A man was driving home from work one day when he saw a group of young children selling lemonade on a corner near his home. The kids had posted the typical Magic Marker sign over their lemonade stand:
“Lemonade – 10 cents”

The man was impressed with the enterprising young children, so he pulled over to the curb to buy a cup of lemonade… and to give his support to the children’s financial effort.

A young boy approached his car and the man placed his order for one cup of lemonade… and he gave the boy a quarter. After much deliberation, the children determined that the man had some change coming and they perused through their “cigar box cash register”… and finally came up with the correct amount.

The boy returned with the change with the man’s cup of lemonade. The boy then just stood there by the man’s car and stared at the man as he enjoyed his fresh lemonade. Finally, the boy asked the man if he were finished. “Just about,” the man said, “but why?” The little boy said, “That’s the only cup we have, and we need it back to stay in business.” It’s difficult to operate a lemonade business if you have only one cup!

But you know, this is something of a parable for what Jesus saw in the religious leaders of His day. When it came to love, they had only one cup. They taught people to love, but it was very restricted, limited, narrow, conditional love that they lived out themselves, and called for from their followers. “Love those who look like you and act like you and dress like you and talk like you and eat like you and think like you… and shun everybody else.”

Love only those we have admitted into our inner circle… and see everybody else as the enemy, the adversary, the outcast. When it came to love… that was the only cup they had.

But then along came Jesus with a different idea and a different approach. He loved everybody. He accepted everybody. He included everybody. He reached out graciously and intentionally to those who were down on their luck and to those who were hurting; to those who were poor and needy, to those who were in trouble, to those who were sick or afflicted, to those who were labeled as outcasts… and tenderly, He drew them into the circle of love. When it came to love, He had lots of cups to share.

And then He said to His followers, “Look now! This is the way I want you to love. Love one another as I have loved you.” Take up the torch of Christ-like love!

This was so important to Jesus… but the truth is… at first the disciples did not get it. They were not tuned in! What Jesus was calling on them to do was a dramatic departure from that “we only have one cup” approach to love that they had been taught all of their lives… to only love those who are just like you and for sure, not to love those who are outsiders or outcasts. But then here came Jesus slaying, “No, no, no… don’t be like that anymore! Rather, use a “multi-cup” approach. Reach out to everybody you meet with love, and grace and respect and acceptance and tenderness!”

Now, with that in mind, listen to this little scenario that someone wrote with lots of imagination about what could have taken place when Jesus, met with His disciples in the Upper Room the night before He was crucified to give them final instructions. The make-believe scenario goes like this, and Jesus said to them:

“I give you a new commandment. Love one another and everyone you meet… as I have loved you. By this love, all will know that you are my disciples.”

Simon Peter said: “Do we have to write this down?
And Andrew said: “Will this be on the text test?
And James said: “Does spelling count?”
And Philip said, “Do we have to know it word for word?
And Matthew said, “When do we get out of here?”
And John said, “Does this apply to all of us?”
And Thomas said, “I doubt that this will work.”
And Judas said, “What does this have to do with real life?”

AND JESUS WEPT!

The creator of this scenario is reminding us that sometimes, like the early disciples, we are not as tuned in to Jesus as we should be. But look at the context of this. Jesus said these words in the Upper Room the night before the crucifixion. These were His final instructions to His followers… and the concise message here is not just to love, but to love in a Christ-like way. That is our calling as Christians: to love others as Christ has loved us – graciously, generously, sacrificially, unconditionally.

That is precisely what this story in Luke 7:36-50 is all about. Remember it with me: A Pharisee invites Jesus to his home as the guest of honor for a banquet… but strangely, the Pharisee does not treat Jesus like a guest of honor. Normally, three courtesies were extended the respected guest. First, the host would give his guest the kiss of peace. Second, cool water would be poured over the guest’s feet to cleanse and comfort them. And third, the guest’s head was anointed with a pinch of sweet-smelling incense or perfume from rose petals. When Jesus arrived in the Pharisee’s house… none of these things were done.

