Forgiven Much? | Sunday, November 23, 2025

As you can tell, we are definitely into a new season here at Cross Connection Church. Anthony stayed late with some people decorating yesterday, so things are looking rather festive. Next week, we will be beginning our Advent series, as it’s hard to believe, but Christmas is just four weeks away. This series will run for the next four Sundays leading up to Christmas.

I want to encourage you that this is a great opportunity for you to take some of the invite cards we have back at the connection point and maybe invite someone you have been praying for to come to church. Evangelism begins with prayer because God is moving by His Spirit to draw people to Himself, just as Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I'll draw all people to myself." God uses us to be a part of that.

Think back to when you were invited to church. There were people in your life who, if you invited them, would probably say yes. In fact, the odds are in your favor. You have neighbors, co-workers, family members, friends, and people you go to school with—wherever they may be—that God wants to use you to be a light to this world.

One of the reasons I like Christmas trees is that, during this time of year when the days are shorter and darkness lingers longer, they remind us to be a light to a world that is in darkness. You are the light of this world, so make sure that you do not cover up that light that God wants to shine through you. Amen.

Would you stand with me and take out your Bibles? Open them to the Gospel of Luke. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one. We'll also put the text up on the screen. This morning, we will be in Luke chapter 7, finally finishing this passage.

Luke records for us that one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus was at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. She stood at Jesus's feet behind Him, weeping. She began to wash His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. She kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and spoke within himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." Simon replied, "Teacher, say it."

There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. When they had nothing with which to pay him, he freely forgave them both. Jesus asked, "Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." Jesus said to him, "You have rightly judged."

God, I pray that as we consider the Scriptures today, you would continue the work that you are doing in each one of us. You desire to transform us by the renewing of our minds so that we would be able to display what is your good and perfect will in this world. Every single one of us standing here today needs your transforming grace and power. We are so grateful that you are full of forgiveness, grace, love, and kindness because we come to you in the same way that this sinful woman came to Jesus—in desperate need.

So God, we thank you. We praise you this morning. We pray that you would continue that work of transforming grace in us. Lord, make us more like you, from glory to greater glory, by the Spirit and power of your Word. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

You may have noticed over the last four weeks or so that the subject of love has been a central theme in my teaching, predominantly because it is a central theme in the text that we find ourselves in. Beginning back in the section that was in the middle of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount in Luke 6:27, four weeks ago we read, "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless..."

Those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you. These, as I've shared multiple times over the last month, are some of Jesus's most well-known sayings. They are well known to Christians, obviously, churchgoers, but they are also recognized by people who don't really know the Bible or don't go to church. I know that's the case because I've had many conversations over the years with people who don't know the Bible, don't go to church, and get on the subject of Jesus.

I'm always looking for an opportunity to talk with people about the Bible and about God. Many people will say something like, "I think Jesus is a great guy. He's a good dude. I could vibe with Jesus, as the kids say. He was a good moral teacher." That's what some people will say. If you press them on what moral teaching they are referring to, it might very possibly be this: love your enemies. Jesus is quite well known for that saying. Another one that people love, as we've mentioned, is "judge not that you be not judged," both from the Sermon on the Mount. A lot of people know this teaching; it's highly valued among Westerners.

Love your enemies, even though that's a hard one for us. I would suggest it's not only hard for us, but it's nearly impossible. However, as these are some of Jesus's most well-known teachings, they are very important in our culture and were central to his kingdom message. When I say his kingdom message, what am I talking about?

Well, immediately following Jesus's baptism by John the Baptist, recorded in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 3, Jesus went into the wilderness for a time of temptation and testing. Immediately after that, he begins his formal ministry. The text says in Matthew chapter 4 that Jesus went about the region of Galilee. He was from near that lake or sea, and he was teaching in the synagogues. Matthew says that he was preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of his kingdom.

What is the gospel of the kingdom? Very likely, it is the message that we find immediately following those words in Matthew 4. We come to Matthew chapters 5 to 7, which is the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount makes up the primary bulk of Jesus's kingdom gospel, the good news about his kingdom and what it is like to live under his rule and authority. Luke chapter 6 is Luke's recording of the same message. So this concept, love...

