Michael A. Walrond, Jr. - "Transformed by Faith" (June 14, 1998)
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| - | Reading is from the gospel | 0:03 |
| according to Saint Luke chapter seven. | 0:04 | |
| One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, | 0:08 | |
| and he went into the Pharisee's house | 0:10 | |
| and took his place at the table. | 0:12 | |
| And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, | 0:14 | |
| having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, | 0:16 | |
| brought an alabaster jar of ointment. | 0:19 | |
| She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, | 0:23 | |
| and began to bathe his feet with tears | 0:25 | |
| and to dry them with her hair. | 0:27 | |
| Then she continued kissing his feet | 0:29 | |
| and anointing them with the ointment. | 0:31 | |
| Now when the Pharisee, who had invited him saw it, | 0:33 | |
| he said to himself, | 0:36 | |
| if this man were a prophet, | 0:38 | |
| he would have known who and what kind of woman | 0:40 | |
| this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner. | 0:42 | |
| Jesus spoke up and said to him, | 0:46 | |
| "Simon, I have something to say to you." | 0:48 | |
| "Teacher," he replied, "speak." | 0:51 | |
| "A certain creditor had two debtors. | 0:54 | |
| "One owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. | 0:56 | |
| "When they could not pay, | 1:00 | |
| "he canceled the debts for both of them. | 1:02 | |
| "Now which of them will love him more?" | 1:04 | |
| Simon answered, | 1:07 | |
| "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." | 1:08 | |
| And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." | 1:11 | |
| Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, | 1:14 | |
| "Do you see this woman? | 1:17 | |
| "I entered your house. | 1:18 | |
| "You gave me no water for my feet, | 1:20 | |
| "but she has bathed my feet with her tears | 1:22 | |
| "and dried them with her hair. | 1:25 | |
| "You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in | 1:27 | |
| "she has not stopped kissing my feet. | 1:31 | |
| "You did not anoint my head with oil, | 1:34 | |
| "but she has anointed my feet with ointment. | 1:37 | |
| "Therefore, I tell you, her sins, | 1:39 | |
| "which were many, have been forgiven, | 1:41 | |
| "hence she has shown great love. | 1:43 | |
| "But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." | 1:46 | |
| Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." | 1:50 | |
| But those who were at the table with him | 1:53 | |
| began to say among themselves, | 1:55 | |
| "Who is this who even forgives sins?" | 1:57 | |
| And he said to the woman, | 2:00 | |
| "Your faith has saved you, go in peace." | 2:01 | |
| Soon afterwards he went on through the cities and villages, | 2:05 | |
| proclaiming and bringing the good news | 2:08 | |
| of the kingdom of God. | 2:11 | |
| The 12 were with him as well as some women | 2:13 | |
| who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities. | 2:15 | |
| Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, | 2:19 | |
| and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, | 2:23 | |
| and Susanna, and many others, | 2:26 | |
| who provided for them out of their resources. | 2:28 | |
| This is the word of the Lord. | 2:32 | |
| - | Thanks be to God. | 2:35 |
| - | Good morning. | 2:46 |
| Good morning. | 2:48 | |
| - | Good morning. | 2:49 |
| - | It is always a joy and a pleasure to be here | 2:50 |
| sharing with you in worship of our Lord | 2:55 | |
| and Savior Jesus the Christ. | 2:58 | |
| If you would this morning, permit me to read | 3:02 | |
| a portion of the gospel lesson | 3:05 | |
| that was read in your hearing. | 3:06 | |
| In the seventh chapter of the gospel according | 3:09 | |
| to Saint Luke, I want to read | 3:12 | |
| through verses 36 through 50 once again. | 3:14 | |
| One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, | 3:22 | |
| and he went into the Pharisee's house | 3:27 | |
| and took his place at the table. | 3:29 | |
| And a woman in the city who was a sinner, | 3:32 | |
| having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, | 3:35 | |
