Luke 7:43-50

Luke 7:43-50 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Simon, the Pharisee, saw this woman as unacceptable to be in their presence. She was an outcast, a sinner. But Jesus said, I will make her acceptable: Your sins are forgiven. He made her acceptable even to God. How many of you feel acceptable? How many of you feel you need to do something to be pleasing? This morning on my way home from Bible study, I saw a woman walking a long distance in five-inch heels, and she was walking as if her shoes hurt her. I was thinking she is doing this so she will be acceptable, so she will be pleasing. She is hurting herself to please others; her self-worth is so low that she feels she needs to wear those uncomfortable shoes to be worth something. How many of us are walking through life hurting ourselves so we will be acceptable to others? Simon knew this woman as a sinner, the community knew her as a sinner, but Jesus saw her as a person of great worth, a loving person who needed help. Consequently, He did what no man could, He did what only God could do: He remitted her sins. He made her whole; he made her acceptable to God and to any just person.

Are you acceptable? Do you feel acceptable today? Well, you are if you are a child of the King. He has already placed the robe of royalty on you, and your feet are shod with the shoes of peace. No longer do you need to isolate yourself from the community of believers. No longer do you need to hide in the back room. God knows who you really are, and He desires to introduce you to the community as his own. "This is my beloved who is in right standing with me. This is my daughter, my princess; she is wholly pleasing TO ME. This is my son, my prince; he is totally pleasing TO ME." Can you believe who you really are IN CHRIST or are you still wearing the five-inch heels; are you working out to develop the six-pack abs physique?

If you are a woman or man of faith, you must believe God is not a liar and that He doesn't make junk. If He says you are acceptable, YOU ARE. In the above passage, the guests said, Who is this who even forgives sins or who does he think he is to make people acceptable to God. Jesus answers them by saying to the woman, Your faith has saved you (made you acceptable); go in peace (believe it). CAN YOU BELIEVE IT MY FRIEND? DO YOU KNOW IT IN YOUR HEART? Foundational, saving, faith says, Yes, I believe it. I will rest in the fact that Jesus has made me acceptable. He has forgiven me of my sin. He has made me lovely. I will put away my five-inch shoes and six-pack ab look and depend on his mercy and GRACE, for He has brought me into his family, and I am a much loved child of God. Praise God, He has made me pleasing, He has made me acceptable. Blessed be his holy name!