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A sermon is a manner of oral communication and therefore words and sentence structure/order would be added, altered, or deleted at the moment of delivery. + In Nomine Jesu + The Rev. Evan Gaertner Today is a story of forgiveness. But I suppose we could say that about most of the stories in the gospels. Let me then be more specific. This is a story about where and in whom we find God’s grace filled forgiveness. The whole region was alive with the buzz of what Jesus was accomplishing. So one of the Pharisees named Simon asked Jesus to eat with him. Simon is an important part of the community and he invites Jesus to his home to see these claims for himself. His motive may be to entrap Jesus rather than to learn from him. His status as the big man on campus was being challenged by Jesus. As the dinner proceeds Simon’s motives become transparent. A woman who is well known in the community is allowed to enter the dinner area with an expensive jar of myrrh, an ointment. She was clearly a woman with some wealth to be able to afford this alabaster jar and the ointment inside of it. She sat behind where Jesus was reclining at the table to cover Jesus feet with the soothing ointment. She began to wet Jesus feet with her tears and kisses and dried his feet with her hair. I have wondered how such a woman was even able to enter Simon’s home and allowed to make a scene like this. But consider the opportunity this gives Simon to test Jesus. Simon was surprised because if Jesus was truly the prophet that everybody was saying then Jesus should have known what type of woman this was that was making such a scene. Simon expected the prophet to bring God’s word of judgment against this sinful woman and if Jesus does not rebuke this woman then he could not be the man that everybody was buzzing about. This woman’s actions in the past were well known. Simon, a man of the Law knew that according to the law she should be judged. But instead of Simon testing Jesus, he becomes the one tested when Jesus spoke up. Jesus told a story about two men who both owed another money. One owed a very large amount and then other smaller amount. When they could not pay the debts of both was canceled. Jesus asked Simon, “Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered the obvious, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.” Jesus told Simon, “You have judged rightly.” Simon passed the test. I suppose we would all pass that kind of test. But the challenge is not with the words we answer the test but with the actions. Jesus asked Simon at this point, “Simon do you see this woman?” Of course everybody was waiting for Jesus to notice this woman and to bring God’s word of judgment against her. But Jesus said to Simon, “I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained her tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greetings, 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.” All of her actions are impressive. Now we look at not just words, but also actions, and by her actions we are invited to see that she was a woman who has been forgiven much. She has seen the truth about herself. That was a truth that the society was constantly reminding her. But in Jesus she saw more importantly also the truth about God. She saw in Jesus’ words and works the promise of the one who was to come. Simon was looking to test Jesus and instead he becomes the one tested. He could see in Jesus’ story the right answer, but he could not see in his own dining room the right answer. The woman saw the answer in that dining room was Jesus. Jesus gathers sinners to himself so that the Law does not have the final word. In our lives if the law was allowed to have the last word, who among us could stand? We stand by faith in the words and works of Jesus Christ our savior. Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day to carry us sinners out from under the judgment of the law. We are forgiven children of God, loved and redeemed. If we have been forgiven much, Jesus reminds us in this woman, then we will love much. If we see ourselves not in need of the forgiveness of God because we have lived according to the Law then we will be like Simon, blind to the grace filled work of Jesus. The love of the kingdom of God comes from the forgiveness of the kingdom of God. If you think that you stand in the Kingdom on your own, than you will love little because you believe you stand by what you deserve and are entitled to. Our mission and ministry is not about Simon’s task of figuring out who is in and who is out of the kingdom. Living by faith we are forgiven. Living by faith we love. Living by faith we hold onto who we are in Jesus. You are a redeemed child of God. The woman was bold and courageous. She was living the words of Ps. 32 “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” In Jesus she no longer lived under the judgment stare of Simon. In Jesus she lived under his banner of love. Please checking out crossings.org for the great textual studies that show how the Gospel intersects with our lives. This sermon was prepared with a text study from crossings.org Soli Deo Gloria |