| brought an alabaster jar of ointment. | 3:40 | |
| She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, | 3:43 | |
| and began to bathe his feet with her tears | 3:46 | |
| and to dry them with her hair. | 3:49 | |
| Then she continued kissing his feet | 3:52 | |
| and anointing them with the ointment. | 3:54 | |
| Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, | 3:57 | |
| he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, | 4:01 | |
| he would have known who and what kind of woman this is | 4:06 | |
| who is touching him, that she is a sinner. | 4:10 | |
| Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, | 4:15 | |
| "I have something to say to you." | 4:18 | |
| "Teacher," he replied, "speak." | 4:22 | |
| "A certain creditor had two debtors. | 4:25 | |
| "One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. | 4:28 | |
| "When they could not pay, | 4:32 | |
| "he canceled the debts for both of them. | 4:33 | |
| "Now which of them will love him more?" | 4:36 | |
| Simon answered, "I suppose the one | 4:39 | |
| "for whom he canceled the greater debt." | 4:41 | |
| And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." | 4:44 | |
| And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, | 4:48 | |
| "Do you see this woman? | 4:53 | |
| "I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, | 4:55 | |
| "but she has bathed my feet with her tears | 4:59 | |
| "and dried them with her hair. | 5:01 | |
| "You gave me no kiss, | 5:04 | |
| "but from the time I came in, | 5:06 | |
| "she has not stopped kissing my feet. | 5:08 | |
| "You did not anoint my head with oil, | 5:12 | |
| "but she has anointed my feet with ointment. | 5:13 | |
| "Therefore, I tell you, her sins, | 5:17 | |
| "which were many, have been forgiven. | 5:20 | |
| "Hence she has shown great love. | 5:25 | |
| "But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." | 5:29 | |
| Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." | 5:34 | |
| But those who were at the table with him | 5:39 | |
| began to say among themselves, | 5:42 | |
| "Who is this who even forgives sins?" | 5:44 | |
| And he said to the woman, | 5:49 | |
| "Your faith has saved you, | 5:51 | |
| go in peace." | 5:55 | |
| This morning I want to share from the thoughts | 5:59 | |
| transformed by faith, | 6:03 | |
| transformed by faith. | 6:07 | |
| There is something within me | 6:13 | |
| that is frequently drawn near | 6:17 | |
| to the gospel according to Saint Luke. | 6:20 | |
| Maybe it is Jesus's concern in this gospel | 6:25 | |
| with the social and religious outcasts. | 6:28 | |
| Maybe it is the frequent theme | 6:33 | |
| in the gospel of Luke of Jesus's sympathy with the lowly. | 6:35 | |
| Maybe it is even the passion that Jesus has | 6:41 | |
| for the least and the lost. | 6:44 | |
| Perhaps it is what some have labeled | 6:50 | |
| as Jesus' radical discontinuity. | 6:52 | |
| It is true that both continuity and discontinuity | 6:56 | |
| with his past and with his contemporaries | 6:59 | |
| characterized Jesus. | 7:03 | |
| He was a woman, a man born of a woman. | 7:05 | |
| He was a Jew. | 7:08 | |
| He was nurtured in a Jewish home of piety. | 7:10 | |
| He went by custom on Sabbath day to the synagogue. | 7:15 | |
| He worshiped at the temple | 7:19 | |
| and drew heavily upon Jewish Scriptures. | 7:22 | |
| The continuity is unmistakably there. | 7:25 | |
| But there is something radically different, | 7:28 | |
| a radical discontinuity that one sees | 7:33 | |
| when they look closer | 7:36 | |
| at this person known as Jesus the Christ. | 7:37 | |
| Jesus was bodily evicted from his home synagogue. | 7:42 | |
| His family seemed to not have understood him | 7:48 | |
| or to have been fully supportive of him during his lifetime. | 7:52 | |
| The inner circle of 12 lagged behind | 7:58 | |
| and sometimes openly opposed him | 8:01 | |
| even at crucial points in his ministry. | 8:04 | |
| He was crucified by his own people. | 8:08 | |
| He crossed conventional lines and social boundaries. | 8:11 | |
| He did things that you were not supposed to do. | 8:16 | |
| He befriended people who were not to have any friends. | 8:20 | |
| He made friends with people | 8:26 | |
