February 15, 2026

Luke 7:36-50        Holy Waste         2026-2-15
 
introduction
Starting this year, we decided to put flowers in our church. How do you feel about having flowers like this? I'm sure there are a lot of people who are not interested, but isn't it nice to have something beautiful like this?
I'm a pragmatic person, so I hate to waste money. I haven't had flower arrangements on my church platform for 25 years since I came here. Because I thought they were a waste of money. So, I never gave flowers to my wife on Valentine's Day, either. I thought I'd rather just give her a present instead.
When my children were young, they wanted to have fireworks on July 4th, Independence Day, but I wouldn't let them play fireworks because I thought it was waste. Instead, I asked them to buy delicious snack instead. But I don't think I was right. Sometimes waste is more valuable than practical. If we had fireworks with our children, our children would have remembered a good memory that is more precious than the price of gunpowder.
If you look at today's reading, there is a story about such foolish waste. Through this woman's holy waste, I would like to share how great God's love for us is.
 
Main
I. Waste of a Sinful Woman
At a Pharisee's house, Jesus and his disciples were invited to dine. When Jesus sat down, a sinful woman sobbed and poured out the precious perfume on his feet and wiped them off with her hair. The people who watched this scene were simply astonished. In the bible, a sinful woman usually means a prostitute. Imagine how such a woman would pour the perfume on his feet and wash them with her hairs while kissing Jesus' feet. What would have been the gaze of those watching him? It must have been unbearable with disdain and disgust. They must have thought that this woman had ruined the banquet.
But Jesus is enjoying it. People start to look at Jesus strangely. Look at verse 39. "When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner." How could Jesus stay still if he knew this woman was a prostitute? He should have said, "What are you doing to me, you crazy woman? Get out of my sight!" But Jesus accepts everything that a sinful woman does. Is this man really a prophet?
But Jesus counted on this woman's heart. Thankful for the Lord for forgiving her many sins, she wiped his feet with tears. It showed how much she loved the Lord. It is long, but let us read verses 40 to 47. "40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. 41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
How embarrassing must Jesus have been? But Jesus stood by the sinful woman's side because he knew how she felt. Because he knew how much she loved him. People didn't look at everything she did just by the fact that she was a sinner. But Jesus did not side with the 100 righteous men, but with the one sinner.
Her fragrance is said to be a precious pure nard fragrance, which is worth of three hundred denarions. Three hundred denarions are money earned by the man for a year. Wouldn't it be about $60,000? Perhaps this woman has sold herself to save this money. It could be the dowery for her marriage. She had to sell the fragrance many times, but she has saved it so far. It was all her property. She gave this precious thing for Jesus.
People who saw this scene raised a question: Why waste it? Jesus' disciples also said that. Let us read Matthew 26:8,9 together. "When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Right? What a waste to pour out $60,000 of perfume at a time? This woman was never well behaved. But love makes us do crazy things. You can't calculate that with money. Forgiven of many sins, the woman only had a heart to give her gratitude to Jesus what she cherished the most valuable. From the people's point of view, it was a huge waste, but from that of the Lord who knew her heart, it was a huge confession of love. To do it with a loving heart is a beautiful waste. The woman poured all of her things into Jesus because she loved him more than the valuable perfume.
 
