Really Jesus... Forgive a Sinner?

June 16, 2013                                        

Luke 7:36-8:3

Story: Bill Cosby talks about the difference between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. He insists that Mother’s Day is a much bigger deal because Mothers are more organized. Mothers say to their children: Now here is a list of what I want. Go get the money from your father and you surprise me on Mother’s Day.

For Father's Day, I give each of my five kids $20 so that they can go to the store and buy me a present--a total of $100. They buy two packages of underwear, each of which costs $5 and contains three shorts. They tear them open and each kid wraps up one pair, the sixth going to the Salvation Army. Therefore, on Father's Day I’m walking around with new underwear and my kid's are walking around with $90 worth of my change in their pockets.

Adapted from Fatherhood by Bill Cosby (Source: Brett Blair)

Prayer:

There is really a lot in this story one could talk about, but I’m going to narrow it down and focus on the two main characters… the sinful woman and Simon the Pharisee. And also Luke presents an interesting story that the other gospel writers don’t write about… in fact the others don’t even tell this story. Matt, Mark & John tell a similar story of Mary of Martha & Mary fame where Mary pour perfume on Jesus’ feet and dry’s them with her hair. However…  in this story there is a sinful woman and a righteous Pharisee… the other, a righteous woman and indignant disciple… Judas.

This story is also different because Luke’s Jesus tends to present women in a more favorable light and Luke’s Jesus tends to do a lot more forgiving of sinners than the other gospels. This seems to go against all the rules of the church because Jesus… the prophet… is forgiving sinners thus pushing aside the Pharisee’s position, and eliminating a revenue stream for them. Furthermore this also starts a cat & mouse game between Jesus and the religious elite… and we know how this ends.

This story about two completely different people is also a story about forgiveness and the gratitude that forgiveness creates. It’s also a story about hardness of heart & Judgment & entitlement as opposed to love & forgiveness & gratitude.

This story begins with an invitation for Jesus to share a meal with a top Pharisee and then goes against all conventional wisdom & rules when this so called sinful woman showers Jesus with extravagant hospitality over against Simon the Pharisee’s lack of hospitality.  And all of this changes the focus of why Simon invited Jesus over in the first place.

However… this story really begins before Jesus even gets the invite to dinner. Jesus forgave this woman previously and now she buys some expensive perfume and displays her deep gratitude towards Jesus by washing his feet. This outburst shocks Simon and his other guests saying, “If this man were really a prophet, he would know that this woman was a sinner.” But Jesus did know… that’s why he forgave her previously. Jesus then tells a short parable of who is more thankful of a person, one who owed more or a person who owed less after their debts are forgiven.

Simon says, “I suppose the one who’d owed more.” I wonder if this is how Jesus responded… Really Simon…. You suppose… of course the one who owed more!! Then Jesus traps Simon and I think us too… in our judgment with his next comments…

Simon… Have you noticed this woman? Have you really noticed her!

Simon did you give me water to wash my feet… like she washed my feet?

She washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair.

Simon… You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but she can’t stop kissing my feet.

Simon… You didn’t pour oil on my head, but she poured expensive perfume on my feet.

Yes… I forgave her of her sins and she does all of this out of great love.

What have you done… Simon?

Jesus forgives her again… in front of everyone…and SHOCK… who is this who forgives sins? What they are saying is… REALLY JESUS… FORGIVE A SINNER?

Well… YES… it’s what the ministry of Jesus was all about… to demonstrate God’s Love & Forgiveness.

For this woman… this story of forgiveness is a blessing and she expresses gratitude because she knows she needs it.

For Simon… I think he’s pretty sure he doesn’t need forgiveness.

o   He obeys the law and all the rules.

o   He’s a righteous one.

o   In fact… not only doesn’t he need forgiveness… the very mention of this is threatening & offensive.

o   And over time he becomes angry and ultimately it will lead to violence.

Closing:

This story in our lectionary when pointed out is one we might not want to hear about. But it is a story that needs to be pointed out as we in our lives often become more self-righteous than we ought to be. And we’ve all fallen into this at some point in our lives and our lives as church.

Many of us would like to identify with the woman, but often find ourselves or the church like Simon the Pharisee: Simon the judgmental, Simon the arrogant, Simon who couldn't even show the common courtesy of a welcoming kiss, but who still believed himself several cuts above the repentant woman.

The problem if we are like Simon, we are often blind to our need for forgiveness. Jesus did not tell the parable of the two debtors for the woman's benefit, but for Simon's. When a person suffers from sin-hiding blindness, it often takes direct confrontation to expose those characteristics to force insight.

If we don't see any of Simon in our own character, it may be we are blind to owning up to ourselves...but it could be because Simons always have trouble seeing themselves as they are. Jesus confronted Simon with the parable to make him see. We can use the parable in the same way to confront ourselves with the truth, then such forgiveness can take place in our lives and in the life of the faith community.

See You Out on the Road