| like Peter, James, and John, fishermen. | 8:27 | |
| He made friends with a woman from Samaria | 8:32 | |
| who was not only an enemy, so-called, | 8:35 | |
| of the Jewish people, but she was a woman | 8:38 | |
| whom he dared to speak to publicly, | 8:41 | |
| people whom sometimes the world rejected, | 8:43 | |
| Jesus had an uncanny and remarkable ability | 8:46 | |
| to embrace and befriend. | 8:51 | |
| Maybe it is that reason | 8:54 | |
| that I find myself | 8:57 | |
| drawn towards Jesus. | 9:00 | |
| Because of his ability | 9:02 | |
| to embrace people that the world sometimes rejects. | 9:05 | |
| His ability to love people | 9:10 | |
| that the world sometimes does not love. | 9:13 | |
| His ability to save people | 9:18 | |
| that the world would rather not be saved. | 9:21 | |
| This is why it is not surprising, | 9:26 | |
| and as we read the gospel lesson, | 9:28 | |
| we find Jesus at a banquet where the host | 9:31 | |
| is one of the Pharisees who are characterized | 9:35 | |
| as those who rejected God's purpose | 9:38 | |
| for their own lives. | 9:41 | |
| There were people even amongst his own people | 9:43 | |
| who thought that it did not make sense | 9:45 | |
| for he a Jew to even be sitting down eating | 9:48 | |
| with a Pharisee who was despised by many of the Jews. | 9:50 | |
| But I want you, if you can this morning, | 9:55 | |
| to just imagine what the scene must have been like. | 9:58 | |
| It was not unusual for there to be a crowd | 10:04 | |
| gathered in the courtyard of the Pharisees. | 10:07 | |
| The crowd is around the courtyard, | 10:11 | |
| and inside sits Jesus with one of the Pharisees | 10:15 | |
| preparing to eat a meal. | 10:20 | |
| And from among the crowd there is one woman. | 10:24 | |
| I'm not sure of everyone else's rationale and reason | 10:29 | |
| for being there and observing the banquet feast | 10:33 | |
| which was a very public event. | 10:36 | |
| But I do believe I can understand | 10:38 | |
| why this one woman was there. | 10:40 | |
| She was an outcast. | 10:44 | |
| She was one of the rejects. | 10:48 | |
| She was a woman, and the record tells us | 10:53 | |
| that she was a sinner who had many sins. | 10:55 | |
| And you can imagine that at this time | 10:58 | |
| she was despised by many. | 11:01 | |
| But she was still there to get a glimpse | 11:03 | |
| of someone whom she believed could change her life. | 11:06 | |
| She was there to get a glimpse of someone | 11:11 | |
| whom she thought could help restore the peace in her life | 11:13 | |
| that she longed for, but could not have. | 11:18 | |
| She was there, because of the possibility | 11:22 | |
| that she would leave there different than how she came. | 11:27 | |
| But in actuality isn't that why many of us | 11:33 | |
| are drawn to Jesus, because of the possibility | 11:36 | |
| that once we have an encounter with Jesus, | 11:41 | |
| we might leave definitely than how we arrived at Jesus? | 11:44 | |
| The possibility that we might have our hearts transformed, | 11:51 | |
| the possibility that we might be more | 11:56 | |
| than what we seem to be now, | 11:59 | |
| the possibility that Jesus the Christ could take | 12:03 | |
| our fruitless lives and transform them | 12:07 | |
| into fruitful existences. | 12:12 | |
| There's a story that I've heard about Michelangelo, | 12:16 | |
| and he said, and when Michelangelo would walk | 12:20 | |
| through the marble quarries, | 12:23 | |
| that it was as if lifeless marble | 12:26 | |
| was reaching out to Michelangelo, | 12:29 | |
| because it was as if the marble knew | 12:33 | |
| that when Michelangelo would take the hammer | 12:35 | |
| and the chisel, great things could be designed | 12:37 | |
| and that lifeless marble could be transformed | 12:40 | |
| into even angel's wings if need be. | 12:43 | |
| Now, I don't know a whole lot about Michelangelo, | 12:48 | |
| but I do know that where Jesus walks, | 12:53 | |
| people reach out to touch Jesus, | 12:56 | |
| hoping that their own lives might be transformed. | 13:01 | |
| Where Jesus walks, wrong is sometimes made right. | 13:06 | |
| Where Jesus walks, blind people regain their sight. | 13:11 | |
