The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
February 22, 2004
In
This Issue:
How
Much Do I Owe?
by
Allen Dvorak
Washing
the Dishes
by
Steve
Klein
How Much Do I Owe?
It might have been a supper like many others except that Jesus was present. A Pharisee named Simon had invited Jesus to eat in his house. However, it was the woman who was present and her unusual behavior that made the occasion particularly memorable (Luke 7:36-50).
Widely recognized as a sinner, she entered Simon's house uninvited and began to wash the feet of Jesus with her tears, drying them with her hair. Kissing his feet, she anointed them with fragrant oil. Simon thought to himself that Jesus could not possibly be a prophet or he would have known that this woman was a sinner and thus would not have permitted her to touch him (verse 39). The Pharisees were careful not to have any contact with "sinners" in order to preserve their own "purity." Simon attributed to Jesus the same pharisaical prejudices that he himself held!
As the Son of God, Jesus was able to know what Simon was thinking and took this opportunity to respond to his attitudes of self-sufficiency and prejudice. Jesus told a parable about two debtors, one who owed 500 denarii and another who owed 50 denarii. While the first owed much more than the second, neither was able to pay his debt and so their creditor forgave both of them their debts. Jesus asked, "Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more?" Simon answered that the one who was forgiven the greater debt would display more love and Jesus confirmed the correctness of his answer.
Jesus then proceeded to compare two other debtors, Simon and the woman. Simon had evidently shown very little love for Jesus, neglecting to perform even the normal rituals of hospitality toward a visitor (verses 44-46). He had not offered Jesus water to wash his feet, had given him no kiss, nor had he anointed Jesus' head with oil. The woman, on the other hand, had shown great love. She clearly recognized that she was a sinner and in need of forgiveness. Jesus told Simon that the woman was forgiven because of the great love that she displayed.
Simon's problem was that he thought that he owed little or nothing to God in a spiritual sense, or, in other words, that he was essentially without sin. However, as the apostle Paul stated, all men sin (Romans 3:23) and thus incur the same huge spiritual debt with God. Like the debtors in the parable, we cannot pay our spiritual debt; we must rely on the mercy of God. Fortunately, forgiveness is available through the sacrifice of Jesus. Those who display their love for God by obedience to His will (John 14:15, 21, 23; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37-38) are the ones who recognize the size and nature of their debt. The point of the parable, as Simon correctly noted, was that the love one will show to God is commensurate with the size of the debt that he thinks he owes.
How much do you owe?
by Allen Dvorak
Via teachingtruth.org
I wonder how many of our young people have truly experienced the joy of washing dishes by hand? Nowadays we usually just pile everything in a machine and push a button. When I was a child, I would sometimes be assigned the chore of washing the dishes. This involved filling the kitchen sink with hot soapy water, submerging cups, dishes and utensils, scrubbing their surfaces with a washcloth, rinsing them in hot water, and then drying with a dishtowel. Of course, sometimes you'd get to the drying stage and notice that you had "missed a spot" inside a cup or on a dish, so you would have to wash that one over. That is, you would have to wash it over IF you wanted it clean for the next use.
One year at summer camp, I learned the importance of doing a thorough job washing dishes. The boys in my cabin were assigned to wash the dishes in the cafeteria after supper one evening. The meal had consisted of very greasy chili. After washing a few dozen bowls, the water in the sink got rather orange and oily looking. Some of the washed bowls still had a greasy film on them. The cafeteria manager said to drain the old wash water, and rewash the greasy bowls -- but our counselor didn't think this was necessary, so we didn't. Breakfast the next morning was oatmeal, served in the same bowls the chili had been served in the night before, and tasting a lot like the chili from the night before. As I recall, there was a good bit of bellyaching that day at camp.
The scribes and Pharisees were really poor dishwashers! Jesus said to them, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Matthew 23:25-26).
The Lord wants us to be clean and pure inside and out. Going through the motions of purifying ourselves does no more good than washing a bowl in greasy water, or washing only the outside. External things (like attending church) give the outward appearance of purity but reveal little of the true condition of the heart. When we engage in "self-indulgence" in our thoughts and deeds day by day, we are not really clean. On the other hand, when we truly obey the gospel, we purify the soul -- the inner man. Peter asserts that "you have purified your souls in obeying the truth" (1 Peter 1:22).
None of us want dirty dishes put up in the cupboard to be used at the next meal. The Lord does not want dirty souls used in His service. "Therefore if anyone cleanses himself&ldots;he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work (2 Timothy 2:21). Like the Psalmist of old, our prayer should be "Create in me a clean heart, O God" (Psalm 51:10).
Purer in heart, O God, help me to be.
May I devote my life wholly to Thee.
Watch Thou my wayward feet.
Guide me with counsel sweet.
Purer in heart, help me to be.
-- Mrs. A. L. Davison
-- by Steve Klein