According to the Law
Have you ever been around someone who is so obviously a sinner? How has it made you feel to be around them? What about here at Church what is your reaction when someone comes here on a Sunday when you know that during the week they lied, cheated, stole, swore or were hypocritical in some other way? Does it make your blood boil? Do you find your self questioning why they bother coming when you know that they are going to continue with their behavior soon after leaving this place.
I wonder what you would think if I was to say your not entirely wrong to be thinking this way? After all God’s law is quite definite when it comes to those being hypocritical, and to those who brake God’s commandments. That’s why he gave the 10 commandments, to tell us what we aren’t allowed to do. It’s hard not to be angry when we see someone doing the wrong thing, especially when they say they are a Christian but are obviously going against what it right and good.
The Story of Simon the Pharisee
In todays Gospel Reading we heard a story about Simon the Pharisee and A sinful woman.
To be able to teach you the meaning behind this story I need to explain a few things about the culture of the time. In Jesus day when a person came to a meal there were three things that happened. 1st the host would supply water to clean the visitors feet, to refresh them after their travels that day. This was a mark of respect. 2nd they would greet their visitor with a kiss on both sides of their face. This was a mark of welcome. 3rd if their guest was a person of honor they would anoint their heads to show that they were honored to have the guest in their house, again as a mark of respect. None of these things take place when Jesus walked into Simon’s house. This shows us that Simon didn’t really respect or honor the man whom he had invited. And could show us his intentions for having Jesus at the meal (to trap or disprove who the people were saying He was).
When a rabbi or teacher, was invited to a meal it was customary to leave the house open for all to come and hear the words of that teacher. This is the reason it was possible for the woman to attend the house of Simon the Pharisee.
I wonder then, knowing all this who was the worthy one at this meal? Was it Simon the Pharisee who knew the law and kept it to the tee, or the one who came later the one known to be a sinner.
While Simon, Jesus, and the others recline around the table, the woman in the story seems to have other things on her mind. Luke paints a remarkable picture of what happens, and in doing so leaves us asking a few questions. The woman is known to live “a sinful life.” While we don’t know what that means exactly, we do know that it is enough, at least in the mind of the Pharisee, to separate her out from the rest.
Ironically, by definition, to be a Pharisee is to be separate. So when this woman begins her silent interaction with Jesus, the Pharisee is annoyed, his blood boils. Simon thinks to himself that if Jesus is truly a prophet, he'll know who is touching him, and "what kind of woman she is," and (you've got to love this) that "she is a sinner!” Simon, the separate, has ironically lost sight of his true self. But Jesus will hold up the mirror.
As the dinner conversation continues, the woman moves closer to Jesus and accomplishes what she has come for: she washes and anoints Jesus’s feet with her tears, dries his feet with her hair and then kisses his feet. It is interesting to wonder how this woman has come to obtain such an expensive container of oil. The perfume, possibly nard, would have cost upwards of 300 denarii a pound. That would have been an average person’s annual wage. And of course Simon is undone by this. He’s shocked.
But Jesus wades deeply into Simon’s holier than thou thinking and shares a story: the parable of the creditor, who is owed money from two men. One owes 50 denarii, which is two months wages. The other owes 500 denarii, which is nearly two years’ wages. The point is that one owed a little, and the other owed a lot. The creditor comes along though and simply erases each of the peoples debts.
Jesus asks Simon which of the two men would love the banker more. Simon rightly responds: “I suppose the one from whom he cancelled the greater debt." And that’s when Jesus turns to Simon and asks him if he sees “this woman,” followed by the bold truth that Simon is so separate that he can’t see the woman for the grateful, bold, humble and forgiven human being that she is. He also shows Simon that he has become so separated that he hasn’t even seen Jesus for who he is, or else he would have washed his feet, kissed him and anointed his head. The point is that her sins, though many, have already been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.
According to the Gospel
Have you ever been around someone who is so obviously a sinner? How has it made you feel to be around them? What about here at Church, what is your reaction when someone comes here on a Sunday when you know that during the week they lied, cheated, stole, swore or were hypocritical in some other way? Does it make your blood boil? Do you find your self questioning why they bother coming when you know that they are going to continue with their behavior soon after leaving this place.
If this is the way you are thinking I would hazard to ask you how much you have been forgiven. Or probably better put how much you realize you own sin and how much you have really been forgiven for.
We all have done stuff we know is wrong. If we truly search our hearts and minds and examine them with the law of God. You will have no other God beside me. Keep the sabbath and keep it holy. Do not use the name of the Lord your God in vain, Do not murder, Honor your mother and father, do not steal, do not lie, do not want your neighbors partner of possessions. If we truly look at our selves we will see just how much wrong we have done. And if we know this, then we will also know just how much Christ’s sacrifice on the cross really means for us. Because when he died on the cross he took upon himself all of your sins. And he says to you today, tomorrow and forever: Your faith has saved you; go in peace.
This is the truth. We have all been forgiven for so, so, so much. And this gives us the ability to love so, so much. We have been given the opportunity to show mercy and compassion to all those we meet and to show them true hospitality just like the woman in this story.
To finish off I want you to read Matthew 25:34-40: 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
This is how we show our love. By loving all those society sees as outcasts, by inviting them into our lives and showing them true love. Your sins have been forgiven, all of them. Not one is too big to be forgiven. Whoever has been forgiven much, loves much.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
