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I heard a story on a news report several years ago about a woman who was on an overseas flight.

                                 "Four Words to Change our World"         Cicero United Methodist Church            June 22, 2008                           Luke 7: 36-50                       Jack Keating

I heard a story on a news report several years ago about a woman who was on an overseas flight. During the flight she called the flight attendant over and told her she believed she was having a heart attack. The flight attendant asked, "Is there a doctor on board?" And at that point 67 heart doctors stood up. It seems they were all headed to a convention for cardiac surgeons.

Now, imagine her joy when she saw those doctors. They were ready, willing, and able to effectively diagnose her problem and prescribe the correct treatment. They had the knowledge, the expertise, and the desire to take care of her and meet her needs.

Well today friends, I want to tell you that our Savior and Lord stands ready, willing and able to help as well.

---- Jesus has already diagnosed your problems.

---- Jesus has already prescribed the correct treatment through His Word.

---- He has the knowledge He needs about you, because He already knows everything about

you, even the things you haven't told him or anyone else.

---- He has the expertise and the ability to take care of you.

---- And the greatest thing of all is that He has a deep desire to take care of you and see

you made whole once again.

And this passage that we are looking at today, from Luke's Gospel, is such a wonderful passage.

---- You see it's a passage about grace.

---- It's a passage about love.

---- It's a passage about mercy.

---- It's a passage about acceptance.

---- It's a passage about sacrifice.

---- It's a passage about brokenness and repentance.

---- And, it's a passage about you and me!

So the question for all of us today is where are you in this story? Who are you in this story?

Perhaps you could be the woman we meet in verses 36-38.

In Jesus' day the reality is that women are not invited to or accepted at banquets.

Women were second class citizens. Why, Jewish rabbis didn't speak to women in public. They certainly didn't eat with them! A woman of this type would never have been invited to the home of Simon the Pharisee. And, even though her sins are not named, we get the impression that she was a woman of the streets with a pretty bad reputation.

---- She senses a desperate need in her life.

---- She was deeply convicted about her own sin.

---- She approached Jesus that night in spite of all the strikes against her.

---- She approached and freely gave her most valued and prized possession - her perfume.

---- She surrendered herself in total humility.

Or, perhaps you are the host we meet in verses 39.

Here is Simon, the wealthy Pharisee, the host of this wonderful banquet dinner. Now the homes of the wealthy usually had open courtyards, usually at the center of the house. And sometimes the host would allow the public to stand around the outside of the courtyard and listen to the discussions, especially when the guest was a great teacher or some celebrity. --- But, Simon too was a sinner in great need. The only problem was he couldn't see it

because his chief problem was blindness - spiritual blindness. --- It appears he could not see himself, the woman, or Jesus.

--- So it was easy for him to say, -She is a sinner'" But impossible for him to say, -X am a

sinner!"

---- He was considerate, but self-righteous.

---- He considered himself better than the woman.

---- He sensed no need for forgiveness in his own life.

---- He was a good person - good in his religion and good in his outward behavior.

So, which one are you today? X think all of us are in one category or another-either we sense our great need for forgiveness or we don't. So take a look here at Jesus' words in verses 41-43. The parable that Jesus told does not deal with the amount of sin in a person's life, but the awareness that both of those individuals had sin in their hearts.

Well, how much sin must a person commit to be a sinner, anyway? The reality of this story is that both Simon and the woman were sinners. Simon was guilty of sins of the spirit especially pride, while the woman was guilty of sins of the flesh. It is apparent that her sins were known and visible, while Simon's sins were hidden from everyone ..... except the Son of God. But the point is that both of them were spiritually bankrupt and could not pay their debt to God!

And there we all are! All of us are sinners. All of us are spiritually bankrupt. All of us are unable to pay our debt to God. All of us are in desperate need. But thankfully, all of us are also in the presence of the One who can forgive our sin and set us free.

So what an incredible moment it was that night, and still is today, when Jesus utters those four words to change a world----- "YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN". Listen to them once again ..... "YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN"!

To really understand and appreciate these words lets take the phrase apart for a minute.

