Why Do We Love God So Little

We want to welcome Keith Goad to the Jefferson Park Baptist pulpit today. I had a chance to get to talk to him and I'm very thankful for him coming down. Keith is a graduate originally of Liberty University, where he met his wife, Lisa, and they have a nine-month-old daughter, I believe, turning tomorrow, so we welcome his family and friends as well. I know a lot of his family and friends have come down from Harrisonburg, so we welcome them as well. Keith is currently serving as an elder at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He is also working on his doctorate at Southern Seminary, our flagship seminary in theology. And in addition to that, he's teaching at a local classical school and also teaching online courses for Liberty. So very busy. But we're very much appreciative of him coming. And we welcome you gladly, brother. Well, thank you all for having me. It is a joy to serve you this morning. I pray that the Lord will speak through his spirit as we look at our text this morning. Have you ever walked into a room, whether it be a party or a business meeting and realized you don't know anyone there? This happens to me often, I end up in places where I feel I shouldn't be. And the the rage or the different realm, the range of emotions I go through, go from just scared to death that I'm in the wrong place. And then I start getting paranoid that as I look at people's faces, they're thinking the same thing. You don't belong here. So I get this paranoia. And so I find somewhere to go, usually the snack bar or the restroom, somewhere I can walk with purpose. Some people think I belong there. And all along I am looking around. Where is that person I know? Where is someone that I can just plant myself next to for the rest of the time? And I call that person my safety friend, because when I'm with them, I at least think everyone else thinks, OK, he's with somebody. He's OK for the beauty of being married. I get to walk around my wife and I figure people look at me and think it can't be that bad. He's with he's with her. Well, this morning we're going to be looking at a story. About an unwelcomed guest, we're going to be looking at the story in Luke seven, beginning of verse thirty six, and a Pharisee has invited Jesus to have a meal with him. And we're not sure what his intention was in inviting Jesus to this meal, but the meal is interrupted and is interrupted by a woman of the city. Most likely, the best I understand is probably a prostitute. She barges in on this Pharisees party and she is an unwelcome guest. Let's read together as we look at this story together. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him and he went into the Pharisees house and he took his place at the table and behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisees house brought an alabaster flask of ointment. And standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with a hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now, in the Pharisee who invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would have had known who and what sort of woman that is, who this is, who is touching him. For she is a sinner." And Jesus, answering him, said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, Say it, teacher. A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred in her eye, the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more? Simon answered, The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, You have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. Then those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. What a sweet story. This woman comes in who is an outcast of society. Searching for a little hope, searching for peace. And in the Pharisee, she gets nothing but judgment, but from Christ. She hears the sweetest words, your faith has saved you, go in peace. Now, you look at this story, a couple of things may need to be explained. The the alabaster flask of ointment, something like perfume. But it's not like our bottles of perfume and our bottles of perfume, you squirt each day and you can use it for a long period of time. This jar was not like that. This jar could be opened once and then it was done. Most likely, this jar of ointment was the most expensive thing she owned. It was being saved for her deathbed to anoint her. When she would be buried, she takes the most expensive thing she owns and she breaks it the one time it's going to be used and she uses it to anoint the Savior. She uses it for worship. The other thing that's interesting, the story is the use of repetition. You've probably heard it. Luke makes sure he tells you what the woman does, and then he repeats Jesus's teaching that really emphasize what this woman does. As we think about the story, we got to ask ourselves, where is the tension in the story? This story is all about tension. And the tension really begins when Luke says, Behold, he's drawing our attention. Check this out. A woman of the city who was a sinner in case you missed it. She came to the Pharisees house. She barged into the party. She's not welcome there, except for from one guest. So this woman comes in and she does just an outrageous display. I mean, picture this. Here you are a Pharisee. You've planned a nice dinner where they're reclining her on the table, which I think is a great custom we should think about adopting maybe in America. Reclining at table. That just sounds more relaxing. Here they are, Jesus and the Pharisees and Simon the host. They're reclining at table. And this woman with a really bad reputation comes in. And she really makes a scene. anointing his head, kissing his feet, wiping his feet with the tears and the hair of her head. And then you see there in v. 39, now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself... Now, if you're thinking about a cartoon, this would be like those little bubbles that pop up, right? He's thinking this. 