YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN
Stephen Becker, M.Div.
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church—Elk Grove
June 17, 2007, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost
There was once a little boy and his sister visiting their grandparents on their farm. Grandpa gave the little boy a sling-shot to play with out in the wood. The boy practiced in the wood, but he could never hit his target. So, getting a little discouraged, he headed back home for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he took the slingshot and aimed a rock at Grandma’s duck and—you guessed it—he hit the duck square in the head and killed it. This little boy was shocked and grieved because not only had he killed the duck, but he killed something that his Grandma loved and cherished. So in a hurry, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching him. Sally had seen it all but at first she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But then Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.” Then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, but Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help me make supper.” Sally just smiled and said, “Well that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help you with supper.” She looked over at Johnny again and just said, “Remember the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and those of his sister, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”
Friends, have you had Satan throw your sins in your face? I have. There have been times, especially when I accepted the Call to the ministry or afterwards when I’ve counseled somebody on the Christian faith where Satan has butted in—to “remind” me of all the things I have done wrong in my past. Satan has tried over and over again to use my sin of the past to make me feel like I am unworthy of God’s love and unworthy of forgiveness today. The story I just read you is cute, but it is just that—a story, a sermon illustration. But in our Gospel reading today in Luke, Jesus teaches us the nature of forgiveness but using the example of the woman who washed his feet with her tears. Jesus was invited into the home of a Pharisee for dinner, and so Jesus did go to this guy’s house and sat down at the table. During the time of Jesus’ earthly mission, the Pharisees were the “so-called” religious experts of the time. They prided themselves in knowing and adhering to every little letter of the Law. These Pharisees believed that by knowing every detail of God’s Law with their minds and by blindly obeying the letter of the Law, they could earn their way into heaven. Sounds good, but as I said, they followed the Law with their mind, not with the Spirit. So for example if on the Sabbath—the day of rest—somebody became really sick…deathly sick…a Pharisee doctor would refuse to help the sick person because the letter of the Law says no work on the Sabbath. The spirit of the Law, however, didn’t matter much to them.
So Jesus went to dinner at the Pharisee’s house and in verse 37, we read about a woman who had led a sinful life who entered the room and approached Jesus. This is one of those times when the Greek is hard to translate into the English because the emphasis on this statement would be something more like, “look, a WOMAN a WOMAN who had been living in sin actually came into this room of men and approached Jesus.” Luke taking the time to tell us that she had led a sinful life in that town could very well have meant that she was a prostitute. Verse 38 says, “she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him (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.” This statement tells us a lot not only about the woman but also of the Pharisee host because traditionally during that time when you invited somebody over for dinner, you or your servant would wash their feet for them as they entered. So, crying because of the guilt she feels guilt for her sin in the presence of this Jesus whom she had heard so much about, she probably noticed that she got Jesus’ feet wet with her tears and so not having anything else to wipe off His feet, she uses her hair. She also kissed Jesus feet; the verb-form in the Greek is actually one that means she kissed Jesus’ feet again and again. And then continues by pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet as a show of love and respect. She undoubtedly had heard of Jesus’ reputation and so—in faith—she came to Jesus.
Now, in the eyes of the Pharisee Simon, Jesus was allowing Himself to be defiled by being touched by someone so sinful. Again, Simon was interpreting the Law with his mind…by the letter of the Law instead of interpreting it with his heart and the Spirit. So Jesus uses this as a teaching moment: he tells Simon that a moneylender forgave two debts, a person who owed a huge debt and a person who owed a small one. Then he asks Simon who the moneylender loved more, the person whose debt was bigger, or the person with the smaller debt. That’s a great question for each of us to ask, especially when Satan tries to throw our sins back in our face. Why do you suppose this woman came to Jesus? Luke tells us that she was a sinner and Jesus tells us that her many sins have been forgiven. Why? Because she obeyed the Law with her mind? Even if that meant to her that washing and anointing Jesus’ feet could earn her forgiveness? No, because as verse 47 says, “for she loved much.” Jesus knew very well of this woman’s background. He knew that she has sinned a lot. But by her actions he saw what was in her heart: and that she knew that Jesus has the power to forgive sin and so she put her trust in Him. Nowhere in this passage does Luke tell us that she came to Jesus and said, “I am a sinner and so if I wash and anoint your feet, will you forgive me?” That’s not to say that Jesus wouldn’t have forgiven her at that point, but no instead she comes into the room and simply begins to weep. She comes into the presence of god, feels her sin and, in faith, lets it go. Then noticing that she has gotten Jesus’ feet wet, she simply, and out of love for Jesus, knowing who He is and what He has done for others, she cleans his feet with her hair out of love and respect, not out of some mechanical process of trying to buy Jesus’ forgiveness.