Why? Maybe the Pharisee has a hidden agenda. Maybe he has invited Jesus there to try to trip him up or trap him with loaded questions over dinner. Maybe he doesn’t want to appear too friendly with this itinerant preacher from Nazareth, this one his colleagues were wondering about and worried about. Or Maybe the Pharisee is afraid of “guilt by association” because he knows that Jesus has just been out in the streets associating with some outcasts of society… tax-collectors and sinners. Whatever the case, the Pharisee does not perform these three acts of good manners and respect.

In those days, houses of well-to-do people were built around an open courtyard in the form of a hollow square… and often there in the courtyard was where the banquets took place. People passing by on the nearby street could easily look in or walk in… so they could listen to the lessons given by Pharisees and rabbis as they ate together and discussed theology and lessons of faith over their meal.

A woman in the crowd… a woman who (how shall I put this?) had a reputation around town was there from off the street. She was listening and watching… and she noticed that good manners had not been expressed to Jesus…so she rises to the occasion! First, she washes Jesus’ feet with her tears. Second, she dries His feet with her hair. And third, she anoints His feet with her perfume.

The Pharisee is highly offended. He is shocked that Jesus would let this woman of the streets even touch him. But Jesus sees it as a beautiful, tender, thoughtful, loving gesture… and He commends her, includes her, and forgives her.

Now, there are many fascinating elements in this story, but for now let me just lift up one question for us to think about. Namely, this:
- What was it about Jesus that drew people to Him?
- What was it about Jesus that caused the regular, ordinary people of the streets like you and me, and even the outcasts, to resonate to Him?
- What was it about Jesus that attracted the masses to Him?
- Why did they come from far and near just to get a glimpse of Him?
- What was His authority?
- Why did they crowd the roadsides to see Him… and the mountainsides to hear Him?
- Why did lepers and blind people and sick people seek Him out?
- Why did the outcasts of society like this woman in Luke 7, feel wanted and welcomed and valued and loved and accepted in His presence?

Well… many things. Let me list just three ideas about this for our consideration. I’m sure you will think of others, but for now, let’s try these three on for size together, because they show us how the love of Christ (the love He commands us to emulate) is indeed a “multi-cup approach” and a “many-splendored” thing.

I. FIRST OF ALL, THE OUTCASTS WERE DRAWN TO HIM BECAUSE HE BROUGHT THEM GOOD NEWS.

You see, the fact is that people then and now, were starving for some “GOOD NEWS.” Religion for many of them back then had become cold, staid, authoritarian, negative, prohibitive, irrelevant, fearsome… and sometimes even abusive and exploitive.

The religion of their time did not speak to their hurts. It did not bring them joy. That’s why they were so drawn to Jesus… because He brought them good news. Over and again, He said to them, “You count! You matter! Fear not! Don’t be afraid! God loves you! God is with you!”

Let me make the point with a parable… a parable written by Dr. Fred Craddock. One evening a farmer named John was heading for home… running late. He tried to take a short cut, cutting across an unfamiliar field. He fell into an old abandoned cistern… a deep, deep hole. He was a proud and strong man, so he said, “I can get out of here.” But he was knee-deep in mud and sand. He reached to sides of the cistern, mossy green and slick and wet… and he had no leverage. He could not get out.

Finally, he swallowed his pride and cried out: “Help! Help!” A neighbor walking by heard his cry and looked down in there and said, “John, is that you? I can’t believe you are down there. Look at you down there in that ugly hole… an embarrassment to your family, an embarrassment to yourself. You are a disgrace!”

And the neighbor really told him off. Then he went on into town and told everybody about it and how he told him off, and he said, “I’ve been wanting to say that for years!” It was quite a speech, but John was still in the hole!

John continued to cry out for help – more desperately now. Next, a couple of politicians came by; and saw John’s plight… and they were upset. They said, “This is awful. This should have been taken care of years ago!” So they went into town, got the city council together… and they passed a law and they came out and put up a sign: “Twenty-five dollar fine to fall in this hole.” And it was a good law, they said. It needed to be passed, they said… but John was still in the hole.

John cried out louder: “Help! Help! Help!” Some people driving by heard his cries. They looked down into the hole and they said, “This is a disgrace to our community. We can’t have this.” So they notified the Beautification Committee and they came out and planted some azaleas and dogwoods and yellow roses. It was beautiful… but John was still in the hole.