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." Now, think about what's happening here. Simon, who is one of the three main characters, he looks at the woman and he just judges her. That's all he has for her. You are judged. We know your reputation. You are a sinner. So, he's judged her. But notice how most of the attention is on Christ. He's judging Christ. He's looking at Jesus and saying, if you had any clue, if you were really a prophet, you wouldn't have anything to do with this woman. If you were a prophet, you would be hanging out with the really religious, important people, the Pharisees. Not with this woman. You don't affiliate yourself with sinners like this. And this is where it gets quite good. So, Pharisee has said, this man can't be a prophet. And Jesus says, I have something to say to you. There's a bit of irony there, right? Jesus knows that he's questioning him. And so, Jesus says, I've got something to say to you. And then it just gets even better. Say it, teacher. Now, Simon's already discounted him in anything he wants to say. But we have a little game here and it, well, it gets better. The teacher says it. A certain money lender had two debtors, one owed 500 in their eye, the other 50. When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more? And Simon answered, the one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt. And Jesus says, you have judged rightly. Now, what is this parable really saying? Is this parable saying that if we sin more, we'll love God more? Absolutely not. That would be contradicting other Scripture, namely Romans 6. I'll leave you to go read Romans 6. It's clearly not what Jesus is saying. Sinning more does not lead you to love God more. What He's teaching is that the more you recognize your sin, the more you recognize your need for God, the more you will love God. The more you realize how much God has forgiven you of the more that will stir your heart to love God. Now, what Jesus does with this is absolutely brilliant. He tricks Simon into condemning himself. Because when He tells Simon, you have judged rightly, what has he done? Well, He said, Simon, you just put the judgment upon yourself. Because Simon is the one who thinks he's sinned little or not at all. And he is the one who loves Very little. Or not at all. And in case Simon doesn't get it that he just judged himself wrongly, Jesus makes it crystal clear, v. 44, then turning toward the woman. Again, picture this. Jesus is across the table. There's Simon. Here's the woman really making a scene. And if we're doing a movie, I think the camera should be behind Jesus. Because He's going to disrespect Simon, and He's going to talk to Simon while looking at this woman. And he's going to contrast Simon and his actions with the greatness of the woman's actions. Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet. She wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair." It was custom. Because they wore sandals and the roads were dirt, to offer someone water. Simon didn't even do the most basic custom to show any love for Jesus. But this woman has adorned him with love. V. 45, "'You gave me no kiss.' Another custom. But from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet." You do not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." You see, Simon's actions reveal his heart. He has no love for Jesus because he has no recognition that he needs a Savior. He's one of the really religious, important people. He's one of the people who's crossed all the T's and dotted all the I's. He's the one who dresses up and puts on a good show. He's the one who masquerades as if everything's alright. And he's done it to the point where he's even deceived himself to think he's alright. And he doesn't get it. He's there for a meal to judge Jesus rather than coming like this woman and gets to enjoy love from Jesus. Gets to enjoy worship. with Jesus. And then it just gets so sweet. Verse 48, camera angle changes. It's no longer with the Simon in the background and Jesus looking at the woman. The camera angle just focuses straight on the woman as if looking through Jesus' eyes, your sins are forgiven. The focus is on you, woman of the city, the prostitute, the woman who is despised in her own town because of her lifestyle, Because she has recognized that lifestyle is evil. To recognize the depth of her sin. To focus on her. From God alone. Your sins are forgiven. How sweet those words must have sounded. How safe those words must have sounded. In the midst of a room of despisers, she gets to hear those sweet words. Then those who were at table with Him began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? I'm not sure if this is them challenging if He forgives sins, or just amazed this man speaks with authority. Maybe, ironically, getting back to the fact that He is a prophet. And He said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Now, as you think about this story, that is a fantastic story, just the way Jesus lays out the condemnation of this man, the way that Jesus is able to contrast And this is really important. The woman would have been despised in her culture. The Pharisee would have been adored. And as always, the Gospel isn't looking for the strong, the mighty, the rich, and the powerful, because they rarely see the depth of their sin. The Gospel is for those who recognize