June 13, 2010 - "A Jarring Story"

Luke 7:36-8:3

Did you hear about the priest, the rabbi and the minister who walked into a bar and ordered drinks?

And if it isn’t a priest, a rabbi or a minister, it might be a farmer, a banker and a musician.

How many jokes begin like this? A trio of characters …

It’s the stuff of good story telling …

And Luke is a good story teller …

Did you hear the one about the Pharisee, the sinful woman and Jesus?

Luke is going to tell us a story.

A story about Jesus.

A story about people …

Who’s in and who’s out.

Who belongs and who doesn’t.

A story about love.

To make a long story, short.

The woman comes to the defense of Jesus.

Because he had come to her defense.

The woman and Jesus had met earlier.

What happened and what was said Luke leaves to our imagination.

But something good happened.

And hearing that Jesus was to be a guest in Simon’s home, at a banquet, an event, a party, a public affair - she joins the crowd of onlookers pushing into the courtyard.

She wants more of Jesus.

She arrives probably just before or at the same time as Jesus.

And what she sees shakes her soul to the core.

She’s a witness to Simon’s snub.

For whatever reason, Simon snubs Jesus.

A discourteous act.

Everyone would have seen it.

No water for his feet, to wash away the grime of the day.

No kiss of the cheek or hand to acknowledge friendship and respect.

No oil for parched skin – to make a guest feel good.

Simon makes a statement.

He recognizes Jesus as a teacher or a prophet, and calls him such.

But says to the guests: He’s in my house, but I have no agreement with him. I’m not one of his gaga followers. I’m not impressed with his stuff!

The guests take their place on cushions and throw-rugs around heaping bowls of food, laying on their left side, to eat with their right hand, their feet extended out behind them.

The woman stands behind Jesus.

She sees what’s happening.

And begins to weep.

Weep for Jesus.

That this good man should be treated so shabbily.

Her heart is broken.

Her tears fall onto his feet.

She kneels down and undoes her hair.

Something a woman did only in private …

And wipes his feet with her hair … and like the lowliest of servants, kisses his feet.

And then takes perfume, used in her trade, and pours it onto the feet of Jesus.

At this point, everyone is watching.

Who could miss it?

This public display thoroughly unacceptable.

What will Jesus do?

Will he send her packing?

Jesus turns to Simon and says, I know what your thinking, but let me tell you a few things.

At this point, Jesus breaks convention.

He takes it upon himself to scold the host.

Convention broken all over the place.

Simon snubs Jesus.

A sinful woman shows up and weeps.

Jesus does nothing.

Simon thinks: If Jesus were truly a prophet he’d know what kind of a woman this was.

Jesus knows, indeed.

And Jesus knows what Simon’s thinking.

Jesus speaks to Simon but keeps his eyes on the woman.

What Simon fails to do, she does for Jesus … with a grateful heart.

Jesus makes it abundantly clear what’s going on.

This woman has experienced the love of God.

The love embodied in Jesus and his purpose.

Remember how it begins for Jesus?

Preaching in the hometown synagogue?

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

      “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

      because he has anointed me

      to bring good news to the poor.

      He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

      and recovery of sight to the blind,

      to let the oppressed go free,

      to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

To bring good news to the poor.

Release to the captives.

Recovery of sight to the blind.

Let the oppressed go free.

To proclaim the year of the LORD's favor.

This is Jesus.

And Luke has but one question for us:

Are we with him in this?

Or do we stand with Simon?

As we note at the beginning of the 8^th chapter, women responded dramatically to Jesus … they heard the gospel – freedom from oppressive rules and social boundaries.

They heard a message that transcends all social conventions, conventions that kept women “in their place” – to be seen and not heard.

They saw in Jesus something of God’s love.

A great love.

A love that crosses boundaries and welcomes everyone on equal footing.

No one is out, because everyone is in.

No one is excluded, because all are welcome.

To use expressions from our current vocabulary, there are no illegal immigrants in the kingdom of God.

There are no boundaries to be defended.

No social conventions to be upheld.

That’s why the woman was at the dinner that night.

Earlier in the day, or earlier in the week, Jesus had come to her defense.

I think of another story.

The woman brought to Jesus for stoning.

How a crowd of self-righteous men, and probably a few of their women, too – were all there, with stones in their hands, ready to remove this “filth from the community” if Jesus would only give the word.

But Jesus turns the tables on that silly crowd, with their small minds and frozen hearts.

That silly crowd lusting for blood, so they could feel better about themselves.

Remember how the story goes?

Jesus kneels down and doodles in the dust of the road.

I think Jesus did that to settle things down a bit.

To let folks catch their breath.

And then he says to them:

Let the one without sin throw the first stone.

Jesus catches them off guard.

Jesus trips them up.

And they leave their stones behind and walk away.

Jesus the defender.

A court-appointed attorney, if you will.

Appointed by none other than God!

We don’t know how it all ends for Simon.

Did he go to bed that night thinking about his life, his values, his world?

The way he judges people.

How he looks at others outside his gate?

Did he pray to God, Oh LORD, forgive me! Forgive my arrogant ways! Give me a heart, LORD; a good heart, a heart that can be moved. A heart generous and kind.

Or was he angry to have the tables turned on him by Jesus?

Did he awaken the next day read to redouble his efforts to build his boundaries?

Did he institute a campaign or moral reform to rid the town of undesirables?

New rules and regulations to make Nain a place safe from bad women and radical preachers?

We don’t know how it ends for Simon.

But so it is …

You see … the rest of the story is up to us.

We’ve all been set free and given life in Jesus.

Maybe like Simon, we’ve been so busy with ourselves that we hardly have time for others. Maybe we’re rather impressed with ourselves and eager to condemn.

Or like the woman, maybe we’ve gone down a few rough roads and crossed some thresholds we’re not too proud of.

But however it is, we’ve all been a chance.

And it’s up to us to finish the story.

Amen and Amen!