:24:59,810 doesn't deserve it, or at least that many people would consider 400 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,870 her to not deserve it. But whatever it is, the 401 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:04,970 forgiveness, the love, the mercy, the grace, like it 402 00:25:04,980 --> 00:25:09,450 rattles around in the core of her being, who she is is shaped 403 00:25:09,460 --> 00:25:13,400 by it. Jesus is one who forgives, and 404 00:25:13,410 --> 00:25:15,920 Jesus is one who restores, and Jesus is one who heals. 405 00:25:15,930 --> 00:25:20,560 And she thinks even me and I'm gonna do something because of 406 00:25:20,570 --> 00:25:23,590 it. I'm gonna live differently 407 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,810 because of it. She sees Jesus for who he really 408 00:25:25,820 --> 00:25:28,450 is and welcomes him because she knows it. 409 00:25:28,460 --> 00:25:34,530 She knows who Jesus really is. If we go back, one Jesus says 1. 410 00:25:34,540 --> 00:25:41,010 Owed him 500 denarii and the other 50 right? 411 00:25:41,020 --> 00:25:43,270 We can all agree like 500 bigger than 50. 412 00:25:45,580 --> 00:25:52,950 Jesus says listen, those who are forgiven much will love much and 413 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,250 listen this. Don't get it backwards. 414 00:25:54,260 --> 00:25:57,150 Those who love much will be forgiven much. 415 00:25:58,170 --> 00:26:00,860 Those who earn it by their love will eventually receive 416 00:26:00,870 --> 00:26:02,280 forgiveness. Jesus says no. 417 00:26:02,290 --> 00:26:06,080 Those who have received forgiveness, who have truly 418 00:26:06,090 --> 00:26:10,040 wrestled with it, who know the depths of the sideways, broken, 419 00:26:10,050 --> 00:26:14,420 sinful parts of life and also the deep, meaningful, 420 00:26:14,430 --> 00:26:18,480 restorative parts of love and grace, those who have wrestled 421 00:26:18,490 --> 00:26:25,890 that out in their own being will love well because of it, will be 422 00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:31,610 hospitable because of it. So Jesus continues, He explains 423 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,290 his own mini parable. Therefore, I tell you, her many 424 00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:37,610 sins have been forgiven, as her great love has shown, has 425 00:26:37,620 --> 00:26:41,540 demonstrated. But whoever has been forgiven 426 00:26:41,550 --> 00:26:47,890 little loves letter. Then Jesus says to her, Your 427 00:26:47,900 --> 00:26:51,990 sins are forgiven. The other guests began to say 428 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,530 among themselves, Who is this? Who even forgive sins? 429 00:26:55,340 --> 00:26:57,720 Angela says to the woman. Your faith has saved you. 430 00:26:59,010 --> 00:27:03,130 Go in peace. I love this last line. 431 00:27:03,180 --> 00:27:06,040 So for a second, though, could you imagine being one of these 432 00:27:06,050 --> 00:27:09,910 other guests? Like, how far back are you gonna 433 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,510 creep during the whole thing? Like backs against the wall? 434 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,870 Like, how like do we have to? Like this is just getting more 435 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,780 and more awkward and we're not sure what's happening. 436 00:27:22,700 --> 00:27:25,810 For many sins have been forgiven, Jesus says. 437 00:27:27,130 --> 00:27:33,220 As her great love has shown, her love Jesus reveals the nature of 438 00:27:33,230 --> 00:27:37,330 her heart, the way in which she serves. 439 00:27:37,340 --> 00:27:40,350 The way in which she loves reveals what has been 440 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:45,160 transformed inside of her, And by implication, the love that 441 00:27:45,170 --> 00:27:51,030 the Pharisee showed revealed also the nature of his heart. 