| Where Jesus walks, lifeless limbs now bring forth new life. | 13:16 | |
| And where Jesus walks, hopeless lives | 13:21 | |
| are given a new lease and hope in life. | 13:24 | |
| So she was there, because of the possibility | 13:29 | |
| that her life would be changed. | 13:33 | |
| She comes in, | 13:36 | |
| she stands behind Jesus, | 13:39 | |
| and just being in the presence, she begins to weep. | 13:42 | |
| The tears meander down her cheek, | 13:46 | |
| and the tears begin to fall | 13:48 | |
| on the feet of Jesus. | 13:52 | |
| She's overwhelmed. | 13:56 | |
| She begins to wipe the Savior's feet | 13:58 | |
| with her own hair, | 14:03 | |
| and then anoints his feet with oil. | 14:06 | |
| And immediately the Pharisee, | 14:11 | |
| who is observing all of this, | 14:14 | |
| begins to do what many of us find easy to do, | 14:15 | |
| and that is to not look at the beam | 14:19 | |
| that is in your own eye, but the mote | 14:22 | |
| that is in your brother's or sister's eye. | 14:24 | |
| Jesus, she is a sinner. | 14:26 | |
| How could you even dare associate with her? | 14:30 | |
| You see, I have not lived a long time, | 14:36 | |
| but I have lived long enough to know | 14:38 | |
| that we don't like pointing the fingers at ourselves. | 14:41 | |
| It is easier to point the finger at someone else's fault | 14:46 | |
| than to look at the mirror and to see who you really are. | 14:49 | |
| No one likes to talk about their own sin, | 14:55 | |
| no one likes to talk about their own faults, | 14:57 | |
| no one likes to talk about their own shortcomings, | 15:00 | |
| so it is easier to point the finger at others | 15:03 | |
| whom we believe have greater sins than we. | 15:06 | |
| It's easy to point fingers at so many | 15:11 | |
| of our young African- American males, | 15:13 | |
| because we believe that their sins are greater | 15:15 | |
| than our sins based upon what we see in the media | 15:18 | |
| and in the newspapers. | 15:21 | |
| And it is so easy to point the finger at people | 15:24 | |
| who are homeless and then conclude | 15:25 | |
| that they are homeless because of their own doing. | 15:28 | |
| It is easy to point the finger at young teenage mothers | 15:31 | |
| and say that these are just bad girls, | 15:34 | |
| they should've known better. | 15:36 | |
| Instead of trying to transform the harsh realities | 15:37 | |
| they see every day, that many times leads | 15:40 | |
| them down paths of destruction. | 15:43 | |
| It is easy to point the finger at the big sins, | 15:45 | |
| the big wrongs, but hard to look at our lives, | 15:49 | |
| because of our pious attitudes. | 15:53 | |
| But here is the reality. | 15:58 | |
| And I learned this firsthand myself. | 16:01 | |
| Last week I had the pleasure of making | 16:05 | |
| the acquaintance of a reporter | 16:08 | |
| from the News and Observer who was writing | 16:09 | |
| an article on the work I was doing at the church. | 16:11 | |
| And he asked me to share about my life. | 16:15 | |
| And it was hard. | 16:20 | |
| When I reflected on it, sharing on my life became easy. | 16:22 | |
| Because above everything else I have done in my life, | 16:28 | |
| the one thing I know to be true | 16:32 | |
| is that God's grace has been gifted to me, | 16:34 | |
| and I should be quick to bear testimony | 16:39 | |
| to what God has done for me, | 16:43 | |
| because there was a time in my life | 16:45 | |
| when many of you would've looked upon me | 16:47 | |
| in fear and trembling, because of how I used to be. | 16:50 | |
| But I am so glad that God does not look at me as I am, | 16:54 | |
| but God looks at me for the potential that I possess | 16:58 | |
| and does not get concerned with what I am right now, | 17:01 | |
| but looks at what I can be when God begins to mold me | 17:04 | |
| and make me after God's will. | 17:08 | |
| All that I am now is not all that I ever will be, | 17:13 | |
| but what I will be will be what God has made me to be. | 17:18 | |
| Anyone | 17:25 | |
| can have their lives redeemed. | 17:27 | |
| There are no hierarchy, | 17:30 | |
| or there is no hierarchy of sin. | 17:33 | |
| The one who commits the little white lie | 17:37 | |
