Love: child of thankfulness

This past Sunday I taught Sunday school on the following passage. Seeing that the few of you who may read this site are probably not in my Sunday school class, I will talk about it with you.

Luke 7:40-50 - And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." "A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. "When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." 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 has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." Then He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Jesus is not saying that Simon the Pharisee truly had less sins that needed forgiveness. Jesus was showing that in his own heart, Simon did not acknowledge his sins. Lacking recognition of his depravity held Simon back from loving the Savior, Jesus. Simon was a religious man, a guy who should have known the Scriptures well enough to notice that he had not lived a perfectly holy life, that he was a sinner. However, Simon was self-righteous. Simon was the perfect foil for the sinful woman. Naturally, we would look at this woman, who is believed to have been a prostitute, as the villain in the story. Yet her love and broken nature towards Jesus makes her into the protagonist here. The prostitute is who we are shown to emulate, not the religious man.

Let's look at this in light of how we can use this in our lives. We must recognize our sins. ALL OF THEM! It is so easy to be thankful to God for clearing us of our "big sins". Premarital sex, drug use, thievery, and the like are the sins we are glad Jesus died for. What about our unforgiveness to our first boyfriend/girlfriend that broke our heart in 9th grade that we have been carrying around for a decade? What about our lustful thoughts that creep into our heads when we are at the beach? What about our coveting of our neighrbor's shiny new corvette? Our "little" or "pet" sins are just as harmful to us as are our big sins. When we talk about people behind their backs, we are sinning. Jesus died for this sin as well as for any other sin. Once we recognize our sinfulness we are free to love God for who He truly is and what He did for us on the cross. When we are not thankful for the blood of Christ, we are not loving God. Worship, evangelism, tithing - all of these are wonderful, but without thankfulness to God for His divine forgiveness, we do not love HIM.

In this story in Luke, who had the impact? Who is remembered for their sacrificial act? Not the self-righteous pharisee, but the broken and thankful prostitute. Become broken for your sins, that is where you will find forgiveness.