Dinner Invitation                                            Luke 7:36-50

Before I start with this scripture I just want to rehash something. Many people who are not Christian claim the Gospels contradict each other. Well yes not everything is the same in the four Gospels but they were written by four different people each with a different agenda and target group. The Gospel of Mark is directed at Gentile Christians and its main theme is showing Jesus as the Son of God. Matthew is written for Jewish converts, it focuses on connecting Jesus to the Old Testament prophecies. Luke, also written to the Gentiles is the most historically accurate account. Luke is the most apologetic as he wants to prove the story of Jesus is true. John’s Gospel is written almost a generation later after Gnostic influences started infiltrating the church’s teachings. John wrote to clarify several theological points and doctrine.

So as to today’s reading, as usual there is more than one lesson to be found. Some use it as a jumping off point to discuss women in Jesus ministry and women in the modern church. Others use these passages to compare us to the Pharisees; offering an invitation to Jesus to come into our lives but then not really opening ourselves up to his teaching. We’ll come back to these ideas someday but for today I want to focus on the dinner party itself; on what happens, why it happens and what it all means to us.

We have a Pharisee inviting Jesus to dinner at his house, why? It doesn’t say, it could be he was interested in Jesus teaching, or it could be in keeping with the Pharisees pattern of questioning Jesus that he wanted to trap Jesus in an inconsistency in order to discredit him.

My second question is, how did this woman get into the dinner party so easily? At the time these gatherings were usually in an area much like a patio, passersby could see and crash the party. And those dining did so lying down with their feet pointing away from a low table or blanket with the food placed on it. So this is how the woman got close to Jesus feet without being intercepted. It says she had perfume with her. As a poor woman this would have been costly for her.

As we read the story we saw she came up to Jesus, washed his feet with her tears, dried them with her hair and anointed them with the perfume. This was no two second ordeal, this went on for an amount of time and Jesus did nothing to stop her. And as this is happening Simon is thinking to himself, “This woman is a sinner, if Jesus were really a man of God he would stop her and send her away.”

Jesus now uses a parable to get Simon and the others to see the wisdom and love that God sees this woman with, the wisdom and love God sees all of us with. The story of the lender and two debtors is intended to show those assembled and all mankind this truth; that those who feel they have little need for God, that they have little need for forgiveness; they miss the grace and mercy of God and can’t find it in themselves to see others as God sees them. But those like this woman, those who know they sin and need God; they understand the forgiveness and salvation offered by God. They internalize God’s love. They repent and offer their love and forgiveness to others.

Notice that after Jesus finishes his parable Simon still doesn’t get it. Jesus asks him which of the two in the parable love the moneylender more and he starts his reply in verse 43 with, “I suppose…” And now Jesus gets more direct about it. He starts by telling Simon that when he arrived he wasn’t given water to wash his feet with. Now this can seem a little odd, I probably wouldn’t do that if you came to my house.

 In Jesus day like today when you went to someone’s house, especially for a dinner party, you washed up. In Jesus day everyone wore sandals so as you walked down the road your feet got dirty again. And it wasn’t with just dust; dirt, animal and human excrement; it’s just not nice. When you arrived at a home the host had a servant wash your feet and this wasn’t done to Jesus; Simon is showing Jesus disrespect. I imagine Jesus could have gotten angry at the slight and left but he chose to ignore it because he knew the greater good of those assembled was paramount. Their good was more important than his possible hurt feelings. Simon showed disrespect. The woman demonstrated great love and respect. She washed this filth off Jesus feet with her tears and dried them with her hair and poured expensive oil on them.

Jesus tells her in verse 48, “Your sins are forgiven.” This is monumental to those sitting around that table for three reasons.

One; Jesus is by his statement claiming for himself divine authority to forgive people’s sins. This is a polarizing claim, it’s a claim that Jesus is far more than just a prophet; it’s a claim that Jesus is God.

Second; we need to see what’s really being said with this notion of forgiven much, love much. Jesus isn’t saying that because Simon showed him little love that he will be given little forgiveness. What he’s saying is that Simon self-righteously thinks he doesn’t need forgiveness.

