Much Forgiveness, Much Love
Luke 7:36-50 | 6/20/2004
There are two ‘women of faith’ in the new Testament who have no names…One is a woman who, after twelve years of living with an ailment, touched the garment of Jesus as he was on his way to resurrect a girl from death. Yearning to touch Jesus and out of desperation, Jesus says to the woman, “Your faith has healed you….Go in peace.”
Today’s passage is a story about a woman who either sits or falls at the feet of Jesus. For women in general, I believe, such intimacy comes more easily. Because of that, the women of the scripture are used by God to call all of us into a loving, personal relationship with the One who yearns to have us at His feet.
The unnamed characters of the Bible are important, for it might be easier to insert our names into the story. It is as if the Scriptures invite us to place ourselves in the unnamed person’s place. So may we find ourselves in the scripture today as God’s Word speaks to us….
Luke 7:36-43 (from The Message) 36 One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee's house and sat down at the dinner table. 37Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume 38and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. 39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him."
40 Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Oh? Tell me."
41 "Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. 42Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?"
43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most." "That's right," said Jesus.
44 Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he 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.
45 You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. 46You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. 47Impressive, 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."
48 Then he spoke to her: "I forgive your sins."
49 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: "Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!"
50 He ignored them and said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."
Jesus had been invited to the home of a Pharisee by a man named. Since this was the early in his ministry, I’m sure the Pharisees, at the least, wanted to know more about Jesus and, perhaps, even begin to “trick” Jesus into saying or doing things that would have violated their legalistic interpretation of the Law.
Perhaps Jesus arrived late or the Pharisees chose not to welcome him, but the traditional common courtesies of the host to the guest were not offered to Jesus. Normally, first - - the feet would be washed; second - - the guest would be greeted with a kiss by the host; and third, the host would apply oil to the head as a fragrant lotion.
But when Jesus visited the home of this Pharisee, none of these things happened. Luke says that Jesus sat down at the table, without His feet being washed, without the customary kiss, without the oil.
Now, as they began eating, an unusual thing happened. This woman - Luke calls her a sinner - came to where they were eating - probably an outdoor patio to take advantage of the evening breezes. She fell at the feet of Jesus and started crying. Her tears fell on His feet, so she dried them with her hair. After kissing his feet, she took a bottle of expensive perfume and poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet.
He is then criticized by Simon……you must not be a prophet…. Jesus replies, “Simon, I’ve got a situation for you….” As a matter of fact, why don’t we all play the “Simon game” today!
Once upon a time, there were two men who owed money to the same man. One owed 50 days wage - - about 10 weeks worth of income - - and the other owed 500 days of wage - - almost two years worth of income. The man gives the debtors a statement of debt with the stamp - - “PAID IN FULL.” Jesus asks Simon, (and us) “Who’s the most grateful?” (Pause for a few seconds)
And Simon’s answer? “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” (v. 43) Jesus responds, “You’re right!”
Then, he turns to the woman and says to Simon, “Did you see what she did? I came to YOUR house - - no one gave me water to wash my dirty feet, no welcoming kiss, no oil on my head…but she washed my feet with her tears and put oil on them and kissed them . . . I tell you her sins are forgiven for she has loved much…”
And then….the punch line….tucked away into the story - -- easy to miss….but I don’t want YOU to miss it…“For the one who has been forgiven little, loves little”
He says to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
I love the punch line - - “The one who has been forgiven little loves little.” Jesus revealed to Simon that the weeping woman in the midst of this formal banquet had indeed many sins, but they had all been forgiven. The outpouring of loving thankfulness that bathes Jesus' feet with tears and then anoints them with oil demonstrates this woman's response to her forgiveness: "She has shown great love," Jesus says in verse 47.
“For the one who has been forgiven little, loves little. For the one who has much forgiven, loves BIG.”
In most families there is one member who is designated the "wild one," the "troublemaker," the "challenge." This is the child who is always causing mischief, getting into trouble, breaking treasured heirlooms, wearing out the parents' nerves and patience. It is this most difficult child, the one who is constantly in and out of his or her parents' good graces, who is necessarily the focus of "much forgiveness."