Your enemies, because you can, in many ways, distill that kingdom message down to that exhortation or that command: love your enemies. That's not just core to Jesus's message; I would suggest to you that it's central to His very nature. As you learn about Jesus and go through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you look at His life and His ministry. What is on display more than His love?

The greatest expression, the greatest demonstration of that love, as Paul references in the book of Romans, chapter 5, is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Greater love has no one than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends. But Christ's love for you and me is much greater than that. When we were far from Him, in opposition to Him, at enmity with Him, enemies of God, He loved us. So, it's core to Jesus's nature: love your enemies. It is central to His teaching and perhaps one of the most difficult things of all the things that Jesus commands us to apply.

You see, when Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, "Let your yes be yes and your no be no," and when He bids us or commands us to keep our oaths, if you say to someone, "Yes, I will do this," or "No, I promise I will not do that," Jesus says, "You need to keep your word." We can train ourselves to comply with that; that's relatively easy. I can do that. I can muster up the energy to be a man of my word, and we definitely encourage that in our culture. It's a high value to us, and it comes right from Jesus.

So, I can train myself to be good to my word, and I might even be able to ruthlessly discipline myself to follow Jesus's teaching again from the Sermon on the Mount, where He says, "If your right hand offends you, cut it off," or "If your right eye offends you, pluck it out." We can discipline ourselves, if need be, to really just, by grit and determination, say, "I will not do that thing," or whatever it is. We can force ourselves to be ruthlessly religious in following the words that Jesus says.

But when He says, "You have heard that it has been said of old time, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemy," that is where it becomes truly challenging.

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." That is nearly impossible for me, and I think you would agree. Rigorous religious ritual and personal piety are easy in comparison to the kind of righteousness that Jesus prescribes. When He says, "Love your enemies," that is the chief value of my message. It is nearly impossible. It's much easier just to check off the boxes of all the things that we say we will do or won't do and to go through those things.

If Christianity is just about checking off the boxes of the sinful things I don't do and the good things that I do, that's easy compared to the genuine Christlikeness that we're called to, where Jesus says that we are to love our enemies. But here's the problem. Point one, if you're taking notes: Christ has not called me to mere religion, but to more than pharisaism.

What does that mean, more than pharisaism? Well, it's exactly what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 5, verse 20, He says, "For I say unto you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Those were big words for the hearers of Jesus's message.

Those who were following Jesus and hearing this kingdom teaching highly regarded the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a religious sect in Judaism that emerged about 200 years before Jesus's ministry. By the time that Jesus was ministering in the first-century Jewish world, they were the predominant religious sect among the populous groups in the nation. Most of the people aligned with the Pharisees.

The Pharisees lived among the people; they were the ones who led, ruled, and taught in their synagogues. They lived a highly religious form of life in Judaism. I would call them super-Jews, and they were that. So, for the common people, imagine yourself being one of the common people in Galilee 2,000 years ago.

Were you a fisherman, a mason, a farmer, or a shepherd? Did you keep the home and take care of the kids? Whatever it may be, as you went about daily life in your town—whether it was Capernaum, Bedada, or Tiberius in Galilee—you would see the Pharisees in their robes. You would notice the way they carried themselves and the way they prayed in public to be seen by people. They were regarded as the super saints and separated themselves from the common people in the synagogues because they believed they were higher than everyone else. People looked at them and thought, "If anybody is a shoo-in for the kingdom of God, it's that person right there."

Among them was a man named Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night. There was also a young man by the name of Saul of Tarsus, who was roughly the same age as Jesus. He regarded himself as a Pharisee and a Jew, considering himself blameless. He claimed, "If anybody thought themselves to be boastful in their flesh, I much more so," because he had all the qualifications on his CV that one would need to be considered righteous according to the law—blameless.

Then Jesus comes and says, "Unless you're better than them in righteousness, there is no hope for you." That's a high bar. Right after He says that, He states, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." He immediately sets the bar higher and higher to describe what He means by being better than the Pharisees in terms of righteousness. He does this in a series of teachings where He says, "You have heard that it was said, but I say unto you." Six times He uses this phrase.

First, He says, "You have heard that it has been said of old time, you shall not murder." How many of you have heard that command? It's the sixth commandment: Thou shalt not murder. Anyone? You have heard that it has been said of old time, "You shall not murder." It's fascinating when you talk with someone and the subject of sin and righteousness comes up. They may say something like, "Well, I'm a pretty good person. I've never killed anybody."

