My Last Sunday at First Methodist Church of Shreveport, LA

 

My Last FaithLink Service... June 2, 2024

 

Top Ten Moments During my Tenure at FMC-Shreveport

 

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks reflecting and remembering so many events, conversations, and milestones while at FMC. So, in true David Letterman fashion, I wanted to give you my Top Ten Moments During my Tenure at FMC-Shreveport! Some are long. Some are short. But I hope you enjoy this as much I did walking down memory lane!

 

#10: Graduating with a DMIN – Partnership = Faithful Friendship

 

In 2016, I graduated with a Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Global Perspective from George Fox Evangelical Seminary, having studied in London, CapeTown and Hong Kong. Through it all, and writing the most wonderful dissertation – Mind the Gap: Navigating the Pitfalls of Cross-Cultural Partnership – I learned one very important lesson: 

 

Global Mission partnership means so much more to me than just projects and checklist. Partnership, for me, equals friendship and companionship. It means abiding with Christ and being in such close communion with Him that our relationships with people are extensions of His love for us. It means lavishing our partners (friends) with love so they can live into their callings to make disciples and transform the world. It means creating family thru love that binds us together and being an instrument of connection in the body of Christ.

 

Henri Nouwen said it best: “Dare to love and be a real friend. The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God, as well as to those whom God has given you to love.” 

 

 

#9: Learning the Ministry of Presence

 

The number one question I have been asked over the years about going on a “mission trip” is “so what are we going to DO?” 

 

We began our vision for missions in 2013 with a goal of moving away from transactional mission to focus on transformational mission. That simply meant we were moving away from doing projects FOR people and instead living life WITH people. And isn’t that Biblical?

 

When I think of the stories of Jesus found in the Gospels, I think of Him sitting with friends and colleagues. We see Him eating, we see Him listening. We see Him being present with people. How often do we simply take the time to be fully present with those around us? 

 

More and more our mission ministry sought how to be like Jesus and how best to love and care for the missionaries we support. We wanted to walk alongside them, so they know they are not alone in their ministries. We wanted to share meals and encourage their hearts. We wanted to listen to their stories, cry with them thru their difficulties, and lavish love upon them. 

 

And so, we committed to visiting our global mission partners at least once a year, and each of those visits looked different. Sometimes it involved small group leader training. Sometimes we organized a retreat for the leaders to take a break and learn from each other. Other times, we simply sat to be together, sharing meals and stories. 

 

I believe the most important gift that we can give is the benefaction of our presence. It is an unforgettable gift when we are lovingly and emotionally present to others in the now of life. Yes, we love being able to support our partners with monetary funds, but we wanted more than that. The gift of presence to those whom we love does not bend or break our finances…but it does require connecting with our feelings and our emotions. It demands intentionality, the burning of psychic energy and seeing with the heart. The ministry of presence is a way of “being” rather than a way of “doing” or “telling.” 

 

Henri Nouwen, again, wrote these wise words: 

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.

 

#8: Preaching my first sermon at FMC

 

Being the first female to preach in our Traditional Service had me shaking in my heels. And I’m forever thankful to Dr. Day for that honor and privilege. And because I enjoyed it so much, and because you may or may not have been there… here is the synopsis: 

 

One of my favorite words I learned during the time I was studying in South Africa was sawubona. Sawubona. It means “I see you.” 

 

I see you.

You are important to me.

I value you. 

 

This word promotes the need to see each other slowly and as you are. It looks for moments to maintain eye contact with the person you’re talking to. Those who speak this word have learned how to feel and listen to other people, how to embrace another person’s soul, how to find and heal each other’s dark corners and wounds. 

 

When I think of the word sawubona, I think of Jesus. He looked deep into the eyes of another and said, “I see you.” 

 

Remember the woman at the well in John chapter 4? 

He said to the woman, 

“Despite where you live, despite your life circumstances, despite your gender, I see you. I value you. You are important to me.” 

She didn’t expect this. She didn’t see this coming. But her encounter with Jesus changed her forever. 

 

This reminded me of my first encounter with Jesus. 

 

When I was 8 years old, I had a direct encounter with Christ. Now I wasn’t quite comparable to the Samaritan woman at age 8, but I did already have my own story. I had been sick for most of my life up to that point, in and out of doctors’ offices, and no one could figure out what was wrong. All of the doctors just assumed that I wanted attention. 