II. Waste of God
God also loved humans. So, he decided to waste a lot for humans. God loved sinful humans. So, he broke the most precious perfume for humans to save them. It is only because he loved us sinners so much. Let us read John 3:16 together.” "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
God also loved humans, sinners who rebelled and only did evil things. To save such a sinner, he sent his precious son, His only Son, to the world as a redemptive sacrifice. Jesus, who was innocent, was hung on the cross for the place of our death. God wasted his precious Son to save useless sinners like us. Why? Why did he do such a stupid thing? It was because God loved us so much. Just as the woman loved Jesus and sacrificed her most precious things, God sacrificed his only Son for us. That is Agape, the sacrificial love of God.
HA YOUNG Hahn, what do you cherish the most? Is there anything that you loves enough to die for? Can you die for me, your father? Can you die for Yechan, your husband? Or will you die for Iahn, your precious son? You will. because Iahn is such a precious child. God dedicated his precious son, Jesus, on our behalf. That proves how much he loves us. We are the worth of Jesus.
God could have left sinful humans alone. Then humans will be judged for their sins and fall into hell. God did not want the masterpiece he made to end like that. God had a great attachment to humans. God made a big decision. To save humans by the death of his son... Let us read John 3:16 again. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
"He loved like this" means he loved the world to give his only Son to die on the cross instead. "Ha-young, wouldn't it hurt a lot if Iahn stubbed his forehead while playing and bled?" But how heartbroken was God to see his son being crucified with a nail, a spear stabbed in his waist, leaking out his intestines, and bleeding from his head through a crown of thorns? How much did God's heart break when Jesus screamed, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, my God, my God, why are you abandoning me?" But God loved humans so much that he covered his ears to his scream and wept closing his eyes not to see Jesus' flowing blood. It was because he loved us so much.
There is only one condition for salvation. "Anyone who believes in Jesus as a savior does not fall into hell for his sins, but gets eternal life through his merits." You have to believe in Jesus to be saved. Jesus is the key to salvation.
God put Jesus Christ, his precious only Son, on the cross to save the useless like you and me, to bleed to death. Why did he do that? It was because God loved you and me that much. God's reckless love caused that great waste. He broke the precious alabaster jar of perfume for us.


III. Our Waste
How should we live receiving this great love? Shouldn't we be able to waste for God too? Shouldn't we, who have been forgiven of many sins, break our alabaster jar of perfume and pour it on the feet of the Lord like her? If we love God, shouldn't we give our precious time, our precious talents, and our precious material to the Lord?
Let us pray. "44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
Thank you God for loving ugly, rebellious, ungrateful sinners like us and saving us through your only son who died for us on the cross. We also want to give our lives to you and serve you for the rest of our days. In the name of Jesus. Amen.


Rom. 10:1-15       Salvation through Faith        2026-2-8
 
Introduction
            An elder in a famous church was headed to an airport, via taxi. Abruptly, the taxi driver asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus." He appreciated his enthusiasm as a Christian and said, "I went to church since I was in my mother's womb." The driver seemed unsatisfied with his answer and said, "I did not ask you whether you went to church from in your mothers' womb or not, but I asked whether you believe in Jesus or not." The elder felt a little hurt, so he brusquely answered, "I am an elder of so-and-so church." The driver said persistently, "I didn't ask you if you are an elder or not, but whether you believe in Jesus." 
            Then he seriously accepted the question which was unsolved in him. He had been a deacon and an elder without any personal religious experience. He could not say confidently, "Yes, I believe in Jesus." Then the taxi driver told him about the way to become a Christian.
            "Do you believe in Jesus?" This is the most crucial question to solve our human beings' fundamental problems. You may ask yourselves more than one time in your life, "Were my sins washed away?" "Am I a Christian?" or "Can I go to Heaven if I die tonight?" I want to ask the same question now. "Were you saved?" If you have no confidence, you need to take heed of my sermon today."
 
