Forgiven Much; Love Much
A sermon based on Luke 7:36-50
Sunday, June 20, 2010 -- Pentecost 4C
A woman at the airport waiting to catch her flight bought herself a bag of cookies, settled in a chair in the airport lounge and began to read her book. Suddenly she noticed the man beside her helping himself to her cookies. Not wanting to make a scene, she read on, ate cookies, and watched the clock. As the daring "cookie thief" kept on eating the cookies she got more irritated and said to herself, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!" She wanted to move the cookies to her other side but she couldn't bring her self to do it. With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only one was left, she wondered what he would do. Then with a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half.
He offered her half, and he ate the other. She snatched it from him and thought, "Oh brother, this guy has some nerve, and he's so rude, why, he didn't even show any gratitude!" She sighed with relief when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, refusing to look at the ungrateful "thief." She boarded the plane, sank into her seat, and reached into her bag to get a book to read and forget about the incident. But right there, next to her book was her bag... of cookies.
The cookies they ate in the lounge were his not hers. She had been the thief not him.
Likewise, in our gospel lesson this morning the one pointing the accusing finger turns out to be the guilty one. Like the woman in the cookie story, he believed he was such a wonderful person to put up with the problem sitting beside him. But in the end Jesus shows each of them where they really belonged... The one thought he needed little forgiveness and he showed it. The other knew how much she'd been forgiven and she showed it. Listen to the account recorded for us in Luke 7:36-50 of the Pharisee and the "sinner." And ask yourself, which one am I? Luke 7...
36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and as she stood behind him 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. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "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."
40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. 41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said 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. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." 48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
I. Owe Much
We don't know why Simon invited Jesus to his house, but it does seem certain that this particular woman was not on the guest list. The Greek says, "behold, a woman..." In other words, "Surprise!" This woman was a party crasher and not a very reputable one at that. She "had lived a sinful life in that town," presumably sinful enough a life to have earned a reputation. We don't know what exactly she did, but from Simon's reaction, we can make our guesses.
And Simon, who was a fine upstanding citizen in that town, well liked and well respected, said to himself, "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."
Well, what do you make of his assessment? If you think about it, he was part right and part wrong. He was right that "if" Jesus were a prophet would know all about this woman. He was wrong in assuming Jesus wasn't a prophet. He was right in knowing that this woman was a horrible sinner who didn't deserve Jesus attention. But implied in this piece of internal monologue the Spirit lets us in on, is that Simon's assessment of himself was waaaaay off. "She's a horrible sinner with whom any respectable rabbi should not associate. But I on the other hand, well how fortunate for this Jesus to be seen with me. What wonderful press he gets because of me!"
You see, Simon had been so focused on the great debt of this woman that he failed to see his own debt -- his own mountain of sins before God. But don't we love to do that too? I'll admit it. I love to do that. "Thank God I'm not like that murderer, that terrorist, that [spit] sex offender. Thank God that I'm not like that delinquent, that backslider, that gossip, that arrogant jerk." We do it because when we find someone who's a worse sinner than us (in our own estimation), it makes our sin seem not so bad. And we don't really have to think about it.
But what a dangerous position we're in. Because when we say "I don't need Jesus as much as so-and-so," we really say, "I don't need Jesus." So let's check our credit scores with God. Which person are you? Simon or the unnamed woman? How much debt do you owe God? Are you a pretty good person?
Maybe you don't commit gross, scandalous outward sins, but those aren't the only sins that count. God's assesment of mankind in Genesis 6:5 is this: "Every inclination of the thoughts of [people's] hearts is only evil all the time." Think about what that means for my life. Let's make each unkind thought, each careless word, and each self-centered action (so-called small sins) worth $1 before God. And even though the Bible says that I'm doing it all of the time, let's just say I only do one of those things every minute. At $1 a sin, in a year's time my debt to God would be $525,600! They add up don't they? By the time I reached the age of ten I would owe five and a quarter million dollars to God and would be so over my head in debt to God that an eternity in hell couldn't even start to pay it off. Talk about a negative equity! I'm ashamed of my credit score with God! How about you? What horrible debt we all have!
But it's good to see that and not be like Simon! Because you can only appreciate the cross as much as you appreciate your sin. If you think you're only mildly offensive to God, then Jesus is no more than a band-aid to cover up the scratch or some Febreeze to hide the slight smell. If you feel you owe a few dollars to the banker, then it's no big deal when the debt is paid for you. But when you know you owe millions, how exciting would it be to have that debt erased! Likewise, when we realize what spiritual wrecks we are, born dead in sin, spiritually blind by nature, and eternally lost to hell if left to ourselves, then we really appreciate what Jesus has done for us.
II. Forgiven Much
So why did the woman weep and wash and waste her perfume if she didn't need to do anything? Why offer such an expensive gift? After all, an alabaster jar usually carried a very expensive perfume, not a knockoff like the CK2 that I wore in high school (not to be confused with CK1 -- and I'm pretty sure no one did). No this was the good stuff. In another account in Mark, an alabaster jar of perfume cost more than a years wages! (cf. Mark 14) Now I don't know what you all make, but can you imagine taking two months' wages (let alone a whole year's worth) in cash and throwing it on the barbecue, dousing it in lighter fluid, and throwing a match on top?
Why such waste? Why did she do it? Out of an overwhelming sense of thanks. She wept tears of joy and thanksgiving to Jesus. She knew she had been forgiven much and in response she loved Jesus much. He said to Simon, "She loved much because she appreciates how she's been forgiven of so much!" And he added this warning: "But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
When we look at the mirror of the law and see how much we owe to God and then look at Jesus and his cross and see how much we've been been forgiven, we can't help but act just like this woman -- with extravagant, wasteful, shameless gifts to him who saved us! We are debt free. God cancelled the debt we owed to him. And at great cost to himself. We've been forgiven much! Now let's love much!