"YOUR" - This is the pronoun of the second person in the nominative, dative, and objective case, indicating the person or person(s) being addressed. It's a form of the possessive case of the personal pronoun ·YOU".

In other words, friends, He's talking to YOU. He's addressing YOU. He's addressing ME.

He's addressing US. This is not some cold, impersonal, flippant comment. He's not talking about someone else's sins. He's talking about YOU. You can't do anything about anyone else's sin, so quit worrying about them, and start dealing with your own sin. Jesus is addressing YOU today.

"SINS" - Those are the times in your life when you have missed the mark; fallen short; erred; swerved from the truth; gone wrong; offended someone; wronged someone; done something evil in the sight of someone else; disobeyed God's divine law, made a mistake; had sinful desires; not believed; had no faith; did not trust God; were lewd in words or actions;

habitually messed up; deviated from God's plan for your life; were ungodly; failed in the performance of your duties; fallen by the wayside; your were at fault; and had a lapse.

In 1 John 2: 16 we read these words .... "For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - come not from the Father but from the world". And maybe that's a good working definition for sin there .... "Everything that is in the world - the cravings of sinful human-beings, the lust of our eyes and the boasting of what we have and do ... " Maybe we should try to determine if these are present in your life right now?

"ARE" - It's a simple verb declaring and affirming the truth right now. "Your sins are ... " Are what? ---Obvious? Hidden? Heavy? Weighing you down? Killing you? Destroying you and your family? Waking you up at night? What's the declaration and affirmation at your sinful self? Or, to put it another way.... What are your sins doing to your life?

"FORGIVEN" - What a word that is! It means that you have been pardoned; your sins have been cancelled. You have been loosed, released, set free. Your sins have been released from you. You have been set free from the slavery to your own sins to become a willing slave to God. You now have the ability to follow after God instead of fleeing from God. You now have the ability to flee from sin and run to God.

So what does this all mean? What are the implications for us today? To know that your sins are forgiven means:

--- That there exists the possibility for a personal relationship with God.

• Jesus' death on the cross makes your forgiveness possible. He paid the price.

He was the perfect sacrifice, the perfect Lamb that was slain for my sins and yours.

• Jesus' resurrection from the grave makes a relationship with God possible. If He had stayed in the grave, we would have no Savior, no eternal life, no place in heaven.

--- There exists the possibility of a restored relationship with God.

• All of us have rebelled against God, disobeyed Him, missed the mark, fallen short.
• But because we are forgiven, we can confess our sins, repent of our sins, and have our relationship with God restored.

--- There exists the possibility of a restored relationship with others.

• Because we are forgiven, we are called to be forgivers. And until we do, our relationship with God will continue to be hindered.
• Now is the time to step out of that spirit of un-forgiveness, confess it to God, repent of it, and forgive those who have wronged you.

So now, back to the story I first started with. It would not have done that woman on the airplane any good at all if all 67 doctors had offered their help and assistance and she had refused to accept it.

--- "I don't need it."

--- I'll be OK, I'm sure."

--- I think I know what to do myself."

--- "This heart attack really isn't that bad. It's not that serious."

She had to accept their help. She had to surrender herself to their knowledge and expertise. And most of all, she had to TRUST them. She had to accept their offer of help.

In 1830, a man named George Wilson was arrested for mail theft and sentenced to execution by hanging. President Andrew Jackson interceded and granted him a pardon, but he refused to accept it. SO the question arose should Wilson be freed or hanged? Chief Justice John Marshall issued this decision: "A pardon is but a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person being pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged." And, sure enough, he was.

     And the scripture lesson ends with a sinful woman placing her faith and trust in Jesus.

And that offering led Jesus to forgive her sins and set her free to go in peace. And boy, isn't there great peace when we know we are forgiven?

  President Abraham Lincoln was once asked how he was going to treat the rebellious Southerners when they had finally been defeated and returned to the Union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a dire vengeance, but he answered, I will treat them as if they had never been away."

     Each of us, including Simon the Pharisee, could have had that same kind of forgiveness.

But, alas, his faith was only in himself. So this morning I'm wondering ... what about you? In whom do you place your faith???