Our text for this morning is a surprising story of the reaction that different people had when they met Jesus. It is Luke 7:36-50. I encourage you to open your Bible so you can see it for yourself. In the pew Bibles it is on page 66 of the New Testament section. And please stand for the reading of God’s word.
36 "One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him that she is a sinner." 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher,” he replied, "Speak." 41 "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." 44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." 48 Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
One evening a Pharisee invited Jesus over for a little dinner party. You can imagine that Jesus had been the guest preacher in his synagogue that week. Now we all grew up hearing that Pharisees were the bad guys. But I want you to understand that if any of us had been guests around the table that night, we probably would have been really impressed by this guy.
We know from the text that he was hospitable. Jesus probably looked like he needed a good meal. He was intrigued by this traveling teacher who had come through town, Jesus of Nazareth. He had him over for supper. Good for him.
When was the last time you had anybody over for supper for the purpose of learning from them about God? When was the last time you invited someone over to your house just to honor them as a servant of God? When was the last time you invited someone over for a good theological discussion?
I consider myself hospitality challenged, so anybody who puts on any dinner party impresses me.
But then, he was a Pharisee. That means he took his religion very seriously. Pharisees were strict about giving one tenth of their income to God. Here I can say I do the same, but studies estimate that the average church member in America gives only 3% of his or her income to the church. This guy gave a full 10%. He put his money where his mouth was. That’s impressive. And if he had a house big enough to hold a banquet, he was probably one of the most prosperous people in town.
You get the feeling that he is a cautious man. And isn’t caution a good thing? He’s sort of sitting back and watching Jesus. And when this disreputable woman comes in and starts carrying on, he takes note. “No, this Jesus isn’t as holy as people think he is. He should see through a woman like that.” Isn’t that kind of discernment a good thing?
You get the feeling that he was a frugal man. At some banquets the hosts would have a bunch of slaves out to wash everybody’s feet after the dusty walk over, and then they would pour expensive perfume on them and all. But this Pharisee seemed content with a simple lifestyle. Good for him.
If this guy walked into most any church as a visitor, we’d jump on him in hopes that he would become a member. A tither!
He obviously had a good middle class upbringing. He’s playing it safe. He thinks Jesus is making a mistake with this woman, but he’s discreet. He keeps his mouth shut about it. She gets all mushy and emotional, but he keeps his cool and a safe distance. He obviously doesn’t like mixing with disreputable people. Didn’t all of our mothers tell us to be careful about who we chose to have for friends? We’d all want this guy to join our church.
And the Pharisee looks especially good in contrast to this woman. She was a party crasher. Nobody invited her! She has no sense of respecting people’s personal space. At this dinner party they would have been lying sideways on couches, with their heads towards the table and their feet going back away from the table. She comes up behind Jesus and starts crying on his feet. And then she unwraps her hair and starts wiping the tears off his feet with her hair and kissing his feet. That’s weird in our culture and it was worse then. Doesn’t that give you the creeps? Isn’t it better for good order if everyone just keeps their distance? Back off, lady, don’t get so close!
She reminds me of our puppy, Sophie. She loves us. And any time we sit down in a chair or on the floor she takes it as an invitation to walk all over us and lick our faces. Some of our family members encourage it, but others of our family members say, “Sophie, off. Give me some space.” Even a dog needs to learn not to invade people’s space.
We don’t know what had happened between this woman and Jesus before this dinner, but she was grateful to him from the bottom of her heart. It’s obvious she had met her savior and he had deeply touched her heart.
And she has this expensive ointment and she pours it on him. Wasn’t it Benjamin Franklin who said “Waste not, want not?” Aren’t Christians supposed to be frugal and do everything cheap?
And then, she had this reputation. The text doesn’t say right out which sins had gotten her this reputation, but it seems that everybody in town knew about it. She was a sinner. She was the town prostitute. Nobody wanted anything to do with her. But here she was, pushing her way into a quiet dinner party in a very religious household. That was really gutsy.
If this woman visited one of our churches, all emotional, no sense of decorum, no sense of proper social distance, no shame about her past, we might hope she just doesn’t come back.
And when the Pharisee is grumbling to himself that Jesus is putting up with this woman, we may well agree with him and wonder what’s wrong with Jesus. Don’t put up with this woman acting like that.
But for all the things that this Pharisee did right, there was one thing that he did wrong. And it made all the difference for him.
And for all the things that this woman did wrong, there was one thing that she did right. And it made all the difference for her.