their weakness. Jesus doesn't give the Pharisee a word of encouragement. He gives the woman a word of hope. Now, if we think about the story, we have to ask ourselves, where do I fit into this story? Where do I fit into this story? Well, you're not Jesus. Okay, that one's helpful and clear. You've got two other options then. I think if we think about the story honestly, we relate to both Simon the Pharisee and the woman. Because if we're honest with ourselves, we're going to realize we are very much like the Pharisee. We are very much like the Pharisee because we live in self-deceit. We want to masquerade as if everything's alright with us, when really, we know the pit of sin and temptation and evil desires that lie in our hearts. So as we look at Simon, we say, I am actually disgusted with myself because I realize I am way too much like him. And then I look at the woman. And I just want to desire to be more like her. I want a love like she has. I want to be able to worship like she does. I want to see the beauty of Christ and His love for me and hear the sweetness of the words, Your sins are forgiven. Well, as we look at our text this morning, we're going to make one main point and here's what it is. When we think too much of ourselves, we think too little of Christ and miss experiencing true love and worship. When we think too much of ourselves, we think too little of Christ and miss experiencing true love and worship. Now, you may be there and you may be thinking, how am I like the Pharisee? Well, let me try to show you. I think we as Christians too often judge others wrongly both outside of the church and inside of the church. Let me go through as to how we might be judging wrongly outside of the church. A little thought experiment. Put yourself outside of an abortion clinic. Think about the gal who just went in and aborted a baby. What realm of emotions? What room of thoughts do you have about her who's just given up a human life for convenience? Think about the man who picked up and left his family because he wasn't happy anymore. Think about the jihadist who's planning on killing thousands of innocent lives. Think about the Wall Street tycoon that just cheated thousands of people out of millions of dollars. These are evil acts, and we should be able to say, these are sins. But we also have to say, I'm a sinner like these people. Now, you may not ever go out and act on these sins like these men or women might. But when you think of folk like this, when you come across sinners in this world, our first response shouldn't be, Thank you, God, for making me like a Pharisee. Thank you, God, for not letting me be like the tax collector. It's not, thank you, God, that I'm so much better than they are. No, the first thing we do is we look at their acts and we think about our desires. We think about those temptations that lie at the depths of our heart and realize that at any given moment, if the circumstances are right, I can explode with anger. I can explode with lust. I can explode with a desire for money. I can explode for desire for everything and anything other than God because I am a sinner and at the depths of my heart is sin lurking, sin desiring to rule my life. So look at those outside. It's so easy to dismiss them and say they're so far beyond grace. They're so far beyond salvation. No, when I think of the lady having an abortion and the man who's left his family and the jihadist and the Wall Street tycoon, I need to be praying for Gaius and Herodotus. I need to be praying that the gospel will penetrate their hearts and save them from the same sin that God has saved me from. A sin that rebels against Him. Instead of saying, thank you for not making me like that man, we should say this. Resolved to act in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others, and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. That's Jonathan Edwards. He had a list of 70 plus resolutions he read every week. This is my favorite one because this is the one I wrestle with the most. Let me read it again. Resolved to act in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins or had the same infirmities or failings as others. and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God." You see, when we look outside the church, we judge others so quickly. We're failing to recognize the depth of our own sins. And most of all, you are failing to recognize the power of grace that has saved you. And the power of God that can save them. When you're judging them, you're judging God. Just like the Pharisee, when he was judging the woman, he was judging Christ. When you condemn them so quickly, you're telling God He's not able to save those kind of sinners. He's only able to save your kind of sinners. The second way I think we're like the Pharisees is by judging too quickly those inside the church. And the way I've seen this happen in my own church is that I and others desire certain gifts. You see, there's one spirit who gives the church gifts, and the members may look at one person's gifts and say, I like those gifts. I like those talents. That person is recognized so often for his relationships. That person is recognized so often for his singing ability, or his speaking ability, or his ability to evangelize and discipleship. I want to be recognized. Why didn't God give me those gifts? And so you judge that person. You're jealous of that person. You become envious. And eventually, I think, it usually finds the conclusion and you'll start thinking about that person's sin. and discounting their ministry, again, judging them somewhat like the outsider. Well, really, when you're judging other people