You see, Simon had been so focused on the great debt of this woman that he failed to see his own debt -- his own mountain of sins before God. But don't we love to do that too? I'll admit it. I love to do that. "Thank God I'm not like that murderer, that terrorist, that [spit] sex offender. Thank God that I'm not like that delinquent, that backslider, that gossip, that arrogant jerk." We do it because when we find someone who's a worse sinner than us (in our own estimation), it makes our sin seem not so bad. And we don't really have to think about it.
But what a dangerous position we're in. Because when we say "I don't need Jesus as much as so-and-so," we really say, "I don't need Jesus." So let's check our credit scores with God. Which person are you? Simon or the unnamed woman? How much debt do you owe God? Are you a pretty good person?
Maybe you don't commit gross, scandalous outward sins, but those aren't the only sins that count. God's assesment of mankind in Genesis 6:5 is this: "Every inclination of the thoughts of [people's] hearts is only evil all the time." Think about what that means for my life. Let's make each unkind thought, each careless word, and each self-centered action (so-called small sins) worth $1 before God. And even though the Bible says that I'm doing it all of the time, let's just say I only do one of those things every minute. At $1 a sin, in a year's time my debt to God would be $525,600! They add up don't they? By the time I reached the age of ten I would owe five and a quarter million dollars to God and would be so over my head in debt to God that an eternity in hell couldn't even start to pay it off. Talk about a negative equity! I'm ashamed of my credit score with God! How about you? What horrible debt we all have!
But it's good to see that and not be like Simon! Because you can only appreciate the cross as much as you appreciate your sin. If you think you're only mildly offensive to God, then Jesus is no more than a band-aid to cover up the scratch or some Febreeze to hide the slight smell. If you feel you owe a few dollars to the banker, then it's no big deal when the debt is paid for you. But when you know you owe millions, how exciting would it be to have that debt erased! Likewise, when we realize what spiritual wrecks we are, born dead in sin, spiritually blind by nature, and eternally lost to hell if left to ourselves, then we really appreciate what Jesus has done for us.
II. Forgiven Much
You know Simon's assessment of the situation was wrong somewhere else too. Not only did he misunderstand himself, but he also misunderstood Jesus. You see he assumed that "if Jesus knew what kind of a woman this was" there was no way he would associate with this woman. He wouldn't tolerate her presence. He certainly wouldn't let her touch him and weep all over him like she was. But Simon couldn't have been more wrong.
You see it was precisely for women like this one that Jesus came! It was precisely for sinners like you and me -- horrible sinners, who recognize their own sin, their massive debt owed to God, and the fact that their only hope must come from outside of them. For sinners like us, Jesus came... to suffer, to die...
And what do we have to do get such forgiveness? Weep on Jesus feet? Dry his feet with our hair? (Easier said than done for some of us.) Or maybe give up some expensive treasure and sacrifice it for him? No. We don't have to do a thing. Jesus told the sinful woman, ""Your sins are forgiven... Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
By his death on the cross, Jesus has paid the debt that every sin ever committed (or ever will be committed) earns. That's why he shouted "Tetelestai!" from the cross. "It is finished!" A Greek word that means "paid in full!" By his resurrection he's given us the receipt. The massive debt that we have incurred is gone. We are not just helped by Jesus a little bit, but are completely, totally, forgiven, restored and made perfect in God's sight.You see it was precisely for women like this one that Jesus came! It was precisely for sinners like you and me -- horrible sinners, who recognize their own sin, their massive debt owed to God, and the fact that their only hope must come from outside of them. For sinners like us, Jesus came... to suffer, to die...
And what do we have to do get such forgiveness? Weep on Jesus feet? Dry his feet with our hair? (Easier said than done for some of us.) Or maybe give up some expensive treasure and sacrifice it for him? No. We don't have to do a thing. Jesus told the sinful woman, ""Your sins are forgiven... Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
II. Love Much
So why did the woman weep and wash and waste her perfume if she didn't need to do anything? Why offer such an expensive gift? After all, an alabaster jar usually carried a very expensive perfume, not a knockoff like the CK2 that I wore in high school (not to be confused with CK1 -- and I'm pretty sure no one did). No this was the good stuff. In another account in Mark, an alabaster jar of perfume cost more than a years wages! (cf. Mark 14) Now I don't know what you all make, but can you imagine taking two months' wages (let alone a whole year's worth) in cash and throwing it on the barbecue, dousing it in lighter fluid, and throwing a match on top?
Why such waste? Why did she do it? Out of an overwhelming sense of thanks. She wept tears of joy and thanksgiving to Jesus. She knew she had been forgiven much and in response she loved Jesus much. He said to Simon, "She loved much because she appreciates how she's been forgiven of so much!" And he added this warning: "But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
When we look at the mirror of the law and see how much we owe to God and then look at Jesus and his cross and see how much we've been been forgiven, we can't help but act just like this woman -- with extravagant, wasteful, shameless gifts to him who saved us! We are debt free. God cancelled the debt we owed to him. And at great cost to himself. We've been forgiven much! Now let's love much!
Offer your time to serve at church, at a shelter, at a neighbor's, or at the kitchen sink or changing table! Not because you have to or the work won't get done, but because you want to to offer your very best to your Savior in thanks to him for canceling your debt. Offer your generous gifts to God, in the offering plate, in responsible spending, in caring for those you love and those you've never met! Not because someone has to pay the bills, but because you want to use your dollars to show your thanks to God for the giant debt that he's erased! Offer your very lives and your very selves to the one who says to you, "Your sins are forgiven... Go in peace." Amen.
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