If the bar for righteousness is that you've never killed anyone, then we're all doing pretty good. I've had conversations with people like that before. They say, "Well, I've never killed anyone." Well, congratulations! I'm glad to hear that. You know what? Me neither. But Jesus says...

You've heard that it has been said of old time, "You shall not murder." But I say unto you, if you are angry with your brother without cause or you hate him, you are worthy of judgment. Man, that bar just got high.

Then He says this: "You have heard that it has been said of old time, 'You shall not commit adultery.'" Yes, I've heard that one. That's the seventh commandment, right after the sixth. You know what? I’ve got those two down pretty good. I've never killed anybody and I haven't committed adultery. But Jesus says, "I say to you, if you look upon a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery in your heart." Oh, the bar just got higher.

Six times He says these words in the Sermon on the Mount after stating, "Your righteousness needs to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees." The sixth time is when He says, "You have heard that it has been said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies." Love your enemies. That's the heaviest lift of all, probably. I certainly think it is.

I have been hammering on this theme after we considered this in Luke 6:27 four weeks ago. The reason I've been focusing on this theme is because it's what we find in the text. The text that follows, as we've seen over the last few weeks, builds upon this idea of what it looks like to love your enemy.

Another reason why I've been emphasizing this theme is not just that it's in the text, but I believe that this is a theme that God wants to challenge us with in this cultural moment we find ourselves in. I am deeply concerned, as a pastor, as a theologian, and as an observer of culture—someone who has been given the task of speaking into this culture. I am deeply concerned by the division that we see in our society.

Now, division within cultures is not new; it's not abnormal. In fact, that's pretty much human history. If you look at division between cultures, that is human history. Humans have frequently divided themselves among families, and those families become tribes that separate themselves from others and battle with one another. So that's not new.

However, there is something about what's happening in our culture that does seem different—different from what I've experienced growing up. There is a fragmentation, a fracturing in our society, and it weighs on me.

And we are increasingly dividing ourselves into opposing groups. Now, again, like I said, that's not new. But here's what is new that I've noticed: leaders within the church, some of whom I know personally and some whose ministries I have followed or listened to over the years, seem to be fostering this us versus them hostility towards outsiders in a different way than they did just ten years ago. This is concerning.

The tone and tenor of the rhetoric I see is not "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you." Instead, it is more like "love your neighbor and hate your enemy." The difficult part is that the rhetoric coming out of the church sometimes appeals to my flesh. There are all kinds of warning signs that go off in my spirit whenever I sense my flesh, that natural part of me, welling up.

I know myself; I have lived with myself for almost 46 years now. I recognize that within me there is an aspect of my nature that gets really charged up about things I see that I don't like. I can be prone to having a bad attitude and a short temper, especially when I was younger. Certain aspects of this tone and rhetoric just ignite my flesh. When that happens, the warning signs internally in my spirit go off because, for a very long time, I have been taught since I was a little kid to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as Christ forgave you. We taught our kids that; it was the first memory verse we instilled in them: "Be kind to one another."

However, there is a concerning tone in our culture within the church. Let me give you an example. This last week, I read a short book, only about 100 pages, called "Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide for Taking Dominion and Discipling the Nations." That sounds good—discipling the nations. I seem to remember something.

From Jesus about that, it's written by two Andrews, Andrew Isker and Andrew Torva. I want to read an extended section, and as I do, I would like you to consider the tone. What does the tone seem to be? Does it seem to be "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you"? Or does it seem to be "love your neighbor and hate your enemy"?

This is from the book: the time for emasculated, retreatist, tolerant Christianity is over. The time for being a Christian wimp is over. Now listen, as a guy, there’s a part of my flesh—parenthesis, miles—here, there’s a part of my flesh that goes, yes. No more Mr. Nice Christian. Now is the time for a masculine, patriarchal, crusader, Jesus is King Christian revival. It’s time for you to take a leap of faith, brothers and sisters, and faithfully embrace Jesus Christ as King or risk being conquered and destroyed by the false god of woke Marxism and its pagan army of lost souls.

That’s from page 52. They go on, "We must exit the beast system completely and build our own parallel Christian society, lying in wait for their system to collapse," which is when the godly infrastructure we have built will fill the vacuum. We must support, start, and grow Christian-owned businesses. We must stop using the technology tools of the enemy and start building and using our own tools.