 

One day, I stayed home from school because I felt so badly. My mom took me to the doctor, and they immediately rushed me to the hospital. There was a series of tests. And I don’t remember much, but I remember being scared. I was terrified. The machines were cold and loud, and my parents couldn’t come with me. I was lying in the CT scan, latched on to my stuffed bunny, and I started humming “Jesus Loves Me.” It’s a song that I had sung hundreds of times at church and with my grandparents. 

 

It was in that moment, 

a still quiet peace overcame me. 

I didn’t feel alone. 

When I closed my eyes, I could see someone cuddling me, loving me. 

Great things were ahead. 

 

I was rushed to surgery the next morning, and I remember my mom and dad trying to hold it together as they wheeled me away. I remember being in the operating room, lying on the table, the nurses and the doctors being so kind, and again that quiet voice saying, I see you. I love you. I am with you. There are great things ahead of you. 

 

As an eight-year-old, I didn’t expect Christ to show up. I didn’t understand what was going on, but He did. And my life since has never been the same. Of course, there have been ups and downs, disappointments and heartache. But the main theme running through my life is that still, quiet voice from my first encounter with Jesus – I see you. I am with you. I value you. 

          

And to Him, when I hear Him say sawubona, I respond with that traditional Zulu response - ngikhona

 

(IN-GEE-KHONA) – which means: 

 

I am here.   

I am fully present with you. 

I bring all of who I am to this place and to this moment. 

You abide in me and I abide in You. 

 

Yes, Jesus, I see You. I value You. I love You. I commit my life to You.

 

And that’s the synopsis of my first sermon at FMC.

 

 

#7: Podcasts

Preaching hasn’t always been my forte, but I do love to teach. Podcasts became a way for me to be able to teach, even when Covid was keeping us apart.

 

o  Conversations about Jesus with Samuel Zepeda… We did 44!

o  How Can I Keep from Singing with Dr. David Hobson… We did 12 of those!

o  The Broken Banquet … the number two podcast in New Zealand! 

 

 

#6: Moments around the Dinner Table with the Global Mission Family

Something you may not know about me – I love to cook. And my favorite place in my house is around the dinner table. When we first began gathering as a global mission committee, I knew we had to embody what we were hoping to create all around the world. So naturally, we held every meeting at my dinner table! 

 

Tables are the place for human connection. We’re often most fully alive when sharing a meal around the table. And God certainly has a way of showing up at tables. The table of Passover. The table of Communion. NT Wright, my other favorite theologian, wrote: “When Jesus himself wanted to explain to His disciples what His forthcoming death was all about, He didn’t give them a theory, He gave them a meal.”

 

I’m convinced that one of the most important spiritual disciplines for us is gathering around the dinner table, as it truly is a place for hospitality, connection, and reconciliation. It was around the table that our Global Mission Committee became the Global Mission Family. 

 

 

#5: The Italy Retreat

Speaking of dinner tables. In July 2022, Vicki, Eric, and I packed our bags and went to Tuscany, Italy. There we met most of our global mission families. It was something I had been dreaming of for YEARS – to have all of our partners in one place at one time, for them to connect while we poured into them. I will never forget the very first night as we sat outside for our three-course meal at a long dinner table. The sun was setting, and I looked around the table – the laughter, the smiles, the conversations, the different languages. The veil between heaven and earth had never been so thin. Yes, this was my vision for the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. And as the week came to a close, we began to reflect. 

 

My friend, Jeremy Boone in Uganda, wrote this: 

 

There are times in life when you don’t know what you need until you have it. Thankfully, we have a faithful Father who always knows our needs and works all things together for our good and His purposes. The last week in Italy has been one of those moments when God revealed our needs and met them abundantly. The gift of Italy has been truly magical, something we would have never asked of God and been unlikely to pursue. And while beholding Michelangelo’s David and the Sistine Chapel was both unforgettable and awe-inspiring, it was the time in community with like-minded brothers and sisters in faith that quenched a soul-thirst for deeper things. Between walking the streets of Florence, Rome, Sienna, and Cinque Terra in the brutal heat, there were refreshing moments of Christian fellowship with people who seemed to know us even though they had not met us face-to-face. Time with God’s people, and other missionaries, debriefing the challenges and joys of mission, knit our hearts together in a way that will no doubt be enduring. For us, our time with this community is just the beginning of a deeper relationship that we pray will encourage & resource us as individuals and missionaries to a greater cause for Jesus’ glory. Praise God for the blessings that flow from his heart toward us.

