Audio Sermon: The Forgiven Prostitute

The story of the prostitute who crashed the Pharisee’s party has often captured my attention.

I’ve often wondered what triggered such an emotional response in her that she’d break all protocol and wipe the feet of Jesus with her tears. (Read more about the prostitute of Luke 7 in my sermon notes: Who do you see?)

In my evangelism teaching, I often ask

How can I find that same passion that leads to the spontaneous worship of Jesus?

What triggered that passion in this prostitute?

In an earlier post on a wrestling with a definition of evangelism, I noted:

I see Jesus asking questions of the heart as in the story of the Good Samaritan, or talking with the woman at the well.

I see Jesus forgiving people.

A prostitute who hears “come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” finds forgiveness and anoints the feet of Jesus with perfume and her tears.  She was forgiven much, she loves much.  So much that she breaks all sorts of social protocol and wrecks someone’s dinner.

To a woman caught in adultery – “Who condemns you, neither do I.”  To a teenager broken over sex outside of marriage – there is hope in that story that she or he can be restored to God.

I see Jesus seeking after people, Zacchaeus in a tree.  With a little sanctified imagination, I can imagine that Matthew was at that dinner as well, a life transformed as a witness to Zacchaeus.

The four points we typically scripted outline are not recorded in any whole outline in the teachings of Jesus.  He invites well known sinners to come and see, come and follow.  . . .

I wonder how we as Christians can recapture that sense of invitation: “come and see this man” (Samaritan), “Come and see” (Nathaniel), “Come unto Me” (Jesus).  How as a church can we create that place where people can investigate, explore, and discover?

Sermon on the Prostitute of Luke 7

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