and envying their gifts, you're really just judging God. You're saying you're wiser than God in the distribution of the gifts. When you look at others and you think, if I could only be more like them, why didn't God make me more like him or her? See, it's all about your recognition and your reputation. It's selfish. And ultimately, it's just questioning God's wisdom. Now, before we move on and think about how we can become more like this woman, here's a test. So far, as I've been talking about how we judge others inside the church and outside the church, have you been thinking about somebody else? If so, that is an action of the Pharisee. Let's stop right now and let's make sure we're all in the same boat. Because we all are in the same boat. We're all sinners. This is about us. We are like the Pharisee. And it's so easy to avoid our sin. That's part of the self-deception. Find someone who's worse than you. If you're thinking of somebody else, they're probably thinking of you. So, as we keep moving on here, thinking about how I deceive myself, how I am self-righteous, how I am judgmental, make sure you're dealing with a sin in your own heart, not someone else's. That's the Holy Spirit's job. So, we are like the Pharisee. I hope you are convinced. And if we get down to the very basic problem of the Pharisee, it's self-righteousness. And self-righteousness manifests itself in two different ways. One internally, one externally. A self-righteous person lies to himself. Our hearts are deceptive. Our hearts are wicked. We want to make ourselves think we're better than we are. We want to make ourselves think everything's fine. I'm a good person. God loves me because I'm lovable. Well, that's not the case at all. God loves you because He loves you. There's inward deceit and that only manifests itself in acts of deceit. We masquerade. We walk around, we learn how to talk, we learn how to act, we learn what to say and what not to say in all the different circumstances so that people don't actually see that we're sinners. We try to hide it. These acts of deceit are only fruit of the internal deceit. We idle. We make ourselves and our reputation and what other people think of us an idol. And we love that. We love us. We love those sinful desires that we're protecting more than we love God. And that's what keeps us from worshiping like the woman. You see, if we want to be like the woman, the first thing we've got to do is recognize we are in need of God. We are in need of grace. We are in need of His love. There is nothing in us that is lovable. There is nothing in us that is good. We have desires that linger in our hearts that are seeking to destroy us, that if we continue to live according to them, they will destroy us in eternity. The first thing this woman does is she recognizes she's an outcast, not just in her society, but with God. So she seeks the one person out who can give her a reconciliation, who can bring her back into the family of God. Not either the table of the Pharisees, but either the table of the King. You see, she stopped loving this world and started loving God. She stopped finding satisfaction in things of this world, like money and sex and power, And she said, I'm going to find satisfaction in the real source of satisfaction. I'm going to have my desires met by the One who can truly meet my desires. The One who created them. The One who formed them. The One who is the perfect satisfaction of every desire we have. See, my heart is an idol factory. And it is bent in on itself, and it seeks to find satisfaction in everything and anything but God. In food and entertainment. in money, in power, in reputation. And all these things are for naught. All these things pale in comparison in satisfaction to when I actually seek God and hope that my desires will be satisfied by Him. The perfect love. The true love. So, church, what keeps us If Christ's love is so satisfying and these things are not, what keeps us from confessing our sins and finding satisfaction in Him? It's fear. Kind of like a fear of man. It's a fear of exposing our weaknesses. Because even more than this society, our society is scared of exposing weaknesses because we have been so influenced by the philosophy of survival of the fittest. You're supposed to be strong. You're never supposed to expose your weaknesses. You've got to show how strong you are, how resilient you are. You can pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You're self-reliant. You're powerful. You're strong. Here's the fact that we see in Scripture that is countercultural to that. God is never glorified by your strengths. God is glorified by your weaknesses. It's kind of an analogy. We're all kind of like broke down cars. Hoopties, I think, are what the young kids are calling them these days. Our tread's gone on our tires. The serpentine belt's frayed. It leaks gas. The accelerator's stuck. The brakes don't work. It's a piece of junk car. But you know what I do with a piece of junk car? I put some nice shiny spinner hubcaps on the wheels. I put some dice in the mirror. I drop a system in it. I put some decals on it. You know why? Because if it's a piece of junk, I don't want people knowing that I'm driving a piece of junk. I want to build up a little smoke and mirrors where they think, wow, what a sweet ride. Yeah, just don't look underneath the hood. You'll see the whole thing's held together by duct tape. That's what our lives are like oftentimes in the church. We're broken inside. But we will not let people look under the hood because we're scared to death of what they're going to find and what they're going to say. Friends, you've got to