There are an awful lot of places where it is just smart to play it safe, to be cautious and moderate. But when it comes to the way that we respond to our God, half-heartedness, playing it safe, keeping your distance, practicing moderation just aren’t appropriate.
And we have this paradox that often it’s the good people who come to church. But they do it half-heartedly. When the church needs money, I’ll donate my unwanted junk for a rummage sale. Throw a few extra dollars into the offering plate. Come to worship on Sundays when there is nothing better to do and as long as the pastor tells funny stories and picks the hymns you like. Play it safe with your faith by not telling anyone what you really believe or about the questions that you are really asking yourself. Sing the hymns in a mumble because there are other people who are better singers than you and they might look down on you if you sing out loud and get even a little off key. Keep your distance from the other members of the church, because it’s too risky if we get down to really being honest about who we really are.
No parent is satisfied with children who do all the right things on the outside, but do it with cold hearts, going through the motions, but without real love. God doesn’t want a formal, distant relationship where we do the religious rituals and think that’s good enough. He loves us. He invites us to come into his space. He longs to wrap his arms around us.
To look at the God who created us, who gave us life, who surrounded us with every single blessing that we enjoy, to stand before that God and respond as if he owes us more, to respond in a half-hearted way is just wrong. And for all the good things that this fine, upstanding Pharisee did, his lukewarm ness and his disrespect to Jesus overshadowed it all. In the book of Revelation, chapter 3, we read God saying to the church of Laodicea, "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” Maybe that would be God’s word to this Pharisee. Maybe that would be God’s word to someone here this morning. Lukewarm, neither hot nor cold.
This story scares me because I know how easy it is for me to slip into that Pharisee’s role, playing it safe, keeping my distance.
But then, this woman, who did everything else wrong, did one thing right. When it comes to God, the only response that is appropriate is with your whole heart. And she did that. She let go of her purse strings to buy him some expensive ointment. She let go of her inhibitions and expressed her love for him so openly, so tenderly, so personally. Her outward actions left no doubt about the love in her heart. She let go of her fear of what she knew this Pharisee would think of her and she came right into his house just to show her love and appreciation to Jesus.
Forget what other people think. The only thing that mattered to her was what Jesus thought. There was no moderation here, no careful measuring of how little can I get away with.
If this woman came to our church, who knows what she might do? She might sing the hymns at the top of her voice, like she really means it.
Or if the congregation is stumped over how to raise money for something, she might stand up and make the speech that we can do it if we all sacrifice together. And everybody else just sort of puts their heads down, but she would really believe it. And she would be the first one to make a contribution. And she would make a really sacrificial contribution.
And she might be so genuinely concerned about others in the church that she would keep coming up to people and asking embarrassing questions like, “How are you doing? How are you really doing?” And you might have to be honest with her. And she might open up and tell you her struggles, maybe more than you wanted to hear. But maybe she’s just what all churches need.
And where did these two very different responses come from? Jesus put his finger right on it. It’s a matter of forgiveness. The Pharisee’s head was so full of himself that he was blind to all the blessings that came to him only because of God. He was blind to his sins. He was blind to the way that he was insulting the very Son of God who had taken the time to come to his house and speak with him.
But the woman’s eyes were wide open to how much grace she had received, and how freely Jesus had forgiven her. So, she responded with her whole heart.
Ask yourself, am I a 50 denarii debtor to God, or am I a 500 denarii debtor to God? I know I’m a 500 debtor. He deserves all my gratitude.
We don’t know what became of these two. It’s easy to guess that the Pharisee met his goal. He had a nice evening of religious conversation and congratulated himself for doing another good deed, but missed the opportunity of a lifetime, to connect in his heart with the Son of God.
But I like to think that Jesus shook him out of that self-righteous complacency, that he realized that his coldness of heart was the greatest sin of all. I like to think he took another look at Jesus and another look at himself, and like John Wesley, found that his “heart was strangely warmed.”
How long has it been since you did something for God, and did it with all your heart? Forget what people will think. Forget what it will cost. Forget what’s convenient for me this week. It’s for Jesus. He created me. He died for my sins. I owe him everything.
If we plugged your heart into a heart meter today, how would it read?
Would your heart be cold? Are you realizing you did the right thing by coming to church today, but you did it with hopes of feeling good or seeing your friends, and Jesus didn’t have much to do with it at all?
Or would your heart by burning for Jesus? I’m here, Lord, help me to love someone, to give in a way that really honors you, to serve you in any way that would please you!
As the Praise Team comes to sing for us again, ask God to soften your heart, to help you respond to his love from its very depths. Ask God what you can do this week that would be a wholehearted expression of your love for Jesus. AMEN
