August 2, 2008
What Lessons Can We Learn from the Sinful Woman?
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People will talk, no matter what we do. Let’s forget trying to squelch gossips with words; they’re masters of that media. The best way to zip their lips is simply to turn away from their noise and focus our eyes and ears on the One whose opinion really matters.
The Pharisees thought they were the good guys. Simon was willing to be taught. Simon wasn’t willing to humble himself and worship Christ.
One person’s beautiful is another person’s ugly. Since we can’t change the aroma of Christ that lingers around us, even when it offends others, we might as well break open the whole bottle and let the world catch His scent.
Silence speaks volumes. When we’re talking to Jesus, as she was, we can hear better when we’re listening in silence and worshiping … not talking.
I Beg Your Pardon
Winning the Lord’s Favor Without a Word: The Sinful Woman
“When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume …” (Like 7:37 )
Another bad girl without a name. This shady lady is variously referred to as “the sinful woman,” “the woman who anointed Jesus,” or “the woman with the alabaster jar.” The minute she heard about the banquet in progress, she quickly located the one item most precious to her and made tracks for Simon’s place. But she wasn’t wearing any perfume. She was carrying it.
“And as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and she poured perfume on them.” (Luke 7:38 ) She could not move, could not speak for all her anguished weeping. The tears of a harlot, held back in anger from years on the street were suddenly released and spilled out like perfume, leaving her vulnerable, exposed, repentant, not caring who saw her or what they thought other. She didn’t try to stop herself from weeping. Extravagantly, yet with purpose, she poured the contents of her precious alabaster jar over his feet.
“Do you see this woman?” (Luke 7:44 ) Simon had seen her, but only for what she was, not for who she was. “I came into your house. You did not …, but she …” (Luke 7:44 ) A woman who embodied everything the Pharisee hated … shattered the mold of how worship was to be done — passionately, personally, and with humble abandon. By pointing out the things she did right and the things Simon should have done, Jesus managed to affirm her and admonish him at the same time, without stripping either one of dignity. He let the contrast of their action speak for themselves. Jesus took every opportunity to remind religious leaders of their hypocrisy.
“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much.” (Luke 4:47 ) Jesus knew everything about this quiet worshiper. Without a word, she expressed repentance. Without a sound, she cried out for forgiveness. Without a syllable, she spelled out the desire of her heart: to love him. Her actions said it all.
For the depth of God’s forgiveness, it’s more than you can see. / And in spite of what you think of her, she’s Beautiful to Me.”
When I sit in church feeling disconnected and out of tune with the music, the elements of worship, it’s easy to blame. I am not willing to confess my sins so that true worship can begin. I have forgotten how much I have already been forgiven so that my gratitude can flow in ceaseless praise. Quite simply, my love has grown cold. Worship is about rekindling an ashen heart into a blazing fire.
She came asking for nothing, concerned only with giving him glory, honor, and praise the only way she knew how. Seek Him openly. Abandon self humbly. Worship Him completely. Embrace His forgiveness joyfully.
“Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:48 ) Finally, he spoke directly to her. Forgiveness is always personal. He died for the sins of the whole world, but forgiveness comes to each of us individually when we demonstrate our readiness to accept it.
“Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” (Luke 7:50) It was not her love that saved her. It was her faith in His power to forgive her. It was her faith in His steadfast love for her. And it was her faith expressed in actions, not words. This women teaches us without speaking one syllable.
What Lesson Can We Learn from Michal?
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When God says dance, strap on you tap shoes! If we dance unto the Lord as David did, we just might experience the same attitude adjustment – joy!
Nothing stops worship like unconfessed sin. When we find ourselves judging, that’s a sure sign that sin has hardened our hearts.
Words spoken in the heat of anger are sure to burn. Michal has been called “a divine looking-glass for all angry and outspoken wives.”How rods may eventually cool, but the burn scars last forever.
Wise is the woman who rises above her circumstance. It isn’t circumstance that should determine our actions; it’s a desire to please God above all things. Bad girls blame situations. Good girls rise above them.
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider; God has made the one as well as the other. (Ecclesiastes 7:14)
Out of Step
From Bold Heroine to Bitter Has-Been: Michal
Only one person (on record) loved Michal, bless her heart. Everybody loved David, except King Saul who feared the young man’s popularity. Saul offered David the hand of his older daughter Merab with the understanding David would continue to fight on his behalf (and hopefully fall to his death at the hand of a Philistine). David’s humility wouldn’t allow him to marry the daughter of a king.
David was a looker. David had a heart for God, and that alone make him attractive, not only to his Creator but to earthly types as well. He also had talent. He was a shepherd, tanned and muscular, young and innocent. The word soon traveled to Saul that his other daughter Michal had a thing for David. “I will give her to him,” he thought, ” so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him,” (I Samuel 18:21)
“The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies. Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.” (I Samuel 18:25) To David’s way of thinking, the price for his bride was a bargain. “He was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law.” (I Samuel 18:26) It does not say David was pleased to become Michal’s husband. We’re told that Michal loved David but never that David loved Michal.
