The latest Sermon

Luke 7:36-50

Rev. Marlaena Cochran

 Gracious God, illumine these words by your spirit, that we might hear what you would have us hear, and be who you would have us be. For the sake of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Amen.

This is the second week that we are going to take a look at this scripture from Luke chapter 7. Two weeks ago, when I was here last, we explored this Scripture for the first time. And in this Scripture, we find an episode in the life of Jesus. And there are three main characters. Simon, who is a Pharisee, Jesus, and a simple woman. And two weeks ago, we focused on the interaction between Simon and Jesus. And at the end of their interaction, Jesus challenges Simon to take a look at himself.

Jesus basically says, Simon, you are not aware of how great your debt is. You are not aware of how sinful you are. For if you were, you would show greater love.

Two weeks ago, we reflected on becoming more aware of our sin. That we fail, we miss the mark or fall short of what God desires for us to be. That we fail to live in accordance with the destiny and design that God intends for us. And so we took some time to become aware, to notice, and to confess our sin. This week, we are going to focus on our response. Once we become aware of something, we are faced with a choice of how we will respond.

And today we will reflect on our response by looking at the interaction between Jesus and the simple woman. So once again, we will walk through this text, verse by verse, and see what these words have to say to us this morning. Starting in verse 36.

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And a woman in that town who had bid a sinful wife. Let's pause for a moment and take a few minutes to look at this woman.

From Luke's description, you get the feeling that everyone in town knew that she lived a sinful life. We are not told of her particular sins, although many believe that she was a prostitute. But you also get the feeling that she was also well aware of the life that she was leading. That she was sinful. That she was fallen. This reminds me of a song by Sarah McLachlan, almost 20 years ago now, titled Fallen. And in the chorus of that song, she sings, Though I've tried, I've fallen. I have sunk so low, I messed up. Better I should know. So don't come around here and tell me I told you so.  I think that is true of many people in our lives. I think there are many people in our world who don't need to hear, I told you so. They need to hear something else. They know how they have struggled. We know how we have sinned. How we fall short. And we often don't need someone else to point that out for us. We need to hear a different word. A word of grace.

 And so this woman in that town who lived a sinful life, learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house. And so this woman, well aware of who she is, learns that Jesus was in the neighborhood.  She had heard of him in some way. Maybe she heard that he eats with tax collectors and sinners.

Maybe she heard that Jesus treats women with dignity and respect. Maybe she heard Jesus teach. She heard Jesus' words of God's kingdom and God's love and forgiveness and healing and restoration. Maybe God's spirit had work in her life revealing her sin. And revealing the path to freedom from her sin. Somehow this woman came into an awareness and acceptance of who Jesus is. That Jesus is the Messiah. The one who forgives sins. And who redeems us. This woman learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house.

And so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. Her presence in Simon's house is interesting. Especially given the Pharisee's often muttering about Jesus eating with the tax collectors and sinners.

And commentators suggest two different customs that may explain why she was there. One custom was that when a rabbi was invited to a meal, all kinds of people were free to come in and listen to the rabbi's teaching and wisdom. Another custom permitted needy people to visit such a meal to receive some of the leftovers. And so, we really don't know how to explain her presence. And yet Simon doesn't seem to be shocked that she is in his house. He seemed to be more shocked that Jesus didn't seem to perceive what kind of woman she was. But we do know that she was there to see Jesus. That Jesus was the reason why she was present. And so, continuing on in our Scripture.

As she stood behind Jesus at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. Two weeks ago, we talked about how it was common courtesy in Jesus' time to offer guests a bowl of water and a towel to cleanse their feet.

How the traditional greeting of guests was a kiss. And that if you wanted to show honor and respect for a guest, you would anoint their head with oil. And Simon extended none of these things to Jesus when he entered his house. But this woman, as she stood behind Jesus at his feet, she began to weep. And one by one, tear after tear, pouring out onto the ground and onto Jesus' feet, her tears began to wet his feet. And then she bent low to the ground, a posture of humility, and unfastened her hair and she began to wipe Jesus' feet with her hair. And for a woman to be seen in public with her hair down was considered shameful, but that didn't seem to stop her. Her love for Jesus was overflowing. And she began to kiss Jesus' feet, but maybe her posture still bent low to the ground, changed from one of humility to one of deep reverence. And then she anointed Jesus' feet with perfume. She acknowledged that Jesus is worthy of honor and respect by anointing him with oil. And I'm sure at this point, all eyes were probably on this woman and Jesus.

