On Luke 7.36-8.3
We start off this
morning with a rather interesting premise for the gospel.
We have a
Pharisee, named Simon. And we know that Pharisees like rules. They like to know
- and tell others - what the difference is between right (their right) and
wrong (others' wrongs). They cast judgement according to their standards -
standards which are near impossible to reach, by the way. The Pharisees presume
- and preach - that God's love is limited by their standards. Ouch.
So Simon, our
Pharisee here, invites Jesus to dinner. Why would that happen? Possibly to help
him (Jesus) see how right the Pharisees are, and how he (Jesus) should be
favourable to them. He can learn from them, after all, they're PHARISEES.
They're right.
So off to dinner
they all go. And then, the unthinkable happens. In walks "the woman."
What do we know about her? Not much. Not much at all. She is unnamed. Unknown.
Uninvited.
Yet, bold as
brass, she walks in the house, straight to the dining room, lowers herself at
the feet of the guest, and starts crying - enough tears to literally wash feet.
Hmm.
Then, this woman
uncovers her hair. For us, not a big deal; in that tradition, however, it was
considered scandalous to uncover hair in front of strangers. Hair was
considered a thing of beauty and of great pride - it still is, if we're honest;
women (and men!) continue to colour over their grey, cut and style in the
latest trends, all that. Hair matters. And in the desert, with lots of blowing
sand but without salons, women wanted to keep their hair clean and protected as
much as possible - and so they kept their hair covered, as a point of pride and
respect. To uncover hair in front of strangers? Simply not done by those of
good reputation.
So there she is -
this scandalous, uninvited guest - who walks right in, and immediately lowers
herself to clean the feet of Jesus - the lowest of jobs, with her very self -
all she has and all she is - literally her tears and her hair! Can you even
imagine - I find it hard.
Then, as though
the submission and humility wasn't obvious enough, she kisses his feet.
Literally and figuratively. And then uses an expensive ointment that she has
brought with her, to anoint his feet. So obviously she knew who was there and
had planned what she would do. This wasn't a chance encounter.
How would you
respond?
Well, Simon's
response is a bit shocking. Rather than have the woman thrown out, he decides
to cast judgement on Jesus himself - his invited guest! He decides that Jesus is
rather horrible, as he has not judged the woman that way he - Simon - has
judged her.
And how is that? By
her past. Only her past. Not her worthiness as a human to come to Jesus as she
is - but by her reputation - what others think and say about her.
Yet - it's the
gospel, of course there's good news. And that is that grace flows. Abundantly. The
grace that comes here is from Jesus' judgement on the woman. He does not get
stuck on her past, but focuses on her as she is - right now, And who she can
become - her potential, her future. Jesus judges - or more accurately assesses
- this unknown woman by her desire to receive forgiveness - not as a one-time
thing but as a life-changing reality, to be changed by that forgiveness, to
live out her life as a completely changed woman.
To receive
forgiveness from God WOW. That's as good
as it gets.
That's the lesson
today; but not to the woman - she already gets it - but to Simon, and the other
guests, and everyone else who would find themselves around that table.
And to us - those
of us who can look at our lives and see that we may have been guests at that
table - judging someone else based on appearance or reputation, making comments
about their choices, using only our opinions and our projections.
Yet. The woman
came - she was expecting nothing, but she had within her a deep and profound
hope. Without uttering even a single word, she makes clear that she wanted to
see and serve Jesus, to live in hope, to be assured of God's forgiveness of her
sins.
And the first
thing that Jesus says to her, after she has broken protocol and gone against
the status quo and risked being thrown outside and beaten - or worse- for her
actions. Jesus says to this person:
"Your
sins are forgiven."
And as the dinner
guests are looking at each other as though to say "WHOA. Wait - what just
happened? Who is this guy, and who does he think he is?!"
Jesus continues
to this woman -
"Your faith has saved you. Go in
peace."
Lucy
Lind Haven suggests that we are also invited to look around us, and recognise
that we have BEEN that woman; that we all come to Jesus with debt of sin; that
we all owe God an un-payable debt. And that we are all able to receive healing
when we come to Jesus' feet, kneeling, and pour out our own love.[1]
And what wonder -
what pure and eternal delight - when we too can hear the words of Jesus saying
to us, through the gift of his never-failing love and grace - in the truth of
our baptism -
"Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has
saved you. Go in peace."
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