So, my friends and fellow Christians, I want to tell you that Jesus Christ has the power to forgive sin. In fact, if you have accepted Jesus as Lord of your life, if you believe that He is the Son of God and that He willingly went to the cross for you, for each and every one of your sins, then your sins are forgiven! Satan may try to remind you over and over again that you have sinned. He may tell you that what you have done is so terrible that God can’t forgive you. But friends, Jesus Christ is the Son of God and through your faith in Him, you do have forgiveness, just as this woman does who washed and anointed Jesus’ feet found forgiveness. Remember, Jesus said, “her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” God doesn’t just want to forgive you a little bit. No, God loves you so much that He sent His one and only Son into the world for you. God wants to forgive you so much that His Son died for you. Next time Satan tries to tell you that you are unworthy of forgiveness, remember what Jesus said in John 3:17: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned.” Listen to that again…, “whoever believes in Him is not condemned.”
I know another person who struggled with his sin for a long time. His name was Martin Luther. Satan literally harassed Martin Luther with his sins. Luther was tormented by fears and doubts of being saved. In fact, Luther once said, “I was myself more than once driven to the very abyss of despair so that I wished I had never been created. Love God? I hated him!” But then something amazing happened, Luther had the opportunity to study the New Testament and what he found there, especially in Paul’s letters to the Romans and to the Galatians, was the same message that Jesus was telling this woman today, that our sins are forgiven not because of who we are or what we have done, but entirely because of Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Luther found Paul’s writings on becoming right with God through faith in Jesus to be right on the mark. Paul writes in Romans 3:22, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Friends, all of us have sinned. All of us will continue to sin. In fact, if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves the truth is not in us. On our own and without Jesus, Satan is right. We deserve death and hell. And Satan will continue to remind you of this. He will continue to “throw your sins in your face.” And very conveniently, he will continue to neglect to tell you about the Good News of Jesus Christ. And that is that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
So as we close, I want to read you a favorite quote of mine from the Luther movie a few years ago. I’ve never found if Luther actually said this in exactly these same words in exactly this way, but it is definitely the message that Luther spent his life teaching and the words are right on the mark. Speaking of how his sins had been making him feel, he said this of God: “Terrible. Unforgiving. That’s how I saw God. Punishing us in this life, committing us to Purgatory after death, sentencing sinners to burn in hell for all eternity. But I was wrong. Those who see God as angry do not see Him rightly but look upon a curtain as if a dark storm cloud has been drawn across his face. If we truly believe that Christ is our Savior, then we have a God of love, and to see God in faith is to look upon His friendly heart. So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this, ‘I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Where He is, there I shall be also.’ ”
And there we shall be also. Friends trust God. Trust in Jesus’ death on the cross on your behalf. Trust that God loves you and wants you to be with him forever. Trust that God has forgiven your sins. You can either live like the little boy who killed his Grandma’s duck…as a slave to what he had done in the past, or you move forward, knowing that just as Grandma forgave her Grandson out of love, so God has forgiven you. This Grandma saw what her Grandson had done through the window. Yet she forgave because she loved him. And so it is with God. He knows us. He knows what we have done. So there is no need to be a slave to the devil. There is no need to be a slave to your sinful past. See the great thing about God, the great thing about forgiveness is that if you ask God to forgive you, he not only forgives you, but he also forgets the sin. See friends, through your faith, Jesus is telling you the exact same thing He told the woman who washed and anointed His feet: “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Amen. Let’s pray…
Now may the true faith…