 

 

#4: Ordination in College Station

In my heart, I will always be a Quaker. (Did you know I grew up in the Quaker faith?!) It’s who I am. It’s a large part of my identity and core principles. And they’re the people who raised me. You can’t take the Quaker SPICE out of this gal! But did you know… I was baptized in the Methodist church in South Carolina in 1980. And I faithfully served at Herndon UMC in Virginia. And for nearly ten years, I served at First UNITED Methodist Church of Shreveport… My designation for nearly all of those years was “other fellowship”, which meant I was a Quaker pastor on loan to the United Methodist Church. 

 

Over time, I felt God nudging me toward a deeper commitment to the people called Methodists. And so… on July 22, 2023, in College Station, I was ordained a Deacon and Elder in the Global Methodist Church. It was a beautifully special moment to be surrounded by people I love – mentors and friends alike-- including Dr. Pat Day, Dr. Jonathan Beck, Rev. Derek Joyce, Dr. Steven Bell, and my sweet husband. Chris’s kids surprised me and flew in, and so many from our great church made the trip. 

 

On the drive home from College Station, I told Christopher, “I feel like I truly belong with the Global Methodists.” For that, I give thanks to God and thanks to you, friends. 

 

#3: It’s a three-way tie between…. 

 

·      Jay Sawyer giving me a key to the church building…after 8 years of serving at this church. (I had to earn it!) 

 

·      Numerous trips with hundreds of members of our church all over the world – including 20+ trips to Haiti, 3 trips to the South Pacific, 10 trips to Africa, 8 trips to Russia (including that one where my nose hairs froze because it was -27 everyday), 3 trips to the Holy Land (those may have been the best!), 5 trips to Ecuador, 12 trips to Costa Rica…. 

 

·      And random illnesses and broken bones all over the world. Not many people can say they’ve had Cholera, Giardia twice, Zika, and an infection caused by elephant dung! I’ll never forget coming back from Africa, ending up in the ER, and being guarding by security because they thought for sure I had ebola! 

 

 

These last two moments are perhaps the two that mean the most to me: 

 

#2: The Cancer Year

Steven came in January 2021, and promptly left again in May 2021! And while I missed him terribly… To be honest, I loved that summer. I loved preaching my first ever sermon series. I loved delving into Henri Nouwen’s book – Life of the Beloved. I loved going to all the meetings, and making a lot of decisions with Jay Sawyer. I loved hiring Dr. Mandy Storer to direct First Beginnings and Rev. Stephanie Kidd as one of our Associate Pastors. I loved getting our Palabra Viva congregation off and running that summer. But all the while, I knew something wasn’t right in my body. The tests were numerous, and the waiting was excruciating. But thankfully, you, my faith family, rose to the occasion. You surrounded me with your unconditional love and support. You fed our souls with your encouragement and your presence, and you fed our bodies so I wouldn’t have to think about what’s for dinner. And it just kept coming for the months and the months following surgery. I’ve never felt so special, so loved, and so cared for… 

 

Well, except for… 

 

#1: The Wedding

It was November of 2019. A fella named Christopher Harbuck got down on one knee at my Quaker Church in North Carolina and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes! Now, I thought I’d simply have a quiet little wedding with Chris, his two kids, and Pat Day in the Dilworth Prayer Chapel and call it a day. No need for fanfare. But no…. Oh no… The Ladies, and the Men, of First Methodist Church were not going to let that happen. This was something to celebrate. And while I protested for a while, even insisting on a 11:00am wedding on a Friday in January, I eventually said “yes”. 

 

And I can honestly say, without a doubt or exaggeration, I have never been blessed more. From the gals who took me wedding dress shopping, to the home-made chocolates for the reception… From the insistence on a cake at least for photos, to flowers upon flowers filling the sanctuary… From the 496 people who really did show up on that Friday at 11:00am… Friends, Seekers, YOU blessed me beyond measure, and that is something I will never forget. 