442 00:27:53,550 --> 00:27:56,900 Dallas Willard has a great line. He says. 443 00:27:56,910 --> 00:28:00,140 Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning. 444 00:28:00,780 --> 00:28:04,110 And usually you see just this line kind of cut off here, and 445 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:07,370 it's a great quote, great. Grace is not opposed to effort, 446 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:09,850 but it is, he says, opposed to earning. 447 00:28:09,860 --> 00:28:12,650 Earning is an attitude, Effort is an action. 448 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:18,890 The Pharisee wanted to earn. The women responded with love. 449 00:28:20,170 --> 00:28:24,290 That's the difference. God's grace can cause you to 450 00:28:24,300 --> 00:28:27,310 work. God's grace can cause you to put 451 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:30,410 effort out. God's grace will cause you to 452 00:28:30,420 --> 00:28:35,100 live differently, but it's never in an attempt to earn. 453 00:28:35,850 --> 00:28:39,150 It's always as an outpouring of what God is doing inside of you. 454 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,940 The reality I think of passages like this is that we, like I've 455 00:28:42,950 --> 00:28:46,450 said before, we want to see ourselves as Jesus, alright. 456 00:28:46,460 --> 00:28:49,320 We want to see ourselves filling this position of Jesus like the 457 00:28:49,330 --> 00:28:54,350 one who welcomes the stranger, the one who welcomes and draws 458 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:57,900 in the outsider. And we certainly don't want to 459 00:28:57,910 --> 00:28:59,580 see ourselves like the Pharisee, right? 460 00:28:59,590 --> 00:29:02,530 The one who aligns himself publicly with Jesus, but only in 461 00:29:02,540 --> 00:29:06,030 an attempt to earn high standing in society, who doesn't really 462 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,510 allow the message of Jesus to transform his heart. 463 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,470 Like, let's push against that. Let's align ourselves with 464 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,360 Jesus. Only reality is that at some 465 00:29:15,370 --> 00:29:19,220 point and in some parts of our life, we need to see ourselves 466 00:29:19,230 --> 00:29:22,540 in the Pharisee. Like, do we want Jesus because 467 00:29:22,550 --> 00:29:27,620 of what he offers to us, because of the life we get to live, what 468 00:29:27,630 --> 00:29:31,980 it does for us on our behalf, or are we actually allowing Jesus 469 00:29:31,990 --> 00:29:36,280 to confront our sin and the little pieces of death inside of 470 00:29:36,290 --> 00:29:38,760 us and shall? Like do we want Jesus only 471 00:29:38,770 --> 00:29:42,100 because of what is external, or do we want him because of who he 472 00:29:42,110 --> 00:29:45,820 is as the Messiah? But the reality is, the greater 473 00:29:45,830 --> 00:29:48,380 reality is that we actually need to find ourselves in the woman. 474 00:29:48,850 --> 00:29:54,490 We need to see ourselves as this woman, the sinful one who finds 475 00:29:54,500 --> 00:29:59,930 forgiveness and who recognizes God's great love toward her. 476 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,720 We need to be ones who recognize God's great love toward us. 477 00:30:05,870 --> 00:30:09,120 We need to see ourselves as ones who are willing to be radically, 478 00:30:09,130 --> 00:30:11,660 if even a little awkwardly, hospitable. 479 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,370 Not because we earn anything by it, but because we ourselves 480 00:30:15,380 --> 00:30:19,660 have received it. God's radical love and 481 00:30:19,670 --> 00:30:24,010 generosity. God's grace toward us expressed 482 00:30:24,060 --> 00:30:27,400 out bias toward the world. Timothy Keller takes it further. 483 00:30:27,410 --> 00:30:29,750 He says you don't actually understand. 484 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,710 He says you don't really understand the gospel unless you 485 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,810 see yourself as the woman in this story. 