Now with raspy voice… and almost no hope left, John called out, “Please, somebody… help me! Help!” Just about then, a man came by and he looked down there and saw John in this awful fix and he had compassion on him and he said, “Let me help you. I can get you out! Here… take hold of my hand!” And in that moment, the only thing important in John’s world, was that hand!

Do you know who that was? Do you know whose hand it was that pulled John out of that hole? Of course you do! Most of us recognize that hand and most of us remember how he pulled us up and out… and saved us. That’s the good news of our faith, isn’t it? Others may scoff at us, or fuss at us, or ignore us… but Christ wants to get on with the saving!

In the powerful movie “The Hiding Place,” Corrie ten Boom (played magnificently by our dear friend Jeannette Clift George) says it. “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still!” That’s why the outcasts were drawn to Jesus… because He brought them good news – the good news of salvation and love and acceptance.

II. SECOND, THE OUTCASTS WERE DRAWN TO JESUS BECAUSE HE PRACTICED WHAT HE PREACHED.

In Mark 12, Jesus talks about hypocrisy, exposing it for what it is: “Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes… and to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogue and the places of honor at feasts, but who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The people were drawn to Jesus because they were fed up with hypocrisy… and they knew He was no hypocrite. He meant what He said. He practiced what He preached. He saw faith as a style of living. He was authentic, genuine… and the people sensed it, felt it, knew it.

A few years ago, I was on a preaching mission in another city. One evening in the service, a high-school girl gave a magnificent devotional talk. She spoke of love as the key sign and symbol of the Christian faith. She encouraged us to be thoughtful, considerate, kind… and she finished her comments with a beautiful paraphrase of I Corinthians 13, the love chapter. We were all impressed; the congregation was visibly moved.

But after the service, I heard this same young girl who had just talked so powerfully on the importance of love, talking to her mother on the church parking lot. Her mother had been five minutes late picking her up… and the young girl was upset because she would miss five minutes of a television program. She spoke to her mother in a cruel vicious tone. She called her mother “stupid,” “clueless,” “an old fool,” an “Idiot” and another profane name that I will not repeat from this polite pulpit. She was arrogant, haughty, rude, and hostile… the very opposite of what she had proclaimed so eloquently only moments before in the sanctuary.

I felt so sad, so let down… because we want people to practice what they preach. The outcasts were drawn to Jesus because first, He brought them good news, and second, because He practiced what He preached.

III. AND FINALLY, THE OUTCASTS WERE DRAWN TO JESUS BECAUSE TO HIM, THEY WERE NOT OUTCASTS.

They were not outsiders, they were not untouchables… they were special. Each was unique. Each was valued and treasured. Each was a child of God to be loved and respected. He did not see them as second-rate. He did not shun them as outcasts beneath Him. He did not abuse them or exploit them or ignore them. He did not look down His nose at them.

That’s why the regular folks, the people of the streets, the masses, the sick and lowly, the outcasts… resonated to Jesus. Because to Him, they were not lowly, they were not common, they were not despised, they were not outcasts. He made them feel valued, important, cherished, cared for, accepted, and loved… and as Christians that is what He wants us to do.

Let me conclude with one of my all-time favorite stories. It’s about a woman in Birmingham who, on a cold winter morning, saw a little boy standing on the grating just outside of a bakery. It was snowing and sleeting and the little boy was barefooted and had no coat – just a tattered T-shirt and some worn-out blue jeans. He was trying to warm himself with the air coming up from the vents of the bakery grating.

The woman’s heart went out to the little boy. She couldn’t stand seeing him shivering in the cold. “Where are your shoes and coat?” she asked him. When he told her that he didn’t have shoes or a coat, she took him by the hand and they went to a nearby department store. She bought him a nice coat and some shoes and socks and gloves. He was so proud. He thanked her and thanked her and then he asked her a surprising question. He said, “Lady, are you God’s wife?” She was embarrassed by the question at first, but then she replied, “No, I’m not God’s wife… but I am one of His children.” The little boy grinned and said, “I knew it! I knew it! I just knew you were some kin to Him!”

Let me ask you something: Can people tell by the way you live… and the way you love that you are kin to Him?

Jesus said, “Love one another… as I have loved you. By this love, all will know that you are My disciples.”