 

My treasures are most definitely not things; my treasure is YOU, my relationships with YOU. To say these nearly 11 years have been an honor and a privilege would be an understatement. You have taught me, you have molded me, you have challenged me, and you have blessed me. I love you. And this is most definitely not the end of our story. 

 

Maundy Thursday: Give Me Those Feet

 

One Last FMC Shreveport Podcast

The season of ministry at First Methodist Church Shreveport is coming to an end, and I am forever thankful for the time we have had together. Our Communications Director and I filmed the above video to reflect on the last 10 years! 

And this is the letter I posted on Sunday, February 25: 

Nearly eleven years ago, I was laying in the Port Au Prince, Haiti airport, plagued with a parasite and simply trying to get a flight home. It was there that a team from First Methodist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana came over to check on me. (Well, not everyone on that team came over. I’ll never let Kay Ferguson and Jann Cox, two of my very best friends, live that down.) Not too long after that chance encounter, I received a call from Dr. Jonathan Beck and Dr. Pat Day, and as they say, “the rest is history.”  

 

As I write to you today, my heart overflows with love, gratitude, and a bittersweet ache. For ten years, you have been more than just a congregation; you have been my family, my haven, and my home. You welcomed me with open arms, celebrated my joys, supported me through trials, and nurtured the gifts God placed within me.

 

It was within these sacred walls that I met the love of my life, Christopher Harbuck, and your blessings filled our wedding with warmth and grace. When the storm of cancer threatened to drown me, your prayers became my life raft, keeping me afloat with hope and love. You challenged me and encouraged my journey to become a preacher and teacher, and witnessed every step of my transformation with unwavering support. And when my son, Mac, arrived from Haiti, you loved and cared for him as if you’d known him his whole life. 

 

And so, with a heavy heart, I must share that God is leading me on a new path. After much spirit-stirring and prayer, I have accepted a pastoral position at a church in Texas. (And to honor that great church, I will wait and announce the specifics of the call after they have announced the transition at their church.) This decision did not come easily, for leaving this sweet community is like leaving a piece of my heart behind.

 

But I trust that God's hand will guide my steps, and I believe this new opportunity aligns with His calling on my life. As our Lenten study taught us this week, growth often requires change, and Christopher, Mac, and I are ready for this next season of growth.

 

This transition won’t take place until this summer, as Sunday, June 23^rd will be my last Sunday. I have a lot of traveling to do to say farewell to the global mission family we have built together. And my husband, Christopher, will be designing his schedule to split time between locations to continue his commitment to the clients he loves so very much. And so, I hope these next few months will be a beautiful time of reflection and celebration of our great church. 

 

Though miles may separate us, the bonds we formed in Christ will remain forever strong. I cherish the memories we shared, the laughter we enjoyed, and the tears we shed together. Your unwavering love and support have shaped me into the person I am today, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

 

May God bless each and every one of you abundantly. May He continue to shower you with His love, grace, and guidance. And I love you.

Wholehearted: Love God with All Your Soul

 

WHOLEHEARTED: SOUL

 

Joseph and Mary loved their son. Even more, they loved God. They were devout Jews, so naturally, they followed all of the Jewish laws and customs. Perhaps their most sacred duty was to recite the Shema. For thousands of years, every evening and every morning, Jews have prayed these words as a way of expressing their devotion to God. In fact, the Jewish Law instructs that when a child starts to speak, they are immediately taught the first verse of the Shema. 

 

And what is the Shema? (S-H-E-M-A) The actual word is translated “hear” or “listen”. It’s all about action. In Hebrew, hearing and doing are the same thing. So naturally, the first words Jesus memorized were words He would come to know from Deuteronomy 6:4:

 

Listen, Hear, SHEMA, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 

 

This formative prayer served as the foundation for all of Jesus’ teachings. 

 

At the height of His ministry, we find Jesus surrounded by the chief priests and the elders. Their tempers were flaring. They were angry with how He portrayed them as the antagonists in His parables. So, they called in the Pharisees to catch Him in His words. And when they didn’t succeed, the Sadducees jumped in to see if they could debate His interpretations. 