486 00:30:37,940 --> 00:30:41,950 Whoever has been forgiven little, loves little. 487 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,190 Whoever has been forgiven much, loves much, or sees Louis 488 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,570 preached. To be a Christian means to 489 00:30:47,580 --> 00:30:51,130 forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable 490 00:30:51,140 --> 00:30:56,040 in you. Do you know that you've been 491 00:30:56,050 --> 00:31:00,950 forgiven? Do you know the depths and 492 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:07,100 height of God's grace and love and mercy for you in being 493 00:31:07,190 --> 00:31:11,670 forgiven, not just in your head, but in your heart? 494 00:31:12,030 --> 00:31:14,080 And have you wrestled it out? Have you embraced it? 495 00:31:14,090 --> 00:31:16,860 Have you let it sink into the core of who you are and let it 496 00:31:16,870 --> 00:31:20,340 push out the little lies that attempt to defeat the goodness 497 00:31:20,350 --> 00:31:23,960 and the grace of God inside of your own soul? 498 00:31:24,210 --> 00:31:26,940 Like this woman knew the state of her heart and the state of 499 00:31:26,950 --> 00:31:30,600 her life and the greatness of God's love and forgiveness, and 500 00:31:30,610 --> 00:31:32,220 she lived differently because of it. 501 00:31:32,230 --> 00:31:33,960 And that's the challenge to each of us. 502 00:31:35,610 --> 00:31:38,640 Finally God said or Jesus says his last line. 503 00:31:39,030 --> 00:31:43,410 Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. 504 00:31:44,980 --> 00:31:49,380 Um, I guess one of the questions that we could ask we come to the 505 00:31:49,390 --> 00:31:53,650 end of a passage like this is where do you go when Jesus says 506 00:31:53,660 --> 00:31:57,080 go in peace? Like where? 507 00:31:57,150 --> 00:32:00,410 Where is this woman meant to go to? 508 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,370 Where is she meant to find her being all of her life now? 509 00:32:05,380 --> 00:32:09,860 How is she? Where is she meant to live and 510 00:32:09,870 --> 00:32:12,140 she she can't return to her old life. 511 00:32:13,670 --> 00:32:17,890 Maybe not to her old friends. Maybe she can't return to her 512 00:32:17,900 --> 00:32:18,850 family. Maybe she can. 513 00:32:18,860 --> 00:32:20,960 Maybe she has no family. Maybe she does. 514 00:32:22,050 --> 00:32:24,610 I think the reality of a passage like this is that the end of it 515 00:32:24,620 --> 00:32:28,150 is that this screams the need for community. 516 00:32:29,230 --> 00:32:33,840 It screams the need for what would become the church and for 517 00:32:33,850 --> 00:32:37,150 how we are meant to live together and for how we are 518 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:39,030 meant to embrace one another together. 519 00:32:39,100 --> 00:32:42,830 As people who have been forgiven and as people who have wrestled 520 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:44,760 it out and as people who are learning what it means to be 521 00:32:44,770 --> 00:32:48,950 hospitable and as people who are learning to experience and re 522 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,150 experience and give and continue to give God's grace. 523 00:32:53,060 --> 00:32:57,890 Go in peace, Jesus says, and we're meant to go in peace. 524 00:32:59,690 --> 00:33:06,530 One of the questions that I have been wrestling out through this 525 00:33:07,020 --> 00:33:11,580 passage is simply this. Who is at your table? 526 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,440 Who's at your table? Like again, I picture I'm taking 527 00:33:15,450 --> 00:33:19,560 back to those like meals, family meals as a kid. 528 00:33:20,370 --> 00:33:23,360 And maybe you have great memories of family meals growing 529 00:33:23,370 --> 00:33:24,920 up. Maybe you don't. 530 00:33:24,990 --> 00:33:28,300 Maybe they're fraught with conflict and, and tension and 531 00:33:28,310 --> 00:33:32,760 turmoil and, and other things that you would really rather not 532 00:33:32,850 --> 00:33:35,700 think about and dwell on and remember and experience. 