“When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, Saul became more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.” (I Samuel 18:28-29)
“Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, ‘If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.’ ” (I Samuel 19:1)
How courageous she was, not only warning her husband but sending him away, knowing she might never see him again. Putting his needs above her own, Michal helped hubby make his getaway in the dark of night. “Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goat’s hair at the head. When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, ‘He is ill.’ ” (I Samuel 19:13-14)
Saul is angry when he finds out he was deceived. Desperate to avoid her father’s unpredictable temper, Michal lied again – this time not to protect David but to save her own pretty neck. Michal suggested her own life was a stake. “But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel …” (I Samuel 25:44). Notice how Saul got around the fact that Michal’s marriage to another husband was illegal.
After the death of Saul, David is anointed king of Judah. Abner, the commander of Saul’s army sent a messenger to David saying, “let’s make a deal.” David like the idea but countered with … “Give me my wife Michal.” (II Samuel 3:14)
But what David wanted more than anything was to bring the ark of the covenant into the City of David. When they did so, it was a serious party. “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might … Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. (II Samuel 6:15-16)
His leaping was the last straw. David had deserted her, ignored her, married other waives, fathered other children, and neglected to include her in his life until it was politically expedient. “When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him. How the king of Israel haws distinguished himself today disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would. (II Samuel 6:20) Michal had three problems with David’s dance: (1) He removed most of his clothes. (2) the lowest women in the kingdom saw portions of David that were supposed to be the queen’s territory alone, (3) he looked like a common jerk. The truth is, she didn’t comprehend the purpose of David’s dancing. She saw it as passion of the flesh, when David knew it was spiritual passion for God.
We are never told that David divorced Michal. Nor is she spoken of again, except one sad closing verse.
“And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” (II Samuel 6:23) David never brougth her to his bed again. She never knew him as a wife knows her husband. She is still called the “daughter of Saul.” Michal never left her father and mother and cleaved to her husband. She was Daddy’s girl. In the same way, she never reached out to her heavenly Father, never gave her heart to God. Though her caustic words to David made Michal Bad for a Moment, in truth she never depended on the goodness of God to make her while.
July 13, 2008
What Lessons Can We Learn From Jezebel?
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Like father (not necessarily) like daughter. Jezebel chose to follow in her evil father’s footsteps. We can choose otherwise. History provides a great example but a terrible excuse.
Ruling your country is one thing; ruling your husband is another. God offers a different model of leadership. Though we are equal in God’s eyes and co-laborers in the kingdom, in the home the husband is the head of the wife.
No one wants to work for a witch. When we have a legitimate leadership role, let’s do it with grace and compassion.
The only person who saw Ahab as weak was Jezebel. It may be our strong-willed nature – and not their weak-willed one – that makes them appear “less than.” Let’s pray for a gentler, more supportive spirit.
Friends in Low Places
She’s Got Big, Bad Bette Davis Eyes: Jezebel
Her marriage to Ahab was strictly a political alliance between two nations. But it was her personality and her past – not her position alone – that made her dangerous. Ahab, as king of Israel, turned his back on the Lord and embraced his wife’s religion.
“Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets.” (I Kings 18:4)
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(Note: a great drought came upon the land as punishment for Jezebel’s actions. Famine follows drought. Yet Elijah is blamed, though he was only the messenger. Ahab agrees to Elijah’s invitation to speak publicly, possibly anticipating that Elijah will renounce the drought and bless the land.)
Elijah demonstrated the power of the God of Israel by inviting the 450 prophets of Baal to prepare a sacrifice and call on Baal to set fire to their altar. They called on Baal all day. No show. That evening Elijah built an altar, prepared the sacrifice, poured water on it three times, and called upon the Lord God. The fire of the Lord fell down from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil and the water. The people fell prostrate before the Lord and did the bidding of Elijah by killing all 450 of Jezebel’s prophets.
“So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ‘ May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely , if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.’ ” (I Kings 19:2)
King Ahab wanted to buy his neighbor’s vineyard. The man turned him down insisting the land was his inheritance. Such a real estate transaction was prohibited by Mosaic law. Ahab pouted.
“Jezebel his wife said, ‘Is this how you act as king over Israel? I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.’ ” (I Kings 21:7) She didn’t offer any advice or seek it – she simply took control.
“Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” (I Kings 21:9-10)
A day of fasting – how religious. A place of honor. Two witnesses as require by Mosaic law. The elders and nobles executed her commands to the letter.
Confronted by Elijah over his part in the murder, Ahab didn’t initially acknowledge the prophet’s dire words until he indicated that dogs would devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Ahab repented.