Again look at the feet washing, or the lack of; Jesus is telling Simon that his basic lack of courtesy shows his self-righteous pride, and it’s this pride that skews Simon’s interpretation of this woman’s actions. And it tells us throughout time its men’s self righteousness and pride that blinds them from the truth of Christ.

Third; and I hope I explain this right; our loving Jesus does not motivate him to forgive us, accepting the truth of Jesus and being forgiven by God is what motivates our love for Christ.

Now I know this can sound a little funny and many people can get this backward. Many believe you have to show Jesus love and dedication before he forgives you but scripture says you are forgiven by faith. You’re forgiven by your belief, not by how much love you demonstrate. I would even go so far as to say many people see the truth of the Bible and accept Jesus as their savior because they realize they need him but that true heartfelt love for Jesus develops as they see the changes God does in their lives. They love Jesus because they see that he loves them.

So again; our loving Jesus does not earn his forgiveness, our belief does. And it’s being forgiven by God that motivates our love for him.

Now I do see how people can read this passage as saying the woman’s love for Jesus is what caused Jesus to forgive her, but his parable shows that it is the exact opposite. This woman saw Jesus as who he is and knew God forgives her. We know this by verse 50, “Jesus said to the woman, ’Your faith has saved you…’” Forgiveness by faith came first and it is this amazing unmerited gift that motivates this woman to love Jesus in such a personal way and with such grateful abandon.

And as I’ve said before, when someone like this woman isn’t given a name they represent all mankind. So this story shows us that all mankind is offered forgiveness by God through Jesus, and those who trust in Christ are freely given God’s grace and mercy. And it’s by seeing the enormity of what God does through Jesus that is what opens our hearts to love Jesus in a demonstrative way, in a way like this woman, not caring what others say about us as we love God.

Our reading says something else about this woman. Verse 37, “A woman in the town who lived a sinful life…” Scripture doesn’t say what religion she followed or what her sins where. And like not naming her this lets her represent all men. It doesn’t matter if you were raised Christian or not, if you have faith God gives you his forgiveness. It doesn’t matter what your sins are, if you have faith God gives you his forgiveness.

“Religion” could not save this woman; it could only condemn her or at best restrict her behavior through a sense of duty. It was Jesus love and forgiveness that transformed her life. Don’t get me wrong, our “religion”, this system and traditions are our way of coming together in fellowship to worship and praise God.

 I’ve worshiped in churches that were in storefronts, in people’s homes; it doesn’t matter. What matters is our faith; our acceptance of Jesus death on the cross as a perfect sin offering for us and our believing in his resurrection from the dead three days later by the power of God. It’s through this that we experience Jesus love and it’s that love that will transform your life.

If you have read my January message you know of John Newton, a slave trader in the 1800’s. This man was responsible for the death and abuse of thousands but he came to know Christ and his love and he dedicated his life to serving God as a minister and as a hymn writer, and he wrote “Amazing Grace.” If you’ve seen the movie “Chariots of Fire” you’ve heard of Eric Liddell. He was a runner who during the Olympics refused to run on the Sabbath. How many know that his love of God brought him to China during World War 2? As the situation disintegrated around him and those with him he was offered passage back to England but he gave it up to a young pregnant woman, he later died in China as the war continued. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a minister that had escaped Germany at the beginning of World War 2, but he knew the people back in Germany needed spiritual help so he went back. He spoke out against the regime and was arrested. In 1944, just weeks before the war’s end he was put to death. He wrote in his book “The Cost of Discipleship” “When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.”

So I ask all of us, like Jesus forgave the slight of his host, don’t take to heart when others don’t understand your motivation and love of God. Remember they need God just as we do. Pray for them.

Like the woman who knew she was forgiven by her faith, know you are forgiven and seen as perfect in God’s eyes. Be generous in your work for God and don’t worry about what others think.

And finally I pray none of us are called to the level of discipleship of Eric Liddell or Deitrich Bonhoeffer but as sinners who are forgiven much, go out and love much.

God Bless.