trust the body of Christ. You've got to trust the body of Christ is going to act like the head. The body of the church is going to act like the head of the church. If we confess our sins to Christ, He is quick to forgive us. As we walk and talk among one another in the church, we have to be quick with grace. We have to be quick to show others forgiveness. We have to be quick to confess our sins to one another. Whenever someone comes to you for counsel and they confess their sins, the worst thing you can ever do is give them a to-do list. That's self-righteousness. The way Christians counsel is by sympathizing with their sin. By saying, you struggle with that sin, friend. Well, this is the desires that are similar in my heart, and this is how I am fighting to destroy those sins. Let's walk that road together. We're both going to be destroyed by the desires if we let them go unchecked. Let's strive for worship together. We're afraid of what people are going to find, so we build up a hedge. Right? That's what you're going to do. You're going to protect yourself. You build up a hedge so that people don't see what's going on inside your life. What you do is you end up building that hedge up, and you build the hedge up, and you build the hedge up, until eventually, it hasn't become a structure of protection. It's become a structure of imprisonment. If you're a Christian and you've got so much self-righteousness that you're not going to let anybody in your life, you've built up this hedge that has hedged you in. It's no longer protective. It's imprisoning. And this is where the real conflict comes in. If you're a believer, you're imprisoned, but you still hear the music of the Gospel. You hear the sweetness. Your sins are forgiven. You hear the sweetness. Peace be with you. And that music of the Gospel is the sweetest music and the best music you've ever heard. And what happens when you hear good music? You want to dance. You want to tap your foot. You want to bob your head. You want to do a little movement. You want to move with the music. But you can't. Because you've hindered yourself with this hedge that you thought was going to protect you. And so you have this dilemma. Are you going to break down the hedge and move with the music of the Gospel? Or are you going to sit there in despair? In discouragement? Because you see, the music of the Gospel is reaching out to others and giving them warm braces of grace and love and forgiveness. And the music of the Gospel is receiving embraces of grace and love and forgiveness. And when you're protecting yourself, you're imprisoning yourself and keeping yourself from being a blessing to the church and being blessed by the church. You're your own worst enemy. That's how the sin in your heart deceives you and destroys you. As we think about these things, continue to think about your own sin. What is it you're scared to death for someone to find out about? Pinpoint those sins and find a faithful brother or sister who you know is gracious. Find a deacon. Begin confessing those sins. There's nothing sweeter than experiencing grace within the body. There's nothing sweeter than experiencing grace within the body of the church, the body of Christ. So before I go on, maybe you're here and you are not a Christian. You are broken like this woman was. You're in despair. And if you were like me when I was a youth, one of the things I would always say is, why would I become a Christian? The church is full of hypocrites. Well, something I hope I got through today is that that's just a silly cop-out. Yes, we're hypocrites. That's not clever. Don't join the church. Don't become a Christian for the church. You'll only be disappointed and you'll only make it worse. You come to faith in Christ, not the church. You come to faith in the One who loved you and died for you and rose again and who stands at the right hand of the Father and promises hope and assurance that He's going to return. He's going to give you life eternal. Life perfect. Because you're walking and talking with God again. If you're not a Christian, Consider the brokenness of your life. Consider the need of peace. The need for wholeness. And how you've tried to find it in so many different places, and none of it worked. Because only God. God created you to only find peace in Him. Please calm down during the invitation. Please talk to me after. Please talk to one of the members here. Nothing would be more joyous than hearing you confess your sins and confessing faith in Christ. Please don't be afraid. Let's pray. Almighty God, Your Gospel is so sweet. Your love is so amazing. Your power to overcome even our sin. The fact that You can use evil for good. The evil of the cross to bring about salvation for thousands and even millions. Let us be amazed by You, God. Let us see You more by repenting of our sins. by confessing our sins one another. Thank You, Lord, for the church. Thank You for the Holy Spirit that it empowered the church and gifted the church. I pray that we would stop living lives of smoke and mirrors. We would stop masquerading. That You would give us the boldness and the faith in Your love for us to confess our sins. Help us, Lord, to be more aware of our sins so that we can be more focused and directed upon You, so that we can see more of our dependence upon You. Show us our weakness. Show us our failings, so that our love for You grows. I pray that You will put brothers and sisters around each one here to protect them from being so self-righteous like the Pharisee. And that You will help them, Lord, to see the beauty of Your love that forgives every sin and all sins. In Your name I pray, Amen.