(Note: God’s merciful response to Ahab’s repentance was that he would not live to see these consequences come upon his household – all his descendants would be wiped out and Jezebel would die and be eaten by dogs. In fact he dies in battle and is buried on Naboth’s property as Elijah predicted.)
Even when she was no longer on the throne, Jezebel’s influence prevailed. Proud, vain, and defiant to the end, “she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window.” (2 Kings 9:30)
Jehu “looked up at the window and called out, ‘Who is on my side? … Throw her down … and the horse trampled her underfoot … But when they went to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands.” (2 Kings 9:32-35) 
Torn asunder by her fall, trampled by horses, eaten by dogs, left as garbage, the woman called Jezebel was summarily wiped off the face of the earth.
“There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.” (I Kings 21:25)
What Lessons Can We Learn from Rahab?
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Our past does not determine our future. Rahab is remembered not for her harlotry but for her bravery. Not for loving men but for trusting God. We need to get past our past and stop telling ourselves we don’t “deserve” forgiveness. No one does. It’s a gift.
Rahab cared about her family’s safety, not merely her own pretty neck. She loved them, provided for them in her home, and saved them.
Obedience often requires public confession. Sharing with others your shameful past and God’s glorious grace doesn’t bind you to your past – it frees you from its power to hurt you any longer.
Faith that’s demonstrated is remembered. If no one ever says of us, “You would not believe what this woman did because of her love for God! then it’s time for us to open the door of our hearts and see what brave thing God might be asking us to do.
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Rising like a Phoenix from the Ashes of Jericho: Rahab
Rahab was a whore. She was the sort of woman everyone talked about but not to. Prostitutes were social outcasts, tolerated but in no way honored.
Where better for two spies to lie low than in a place with lots of traffic, where questions weren’t asked, and stranger came and went at all hours?
“The king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: ‘ Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.’ ” (Joshua 2:3). This wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. There was an implied threat to her life if she didn’t cooperate. Fearless Rahab risked life and limb to hide these two men. And she lied for them. Her actions were even more courageous because these men were strangers.
“She said, ‘Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up to them.’ ” (Joshua 2:4-5)
The wise woman sensed an upheaval. She reasoned things through and made the most important decision of her life.
“I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting away in fear because of you.” (Joshua 2:8-9)
Rahab was even more concerned about the lives of others. She wanted her family saved too. “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you.” (Joshua 2:12)
Practicalities matter. “If you don’t tell what we are doing … tie this scarlet cord in the window … brought your family into your house … Let it be as you say.” (Joshua 2:14-21)
The siege lasted seven long days. After seven days of relative silence, the horrible sounds of death and destruction outside her door must have tested Rahab’s new faith to the core. The only two Israelites she knew and trusted are the ones who went in to lead her out to safety.
With God, it isn’t who you were that matters; it’s who you are becoming. Must those of us with a hairy history wear our past around our necks for the rest of our lives? Yes and no. To demonstrate the “before“ and “after“ power of knowing the Lord, to glorify God’s grace. Those of us with a past can leave our shame in the rubble and walk away, fixing our eyes on the One who washes us white as snow.
July 1, 2008
What Lessons Can We Learn From Sapphira?
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Pride and generosity don’t mix. When we give with an expectation of receiving accolades or seeing our names carved in stone, the joy is gone, chased away by fear and a hunger for approval that can never be satisfied.
Learn to give when nobody’s looking. This is pure giving, without anyone knowing the source, not even the recipient.
Honesty isn’t the best policy, it’s the only policy. Let’s tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
You pays your money, you makes your choice. Before we donate our resources, let’s figure out what’s in it for us. If the answer is ‘nothing,’ then we can proceed with joy.
Generous to a Fault
Greedy for a Moment, Dead Forever: Sapphira
“All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)
Without being required to do so, Barnabas sold has field and donated his money so the apostles might divvy up the proceeds among the deserving.
“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.” (Acts 5:1)
These two were drained of the Spirit’s power, emptied by their own jealousy and need for prestige and recognition. By selling their land exactly as Barnabas had, they hoped to get the spotlight off him and on them.
“With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.” (Acts 5:2)
His wife agreed to the deception. They agreed to cheat. The issue was honesty, not money.
Greed was not their only sin – a false witness. They lacked sufficient faith that God would provide for their needs so they hoarded some – just in case.
“You have not lied to men but to God. When Ananias heard this he fell down and died.” (Acts 5:4-5)
Sapphira came alone and without forewarning. Just as these two were judged for their sins separately, so will we stand alone before God someday.
“Tell me, is this the price? … That is the price.” (Acts 5:8 )
Ananias held the money back as well but we are not told he lied to Peter outright as Sapphira did.
When we see someone demanding attention, it’s a sure bet that what’s needed isn’t wealth, fame, or applause. It’s love.
“At that moment she fell down at his feet and died.” (Acts 5:10)
They certainly were remembered. Their sad story was recorded as a lesson and a warning.
