Would This Woman Be Accepted At Your Church?

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Genesis 18; Genesis 19; Psalm 3; Luke 7

Would This Woman Be Accepted At Your Church?

Scripture

Luke 7

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. ³⁷ When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. ³⁸ Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

 ³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

 ⁴⁰ Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
   “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

 ⁴¹ Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. ⁴² But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

 ⁴³ Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

   “That’s right,” Jesus said. ⁴⁴ Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

 ⁴⁷ “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

 ⁴⁹ The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
 ⁵⁰ And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Observation

I wonder what this woman looked like. Everyone knew that she was an immoral woman and evidently she was well known by the Pharisees. They were outraged because Jesus had allowed her, a sinful woman, to wash His feet and anoint them. 

Does your church reach out to sinful, immoral people? Are people accepted at your church no matter what they look like, how they talk, or what they smell like? It is easy to accept someone that is all dressed up and gives us a good first impression. But what about that person whose language is rough and they don’t have good clothes on and they don’t smell good at all. What is our attitude about them? Do they fit into your church? Do they fit into our church?

As you read the Gospels you will discover that Jesus reached out to the outcasts, the lepers, the blind and the crippled, tax collectors, and immoral people of all kinds and the question for us is this, "Are we following His example"? Are we treating people the same way Jesus did?

I heard a comment the other day from one of our church members about one of the people that attend our church who doesn’t smell good at all and dresses pretty weird. And the comment was this, “Do you think people will not come back to our church because this person smells so bad?” It reminded me of the comment by the Pharisees, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

Thank goodness for the most part our church is very accepting of every person that walks onto our campus. Looking back over the past nine years that I have been at the church I am so glad that we didn’t give up on people. I remember visiting one of our men that was living in one of the cheap hotels on Florida Ave. He was strung out on drugs and alcohol. I couldn’t believe how bad he looked. Today he is one of our most faithful and active men in our church. If you met him for the first time today you never would have thought that he could have ever lived such and immoral and sinful life. He is one of my best buddies! 

Application

I will reach out to the people on the fringe who society and lots of churches have pretty much written off.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, give me Your heart for the people around me. Never let me get to the point where I don’t accept people because of their outward appearance. Help me to reach those that need You the most, the people that really need Your forgiveness. Give me Your compassion for those around me.

 

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