Main
I. First, the Bible says that it is not our deed but the grace of God that we are saved. (v. 1-8)
            Live as perfect as you could, but still you are far from righteousness. Apostle Paul experienced it thoroughly. He has been eager to be righteous through keeping the Law perfectly only to fail. To be saved, he had prayed three times a day, fasted three days a month, and learned the Law under the guidance of Gamalliel, who was the best teacher in his time. In spite of such elaborated efforts he still committed the same sins again and again. The more he made effort to be perfect, the further it went away from him.  He at last ejaculated, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
            He found that he, a spider who drinks others' blood, could not become a locust who eats the grass, only keeping the Law. He has lived bearing heavy burden on him. When he came to Jesus and solved the problem, he could fly away. It was very easy and free to be in Christ. Now he feels pity on the Jews who still are bearing the same burden he has borne. 
            In verse 1 through 3 Paul says that their zeal is not based on true knowledge, but on their own righteousness. They took the wrong way.  Assume that a man rowed hard in the opposite direction. The harder he rowed, the further away he went from his destination. If you know the way to use wind, it will bring you to your destination without any effort.  Their zeal was not based on knowledge. True knowledge is based on the Word of God. What does the Word of God say? You have read that today.
            People think that they should do something to get salvation, which is the compensation mentality. People try to compensate their sins with doing good, but it is impossible. Our sins are far much than our good deeds. "The wage of sin is death." "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Nothing could reach to the glory of God except the blood of Jesus. When you fell into the water, you cannot be saved by catching everything that comes near you. Let him save you, and you shall be saved. Or catch what the lifeguard affords. To be saved, catch the lifeline that God let down, that is, Jesus Christ. The foundation of our righteousness is not in us but only in the true lifeline, Jesus Christ.
            There are two kinds of righteousness. One is from Moses and the Law, which is called 'self-righteousness.' If we keep the Law perfectly, we shall be saved. Verse 5 writes, "Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things (the items of the Law) will live by them." The Jews tried all their efforts to be perfect.  However, it was impossible to keep item by item. 
            There is another kind of righteousness: that is the righteousness given by Jesus. It is given when we believe in Jesus. Verses 6 through 8 writes, "6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming." What does it say?  It says that the righteousness that Jesus gives is very easy and near." 
            Who will use DOS, which is slow and inconvenient, when you have a handy Windows OS? Who will use a cassette tape player, when they have a handy CD player? This righteousness does not ask us to program it by ourselves, but Jesus already programed it for us. Just take it and use it. It is why he says in verse 4, "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."
            We should not forget that the foundation of our righteousness is not on us, but on Jesus Christ. If we forget it, like a frog that does not remember that he was once a tadpole, we shall be take the glory for ourselves.
 
II. Secondly, verse 9 and 10 show how we could get the righteousness of Jesus.
            This is the most important part of the Christian Dogmas. Let us read verse 9 and 10 again. "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." How could we be righteous?
            1. First, we shall be saved if we "believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead," (v.9) and "believe with our hearts." (v.10) Because we cannot be righteous by ourselves, let Jesus do it for us. Suppose that we fall into a pond and could not swim. How could we be saved? Shall we learn in the water by ourselves? That is too late. We could be saved just holding the buoy that the lifeguard threw at us. Or let the lifeguard save us. When you are too heavily burdened, just put them on Jesus who took away our weakness. 
            2. Secondly, how could we be righteous? "confessing with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," (v. 9) and with your mouth that you confess." (v.10) Believe with all your heart that he was raised from the death and confess that Jesus is your Lord, and you shall be saved. Confessing is important. In the Bible there are many confessions: Peter's, Nathanael's, Mary's, the Centurion's, and so on. They have common factors that Jesus is "the Christ" and "the Lord." "The Christ" is the "the Savior." "The Lord" is "the King or the Owner." 
            Verse 9 through 13 is the core part of sosteology which shows how to be saved. Let us read again. "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
            Do you believe? Your righteousness falls short of salvation. You need the help of Jesus. If you are still writhing in the water with all your efforts uselessly, let Jesus save you. 
 
Call to Salvation
            Let us pray together. Is there anyone who needs Jesus who will save you from your sins. Please, raise your hand for a moment. Thank you.  The Bible promises that "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Jesus is your Lord. Call his name and you shall be saved. Accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Just open your heart and ask, "Lord, come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior." Please, follow after me phrase by phrase. Let us Pray together.
            “사랑하는 주님(Dear Lord Jesus) 저는 죄인입니다. (I know that I am a sinner) 주님의 용서가 필요합니다. (and I need your forgiveness.) 주님께서 저의 죄를 위해 죽으심을 믿습니다.(I believe that you died for my sins.) 저는 제가 지은 죄를 뉘우칩니다. (I want to turn from my sins.) 주님을 제 마음과 삶에 모셔들입니다. (I now invite You to come into my heart and life.) 이제부터 주님을 나의 주인으로 나의 구주로 믿고 따르겠습니다. (I want to trust and follow you as Lord and Savior.) 예수님 이름으로 기도합니다. 아멘. (In Jesus' name. Amen.)