 

Finally, one of the teachers of the law, who had been watching the debate from the sidelines, stepped forward. He had been impressed with Jesus’ teachings, and curiously asked, “Teacher, of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 

Now, Jesus didn’t have to complete an exegesis of the 613 Jewish laws to answer this question. Nor did He quickly recite the 10 Commandments. He knew the one commandment that had been flowing from His heart to His tongue for all of His life. He quickly answered: 

 

“The most important one is this: ‘Hear, Shema, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

 

We began a new sermon series last Sunday entitled Wholehearted – exploring the Shema and what it means to wholeheartedly love God and love our neighbors. Our knowledge, our existence -- everything we are -- is to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength.

 

For devout Jews, and us today, loving means faithful obedience to our covenant relationship with God and His commandments. Obedience to these laws isn’t about legalism or trying to earn God’s favor — it’s about loving God by actively listening and responding to His teachings.

 

Last week, we focused on the heart. Scripture teaches us to love God with all our emotions and desires, passions and thoughts, affections and will.

Today, we’re moving to that second word – love the Lord our God with all our soul.  

 

The word “soul” can often feel like a vague word. Its translation in English comes with a lot of baggage from ancient Greek philosophy. It’s the idea that the soul is a non-physical, immortal essence that’s contained or trapped in our body to be released at death. In our culture today, soul is synonymous with jazz and blues music. Or here in the south – soul food is southern comfort food. 

 

But all of these notions are totally foreign to the biblical meaning. 

 

The Hebrew word for “soul” is nephesh. N-E-P-H-E-S-H. It occurs over 700 times in the Old Testament. 

 

The most basic meaning of nephesh is throat. When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, they were hungry and thirsty, and they said to God, “We miss the cucumbers and melons we had in Egypt, and now our nephesh has dried up!” 

 

And since your whole life and body depend on what comes in and out of your throat, nephesh could also be used to refer to the whole person. In Genesis, there were thirty-three nephesh in Jacob’s family. That is, thirty-three people. And on the first pages of the Bible, both humans and animals are called a living nephesh. 

In Scripture, people don’t have a nephesh; rather, they are a nephesh — a living, breathing, physical being. Psalm 119 reads, “Let me live, that I may praise you.” In Hebrew, the poet literally says, “let my nephesh live, that it may praise you." By using nephesh, the poet emphasizes his entire being - his life and his body - offers thanks to God.

And my favorite use of nephesh comes in Psalm 42: 

“As the deer pants for the water, so my soul - nephesh - pants after you. 

My soul - nephesh - thirsts for the living God.” 

 

So, on a physical level, your throat can be thirsty. But then physical thirst can become a metaphor for how your whole physical being longs to know, and be known, by your Creator. 

 

This brings us all the way back to the Shema. To love the Lord with all your soul – all your nephesh - means to devote your whole physical existence to your Creator. It’s about offering your entire being, with all of its capabilities and limitations, in the effort to love God wholeheartedly. 

 

Now, we can usually visualize what it might look like to love God with our hearts and minds. But what about the soul? 

 

If the soul is the deepest part of who we are, the part of us that searches and yearns for something more than just the physical day-to-day life, then the soul is also the most vulnerable part of who we are. It’s the part of us that sincerely longs to love, believe, and find purpose. 

Ecclesiastes describes the spiritual part of us as having an eternal and divine sense of purpose, which God has implanted in our hearts. And only God can satisfy this. 

 

Have you ever felt the empty feeling of a dissatisfied soul? Perhaps it was before you were a follower of Christ and that’s what prompted you to search for God in the first place? No amount of pleasure, attention, or success could fill the void. Perhaps it was during the pandemic? Or maybe during a crisis of health or relationship? 

 

When our souls are dissatisfied, we start to feel like nothing is good enough. We become dissatisfied with our marriage, our job, home, school, even our schedule. We start to crave more and more, looking for ways to feel satisfied. 

 

This craving for more is actually a sign that our souls need God, but often we confuse the signal for something else. And instead of turning to God, we try to fill the emptiness inside us with: 

·      more things,

·      more approval from people around us, 

·      more success at work, 

·      or more sources of physical and emotional comfort. 

