What Do We See Beyond Our Nose?

TEXT: Luke 7:36-50

THEME: The risk of judging others by appearances.

GOAL: That we see how all alike are beneficiaries of God's love and the saving work of Christ.

MALADY: We "look down our nose" at those we think are worse than we.

MEANS: God's forgiveness for Christ's sake makes it possible for us to love and accept other sinners.

Uwe Siemon-Netto is the director of the Institute on Lay Vocation at Concordia Seminary, in St. Louis. I like his writing, because in everything I have read from him he is theologically based AND expressively candid.

He recently had an article published in the Lutheran Witness on "The Sin of the Racially Split Church." The article's focus was on hypocrisy in the church with respect to race, but I saw it touching self-serving hypocrisy at all levels in the church. His theme was based on Galatians 3:28, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free . . . (and so on), for you are all one in Christ." He chided the church for its "flaccid role" in this sorry state of affairs. He said, "No other Christian tradition is better equipped than Lutherans to inform the nation of the unshakable truth . . . that an ethnically split body of Christ is a theological absurdity."

I think that readily shifts over to other hypocritically established separations -- including rich and poor, and perceived distinctions and levels of acceptance of "good" and "bad" people, or "sinners" as distinguished from "good people," or as distinguished from "us."

"Where do you get this idea, Pastor?" you might ask.

Let's look at the incident in today's Gospel, and maybe we can see this kind of prejudicial hypocrisy has been around a long while -- and we can see that it not only interferes with good people relations, it is also deadly.

The connection comes in the Pharisee, who invited Jesus to be his guest at dinner and the woman, who came, uninvited, off the streets and was known by the locals as a "sinner." The whole event was under the watchful eye of Jesus, who really was in control of the situation and was ready to comfort where He could, and also warn and point out hypocrisy where that existed.

Watch the real or implied interplay as the scene plays out . . .

The host was Simon, likely one of the Pharisees who had only recently rejected John the Baptist's call to repentance and baptism, and had heard Jesus describe John as the special prophet who was predicted to be the Messiah's fore runner and the one among those born of women about whom no one was greater. Simon must have thought there might be something in Jesus, or at least have been curious about Him, even though he, Simon, wasn't so ready to be that open about himself as a sinner and one in need of forgiveness.

To have someone for dinner was a big deal and implied some level of fellowship. Jesus was willing to be there, and Simon was glad to be the host.

Things were going well, when all of a sudden this woman showed up. My understanding of the layout of Middle eastern homes makes this unusual scenario not impossible to imagine . . . She was a woman who had lived a sinful life -- NOT an invited guest! -- and she had lived this sinful life IN THE TOWN. The text tells us, she came, "when she learned Jesus was at the Pharisee's house." (How did she learn this? How does the word get out? How did "sinners" learn about these things?. Think of a Pygmalion-like setting in 19th century England. The lowly, the "riff raff" the common people, always knew when something special was going on with the upper class -- it was big news -- they looked up in awe, and sometimes in disdain, from afar.)

Simon also knew about the woman. He recognized her. (The recognition goes both ways -- the elite and favored class also know about the Eliza Doolittles of society -- but only from a carefully maintained distance.)

The woman never, by the way, is identified by the Bible as Mary Magdalene. She had an alabaster jar of perfume. That would be expensive, and since she "brought" it, rather than "bought" it, it might be assumed she had it at home, perhaps saved for a long time, waiting for some special occasion.

This was that occasion.

She could stand behind Jesus at His feet, because He was "reclining" at the table, in line with the custom of the day. "That she began to wet His feet with her tears," indicates a continuing and ongoing action. She:

• wiped them with her hair
• kissed them
• poured perfume on them
• In one way that's a beautiful moment. This woman let her soul be exposed (how many of us could do that - or would?). She was being cleansed. Nothing else mattered.

Have you ever done something that soul exposing - even just before God? Or maybe you don't need that kind of vulnerability - or never did. Maybe . . . but I think you would be unusual, if that were the case. What did someone say? "An unexamined life is a life not worth living." An unexamined life, or a life whose dark corners are denied, or painted over, is primed to miss the blessing this woman experienced, and to be left somewhere near Simon the Pharisee.

Look at this moment from the viewpoint of the dinner guests, except Jesus, who knew exactly what was going on. Don't you suppose it seemed to them to be one of those awkward and uncomfortable moments when someone does something clearly out of place, and you don't quite know what to do with it? It took a certain boldness, and a kind of insulation from all else for her, while she focused on and was caught up in the act she was drawn to and determined to do.

Simon withdrew comfortably into his self-righteousness and even seemed to have found a reason to be convinced he was one-up on Jesus, getting himself to doubt in his mind that the reputation of his guest matched Jesus' apparent inability to perceive what was going on -- because in his mind he was mulling over the fact that Jesus was actually allowing himself to be touched by a "sinner."

Now it was Jesus' turn. He was about to show incredible grace to the repentant sinner, which is what He will also do for you. But first, he wanted to give Simon the hypocrite a chance to soften. Apparently showing no sign that He was paying attention to the woman, He seemed to introduce an "out of the blue" new element into the gathering: "Simon, I have something to tell you," and Simon confidently responded, "Tell me, teacher."

Then Jesus told the story about the two men equally unable to repay significantly different amounts of money to a money lender, and the money lender canceling the debts of both. Jesus' question seemed to have a very obvious answer: "Which of the two men will love the money lender more?" Simon, apparently somewhat cautious, not wanting to fall into a trap (though he did, a trap of his own making), replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus answered.

Then He turned toward the woman and devastatingly made His point to Simon: Do you see this woman? I came into YOUR house (where treatment of an invited guest called for at least basic amenities -- washing and drying feet, perhaps a kiss of greeting and, likely for an honored guest, anointing the head with oil.) You, Simon, did none of these things, but this woman, on whom you look down your nose because of her status as a recognized "sinner" washed my feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, has not stopped kissing my FEET, and has anointed My feet, not with oil, but with perfume.

Here was Simon's opportunity to allow himself to be crushed for his own hypocritical belief of his "betterness" than the woman, the "sinner," the person from a riff-raff neighborhood Instead, all we hear is the guests wondering who this Jesus was that would even forgive sins.

Here are two individuals: one, socially undesirable, but shamelessly grateful for God's mercy and forgiveness, and the other, equally redeemed by Christ, but missing the blessing because he would not see himself in need and, indeed, saw himself superior to the obvious sinner.

What can we learn from this touching, yet at the same time devastating story?

1) Jesus loves sinners. If you won't admit you're a sinner, you're telling Him you won't honor Him as your guest, and you lose the blessing

2) There is a not-too-subtle warning to anyone who sets himself or herself up as an arbiter of righteousness, judging who are the real "sinners," the real "bad people," and who are not . . . and also . . .

3) If you are inclined to show God love and gratitude for His mercy and forgiveness in anything like the way the forgiven sinful woman did, go for it! What a sweet-smelling sacrifice to the Lord that will be. . . . and, finally,

4) Don't belittle, but welcome the simple yet heart-felt acts of love shown by others, including the "simple" or "different" people out there in the world.

Uwe Siemon-Netto's article on prejudice and his reminder that we, as the people of God, have the best tools to defeat prejudice of all kinds, in the world and in ourselves, is a good way for us to be as we carry out our ministry and live our personal lives.

Amen.