533 00:33:35,710 --> 00:33:41,820 And maybe for you, they are just filled with love and grace and 534 00:33:41,830 --> 00:33:46,110 people and you can picture faces and maybe not names, but like 535 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,940 you remember people drawing folks in. 536 00:33:49,110 --> 00:33:55,420 My grandfather, who has long since passed away, died in 1999, 537 00:33:56,090 --> 00:33:58,520 but he was notorious. He lived in Arthur, which is 538 00:33:58,530 --> 00:34:01,280 just fun to come a little bit closer to where he lives. 539 00:34:02,300 --> 00:34:06,140 He was notorious. So Arthur Snowbelt and in the 540 00:34:06,150 --> 00:34:10,840 middle of the winter, the highway would shut down and my 541 00:34:10,850 --> 00:34:13,730 grandpa would get in his car and my grandma would go along for 542 00:34:13,739 --> 00:34:16,760 the ride and they would drive down to the highway and they 543 00:34:16,770 --> 00:34:18,820 would pull people out of their cars and say hey, come to our 544 00:34:18,830 --> 00:34:21,850 house for a meal. When they take people back up 545 00:34:21,860 --> 00:34:24,030 who were stuck in the ditch and they'd give them a meal and then 546 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:26,310 they take them back to their stuck in a ditch car and say 547 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:30,960 hey, go in peace. Yeah, I don't know where, but 548 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:35,030 who? Who's at your table? 549 00:34:36,139 --> 00:34:39,040 Who are you inviting in? Who do you welcome? 550 00:34:39,050 --> 00:34:41,830 Who do we welcome as a church? Who's at our table? 551 00:34:43,100 --> 00:34:47,429 Like, are we eagerly willing to welcome Jesus to the table? 552 00:34:47,860 --> 00:34:51,139 Do we set and like prepare a place for him and Google? 553 00:34:51,150 --> 00:34:54,139 Like does the big fork go on the outside or the inside or the 554 00:34:54,150 --> 00:34:56,330 little fork on the top? Like, do we? 555 00:34:56,380 --> 00:35:05,390 Do we carefully set a place for Jesus and and then exclude those 556 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:10,420 he brings along with Him? Like, are we eagerly willing to 557 00:35:10,430 --> 00:35:12,570 invite Jesus but not those he invites? 558 00:35:13,770 --> 00:35:16,680 Are we willing to actually welcome those whom Jesus 559 00:35:16,690 --> 00:35:18,440 welcomes? Are we willing to invite those 560 00:35:18,450 --> 00:35:20,030 whom Jesus brings along with them? 561 00:35:22,620 --> 00:35:26,010 Maybe even more to the point of the gospel? 562 00:35:26,020 --> 00:35:30,490 Are are we willing to accept ourselves as that outsider 563 00:35:30,620 --> 00:35:36,370 sinful woman who Jesus brings and says your sins are forgiven? 564 00:35:38,180 --> 00:35:40,530 And are we willing to live differently because of it? 565 00:35:41,500 --> 00:35:51,350 Let me pray. God, thank you for your love and 566 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,360 for your grace. Thanks to Jesus. 567 00:35:54,370 --> 00:35:57,000 It's your love and your grace that defines who we are as a 568 00:35:57,940 --> 00:36:02,340 individual, who defines who we can be as families, and who 569 00:36:02,350 --> 00:36:05,370 defines as defined as we ought to be as the Church. 570 00:36:08,150 --> 00:36:10,100 So we gotta. I pray that you would continue 571 00:36:10,110 --> 00:36:12,700 to make us into the community that you need us to be. 572 00:36:12,710 --> 00:36:15,580 Not that we need to be for ourselves, not that we want to 573 00:36:15,590 --> 00:36:21,960 be not like this place that we like to be and go and and enjoy, 574 00:36:21,970 --> 00:36:26,420 but then kind of leave and figure out through the week how 575 00:36:26,430 --> 00:36:29,590 to live life differently. God, I pray that you would make 576 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:33,010 us into the community that you need, make us into the church 577 00:36:33,020 --> 00:36:35,170 that you need for our little neck of the woods. 