The Heart of Worship

Text: Luke 7:36 – 50

For this morning we are going to talk about the What is really the heart of
worship.

What is not a worship?

Worship is not a plan performance, it is not merely the time we spend singing in
Church.

What is a worship?
Worship is a heartfelt response to our Awesome, Majestic God, our Wonderful
savior;

This morning we are going to take a look a certain woman.

1. The Setting

In verse 36: Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him,
and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

Here we have our setting and background. Jesus was invited to a dinner by
a Pharisee named Simon. Now probably Simon (Pharisee) had a few of his
fellow Pharisees with him.

Take note! Jesus had been denouncing the Pharisees.

Now we may wonder why the Pharisee invited Jesus into a dinner. Maybe
that he could spy on Him and find something wrong with Him so that Simon
– Pharisee could accuse him of something.

2. The Scene

In verse 37: … He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house,…

Try to picture out:
In those days they didn’t sit on chairs at the table; they reclined on couches.
So Jesus was reclining on a couch, with His feet sticking out turned from the
table in back, leaning on His left arm or elbow, as He talked across the table
to His host.

In verse 37: And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when
she learned that He (Jesus) was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s
house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,
 Their culture:
In the Eastern culture of that day it was customary for outsiders to hover
around during banquet or dinner so they could watch the “important
people” and hear the conversation. Since everything was open, they could
even enter and speak to a guest. – This explains how this woman had access
to Jesus. They were not eating with all the doors shut.

3. The Sinners

In verse 37 – 39: 37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner;
and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s
house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind
Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept
wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing
them with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw
this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and
what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a
sinner.”

Two sinners:
a. The Unrighteous Woman
b. The Self Righteous Pharisee

A. The Unrighteous Woman (v. 37 – 38)

Who is this Unrighteous Woman?

- Clarrify: Some suppose this is Mary Magdalene, but we have no
evidence that this was her. In John 12:3, Mary of Bethany also
anoints Jesus' feet with oil, but this was a separate incident. –
Source: Text Commentaries by David Guzik

What was her sin?

- We get the impression that she was a woman with a bad reputation,
guilty of sins of the flesh. She was unrighteous and she knew it.
 B. The Self Righteous Pharisee (v. 39)

Who is the Self righteous Pharisee?

- Simon was his name. He invited Jesus for dinner.

What was his purpose in inviting Jesus to a dinner?

- Maybe we can say that it was an attempt to test or trap Jesus.

What was his sin?

- Simon is self-righteous and guilty of sins of the spirit.

Reflection:
I don’t want to miss this out. Most often the most difficult
people to reach can be the self-righteous. They look around at
everybody else, “they say I’m not so bad, look at them look at
what they are doing. I’m not that bad.”

In our case, as workers in the Music team, as applicants in the

ministry, do we have this kind of spirit?

4. The Savior

In every conflict of the story, there is always someone who will solve the
issue. Like The Avengers, The Hobbit, …

Here we find that the hero of this passage is JESUS CHRIST…

Our hope:
Jesus Christ - deals with both the self-righteous sinner, Simon; and the un-
righteous sinner, the woman.
Parable:
The parable of two debtors
In verse: 40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to
you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A moneylender had two debtors:
one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they were
unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will
love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he
forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”

Application:
Simon saw himself as the lesser sinner and the woman as the greater
sinner.

Simon (Pharisee) is represented by the 50 Denarii, the woman 500 Denarii.

Please don’t get me wrong:

(Note: it doen’t mean that the sin of Simon is worth 50 Denarii and the
woman’s sin is 500 Denarii worth but it describes the awareness of guilt of
each of them, not the amount of sin)

Picture:
The woman knew she was guilty of sinning against God, but Simon the self
– righteous He thought he was fine. Yet, he desperately needed to be
foregiven too!

The demonstration of acceptance:

44
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. 45 You gave Me no kiss;
but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 You did
not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 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.” 48 Then He said to
her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” 49 Those who were reclining at the
 table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even
forgives sins?” 50 And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go
in peace.”

Important points that we need to take a second look:

- This woman was not forgiven because she offered a very expensive
perfume to Jesus. She trusted the Savior, the Only One than can save
her from sin.
- True faith cannot be hidden!
- The great awareness of Sin, Christ and Forgiveness leads to a deeper
worship towards God!
- Jesus Christ is our HOPE! Both to Unrighteous and Self – righteous.

Conclusion/Reflection:

We can learn from the woman what is really the HEART of Worship.

1. Humility

Lesson:
- She knew she would be critizied and rejected by a roomfull of
religious leaders. But she did not care about herself. In fact, she
focused on Jesus.

Pride is sometimes the primary hindrance to worship. Pride will

cause us to be consumed with thoughts of self.
“Am I comfortable?”
“Do I look good to the people when I play the instrument?”
“Do I sound great when I do this?”
“Is everything up to my standards?”

If we hope to have a true Worship we must enter God’s presence

with a Humble heart. By being humble, we need to know our position
before God, a sinner.
2. Eagerness

Lesson:
- She was eager to offer to the Savior what she had, what she had
brought. She didn’t hold anything back.

Do we come to worship with that same eager heart? A heart that is

eager to give all to the savior? Are we eager in our daily lives to
worhsip the Savior The one who died for my,our, sins?

Oh Church, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ should really compel us to

WORSHIP HIM!!!!

3. Adoration

Lesson:
- Jesus made a point of contrasting the Woman‘s adoration with the
proud, self-important behavior of Simon.

Woman showed her adoration in so many ways:

 She went looking for Jesus.
 She risked being embarrassed by entering the house of the
Pharisee
 She fell at Jesus feet and poured out her adoration.

Simon showed pride to Jesus:

 Simon the Pharisee expected Jesus to come to him. He didn’t take
any risk to be with Jesus.
 4. Repantance

Lesson:
- We cannot offer true worship until we first
acknowledge our own sin.

The Woman did not try to deny that she was, indeed, a notorious
sinner.

Meanwhile, look at what Simon was thinking to himself: "If this man
were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind
of woman she is--that she is a sinner.". He is blinded that he is also a
SINNER like the Woman.

Christ came for all sinners the unrighteous and the self – righteous!

5. Thanksgiving

Lesson:
- The Woman was forgiven much. And out of a heart of thanksgiving,
she gave much.

Reflection:
Brothers and Sisters in Christ can we ever be thankful enough for
what our Savior has done for us?

Does our lives demonstrates a thankfulness to the amazing

forgiveness that is ours in Jesus Christ? In our work? In our family?

Closing song: Heart of Worship