No Condemnation

March 22, 2009 - Series: At the Cross
Sermon: No Condemnation - Luke 7:36-50; John 3:17; Romans 8:1

We’ve all seen people struggling through an airport weighed down by all the baggage they are trying to carry. People who would love to be relieved of their burden - grateful if someone removed just some of that weight from their shoulders.

Today, we read the story of a woman who shows up at a dinner party carrying all sorts of baggage. The luggage of her sin weighs her down, the knowledge of what she has done bears heavily upon her heart and mind. The collective weight of her condemnation is crushing her.

This morning, we sang that familiar hymn “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” Some churches have sought to soften the message of those lyrics by changing “saved a wretch like me” to “saved someone like me.” One theologian, surprised at this change, muttered: “If I’m not a wretch, grace isn’t amazing.”

The woman in this story understood how amazing grace was because she stumbled into dinner that night well aware of her wretchedness. She knew she came to the table with all her baggage and condemnation.

So imagine how grateful she was to find that baggage lifted. Imagine the relief to find such amazing grace - that in Christ there is no condemnation. Imagine the joy that you too might now find.