Ironically, it is as the parents forgive more and more that a special loving, rewarding relationship is established, one that has been strengthened by the strain and stretches. Having received more forgiveness, having felt both parental love and judgment on a regular basis, this "wild child" um ... excuse me, "spirited child" herself loves the parents greatly -- although her essentially unconstrained nature may continue to get her into trouble.
Here’s another example of how the "Much Love" principle works. Jackie Kennedy. In that name you have more images, impressions, feelings, sensations, than in most other contemporary names I could give you. She is a person of almost mythic status in our minds, regardless of the facts.
What's your image of Jackie? A loyal, courageous, grief-stricken widow cradling her dead husband in her arms who maintained her silence for 30 years to protect and preserve the memory of the man she loved. Is there anyone here who hasn't seen at least a couple of times TV footage of the assassination? Yet how many of us have registered what we've seen many, many times: that Jackie's first reaction when her husband was shot was to climb out of the limousine, even kicking the President's head as she tries to escape, only to be pushed back into the limo by a Secret Service agent?
Jackie’s reaction is not really surprising, we all have an instinct to get away from danger. But the myth of Jackie, standing beside her man both before and after standing beside Lyndon Johnson as he was sworn in as President, was too strong in our minds to be challenged or questioned by real-life facts no matter how many times we saw her attempted escape from the limousine.
There are a couple of ways to look at our making Jackie a heroine. One is to admit painfully that for a woman to be admired in today's world, she must be seen, not heard. In 30 years Jackie gave only two interviews -- one to Theodore White one week after Dallas, where she gave him the metaphor of "Camelot" by which to interpret the Kennedy White House; the other was to historian William Manchester, and her words are now under a legal embargo that prevents their being known in most of our lifetimes. Her relative silence becomes her strength. We like our women icons best when they are seen more than heard, in distress, and known for their sacrifice. To be "victimized" by life, by your man, by the press, by a role itself, is to play to the audiences.
But there is another way of looking at the global adulation and affection toward this woman: she did not hide from the fact that she had much for which to be forgiven. She had much in her life to forgive. She admitted her brokenness and did not hide the cracks in her earthen vessel. In her vulnerability even more than in her victimhood, in her honesty and openness about a need for forgiveness and help, she played right into our hearts. In doing so, she opened herself up for our forgiveness, and we responded not by judging her but by embracing her.
We forgave her for her humanness. And curiously, we never expected her to love us in return.
But God does. God does expect us to love him in return. Yet, the beauty of the forgiven life is not that our love is an obligation any more than the love of this woman anointing the feet of Jesus was duty-driven. It is a love which is naturally brought out of us by God's forgiveness. The mark of forgiven people is their love for God and their fellow human beings.
Many of us can identify with the woman who anointed Jesus' feet, but a less appealing prospect is to identify with Simon the Pharisee: Simon the judgmental, Simon the supercilious, 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 is, if we are like Simon, we are not apt to know it, for Simon was blind to his 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 or a particularly apropos example to force insight.
If we don't see any of Simon in our own character, it may be because he doesn't lurk there...but it could be because Simons always have trouble seeing themselves as they are. Jesus confronted Simon to make him see. We can use this story in the same way to confront ourselves. When we do, we are likely to discover we possess elements of both the woman and Simon, and both need much forgiveness.
You can't love someone? You haven't experienced God's forgiveness. You can't love your coworker, your neighbor, a family member, those who are different from you? You need to experience your forgiveness; not necessarily know you're forgiven, but experience forgiveness. We know by heart Jesus' saying, "To whom much is given, much is required." We need to know by heart Jesus' saying, "To whom much is forgiven, much love is required." By the love we return to God and the love we show to others, we demonstrate our own forgiveness. It's time to break out the alabaster jar of ointment and begin to pour the oil of love upon those around you. You can be, should be, and will be, a MUCH LOVE person, because you are a much-forgiven person.
PLEASE PRAY WITH ME THIS PRAYER: Forgive me, Lord, for being unable to live in the moment. Reconnect me to others and life, O God, that I might live to the fullest. Amen.
Benediction
Go forth, children of God, as people who are forgiven and who have much love to share with those who have yet to sense their forgiveness, who have yet to experience God's love. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and rest upon you and upon those you love. Amen.
