Sunday Sermon (11/20/2022): Thankful Much, Forgiven Much

This is a sermon preached at Our Savior Lutheran Church on 11/20/2022. It is based on Luke 7:36-50, and the theme is: Thankful Much, Forgiven Much.

Luke 21:5-19.

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured 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 who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[c] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Thankful Much, Forgiven Much

What would you do if, at your family thanksgiving dinner, a prostitute barged into your house? It’d be shocking, right? I’d imagine our first reaction would NOT be to pull up a chair, get an extra a plate, and eat with them. Maybe our first reaction would be, “Get this person out of my house!” What if, at your family thanksgiving dinner, an argument broke out between two cousins or uncles? That might be normal for some people. Perhaps we’d ignore it and just put up with it, or leave the room. When we see people who haven’t made the best choices in life, when we see people who show signs of outward sin, like arguing at a family dinner, we tend to think, “At least I’m not like that.” We compare ourselves to others, whether its family, friends, or strangers, and it’s easy to find flaws with others. 

In our Gospel, we have something similar happen, don’t we? Simon, a Pharisee, invites Jesus into his house, perhaps because he was curious to know more about Jesus. So they eat and recline at the table. But then BAM! The door opens and in walks a prostitute. And what a contrast there was: Simon’s house was clean and tidy and presentable. This woman was probably poor, dirty… not very presentable. Just like a prostitute at your thanksgiving dinner or an argument between cousins, the woman did not belong. There is a big difference between Simon the Pharisee, and this woman.  

Simon kind of saw Jesus as an equal. He had him over for dinner, talked with him, treated Jesus maybe as one of you might treat me as your pastor. He treated Jesus as one famous actor might treat another famous actor. Simon saw Jesus as an interesting person, and he saw himself as a pretty good person.

The woman saw Jesus as her Savior. She knew the horrible things she had done. She knew her sins and her filthy past. She saw herself as worthless, sinful, and horrible. But she knew Jesus forgave her, and thanksgiving filled her heart. This woman sobbed, wept, poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet, used her hair to wash and dry Jesus’ feet. Do you know what Simon thinks? “Wow, how could Jesus let such a filthy sinner touch him?” You can almost hear the sneer if his voice.

Why the difference? Why did Simon treat Jesus as kind of an equal, but the woman washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair? Jesus tells us with a little parable, a story. Two people owe money to a moneylender. One owes 50 denarii, which is about 1 ½ months wage. It’s a decent amount, but not astronomical. The other owes 500 denarii, which is about 1 ½ years wage. That’s a lot. But the moneylender completely forgives both. Who’s more thankful? It’s obvious, right? The one who owed a lot. The point Jesus makes to Simon and to us is clear: If you’ve been forgiven little, you’re thankful little. If you’ve been forgiven much, you’re thankful much.  Simon didn’t think he was that sinful. He wasn’t very thankful. The woman saw herself as horrible. She was very thankful.

We can be a lot like Simon, can’t we?

-We give lip service to sin. We confess our sinfulness at the start of each service because it sounds pious and holy, right? “Forgive me, Lord, I have sinned.” But then, when we compare ourselves to others, our hearts think a little like Simon. “I’m sinful, but not THAT sinful.”

-This is what our thoughts sound like when we think like Simon, “This world is filled with such horrible people. Others has just turned away from God. They really need to hear Jesus. I’m so disgusted by what goes on in our culture. I just can’t stand it when I see people doing this or that.

-NO! NO! Pride and self-righteousness so easily lead our hearts astray. We think others are worse than we. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” Who is the worst sinner in our life, who is the most horrible person… it’s me. That’s the answer. Not someone else. Not our culture. Not society. Me. Our sin isn’t just 50 denarii, it’s not just 500 denarii. Sin against an infinite God means our sin is infinite.

The woman understood all of this. She also understood Jesus. He was our Savior. He came to this life to live and die for us. On the cross, Jesus took away every single sin of self-righteousness and pride. He rose and gives to us his perfect life of humility before God. We have this infinite, countless pile of sin… but Jesus came, died, and forgives every single one of our sins. And he simply says to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The US national debt is about $30 trillion, or about $71,000 per person. That debt of $30 trillion is nothing compared to our sin. But as great as our sin is, Jesus is greater. He took away that sin with his blood shed on the cross. We have been forgiven much. And so we are thankful much.

And thankfulness is about the heart, right? Simon didn’t think he was that sinful. He wasn’t that thankful. The woman KNEW she was horrible, she knew the forgiveness Jesus gave, and her thanksgiving flowed the Mississippi in the spring.  

So this thanksgiving season let’s know we are Forgiven much,  and be thankful much. Let’s focus on the right thing during Thanksgiving. Yes, family, friends, food, fun are all wonderful blessings from God that we ARE thankful for, and we DO give thanks to God. But these are just streams feeding into the bigger river. The ultimate source of our thankfulness is Jesus, forgiveness. Forgiven much, thankful much. And we mirror this woman’s thankfulness in four big ways.

1. Humility. Let’s have humility before God. Our attitude, every day, is “Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.” In this world, I am the worst sinner. Me. Yes, we help others, we call people to repent from their sin, we teach what God says about sin… But the worst sinner, the one needs Jesus the most, is me.

2. The second way we mirror this woman’s thankfulness is to rejoice. That’s what Paul says in Philippians 4. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice.” We have had a mountain of sin, higher than Everest, forgiven in Jesus Christ. We have eternal life and forgiveness. Happiness and joy mark our life. Joy in forgiveness. Joy in all the blessings we ARE thankful for: family and friends and material blessings. Joy even in the midst of suffering, because we eternal paradise given to us.

3. The third way we mirror this woman’s thankfulness is to listen. Isaiah says in chapter 2. “Let us go to the mountain of the LORD, he will teach us his ways, let us walk in the light of the LORD.” We listen. God speaks to us his Word. He gives us promises and comfort, he tells us how to walk in the light of the LORD, he gives us guidance. Our of thankfulness for what God has done for us, let’s listen to what God says and walk in his light.

4. Finally, number four, we mirror this woman by our compassion. We don’t need build ourselves up by tearing others apart or look down on them. We are horrible sinners who have been forgiven. Now we are free to love and have compassion on others. 

Forgiven much, thankful much. One of the hardest things to do, each and every single day, is to confess, “Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. The worst person in my life is me. The person staring back at me in the mirror the biggest sinner of all time.” It’s hard. It’s terrible, to admit the depth of our sin. We need much forgiveness. In Jesus, we are forgiven much. So, we are thankful much. Let’s be thankful this Thanksgiving week for friends, family, food… and most of all, for Jesus’s complete forgiveness of such a terrible sinner as myself. Amen.