Much Love – Much Forgiveness

Luke 7:36-50 - read this text online here »

A Pharisee, a woman with a shady reputation and Jesus. Put these three in the same story and we can be sure there will be intrigue, tension and conflict of some kind. Luke’s story in today’s Scripture does not disappoint.

Everything started off well enough. The Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner with a few other guests – no doubt other Pharisees. And Jesus accepted the invitation. Throughout the story we discover a few things. We learn that Simon had some prior history with Jesus. This doesn’t appear to be the first time Simon interacted with Jesus. For instance:

• Simon knew enough about Jesus to invite him to dinner. He knew enough about Jesus to believe he would accept his invitation. Here is the intrigue: perhaps Simon would be able to determine more about who Jesus was and what he was about during their dinner conversation. Was Jesus really the prophet the people thought he was? Maybe Simon had other motives. Maybe he would be able to trip Jesus up into saying or doing something self-incriminating. As we learn later in the story, this was not the warmest of dinner invitations.
• And Jesus himself knew enough about Simon to accept the dinner invitation.

But it didn’t take long before the dinner party got interesting – with some tension and potential conflict. In through the open door of Simon’s house came a woman “who was a sinner,” the Scripture says. Clearly a woman with a “reputation.” In Jesus’ day, few doors in local houses were locked as they are today. And passers-by could see what was happening in the house, especially if people were in the courtyard. They could then drop in to the event.

So a woman slipped into the house and stood behind Jesus at his feet while the group was having dinner. When we have our lunch later, we will sit on chairs with our feet underneath a table. The custom in Jesus’ time was to recline on a cushion facing the table so their feet turned away from the table. We learn this woman also had a history with Jesus as Simon did. (We don’t know her name but she was not Mary Magdalene as some think.)

• The woman learned Jesus was in town, even where he was having a meal, and went to find him. She seemed to know Jesus would receive her – he would not shame her or turn her away.
• She was grateful – emotionally grateful (embarrassingly so for most of us) -- to see Jesus. We discover she had been forgiven by him at some earlier time and now she poured out her gratitude to him in tears, kisses and perfume.

Some more intrigue: I wonder how the woman knew Jesus was in town and exactly where he would be. Do you think Simon and his guests – Pharisees as well -- might have let it be known “on the streets” that Jesus was coming to dinner at Simon’s place? Who knew who might then drop in? Who knew what might happen at dinner? How fortunate for them that this street woman appeared and acted the way she did with Jesus! “IF this man really were a prophet,” Simon said to himself, “he would know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!” We can almost hear them quietly chortling and watching Jesus closely, thinking: “He should, of course, call her behaviour into question and turn her away – just as any good Pharisee would.”

But then Jesus turned the tables on Simon and set him up. “Simon, I have something to tell you.” Simon was all ears as Jesus continued.

“Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker cancelled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”

And Simon fell into the trap. “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus.

Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, Jesus said: “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.” [The Message Bible]

Simon and the other Pharisees had a view of righteousness that caused them to distance themselves in disdain from the presence of sinful people – in this case, a sinful woman. On the other hand, Jesus understood righteousness to mean he should move toward such a person with compassion and forgiveness and a blessing of peace.

But something else was happening in this encounter with Jesus. From the beginning, Simon responded radically different to Jesus than the woman did. Remember, Simon did not invite Jesus to dinner with the intention of becoming friends. How ironic was this picture Jesus showed to Simon. Even though Jesus was a guest in Simon’s home, it was a sinner, not the so-called good person, who actually extended hospitality to him. In fact, Simon offered none of the normal cultural hospitality to Jesus. The woman’s hospitality that Jesus described went far beyond anything Simon and the other Pharisees understood. But “hospitality” didn’t really name the woman’s response to Jesus. Her spontaneous tears and drying his feet with her hair, her kisses on his feet and soothing them with perfume, could only be called extravagant love and overwhelming gratitude.

After Jesus told Simon and his other guests why the woman was so grateful and loving toward him, he said reassuring and life-giving words to the woman: “Your sins are forgiven.”

If Jesus was in difficulty with Simon and the other Pharisees because he accepted the woman’s way of expressing her gratitude and love for him, his saying to her “Your sins are forgiven” really got Jesus into trouble. For they knew Jesus was saying, “I forgive your sins.” They understood “only God can forgive sins” as they said on another occasion. They looked at each other: “Who does he think he is -- forgiving sins!”

That was a driving question for them then as it is for us today. Who does Jesus think he is? Who do we think he is -- this one “who even forgives sins?”

I read an article this week titled “Why Jesus Died.” It intrigued me. The author, Dr. David Lose, a professor of preaching, said this story about Jesus, Simon and the woman offered an answer to why Jesus died that was not immediately theological -- such as “to take away sin” or “to redeem humankind” (both of which are true). But Prof. Lose asked the question this way: “What made people so mad they would kill Jesus over it?” I have often wondered that myself. When we read the Bible, it seems Jesus went from place to place basically talking about God’s kingdom by teaching about loving God and loving neighbours, by healing people of their diseases and illnesses, by feeding people and by forgiving wrongdoing or sin. And we might ask, what was so bad about those activities?

