Jesus At A Pharisee's House

I don’t know exactly what this woman had done in her past, but the text tells us that she was a woman who had lived a sinful lifestyle. We cannot help but to wonder what all that wound entail. We could probably use our imaginations and then we can begin to understand the reputation this woman had. How would you like to be referred to and known in society as one who lived a life of sin? Some have suggested that she may have been involved in some level of prostitution. That may explain why Simon was so appalled that Jesus would let this woman near him. That is just the type of person that righteous people keep away from and keep at a distance, isn’t it? Apparently she not only had some baggage, but she had a bad reputation among the people of her day. This sinful lifestyle was what she was known for. I would assume that she had done some pretty awful things. She had some baggage and a lot of nerve coming to Jesus the way that she did. She was the type of woman we would keep away from our children, which we would whisper about to our friends, that we would stare at in disbelief, she is the type of person that might have made news headlines for her behavior. She was the type of person that we would apply the verse, “bad company corrupts good character.” She had tons of baggage, a vile past, and a reputation for her sinful behavior.

A. Everyone Has Baggage

We all have baggage. Everyone here has baggage. By baggage I mean hurts, mistakes, and sins we have in the past. From a very early age we gain baggage. We do our best to teach people to hide their baggage. For some reason we have taught people that when you come to church you better not have any baggage and if they do have any baggage they better keep it tucked away so no one else can see it because baggage is embarrassing and sometimes downright shameful.

We have become professionals at putting on a mask when we come to church. We have learned how to play the church game very well.

I cannot tell you how many times I have talked with someone who told me they wanted to start coming to church, but they wanted to straighten their life our first. Before they would come to church they wanted to get rid of their baggage. I wanted to tell them that they have that backwards. I wanted to tell them that everyone at church has baggage to and they are working on. I wanted to tell them that not everyone’s baggage is sorted through yet.

Now, why do you think some people feel as if they have to straighten out before they come to church? I would certainly say partly because of their misconceptions, but I also might suggest that it is partly because we come to church and act as if we have no baggage. We give them a false sense of the way it is. We need to understand that we all have baggage. The church is full of people with baggage. That baggage doesn’t necessarily dictate our future or even our present behaviors, but it certainl may well define our pasts.

I Corinthians 6:9-11

Guess what? We are sinners! If we were to look into each other’s pasts we would see some horrible things. The church ought to be a place where we can all admit that we have baggage. We are all a mess and if we do not think we are a mess what do we need with a “messiah”.