578 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,980 Make our corner of the city. You guys got our prayer. 579 00:36:38,990 --> 00:36:42,670 Really is like your Kingdom come here on earth as it is in 580 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:46,640 heaven, here in Guelph as it is in heaven, here in our homes as 581 00:36:46,650 --> 00:36:49,930 it is in heaven. And God, in order to do that, we 582 00:36:49,940 --> 00:36:53,770 know we need to be fine, see ourselves wrestle with our own 583 00:36:53,780 --> 00:36:56,710 sin and brokenness, and encounter your life and your 584 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:59,110 love and your mercy, your forgiveness, your grace. 585 00:37:01,130 --> 00:37:05,780 We need to meet the cross, you at the cross, and we need to be 586 00:37:05,790 --> 00:37:08,550 transformed because of Jesus, your death and your 587 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:12,680 resurrection. And so, God, I pray that we 588 00:37:12,690 --> 00:37:16,010 would, that each of us as individuals who wrestle with our 589 00:37:16,020 --> 00:37:19,510 own sin and our own brokenness, and we would allow your life and 590 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:22,450 your love to get into our hearts and our minds and our souls, our 591 00:37:22,460 --> 00:37:26,430 bodies, and transform. What needs to be transformed, 592 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:28,110 men? What needs to be mended? 593 00:37:29,230 --> 00:37:34,800 Gonna heal with his broken, and not because of anything we've 594 00:37:34,810 --> 00:37:37,340 done to earn it, but because of who you are and your goodness 595 00:37:37,350 --> 00:37:40,840 and your grace. But God, I pray that you would 596 00:37:40,850 --> 00:37:44,740 continue to make us as a community into ones who are 597 00:37:44,750 --> 00:37:49,200 transformed to continue showing this radical level of 598 00:37:49,210 --> 00:37:53,730 hospitality. God, it's, it's why we pray and 599 00:37:53,740 --> 00:37:57,050 then work and live and act differently, like we get our 600 00:37:57,060 --> 00:38:01,150 hands dirty because we would pray that nobody would go hungry 601 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,480 in this city. Yeah. 602 00:38:04,490 --> 00:38:09,310 Would we be ones who are hospitable in the way in which 603 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:11,430 we share what you've given to us? 604 00:38:13,990 --> 00:38:15,800 It's not. It's not hard to see what it 605 00:38:15,970 --> 00:38:19,460 doesn't look like or what radical in hospitality looks 606 00:38:19,470 --> 00:38:21,100 like. Like we see it when we turn on 607 00:38:21,110 --> 00:38:24,570 the news. We see it when we wrestle out 608 00:38:24,580 --> 00:38:28,690 what's happening in the world. Got, admittedly, like many of us 609 00:38:28,900 --> 00:38:31,930 can get, overwhelmed by what's happening and overwhelmed by the 610 00:38:31,940 --> 00:38:36,130 brokenness and conflict and war and deportation and injustice. 611 00:38:38,810 --> 00:38:43,100 My God, I pray that we would take a passage like this and 612 00:38:43,110 --> 00:38:47,720 wrestle out how it's calling us to be different in our community 613 00:38:47,730 --> 00:38:52,290 here so that your Kingdom might come in a little extra measure 614 00:38:52,300 --> 00:38:56,780 here and we might be able to push against the darkness here. 615 00:38:58,460 --> 00:39:00,320 Forgot. Would you do it in US? 616 00:39:01,100 --> 00:39:05,480 More than that, in us as a community for the world, I think 617 00:39:05,490 --> 00:39:08,830 that you love us as we continue to worship. 618 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:11,250 How would you hear us? Lift high the name of Jesus. 619 00:39:11,300 --> 00:39:14,780 Send us from this place with your love, with your mercy for 620 00:39:14,790 --> 00:39:17,740 this world. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.