We have been talking about Pharisees. Let’s remind ourselves the Pharisees were actually the good people in first-century Judaism. They were the ones who cared deeply about their religion -- who took responsibility for their religion flourishing. They were the elders, church council members, the Sabbath school superintendents of their day. We saw how Jesus compared Simon’s lack of basic hospitality with the woman’s extravagant expression of love and gratitude. Jesus let everyone there know that the woman had recognized and repented of her sin and so had received his forgiveness -- and she was pouring out her enormous gratitude. On the other hand, Jesus implied, Simon did not act out of gratitude because he did not believe he needed forgiveness – at least not very much.

And that is what got Jesus killed. On this occasion, it was not the preaching, teaching, healing or feeding. It was the forgiving! Why? Because who was Jesus to forgive sins? And because forgiveness implies need, guilt and brokenness, which Jesus indicated Simon and the others did not recognize in themselves. Let me put it another way: If I know I need forgiveness, there is nothing better than being offered forgiveness. However, if I don’t believe I need to be forgiven, there is nothing worse than being offered forgiveness.

Most of us here are old enough to remember when United States President Richard Nixon resigned his office in August 1974 because he faced near-certain conviction of his involvement in the Watergate scandal. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a pardon to Nixon after his resignation. Pat Nixon called Gerald Ford’s pardon of her husband “the saddest day of my life.” Why? Because she believed (until the day she died) that her husband had done nothing wrong.

Few people have difficulty believing that someone such as the woman in today’s story needed forgiveness. She was an obvious sinner who had broken the moral law and commandments of God. While we are not told the details of her life, we sense from the way she responded to Jesus and the way Jesus compared her extravagance to Simon’s miserliness, that she had been deeply broken personally and knew her need of forgiveness. On the other hand, there are many people today -- not merely a few people -- who believe they have no such need of forgiveness. They have no guilt about anything as deeply felt as the woman’s. So if someone like Jesus implies they do need forgiveness, they get upset or defensive and are not sure what to do with Jesus or his implication.

Why might that be the case? Because to admit I need to be forgiven, to admit I am guilty of wrongdoing of some kind, to admit any sense of brokenness -- that admission destroys any illusion I may have about being self-sufficient and that I can make it through this life on my own. It destroys the illusion I may have that I am better than I really am. Humanity’s folly is to believe we can live life on our own terms – especially without needing God.

We don’t know what Simon said or did about Jesus immediately after he left. We don’t know what Simon or his Pharisee friends thought about who Jesus was when Jesus said to the woman at the end of today’s story, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” We don’t know how they answered their own question “Who does this man think he is, going around forgiving sins?”

But we do know what the woman thought about Jesus. Because she was forgiven by God of her many, many sins as Jesus indicated, she was extravagant in her love and gratitude to Jesus who forgave her. And this story in Luke shows the remarkable bonding of love between Jesus, the forgiver, and the forgiven woman.

Presbyterian Pastor Lee Eclov illustrates this bonding with the following story he told in one of his sermons. He had to purchase an airline ticket for his wife to visit her sister. He said he would do it online, using his computer. He assured her:

“I’ve done it before, and it’s a snap.” I picked the time, checked “one passenger,” “one-way,” the airline, even the seat assignment. Then I checked that I understood this was non-refundable and non-transferable, and that my credit card would be charged. I clicked on “Yes, I’m sure. This will complete my transaction.”

Then he noticed the ticket was for him and not for his wife. He panicked. He wasn’t the one flying and he did not want to pay an extra $152! He called American Airlines.

“Sorry,” the guy said after conferring with his supervisor. “There’s nothing we can do.” I was sick. “Try calling Travelocity,” the airline agent said.

I did, and a voice said: “Due to the large volume of calls you may have to wait.” Aaargh! Ten minutes of elevator music.

Then Jacob came on the line. “Jacob,” I said, “I made a terrible mistake, and I’m hoping you can help me.” I explained what had happened.

“No problem,” Jacob said, “I’ll delete your transaction here, and you can go online and redo your reservation.”

“Really, Jacob?” I said, “Just like that? No penalty or anything?”

“No problem,” Jacob said.

“Jacob, you are a gift from God! You made my day,” I gushed. If he had been there, I surely would have hugged him.

Pastor Lee concluded his comments this way: “If your debt is great enough, having it erased by someone is a bonding experience! When you’re forgiven much, you love much. Face your sin, and you will fall in love with Jesus.”

Eugene Peterson, who wrote The Message Bible, said the following about what he called “gospel work”:

“Muckraking [you know, going after and then publicizing misconduct by prominent people] is not gospel work. Witch-hunting is not gospel work. Shaming the outcast is not gospel work. Forgiving sin is gospel work.”

My friends, we need God’s forgiveness of our sins. We all need the forgiveness that cost Jesus his suffering and death on the cross for us. We need it because we have all missed the mark – none of us measures up to the goodness of Jesus, the goodness of God. And yet the goodness of God longs to forgive us – to forgive all humanity. And Jesus was willing to pay the cost with his life.

We also need to see others through the eyes of compassion and forgiveness like Jesus. Simon and the other Pharisees did not really see the heart of the woman who walked into Simon’s house. They did not see her love and gratitude for Jesus because of their own lack of compassion, forgiveness and gratitude in their lives – and their unawareness of their own sin. Whom do we leave out of our sight? We dare not leave anyone on the outside because Jesus’ compassion is for everyone and his forgiveness is offered to all.

May this be so for you and for me.

Rev. Chris Miller
June 13, 2010
Donway Place
Oriole-York Mills United Church, Toronto website »