under-loving, under-worshiping

The channel for the river of our worship of God is cut by the current of our understanding of His love for us.

We love and know what love is because God first loved us (1 John 4), and our worship of God is the expression of our love for Him (Luke 7). True and right worship is dependent upon a deep realization and true understanding of God's mercy and forgiveness (Romans 11:32-12:1). Paul prays for the church at Ephesus '...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...' In his first letter to Timothy, Paul would testify as to how he had come to grasp (and be grasped by!) the wonder that is the love of God in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 1). How do we grasp love? What does my worship tell me about my understanding of God's love for me?

In Luke 7 we have the story, not a parable, of a supper that Jesus was invited to at the house of a Pharisee named Simon. What transpires there gives us an illustration of the ties that exist between mercy, forgiveness, love, and worship.

As Jesus reclines at the table of Simon, a woman enters the room and begins to weep, wash Jesus's feet, and pour sweet perfume onto Him. She doesn't say a word, but everything she has just done is an expression of how much she loves Jesus. In short, she has worshiped Him.

Now, this woman is described in the text as having 'lived a sinful life in that town', and apparently her sins are common knowledge to everyone, including Simon the Pharisee. In his supposed righteousness, he says to himself, "Some 'prophet' this Jesus is. If he only knew who this woman is and what she's done....she is a sinner!"

Jesus enters into Simon's one-man conversation and says, 'Simon, I have something to tell you.' Simon welcomes this word from Jesus perhaps assuming that Jesus will highlight the differences between a sinful life and a righteous one using this woman and Simon as prime examples. Simon isn't far off the mark, but he will be shocked to see that his role is the exact opposite of what he expects. Jesus proceeds to tell him a parable about two men who owe a man money, and the connection between forgiveness and love begins to come to light.

The summary of the parable (and of the happenings that night) is found in verse 47: '[This woman] loves much because her many sins have been forgiven, but he who has been forgiven little, loves little.' I can imagine the incredulity that ensued. Here was Simon, a Pharisee, a teacher of the Law, a man known for his 'righteousness' being outdone in the love of God by a woman known for her sinful life.

Perhaps we can cast Simon for the role of the self-righteous Pharisee praying at the temple in another of Jesus's parables in Luke 18. There we find a Pharisee standing and loudly 'praying to himself' (another one-man dialogue!) as he recounts why he is so good, especially compared to the despised tax collector who is also praying in the temple. The tax collector, however, is huddled off to the side, undone by the weight of his sinfulness, begging for mercy from God. It is he, not the Pharisee, who is held up as the righteous one in that parable.

So it seems that Simon was misunderstanding both the nature of sin and from where true righteousness comes. Simon assumed he was 'okay' because of the life he had lived, but he was unaware that it isn't the number of sins you commit that is important, it's understanding the true nature of sin.

In James we are told that anyone guilty of breaking even one part of the Law is guilty of breaking it ALL (James 2). Even self-righteous Simon, if he was honest, would admit that he was guilty of missing the mark at least once, but his misguided concept of righteousness would probably lead him to the conclusion that it was no big deal.

I recently heard John Piper relate a saying his Dad had told him: 'It's not hard to get people saved, but it's really hard to get people lost.' Ponder that for a second and you'll realize that that is precisely what Jesus was saying to Simon. Jesus is moving Simon's paradigm from self-centered to God-centered. Focusing not on what Simon did or did not do, but recognizing Who God is.

The sinful woman's actions sprang from her grateful response to Who Jesus is and the undeserved Love she needed; however, Simon viewed his actions as the basis for his righteousness and the reason God should love him. See, Simon had over-estimated his righteousness, thereby under-realizing God's mercy and forgiveness and under-loving God when He came and reclined at his dinner table.

This post is a call to honestly recognize the depths to which we have fallen. However, that is only the beginning, not the end. What should then follow is a heart-freeing, God-glorifying 'Hallelujah!' with a new, truer recognition of the length to which God goes to reach us and save us.

Remember, there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8). The point of more deeply grasping the truth of our sin is to subsequently grasp more deeply the forgiveness of our sin trough Jesus. The intensity of our salvation will be dependent upon our view of ourselves before the Cross. In other words (according to Jesus), our love for God is limited by our estimation of our forgiveness. Those without an honest recognition of sin or those with much comfort will fatally under-appreciate the Task of Christ, under-realize the Love of God, and under-worship Him.

Take comfort in the 'trustworthy saying' of Paul as related to Timothy. Paul's testimony to Timothy is that he was the worst sinner of all, but Christ came into the world to save even Him in order that the infinite extent of God's patience and love would be displayed as an example for all who believe. Paul recognized the truth of his sin, but didn't stop there. Christ had so manifested the love and forgiveness of God in his life that he would spend the rest of his life proclaiming the gospel to those who felt like they were the worst sinners in the world. Paul ends his testimony worshiping out of the love welling up within him on account of Christ's forgiveness: 'Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the Only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever!'

My sincerest aim in pointing us to an honest evaluation of our sin, is that we would RE-evaluate the grandness of the mercy and forgiveness of God, RE-grasp the infinite dimensions of His love for us, RE-discover the indescribably Glorious character of God, and be so filled with love for Him in return that our hearts would overflow in worship.

O Lord, I am undone by my sin, but I am even more undone by Your love and forgiveness. Remove the limits of my love and worship for You as I grasp the limitless Love You have for me. I echo the words of John by saying: how great is the love that the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! That is what I am! Now I worship You, the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God. To You alone be glory both now and forevermore. Amen!