We must be prepared to wage a multigenerational spiritual war against the demonic anti-Christian worldviews that are dominating our culture and Western society. There’s a part of this that just says, no more Christian wimps. Our sons will have been taught the classics, all of Greek philosophy, the entire Bible. They will know how to build things with their hands, shoot guns, grow food, hunt, fish, lift weights, and start a business. By the time they’re 18 years old, they will conquer, lead, and take dominion of all nations for the glory of God.

The world’s sons will be demoralized after 18 years of demonic schools, propagandized by the enemy’s entertainment and news media. They will then sink into a mountain of debt slavery to be intellectually castrated by some Marxist college. Next, they will be hired by some woke...

A corporation in the city or a beltway job can lead to being lambasted and ruled over by some antichrist who hates them for the next 40 years of their lives. We are not the same. Change will not happen overnight, but over generations, our victory is inevitable. If we plan, build, and play the long game battles, it is our sacred duty to rise to the great challenge of our age. As so many have done before us, we stand on the shoulders of giants who stand on the shoulders of Christ, our King.

There is a part of that which charges me up. I find myself saying, "Yes, yes, I like this." However, I have this looping track in my head that I can't get rid of for some reason. It just keeps going over and over again: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who spitefully use you. Therefore, you shall be mature, complete, perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. One of these things is not like the other. Christ has not called me to mere religion, checking off the boxes, but to more than phariseism.

At this point, it might need a little bit of definition. What is meant by phariseism? What does that actually mean? First, we need to understand who the Pharisees are. I mentioned previously that they were a religious sect very committed to following the laws of Moses. But not just the laws of Moses; they had an extensive set of oral extensions to the law designed to maintain religious identity and purity.

The word Pharisee comes from an ancient Semitic word that means to separate, to divide, and to distinguish. We need to clearly identify who we are and who they are. This is us; that's them. We are the pure ones. We have the right identity. By the time of Christ, they were, as I mentioned, kind of the leading religious sect among the population in Israel. Most of the people were with them. They were the hyper-religious, as I said, super Jews, and they were highly regarded by the people, looked up to because of their commitment to the law of Moses.

Your righteousness needs to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. On face value, that call from Jesus is way too big for us. We think we have to be more religiously righteous than them. Yet, that's not exactly what Jesus is saying when he states that our righteousness needs to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. His exceeding their righteousness is clearly different from their form of righteousness.

What was their form of righteousness? I want to suggest that their form of righteousness was self-righteousness. At this point in the narrative, Jesus is invited to the home of a Pharisee. This indicates that it is early in Jesus's ministry. One reason it suggests this is that later in his ministry, this same group of people, the Pharisees, will oppose Jesus and ultimately be involved in his crucifixion. They will condemn him. However, at this point, the Pharisees are interested in Jesus because he has multitudes following him. They are wondering if he could be useful to them. He is attracting a lot of followers, so they need to determine if he is like them or with them.

To figure this out, they are going to conduct a series of tests. Jesus goes to the house of this Pharisee, whose name is Simon. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat, and he went to Simon's house and sat down to eat. Behold, a woman in the city, who was a notorious sinner, knew that Jesus was at the table in the Pharisee's house, so she came. She showed up uninvited and unwelcome, bringing an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. This was a very costly flask of oil that would have been sealed, and once the seal was broken, the contents could not be contained.

Value is gone. She stood at Jesus's feet, behind him, weeping. She began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. She kissed his feet and anointed them with fragrant oil.

Now, we are left to imagine what is meant when it says she was a sinner. You can imagine, and what you're imagining is probably right or at least close. Whatever you imagine, this woman was the kind of woman that a Pharisee like Simon, a super Jew, would have nothing to do with—no interaction whatsoever. The word translated as "sinner" here means irreligious and impious. It implies an outsider. There are the truly righteous ones, and then there are them. She didn't measure up to the standard, the moral expectations of Simon or the other Pharisees of the day, especially a hyper-religious super saint like Simon.

She's uninvited. She's unwelcome. She's not where she should be, and she should know her place. She should not venture into a place such as this to defile the home and the table of Simon the Pharisee, a probably highly regarded, well-known religious man in the community. For a Pharisee to associate with someone like this or to eat with them, which would never happen, they would be defiled. They would be impure. This uninvited, unwelcome, irreligious person should not have shown up there.

