We All Have the Same Name: Loved.

Have you ever been caught? Busted?

We all know what it feels like to get caught. When we we’re speeding & then we see the red & blue lights flashing behind us. Our hearts start pounding.  Our minds start racing.

But what do you do when you’re caught? What do you do when everyone else knows what you did?

Do you lie?

Do you hide?

Or are you just paralyzed & don’t know what to do?

Sometimes we lie because it’s our way of fighting back. We try to use all the resources at our disposal to change the story. To tell a different story. To shift the blame. To get ourselves out of the negative light. We’ll say anything to shift the focus off of us. We’ll tell lie upon lie if we have to in order to cover up the truth.

Sometimes we hide. We run away. We want to put as much distance between us & the situation as possible. We’ll be out of the office. We’ll stay out of the house. We’ll avoid that group of friends. We’ll do anything we can to stay away & stay at a distance.

And then sometimes, we’re literally paralyzed. We don’t know what to do. Fear overwhelms us. Maybe the situation is so huge, so significant, there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no way to lie, no way to fight back. We’re just paralyzed by the new reality that our deepest darkest secret is now public knowledge & we’re on the front page of the news in our school, in our work, in our community, in our world. And we are just completely paralyzed. Can’t get out of bed paralyzed. Because we’re caught.

The One Question We Have to Ask…
And this brings up the most important question we will ever ask. It’s the same question humanity past, present & future either have, are, or will be wrestling with for all time. It the same question that people are wrestling with all over the world.  When you can’t answer this question it has the potential to destroy your life, alter your eternity & affect your humanity.

It’s the very question that deep down in your soul you’re wrestling with today.

Here’s the question: What do I do with the reality & the gravity of my sin?

How do we consistently carry the name when we continually mar the name we carry?

Can we talk about our sin? Are you struggling with past sin? Are you currently caught in an addiction to a habitual sin? Is there distance between you & God today not because of anything He has done but simply because of the mistakes you’ve made.

And can we talk about our mistakes? A mistake by definition is something that happens on accident. But if your sin is anything like my sin it rarely happens on accident. It’s more often a conscious choice that I make & you make to do something we know is against the heart of God & against our better judgment. Your history of sin isn’t a history of mistakes, it’s a history of you choosing over & over again to do what you knew you shouldn’t do.

It wasn’t a mistake, it was a sin.

This may be the most important question you will ever ask or answer. What happens when you don’t carry the name you carry well?

How Jesus Answer’s the Question…
Jesus has something to say about that. And it’s so important it shakes the world. It’s so significant that even though he said it some two thousand years ago we still haven’t been able to get our minds around the truth of it. It’s so radical that we still don’t practice it. And it’s so fundamental that we’ll spend the rest of our lives working on it.

To hear what Jesus has to say about our sin problem, let’s join him at the table in this story in Luke 7.  Let’s listen in to the conversation & see what happens as the story unfolds.

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.  When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.  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.

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!”

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

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

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.  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?”

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

“That’s right,” Jesus said.  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.  You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

“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.”

The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7.36-50

Who do we identify with most in the story?
This woman comes to Jesus wondering — what do I do with my sin problem? What do I do with the reality & the gravity of my sin?  What does she do?  She falls at the feet of Jesus in worship.

She thought & Simon thought & everybody thought that those who obeyed God best loved God most.  The religious leaders in the days of Jesus thought that strict obedience to God equated to your amount of love for God. So those that kept God’s law best loved God most. And those that didn’t? They were quickly categorized as sinners. Distant from God. Unloving & unloved. The same way of thinking permeates our time as well. We think we love God most when we obey God best. But when Jesus came & walked the earth he displayed a different truth. He taught us how to love him more. How to love much. However, it didn’t begin with rule keeping. It didn’t begin with obedience, performance or ability. It begins with our proximity to the One who loved us first, loves us most & loves us perfectly!

And this is the way we think today as well. That those of us who obey God best love God most. In fact, we would take it one step further & say that those who obey God best are loved most by God. This may not be what we say, but this is what we believe & this is what we practice.

Simon can only reflect on the sinful woman’s past — Jesus prefers to see the potential that love & forgiveness can bring to a person’s heart.

[Tweet “Jesus prefers to see the potential that love & forgiveness can bring to a person’s heart. #carryyourname”]

This makes us ask some hard questions of ourselves.  Who do we identify with most in the story?  Do we see people as who they have been or who they can be transformed by God’s love?  Do we see ourselves covered in sin & shame & guilt, or as someone fully known & fully loved by God?

I believe God’s fundamental way of transforming people is through his offer of grace & forgiveness.

[Tweet “God’s fundamental way of transforming people is through his offer of grace & forgiveness. #carryyourname”]

This is where I think we have to lean fully into the message of Jesus of Nazareth this morning to see this truth. To hear this truth. You are loved beyond measure by Jesus. He has CANCELED your debt. (Luke 8.42)

What had this woman done to earn God’s love? To deserve God’s love? What commandment had she kept? It would be easier to name the all the ones she had broken. Her sin is not defined in the story yet the story reveals that she was a well-known sinner! What did she do to deserve the mercy & love & forgiveness of Jesus? Absolutely nothing.

What did she do with the reality & gravity of her sin? She came to the feet of Jesus & wept.

When was the last time you came to the feet of Jesus & wept over your sin?

The truth is, there were 2 people at the table, but they were the same. Simon… the woman… Jesus loved them both.

[Tweet “We all have the same name: Loved. #carryyourname”]

Whoever you are.  Wherever you live.  Whatever you’ve done.  You too are Loved.  This is your name.  Your identity.  It’s who you are when you fall at the feet of Jesus.  You are LOVED.