Late last year there were a lot of stories on TV and the media about Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the Washington socialites who crashed President Obama’s state dinner. Even though they didn’t have the invitation that was clearly required to gain admittance, they went through multiple security checkpoints and got into the White House anyway – where they were able to mingle with the guests who actually were invited, and they even had their picture taken with a number of famous people, including the President himself.
In today’s Gospel lesson we hear what happened 2,000 years ago when another uninvited guest showed up at an important dinner party – and just like the Salahi’s at the White House, she walked right in and created quite a stir.
St. Luke describes her as “a woman of the city, who was a sinner.” Beyond that, we have to guess about just what those sins were. Since Luke later says in verse 47 that “her sins are many,” we can assume that she was pretty notorious for her behavior. Some suggest that she may have been the town prostitute. We can’t know for sure – but what we do know is that the host reacted with shock, with horror, with disgust. Pharisees were fine upstanding religious and community leaders, and Simon the Pharisee would never dream of inviting someone like this sinful woman into his home.
And yet, in she walks – and walks right up to Jesus. Then she does something else pretty shocking – she unbinds her hair so that she can use it to wipe Jesus’ feet when she cries on them and anoints them. You have to understand that in ancient times, it was considered disgraceful – even indecent – for a woman to let her hair down in public. You can only imagine what the host – and all of the other guests, for that matter – had to be thinking about her.
It appears that Simon, the Pharisee who invited Jesus to the meal, was curious about Jesus but certainly didn’t have any faith in Him. He recognizes Jesus as a teacher or possibly as a prophet – but just another teacher or prophet – and nothing more. And Simon certainly doesn’t go out of his way to show Jesus the common courtesies that you were expected to show to an important guest. Guests were supposed to have their feet washed, were supposed to be greeted with a kiss, were supposed to have their heads anointed with oil – but Simon doesn’t do any of that for Jesus. Sure, Jesus actually had an invitation to the meal, but Simon didn’t see the need to give Jesus any special treatment.
But this scandalous, sinful woman – the woman who had no right to be there – is the only one who greets Jesus in the manner that an important guest was supposed to be treated. She washed His feet with her own tears. She kissed His feet. She anointed His feet. She treated Jesus with honor and respect and love – not just as an important guest, but as her Lord.
Simon reacts by jumping to the conclusion that Jesus certainly can’t be a very good prophet or He would have known all about this woman’s sins. After all, if Jesus had known who she was and how notorious she was, He wouldn’t have even let her touch Him!
But as know from our 21st century hindsight, Jesus is far more than just another run-of-the-mill prophet. Jesus does know all about this woman and her sins. And to make His point, He launches into a story about two men who owe debts to a moneylender. One debt was large, the other was small – but when neither can pay his debt, the moneylender graciously cancels them – he considers them paid in full. Jesus asks which of them will love the moneylender more and Simon replies, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” Jesus tells Simon that he’s absolutely right – but Simon still doesn’t get it.
Next Jesus asks Simon, “Do you see this woman?” Sure, Simon sees her – she’d be hard to miss with all of the commotion she’s caused – but in fact, he really doesn’t see her at all. As far as Simon the Pharisee is concerned, this sinful woman doesn’t deserve to be noticed by him or by any other respectful person. She is not worthy of his notice. She is a sinner! She is the scum of the earth.
She is – in other words – us. She realizes that she is a sinner. She repents. She has faith that Jesus can and will forgive her sins. She has come and bowed before her only hope of redemption, before the one and only person who could forgive her for all of the terrible sins she had committed. Even though none of us may have committed the very same sins that this woman has committed, we’re all sinners, too. We’re all evil through and through. And Jesus is our only hope for redemption.
Simon the Pharisee was a sinner, too, but he is so self-righteous that he doesn’t realize it and certainly won’t admit it. He’s so self-important that he doesn’t see Jesus for who He is, either. He’s so holier-than-thou that he would never dream of lumping himself in the same category as the sinful woman. Luke doesn’t specifically tells us, but we can guess that Simon was probably pretty offended when Jesus talks about how the woman treated Jesus the way that Simon was supposed to treat Jesus – but didn’t. Jesus uses the sinful woman as an example of how Simon the Pharisee should be living his life! Simon may have been embarrassed, he may have been offended by Jesus’ words – but we never read that Simon repented of his sins.
I mentioned that the sinful woman is us – but truth be told, Simon the Pharisee is us, too. Like Simon, we sometimes are quick to judge people, to assume that we are better than them, to hold grudges – and to withhold our forgiveness. We think that other people are worse sinners than we are. If a notorious sinner were to walk in the doors of St. Paul right now, how would we react? Would we welcome that person with love? Would we reach out – or would we turn away? Would we see that person as an honored guest in Christ’s Church – or as someone who just doesn’t belong here?
Jesus tells the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” The difference between the woman and the Pharisee is that in spite of her many sins, she has faith in Jesus but the Pharisee doesn’t. The difference between us and the Pharisee is that in spite of our many sins, we have faith, too.
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” I never ceased to be amazed how things happen in the Church and in our lives – things that some might be tempted to call coincidences – but which in fact seem to be God’s all-knowing purpose. Consider this: for the past couple of weeks we have been inviting you to sign the sheet in the narthex so that we can sing some of your favorite hymns during our Worship Services this summer. The hymn that was requested for this week – and the first hymn we will sing during Communion distribution – is number 922, “Go, My Children, with My Blessing.” When you sing it, please pay special attention to verse two to see how closely it echoes what Jesus is telling us in our Gospel lesson. It reads like this:
Go, My children, sins forgiven,
At peace and pure.
Here you learned how much I love you,
What I can cure.
Here you heard My dear Son’s story;
Here you touched Him, saw His glory.
Go, My children, sins forgiven,
At peace and pure.
Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” He speaks those words to us and to all believers. Our faith has saved us. Go in peace.
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