Scripture: Luke 7: 36-50 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’ Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denari and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’
I have no authority except my own to support this idea, but I think that the gospel of Luke is the most beautiful of the four gospels. Now, I do believe that all of the gospels have their strengths and there isn’t even one we could do without but…well, Luke is just a better written narrative than Mark, not as bossy as Matthew, and far more down to earth than John. In the Gospel of Luke, for me, the human nature of Jesus of Nazareth becomes more real. Maybe it’s because he talked so much about actual, touchable, present things. He talked about birds and lilies, sweeping floors, lost money. There are stories about pesky neighbors, planting crops and crooked judges. In the gospel of Luke, life is very much something measured out in days lived in a particular place, in a particular time, with particular people. Maybe translated into our time there would be parables about foam coffee cups and pop-top cans, fast food, and indigestion. We all know that life is made up of moments of numbing triviality right along side of moments of deep amazement and joy and moments of heartbreaking sorrow. In this gospel the many and varied bits of things that make up our lives; the sublime and the ridiculous, the trivial and profound, are all mixed together with a little bit of heaven mixed in. Of course, Jesus could see more clearly than we can that the world was shot through with holiness, but still, it was filled with real people with real lives.
You see, I think that we are so used to the pastel watercolor pictures of Jesus doing his ministry that we first saw in Sunday School (you know, the ones where all the appropriate people already have their halos painted in place) that it’s hard for us to imagine the gospel story I just read as the everyday sort of thing I think it started out as. Apparently, Simon (not Simon Peter, but Simon the Pharisee) had invited Jesus to his house for dinner. Jesus was a homeless preacher and if there is a place in any gospel where he turns down the offer of a meal I don’t recall it. So he was there, reclining on his left arm in order to leave his right hand free for eating. His feet would have been tucked behind him, most likely exposed since sandals would have been removed. In other words, once this woman, this sinner, crashed the party it would not have been difficult or awkward for her to bathe Jesus’ feet with ointment. She was crying and her tears dripped on his feet and she dried them with her hair.
In other gospels there is a similar story but in those ,the woman anoints Jesus’ head . The way Luke remembers it she was so humbled by the value of the forgiveness that she had been given she only dared anoint his feet.
There is an old song; some of you might recall it. It was recorded in 1989 by song writer Don Henley of the Eagles. The refrain in the song says: “Been tryin’ to get down to the heart of the matter (but the will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter) but I think it’s about….. I think it’s about forgiveness”. I assure you that I know nothing whatsoever about Don Henley’s religious beliefs, but I do know that it is my belief that the “heart of the matter” of Christianity is forgiveness.
Here is a story that I read somewhere, oh, a long time ago now…There was a very self sufficient little girl living somewhere in Latin America who liked to go out into the groves and fields by her home and just be there alone. She came home one day and he told her parents that she had seen and talked to Jesus! They told her it was probably only a dream; that she fell asleep in the field and dreamed that she saw Jesus. They exchanged an amused smile and thought they had heard the end of that charming story. But no, the next day she came home again and reported happily that she had seen and talked to Jesus. Now her parents were getting concerned and when this went on for several days, they called in the parish priest. He questioned the little girl and tried to shake her story but she stuck to her guns. She insisted that she saw and talked to Jesus.
The local Bishop (who secretly thought of himself as a very clever old fox) was called in. He was sure that he had a plan to trap her into admitting that she was making it all up. The little girl was brought before him and he said in an imposing voice: “So you’re the little girl who talks to Jesus everyday?” “Yes I am” she said, smiling. “Well” , he said, “here’s what I want you to do. Tomorrow when you go and talk with Jesus I want you to ask him what sins I told in the confessional last Saturday. Only Jesus would know that so if you can tell me what sins I confessed last Saturday, then we’ll know that you are talking to Jesus.”
On the next day she went out to play as usual except everyone was waiting for her, including the Bishop himself, when she returned. “Little girl, did you speak to Jesus today?” “Yes, I did” , she said. “And did you ask him what sins I told in the confessional?” The little girl looked up at him and said: “Yes, I did, I asked him.” “Well what did he say?” The little girl looked at him with sweetness and confidence and said: “All Jesus just said was : “I forgot”.
If you’re keeping score, it’s ‘little girl‘, one, ‘Bishop’ , zero. Maybe she was just very clever but I’m inclined to think she was telling the truth. If the Gospel of Luke has a single message it is this: Forgiveness flows freely from God, though Jesus. Really freely. Things are just warming up here in the 7th Chapter. By the 15th Chapter, Luke is a riot of forgiveness! The “master” does not only forgive those who come for it; the master goes out and looks for them so that forgiveness can be given. I don’t think you would get too much argument from Bible scholars is you said that the whole subtext of the Gospel is forgiveness, restoration, and healing, poured out and running over.
Now in the verses I read today, Jesus did not say to the sinful woman “well, under certain circumstances, you’ll be forgiven.” He said “you are forgiven.” We don’t know what happened to her after this encounter. We don’t know if her circumstances changed. But we can be sure that she was changed. Forgiveness doesn’t always change circumstances, but it always changes people.
To appreciate the scandalous nature of this gospel story we have to remember to remember that she was a really sinful woman and the Pharisee was really a righteous man, according to the existing system of law and justice. The power of the gospel stories gets diluted because, well, we tend to make bad guys out of the Pharisee’s. And they weren’t; they were men who worked hard at being good. They asked Jesus what, to them, was a good question: “Why do you so freely forgive this awful woman?” And he not only affirms that he has forgiven her, he uses her as the positive example when he tells the Pharisee off! Where is the justice in that? In the Gospel of Luke it seems as if all the advantages go to the sinners! What are we to do with that information?
