Forgiven Much!

Forgiven Much!

I will just start out with this seed thought that has been rattling around in my brain for the last few days: “He who has not been forgiven much... has not been forgiven much”. It might be hard to wrap your thoughts around this one at first. You kind of have to walk around it, kick the tires, check for dings and take it for a test drive. I believe that you will find that it handles pretty well and it definitely has low mileage.

To start with, let’s look at the scripture that precipitated the thought to begin with:

Luke 7:46-48
“My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but
whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.”

The Pharisees and Publicans were throwing a party. They had invited Jesus as the guest of
honor. In reality he was not to be honored but grilled and served up as the entree. They were going to inspect Him. They were going to expose Him. They had no intention of showing any
honor whatsoever. Enter, the woman. Jesus was struck by the love and adoration pouring out of the heart of this woman. Who was she? Why was she so moved to pour out the ointment of her own burial upon the feet of Jesus? Why here? Why now? Let’s widen the lens:

Luke 7:37-50
"And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus
sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood
at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe
them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the oint-
ment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself,
saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of
woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There
was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and
the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.
Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I sup-
pose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judg-
ed. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I en-
tered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my
feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss:
but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with
oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Where-
fore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to
whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are for-
given. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this
that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in
peace."

Now, the spotlight is turned from the “immoral woman” to the “righteous men” that had invited Jesus in. Can you see where we are going with this? Ouch!! The lens, that the little boys were using to fry the ant, has now been turned back onto themselves. The 'Son' is now focusing on them. This is the moment of decision for these men. They could responded in a few different ways. They could have questioned Jesus in their hearts; They could have bowed before Him in repentance; They could have gone away ambivalently; They could have faced Him down and argued the point; They could have been offended and become determined in their hearts to get back at him at a later date... let's say... crucify Him? The "immoral woman" made her choice, and in so doing, she forced the spotlight back onto the hearts of these 'learned' and 'holy' men. They had not been forgiven much, in their mind's eye, and therefore were in no position to be forgiven much. We must make the same choice.

Have we, who are the righteous; those who have invited Jesus in, really loved Jesus? Have we even offered to hear Him with a true heart of discernment? Have we even offered Him the slimmest of common courtesies? In many ways we sometimes tend to be like these men. We tend to hide behind cloaks of religious zeal while beginning to speak in our hearts “Who is this that forgiveth sins also?” In our prosperity we begin to say within our hearts “God has chosen to bless us.” “We are just a slight cut above all those others” While some of those others are returning to anoint His head and to kiss His feet, we stand piously by, questioning Jesus; and we love little. We love Him little and we love others even less. Even in our efforts at loving others, our motives tend toward the narcissistic. We project love while all the time struggling because we have not allowed Him to love us much nor have we loved Him much. Many of us want out of this “Self Trap” but are unable to work our way out. We want to see others enter in but we are helpless and powerless because we have failed, first, to be loved by Him; we have,then, failed to love Him...and in the process have failed to allow Him to love us. You can see how deadly this whole process can be to the lost in our individual worlds!

Why have we failed to allow Him, first, to love us? I have a theory. It goes something like this: “He who has not been forgiven much... has not been forgiven much”. In other words, we don’t see our great need for forgiveness. We don’t see the depths of our sinfulness. In our prosperity we don’t understand the expansiveness of our need. We walk in the light of fires built by our own hands, which, if not tended to night and day, will die out as the embers of a campfire 'the morning after'. We toil in the fields of our own desire, whether religious or secular (not that there really is a distinction in God’s eyes). And Jesus sits, waiting patiently to be tended to. He is waiting for us to come to Him again. He is waiting for us to cry out in awe at His presence. He is waiting for us to come in such a needy state that we must have Him or die. He is waiting to love us the way that we desire and need to be loved. But, we cannot come empty handed. We must place everything that is precious to us, as if in an alabaster box of ointment, and break it open to be poured out at the feet of Jesus. All that we are must be placed in that box. If we hold back... He cannot.

So, He cannot forgive us much because we will not admit that we need to be forgiven much. Jesus died on Calvary. He did it all there. That is true, but why then, return to our reliance upon the beggerly elements of the law, which foster self reliance, self righteousness, self determination, separation from God and pride?! Is it because that, in all reality, this is where we really think that our needs will be met? Our hearts cry out to ourselves. We want to be our own savior. We want to be lauded as the one who has done it. Self, our god, is invoked and out of our religious cauldron spews forth every evil thing. Our incantations and mutterings that pass for praise and teaching are a stench in the nostrils of a Holy God... Who sits patiently waiting. He sits... waiting to commune with us. He sits... waiting to forgive us much... if we will only come. You can almost hear Jesus crying out to these men and to us: “Come, let us reason together. Though your pride is great and your sins many, they can be as white as snow. Look at this woman here, pouring out her whole life before me. Are you willing to come to me in this same way? Will you be guilty of much also so that you can be forgiven much?"

As we turn to break our precious box of ointment over the feet of Jesus, there is a fearful hush in the heavenlies. Demons are holding their collective breath, their environs and very dominion teetering in the balance. As the ointment flows a mighty river of God’s love, forgiveness, and joy flood the spiritual realm. Magic and dark things flee away and we are saved. It is as if we have received forgiveness for the first time again. First love reigns in our hearts and we go away in peace.

“And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”

It is at this point that we realize that the only things that were precious in our alabaster box have been retained and made sure eternally. All else was dross and was burned up in the firestorm of His presence. We have come to the startling revelation that... 'letting go' was the only way we could have ever kept... anything... ... ... ... Halleluja!!

Now, in light of the things that we have just discussed, let me restate my theory with a twist:

“He who realizes that he has been forgiven much... has been forgiven much”.
(the operative word here is ‘much’)

Will you agree in prayer with me?

Lord, work in our hearts today. Lord, it is not enough that You bring revival and first love to our hearts tomorrow. Bring it today. Lord, we bow before You right now with precious ointment and we are pouring it out before you. We have been guilty of much pride and unforgiveness which opens the door to bitterness and every evil thing. We cannot see clearly enough through the religious fog in order to figure any of this out. Just as you have said, the testimony of this precious woman has spoken down through the ages to our hearts and we cry out “Lord, God Almighty, we are undone. We are men and women of unclean lips. We cry out for Your mercy and we yield to Your tender loving Spirit. We have sinned and we are submitting all that we are to You.” It is Your work in the Spiritual realm that we seek, not another self help remedy, not more knowledge, but Your abiding and empowering presence. Thank You, Jesus. We will now go in peace as we know that You continue to indwell, to speak and to empower. Amen

Larry Grizzle (03/05/03)