And Simon, as probably as many others, thought this was scandalous. For we know, Simon says, that if this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. That she is a sinner. And they waited for Jesus' response. But Jesus did not shun her. Jesus did not condemn her.

Instead, Jesus commended her. And Jesus defended her actions by telling a story about forgiveness. Jesus says, two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii and the other 50. Neither of them had the money to pay him back. So, he forgave the debts of both.

Now which of them will love him more? And after telling the story, Jesus celebrated her expression of love and gratitude. And imagine for a moment being this woman and hearing the following words come from Jesus. Jesus says to Simon, do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet. But she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss.

But this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head. But she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven. As her great love has shone. Jesus knows somehow that this woman is aware of her sin, and she knows that her sin has been forgiven.

She understands that grace has been extended to her. And the love that she has poured out is an expression of her gratitude and her thanks. And then Jesus speaks directly to her. And I think eye to eye and heart to heart. In a way that she probably may not experience much. And he says to her, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Jesus reaffirmed that her sins had been forgiven.

Not because of her love or anything else that she had done. But because of her faith. Her faith in Jesus.

And the other guest questioned, who is this who even forgives sins? But she knew who Jesus is. She knew and she believed, and she accepted, and she trusted that Jesus is the Messiah. The one who brings forgiveness and peace.

And Jesus says to her, go in peace. This is a blessing from Jesus. It's go in God's peace. Gods shalom. And what a blessing this is that Jesus extends to her. For this word peace shalom carries with it a meaning of completeness, well-being, harmony, and wholeness. And Jesus says to her, Go and live in that kind of peace. Be whole. So, we see this woman in this story go from brokenness to wholeness.

Pastor Erwin McManus writes, Gratitude is the healing ointment for brokenness. It is central to the entire experience and journey of the Christian faith. Gratitude and grace share the same etymology. Which means they come from the same root word. And they share the same root meaning. When we properly connect to God, our lives become an endless expression of thanks and praise.

For a few moments this morning, I'd like for us in closing to think about grace and gratitude. What is grace? Grace is extending favor or kindness to someone who doesn't deserve it and can never earn it. And grace is totally free. You will never be asked to pay it back. There are no strings attached. And we see this word in Romans chapter 3 that we talked about two weeks ago.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Grace is a gift.

And grace is meant to be received. One of the practical ways for me to become aware of God's grace and to receive God's grace in you is through reflection. And there are many questions that I tend to reflect upon. But one of them is this. God, where would I be without you? I think back through my life and all the experiences, all the thoughts, all the feelings, all the choices. And God, where would I be without you? And as I dwell on that question I'm reminded of the favor and kindness that has been extended to me. And I'm reminded of the work of God in my life even through some difficult and hard experiences. And as I think about that my heart fills up with love and gratitude towards God. So grace is a gift. Grace is meant to be received. And grace is meant to be lived. I think so often we think about being saved by grace. And we forget that we live each and every moment of our lives by grace. For it is only by God's presence with us that we are able to be the people that God has created and redeemed and gifted us to be. It's by God's grace that we can be people of love, joy, kindness, patience, all those fruits of the Spirit. It's by God's grace that we wake up to the gift of each new day. And so as we live by grace, our lives will become filled with that awareness and the invitation to respond with gratitude. And thanksgiving.

And from this story, the image that actually comes to my mind is the image of pouring out or overflowing with gratitude. That gratitude just comes out and spills out onto everything around. And not just gratitude in the good times. But also, gratitude in the hard times. Especially in the hard times. Are there places even amidst suffering and grief and hardship where we can say thank you, God.

When we properly connect with God by God's grace through Jesus Christ our lives can become an endless outpouring of gratitude and thanksgiving. These last two weeks that we've been together we've been talking about awareness and response. That when we become more aware we have a choice in how we will respond.

So how are we responding to God's love and grace this day? How are we noticing and naming our sin? How are we receiving the forgiveness of God? And then how are we responding with gratitude and grace? These are the questions that I leave you with from this text today. And these are the questions that we will now bring into prayer together. Let us pray.

Our gracious God, we thank you for your presence with us and for your presence with us through your Word. As we are invited to read these words and to enter into them, to reflect on them and see what they may say to us this day. So, God for a moment in the silence we just pause. To notice and name God, to receive His love and forgiveness and to respond to God in thanksgiving and gratitude. And God I pray that we would also receive your words of blessing to go out and to live in peace to live in right relationship with you and with others and with ourselves. God to live in harmony and God to be whole.

God this is our prayer this day. And we pray it in the name of Jesus. Amen.