| is on equal standing with the one | 17:41 | |
| who even shoots and kills a little girl. | 17:44 | |
| Now, there may be some who don't believe that this morning. | 17:48 | |
| But as a preacher of the gospel, | 17:51 | |
| and as a pastor, I have to believe that, | 17:53 | |
| because the same person who commits the little white lie | 17:56 | |
| and the same person who even commits the act of murder | 18:00 | |
| has the same right to forgiveness by Jesus Christ. | 18:04 | |
| And Jesus does not look at the level of your sin, | 18:08 | |
| for the record tells us if we believe in our hearts | 18:12 | |
| and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord, | 18:15 | |
| then we shall be saved. | 18:19 | |
| Salvation is open to anyone. | 18:21 | |
| So all we must do is ask for forgiveness. | 18:24 | |
| The liar, the adulterer, the fornicator, | 18:26 | |
| the murderer, all they must do is ask for forgiveness | 18:30 | |
| and it can be granted by Jesus the Christ. | 18:33 | |
| This Pharisee fell in the trap of trying | 18:38 | |
| to establish a hierarchy of sin, | 18:40 | |
| not looking at his own shortcomings, | 18:42 | |
| his own faults, but looking at someone else's faults, | 18:44 | |
| but not realizing that God has the uncanny ability | 18:48 | |
| of looking beyond our every fault | 18:52 | |
| and seeing just what we need. | 18:55 | |
| Jesus looks at the woman, | 19:01 | |
| tells her her sins | 19:05 | |
| are forgiven. | 19:08 | |
| He has an impromptu discipleship lesson. | 19:11 | |
| He begins to tell the Pharisee of the story | 19:14 | |
| of two men who are both in debt, | 19:18 | |
| one in debt by a large sum, | 19:22 | |
| and one in debt by a small sum. | 19:24 | |
| And they are forgiven. | 19:27 | |
| Their debt is wiped away. | 19:29 | |
| He said, who forgives more? | 19:30 | |
| He said, the one who had the greater debt. | 19:32 | |
| He said, you have judged rightly. | 19:35 | |
| And he looked at the woman, he said, your sins are forgiven. | 19:36 | |
| And immediately those in the midst began to say, | 19:39 | |
| who is this, who can even forgive sins? | 19:43 | |
| Jesus looks at the woman, | 19:49 | |
| and he says, your faith | 19:53 | |
| has saved you. | 19:56 | |
| Your faith | 19:59 | |
| has transformed you. | 20:01 | |
| Don't worry about the enormity of your past sin, | 20:04 | |
| you now have a new lease on life. | 20:10 | |
| You now have a new way of being, | 20:14 | |
| a new way of seeing, a new way of living. | 20:18 | |
| She was transformed by her faith and belief | 20:23 | |
| that Jesus could save her, | 20:29 | |
| that Jesus could redeem her. | 20:32 | |
| He said, your faith has saved you, now go in peace. | 20:37 | |
| Where your life was once filled with chaos, | 20:40 | |
| now I bid you go in peace. | 20:43 | |
| Where your life was once filled with pain, | 20:47 | |
| I bid you now go in peace. | 20:50 | |
| Where your life was filled with confusion and destruction, | 20:53 | |
| I now bid you to go in peace. | 20:57 | |
| No longer be burdened down by the weight of your sin, | 21:01 | |
| but now go assured that your sins have been forgiven. | 21:05 | |
| And that is the good news of the gospel. | 21:09 | |
| That is why we sit here even today, | 21:12 | |
| because of the possibility that because of our faith | 21:14 | |
| and our belief in Jesus Christ, | 21:18 | |
| we too can be transformed | 21:20 | |
| and made new creatures in Christ. | 21:24 | |
| That is my prayer. | 21:29 | |
| Not only that morning by morning new mercies | 21:31 | |
| I can see in Jesus Christ, | 21:34 | |
| but that moment by moment, day by day, | 21:37 | |
| I am ever changing and ever being transformed | 21:40 | |
| by my faith in Jesus the Christ. | 21:44 | |
| There's a song I love so much, | 21:47 | |
| it says, | 21:51 | |
| I heard the Savior say, | 21:55 | |
| thy strength indeed is small, | 21:58 | |
| child of weakness, watch and pray, | 22:02 | |
| find in me thine all in all. | 22:06 | |
| Jesus paid it all. | 22:09 | |
| All to him I owe. | 22:12 | |
| Sin had left a crimson stain, | 22:15 | |
| but Jesus washed it white as snow, amen. | 22:19 | |
| (solemn organ music) | 22:34 |