It makes me wonder who the uninvited, unwelcome, irreligious person of our day would be. I suggest they probably have pronouns. Not only did this uninvited, unwelcome visitor show up where she ought not to have been, but she also made a scene. They always do. A scene that would have disgusted Simon and the other people at his table, looking to him to see how he reacts. This is your home. This is your table. All eyes move from her to him, from her to him. What's he going to do?

Looking at Jesus, Simon thinks he must do something. He is looking at Jesus with incredulity. He should know who and what manner of person this is.

He should not allow her to touch him, because I would not allow her to come near me. This scene, to Simon, is one that invites his disgust. You can almost imagine him holding back his heaves. Oh my goodness! What would normally be a very good smell, that fragrant oil, is now tainted by the woman's outpouring, which was a sign of her devotion—a fantastic sign of devotion.

When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This man, if he were a prophet, would know what manner of woman this is that is touching him, for she is a sinner." Point number two: the way of Jesus often makes Pharisees uncomfortable. He has an amazing propensity for doing and saying things that embarrass the really religious. As Simon is thinking within himself, he concludes that if this guy was a prophet, clearly he is not. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt; people have been saying he might be a prophet, but clearly he is not.

Jesus responds to Simon's internal thought. He answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." Simon replied, "Teacher, say it." Jesus continued, "There was a creditor who had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii. A denarius was a day's wage, so this is more than a year and a half's wages. Just take your year and a half's worth of your pay and think about that. That was what this debtor owed the creditor." The other owed 50, which is substantial, but comparatively low.

When they had nothing with which to repay, the creditor freely forgave them both. "Now tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." Jesus said to him, "You have rightly judged."

I have always imagined this story as I have read it. If I were to produce it and it was going to be recorded, I imagine Simon just looking with a stern stare of incredulity and unbelief at what is happening.

Here in this situation, Simon is contemptuously listening to Jesus when Jesus says, "Simon, I have something to ask you." Simon responds, "Oh, say it, teacher." I can imagine him expressing disdain, thinking, "Okay, what do you have to say? I've already determined you are not who I thought you were."

Jesus tells a parable: "There were two debtors. One owed 500 days' wages, another 50. Both of them were forgiven. Who do you think would love their person more?" Simon replies, "I suppose the one that was forgiven the greater debt." Jesus affirms him, saying, "Yep, that's it. That's right. Good answer."

As Simon stares at the wretched, sinful woman making a scene in his dining room, he realizes she has an incalculable debt. She is horrible. Of the two debtors in Jesus's story, she is certainly the one who had the greater debt, the 500 denarii. However, the second debtor in the story was not whole, well, and good. His debt was relatively small, but it was still a debt.

So, who is the obvious other person in Jesus's story? Simon fails to see his own shortfall. All he can see is the pitiful mass of sin on his dining room floor. The way of Jesus often makes Pharisees uncomfortable, but that's the point. Do you realize that Jesus wants to make Pharisees uncomfortable? Why? Because they are still in debt. They are still sinners. They may not be as notorious; they might not be as bad, but they still have an impossible-to-pay debt.

Self-righteousness does not save. The problem with self-righteousness is that not only does it not save, but oftentimes, more often than not, it actually condemns. I would suggest to you that there will be more than a few Pharisees in hell. When Jesus finishes His Sermon on the Mount, His last words were what? Many...

On that day, many will say to me, "Did we not do all these religious deeds and not do all these wicked things?" And He will reply, "Depart from me, for I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness."

Point number three: Jesus does not want you to be uncomfortable in your self-righteous Phariseeism. Then He turned to the woman and said, "Simon, do you see this woman?" Simon replied, "Yeah, I wish I didn't. I see her. I wish she was not in my home."

Jesus continued, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven."

Now, a quick question: Was she forgiven because of her works of devotion? No. But her works of devotion indicated something about her, in contrast to Simon. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But why did she love much? To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. She loved much because she knew how much she had been forgiven.

Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this that even forgives sins?" And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

The problem with the Pharisee is that their self-righteousness leads them to not see their need for forgiveness. It's not that they don't need forgiveness, but their sin, in comparison to the great debt of others, causes them to think they have no need of it. They see those people out there, the gross ones, the impious ones. The piety and self-righteousness of the Pharisee lead them to believe they don't need forgiveness. They quickly and easily see the sin of others but are blind to their own. They are the ones who, as mentioned in a previous message just a couple of weeks ago, can see the speck in their neighbor's eye from a thousand yards away but miss the beam in their own.

The woman's acts of devotion revealed her love for Jesus. Her love for Jesus did not come from nowhere. Her many sins once weighed her down and bound her, but now she had been released from these burdens, inspiring loving worship and devotion. She learned love through forgiveness, and that is key.

Jesus said, "Love your enemies." How do I learn to love my enemies? Have you considered the great debt you have been forgiven? It might change your perspective. It might change the way you see the debts and sins of those wicked sinners outside. Simon lacked love because he did not know forgiveness. It is not that he did not need forgiveness; he needed it. He just did not realize his need for forgiveness because he could not see it. All he could see was the sin of others, while he focused on his own righteousness. Just like Saul of Tarsus, he considered himself blameless according to the law.

Simon would not receive forgiveness again, not because he did not need it, but because he saw no need for it. He looked at other people as outsiders and said, "We are not the same." Just like Andrew Isker and Andrew Torba, he viewed that false god-following pagan army of lost souls as something to be conquered, something to be overcome or eradicated. However, Jesus saw lost sinners differently. Are you not thankful that He did?

Let me suggest to you that Jesus does not like religion that otherizes outsiders. One of the most famous passages from Paul is in 1 Corinthians 13, where he says, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, like very spiritual people, but have not love, I become a sounding brass and a clanging cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy, which is a really good spiritual gift, and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Even if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but I have...

Not love, it profits me nothing. One thing is sure: I've discovered this over time, and maybe you have as well. I am easily given to self-righteous pharisaic tendencies, especially the longer I do this Christian thing. The longer I read the Bible and spend time with Christians, the more I see all the other people out there, and I think, "Well, I'm pretty darn good." The danger in that is to start to think, "Well, the reason He chose me, wouldn't you? I'm pretty good."

God cautioned the children of Israel after He chose them and redeemed them out of Egypt through Moses. In Deuteronomy 7:7, He warned them not to fall into this same line of thinking. He said, "Don't think that I chose you because you're bigger than all the other people out there or better. I chose you because I love you." That's it. You can fact-check me later: Deuteronomy 7:7 and 8.

One of my concerns about the current trend in evangelicalism toward Christian nationalism is that it sees the world, which God loves and desires to redeem and forgive, as enemies and outsiders. Beware of a religion that otherizes outsiders. It's very seductive, but it's called pharisaism. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites.

Let's stand. I'm going to close by reading one last passage: Colossians 3:12. Paul said, "Therefore, as the elect of God, you're a Christian today. You are chosen by God." Elect—He chose you. As the elect of God, you are holy and beloved. He loved you. What should you do? Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Let the peace of God rule your hearts, to which you also were called in one body. This is a great one for this week. And be thankful, God. Thank you for saving a wretch like me and for coming into this world to save sinners. Paul said, "Of whom I am chief."

He went from Pharisee Saul, and the name Saul means "desired." At some point, he changed his name to Paul, which means "little." It's pretty amazing. He said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." I'm fearful that the evangelical bent towards Christian nationalism in our moment is a failure to recognize that you are a sinner saved by grace. God, help us.

Lord, we thank you today that you have saved us. Not a single one of us standing here today was worthy because of our good works or anything awesome about us, other than that you made us, placed upon us your image, and love us. You graciously came to demonstrate your love towards us in that when we were your enemies and far from you, you died for us.

God, help us never to become comfortable with pharisaism, even though we can so easily become accidental Pharisees. Help us to remember that we are and always will be sinners saved by grace, called to extend the same love and grace to lost sinners in need of salvation, and there are many of them.

God, we live in a culture that's desperate for being a part of the family, the group, and being connected. What they're truly desperate for, and don't even realize, is to be connected with you. I pray that you would help us to be ambassadors of you and your kingdom. God, help us to be compelled by your love to love the outsider.

Do a work in us, Lord, lest we fall into the trap of loving those who are lovely and hating our enemies. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." Amen.