 

Remember Psalm 42: 

As the deer pants for streams of water,
So my soul pants for you, my God.

 

Our souls thirst for God — not for more things we think will satisfy us. 

Unless we stop, and pay attention to what our soul needs, we will always look for love in all the wrong places. 

 

But where in the Bible does it tell us how exactly to love God with all our soul? 

 

I found myself reading Luke chapter 7 this week, as you do. And two things popped out – gratitude and forgiveness. Let’s read through this story together, and see if you think this teaches us how to love God with the deepest parts of our soul. 

 

Luke chapter 7, beginning in verse 36:

 

One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him. 

So, Jesus went to the Pharisee’s house, 

and He took his place at the table. 

There was a woman in that town who had lived a sinful life. 

She learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. 

So, she came there with a special jar of perfume. 

She stood behind Jesus and cried at His feet.

 And she began to wet his feet with her tears. 

Then she wiped them with her hair. 

She kissed them and poured perfume on them. 

The Pharisee, who had invited Jesus, saw this. 

He said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, 

he would know who is touching him. 

He would know what kind of woman she is. She is a sinner!”

 

This story introduces us to two very different people:

 

First, Simon the Pharisee:

• He was probably well-respected in his community, with a good, clean reputation, holding strictly to religious traditions.
• He was hospitable. He had a home nice enough to host Jesus and His friends for dinner.
• On the outside, he seems to be what many of us would consider a good guy, trying to do the right thing
• In fact, he could be any one of us. 

 

But then we learn a few other things about Simon:

• While he did good things on the outside, his thoughts on the inside were that of a very critical observer. 
• He looked down on Jesus, and the sinful woman, noticing what he perceived as their faults, without admitting any of his own. 

 

Now, I can relate to Simon, and maybe you can, too! I’ve been known to be a little self-righteous here and there. Like Simon, in my head, it’s easy for me to criticize others, instead of being humble and aware of my own sins and weaknesses. When I get that way, I become full of myself — convinced I’m right, and empty of the things that matter - like love, gratitude, and mercy.

 

But what about that “sinful woman”? What do we know about her?

• Well, clearly, we know she “had lived a sinful life.” 
• She had a reputation in the community, and never would’ve made the guest list to this dinner party.
• She was familiar with the guilt, regret, and shame that come from sinful choices. 

 

I think we all can relate to many of these feelings, too. I’ve felt the pain of regret, the fear of being judged, and the shameful consequences of making bad life choices. 

 

Yet it’s this woman who gives us a picture of what it looks like to love God with all our soul. 

 

Throughout Scripture, spiritual lessons often come through the people we least expect. And the same is true here. The Pharisee, an expert in religious law, doesn’t teach us to love God with his everything. The sinful woman does. 

 

First, she cared more about Jesus than what people thought of her:

Despite her reputation, she showed up to a party she wasn’t invited to. That alone would take monumental boldness. She could’ve been kicked out or humiliated. Can you imagine the critical stares of the self-righteous people? But not only did she show up, she went out of her way to lovingly express her gratitude for Jesus.  

And how did she get this boldness? We later learn that her heart was deeply moved by Jesus’ love and forgiveness. This forgiveness meant so much to her that any concern about other people’s opinions of her flew right out the window.

 

Second, she was vulnerable and unguarded:

She didn’t hide in the crowd to watch Him from a distance. She stood right behind Jesus and wept. She held nothing back, bawling tears filled with pain, sorrow, and regret — and likely hope, relief, and gratitude, too. The soul is, by definition, deep and emotional. This woman vulnerably opened her heart to love God with all her soul. 

 

Third, she sacrificed:

She brought a jar of costly perfume to Jesus. This perfume may have been the most valuable item she owned. Loving God with all our soul means recognizing that nothing is more valuable than our relationship with God.

 

And fourth, she was humble:

It must have taken great humility for this woman to wipe Jesus’ feet with her hair and tears in front of so many people. Yet, she simply served Him, carrying out a humbling task with great willingness and eagerness. This was her way of admitting her great need for Jesus, as well as her gratitude for Him.  

 

As He so often did, Jesus turned this into a teachable moment. He knew Simon’s thoughts without him saying a word, and responded to this religious man with a lesson about love. Verses 40-47:

 

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you. 