Well, it helps to remember that Jesus was a healer, not a judge. Of course, justice has a place in the course of human affairs. There is such a thing as right and wrong and we have to have some rules to live by just to live together. Justice is necessary but justice does not heal. Justice is (or certainly should be) related to the law but the scandalous truth is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t always show much deference for the law. The law gives us some rules to keep out of each other’s hair, but it’s the spirit, only the spirit which heals. I think that Jesus talked about forgiveness so much because it is hard to do, and because he knew the high cost to the one who will not forgive.
Jesus as our healer and a savior taught forgiveness because he knew that carrying anger and vengeance is one of the ways that we destroy that which is good in us.
When I was still in seminary the pastor of a church I was serving as an intern (and who was, therefore my supervisor) demanded to know if there was anything in the Bible which said that you had to forgive someone if they did not ask for forgiveness!
You know, it was really clear that he had given the whole matter a lot of thought and research and he wanted me to agree with what he thought he had found. I think this whole business of repentance (or not) as a condition of forgiveness is a tough one. I told him I wanted to think about it. I was really trying to buy some time. I realized that I needed to know what (actually who) he was talking about. Next day when I saw him I said: “Who is it?” “My son” And I said “How long has this been going on between the two of you? “Four years” he answered with a lot of pain and exhaustion in his voice. And then he just began to talk about it. “He’s my only son! What can I do? He won’t apologize even though he knows as well as I do that I’m right.” I said: “Well, you’ve been right and you’ve been miserable for four years. I guess you’re going to have to choose between being right and being healed.”
Here’s a retelling from my memory of a parable that was written a long time ago by an old friend and appeared in one of his sermons.
Once upon a time in a land we have all been to one time or another there lived a man named Justice and he was a sour and unhappy man. Oh, he was good; he was known to all the village to be an upstanding and righteous person who always did what he should and always made sure that everyone knew that he did what he should according to the rules. He had a son and, of course, he raised him exactly right and according to the rules but as these things sometimes happen the son did a terrible thing and disgraced Justice in front of the whole village. Now the people in the village knew what a hard man he was and knew he would never forgive him, but they were surprised. Justice knew that he was supposed to forgive so he pretended to but , in fact, every time he thought of his son and the shame that he caused him, his feelings would turn bitter.
Now this phony forgiveness didn’t set very well in heaven so every time he thought about his son with anger, his Guardian Angel would drop a pebble in his heart. And he began to feel little stabs of pain. He knew that the pain was caused from the anger toward his son, so, of course, he got more angry and resented him more. More anger, more pebbles, more pain, more anger…… This, we call a vicious circle.
The pebbles piled up until his heart became heavy and he became so weary with the weight and the pain that he wished to God that he were dead. And this we call a teachable moment.
One night the Angel that was dropping the pebbles into his heart came to him and said: “There is a remedy, but only one, for that which is hurting you. What you need is the miracle of new eyes. You need a new way of looking at your son. (Remember that Jesus asked the Pharisee “Do you SEE that woman?” Because the Pharisee, full of judgment and righteousness did not see her, he just saw a sinner.) The angel said “You must stop seeing him as one who disgraced you and see him as your beloved son who needs your forgiveness. Every time you see him this way, really see him, a pebble will be lifted from your heart.” Justice protested, “You cannot change the past! He is guilty and there isn’t an angel in heaven who can change that!” The Angel replied: “You’re right, you cannot change the past; but you can change the pain that comes you through the wounds of yesterday. But you need new eyes to truly see your son.”
“And how do I get those eyes?” “Only ask! and desiring while you ask they will be given to you,” Well, of course, he didn’t ask at once because he had come to cherish his disappointments and hurt. And this we call sin
But finally, the pain of all of those pebbles; the weariness of it all, drove him to ask for a new way of seeing and it was given to him. He began, slowly, to look at his son with those new eyes and his what he saw began to change. Amazingly so! And, one by one, pebbles were taken from his heart and little by little his heart got lighter and he could walk more upright. He began to enjoy his life and became a less righteous and a more loving man. And the Angels in heaven sang for joy!
Now this is the kind of story that you get to finish yourself. Maybe he and his son were reconciled, maybe the son had his own forgiveness problems. Forgiveness doesn’t always change circumstances, but it always changes the one who forgives.
As we go about our lives this week maybe we could think of someone that we need to forgive. It may be someone who has hurt your feelings; it may be someone who has wrecked your life…Is there a heavy place in your heart? Are there pebbles there? If you are carrying a grievance and you’re tired of it and you don’t know what to do with all of that pain, this may be your teachable moment. This may be the time for you to ask to see someone in a different way.
It isn’t easy. God knows; we all know, how hard it is. Maybe all you can do this week is convince yourself that it would be a good thing to let go of your pain. If you’re a little further along, and you find that you can ask for those new eyes and begin to forgive, you will begin to heal and you may be able to repair the relationship. . But whatever the outcome; whatever it will do for the other person or the relationship, what it will do for you is give you peace. And that’s the truth at the heart of the matter which makes the Angels sing.
Will you pray with me please?
Forgiving God, grant us new eyes and loving eyes with which to see those whom we judge. Help us to follow the example of Jesus who gave forgiveness with open hands and loving eyes. Be with us, stay with us, and help us to heal. In Jesus name, Amen.
Judith Vicari
First Congregational Church/United Church of Christ
Las Vegas, NV
June 20, 2010