Two people owed money to a certain lender. 

One owed him 500 silver coins. 

The other owed him 50 silver coins. 

Neither of them had the money to pay him back. 

So, he let them go without paying. 

Which of them will love him more?”

 

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who owed the most money.”

“You are right,” Jesus said.

Then He turned toward the woman. 

He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?

 I came into your house. 

You didn’t give me any water to wash my feet. 

But she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 

You didn’t give me a kiss. 

But this woman hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. 

You didn’t put any olive oil on my head. 

But she has poured this perfume on my feet.”

 

Jesus used this illustration to teach us what it takes to love Him with the deepest, most vulnerable parts of our souls. In the story, the guy who had the most debt forgiven was naturally the most grateful and loving. 

And the sinful woman gave God her all, because she was so incredibly grateful for His forgiveness. 

 

Gratitude is key to loving God with all our soul. The Bible tells us that we love God because He first loved us. We can’t love God with all our soul if we have lost our gratitude for Him and all He has done for us. 

 

And how do we lose gratitude?

 

1.       Complaining –Complaining focuses our minds on everything we don’t have, and everything that seems to be going wrong in our lives, and makes us forget all the things that are going right. Don’t get me wrong. Lament is good. It’s biblical. But if that’s all we do, our love for God will suffer.

2.      Comparing – When we compare our lives to other people’s lives, we often focus only on what we don’t have, instead of remembering what we do have. 

3.      Forgetting answered prayers – It hurts our relationship with God when we don’t take time to acknowledge the prayers He has answered for us and the desires He has fulfilled.

 

Gratitude is powerful. A one-time act of thoughtful gratitude produces an immediate 10% increase in happiness and 35% reduction in anxiety. 

 

If you feel you’ve lost your love for God, know this: 

gratitude can bring back that lovin’ feeling. :)

 

Jesus concluded in verse 47:

So, I tell you this. Her many sins have been forgiven. 

She has shown that she understands this by her great acts of love.

But whoever has been forgiven only a little, loves only a little.

 

The woman in this passage showed great love for Jesus because she understood His forgiveness. We can’t love God wholeheartedly with all our souls without recognizing and understanding how much we have been forgiven. And we can’t recognize how much we have been forgiven without recognizing our sin. 

 

Now this isn’t something that comes natural to me. Perhaps I want to prove to myself, and others, that I am not sinful. Perhaps I feel like Christianity is about having a perfect performance, instead of realizing I can never earn my salvation on my own. Perhaps I feel insecure about what others will think of me. 

 

The Bible refers to this woman as “the sinful woman.” There’s no question she was sinful. And actually, according to Romans, everyone has sin, right?! So, we could all be referred to as “the sinful man” or “the sinful woman.” Jesus came to forgive our sins, and He shows us He will forgive us by the way He treats this woman. 

 

We can, and should, have the kind of experience this woman had with Jesus every time we spend time with Him. When we recognize and admit our sins, we can experience the same gratitude, love, forgiveness, and security that she found in her relationship with Jesus.

 

But when our focus shifts from God to people, our fear of rejection stops us from wanting to admit our sins and shortcomings. The woman in the story was singularly focused on Jesus. She wasn’t concerned with what others thought because she knew only Jesus’ view of her mattered. And He forgave her.

 

So, what did Luke Chapter 7 teach me this week? Gratitude and a deep understanding of God’s forgiveness are key to loving God with all our soul – all our nephesh. And the love we experience through gratitude and forgiveness results in faithfulness and obedience. These are the truths that can transform us from the inside out to love Jesus wholeheartedly with all our soul – all our nephesh. 

 

And, of course, my favorite theologian, Henri Nouwen, summed it up best:

 

“Jesus has to be, and become, ever more the center of my life. 

It is not enough that Jesus is my teacher, my guide, my source of inspiration. 

It is not even enough that He is my companion on the journey,

 my friend and my brother. 

Jesus must become the heart of my heart, the fire of my life, 

the love of my soul, the truth of my spirit. 

He must become my only thought, my only concern, my only desire.” 

That is to say: 

 

Listen! Hear! Shema, O, First Methodist Church: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

 

May we give Jesus, today and every day, our wholehearted devotion. 
Amen. And Amen.