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The Third Sunday after Pentecost |
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HAVE YOU EVER BEEN INVITED TO SOMEONE’S HOME AND FELT AS IF YOU WERE NOT REALLY WELCOMED, OR ACCEPTED AN INVITATION TO A PARTY AND WONDERED WHY YOU WERE INVITED? IT IS THE LITTLE CUSTOMS OF POLITE BEHAVIOR WHICH, WHEN ABSENT, MAKE YOU FEEL AS IF YOU ARE NOT REALLY WELCOMED EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE INVITED. EVERY CULTURE HAS HOST AND GUEST OBLIGATIONS, WHICH, IF THEY ARE NOT OBSERVED, SENDS THE CLEAR SIGNAL TO THE GUEST THAT HE IS NOT WANTED, OR TO THE HOST THAT THE GUEST DOES NOT WANT TO BE THERE. IT IS THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL WELCOMED; WHEN YOUR HOST TAKES YOUR COAT, ESCORTS YOU INTO HIS OR HER HOME, LEADS YOU TO YOUR CHAIR AND OFFERS YOU SOMETHING TO DRINK THAT CONVEYS A SENSE OF WELCOME TO YOU. I ONCE HAD A VERY SMART DOG THAT FIGURED THIS OUT ON HIS OWN. IF I OPENED THE DOOR TO YOU, HE WOULD CLAMP ONTO THE LEG OF YOUR PANTS, OR THE HEM OF YOUR SKIRT, AND PULL YOU INTO THE LIVING ROOM TO THE MOST COMFORTABLE CHAIR, THEN SIT DOWN TO TELL YOU TO SIT. OF COURSE, I WOULD HAVE TO TELL PEOPLE, “DON’T WORRY; JUST DO WHAT THE DOG TELLS YOU TO DO.” EVEN MY DOG KNEW HOW TO TREAT A GUEST. IN THE GOSPEL FOR TODAY, SIMON, A PHARISEE, INVITED JESUS INTO HIS HOME TO EAT WITH HIM, BUT, WHEN JESUS ENTERS SIMON’S HOME, SIMON OMITS ALL THE OBLIGATIONS A HOST HAS TO HIS GUEST. HE DOES NOT OFFER WATER TO WASH JESUS’ FEET, GREET HIM WITH A KISS OF PEACE, OR PROVIDE OIL TO GET THE DUST OF THE ROAD OUT OF JESUS’ HAIR. BY OMITTING THESE LITTLE DETAILS, SIMON IS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATING THAT HE DOES NOT CONSIDER JESUS AS IMPORTANT, OR EVEN AS AN EQUAL. JESUS IS THERE NOT AS AN HONORED GUEST, BUT SOLELY THAT SIMON, THE IMPORTANT AND RIGHTEOUS PHARISEE, CAN MAKE A JUDGEMENT ABOUT THIS RABBI WHO IS UPSETING THE COUNTRYSIDE WITH HIS PREACHING. THE UNWELCOMING AND UNCOMFORTABLE ATMOSPHERE OF THE DINNER WAS MADE EVEN MORE UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN THE PARTY WAS CRASHED BY A WOMAN. WOMEN DID NOT EAT WITH MEN, NOR WOULD A MAN SPEAK TO A WOMAN WHO WAS NOT A RELATIVE. A PHARISEE, LIKE SIMON, COULD NOT TOUCH A WOMAN, ESPECIALLY A KNOWN SINNER, WITHOUT BECOMING RITUALLY UNCLEAN. WHEN SHE STOOD BEHIND JESUS, WEEPING, WASHING HIS FEET WITH HER TEARS, USING HER OWN HAIR TO DRY THEM, THEN ANOINTING HIS FEET WITH THE COSTLY OINTMENT SHE CARRIED, SIMON’S JUDGMENT OF JESUS WAS CONFIRMED IN HIS OWN MIND. HE DISMISSED JESUS, BECAUSE IF JESUS WERE A PROPHET HE WOULD HAVE KNOWN WHAT KIND A WOMAN WAS TOUCHING HIM, A SINNER, AND WOULD HAVE DEMANDED SHE BE THROWN OUT. WHEN JESUS SPOKE UP AND TOLD SIMON HE HAD SOMETHING TO SAY TO HIM, SIMON’S RESPONSE IS CURT, SARCASTIC, AND DISMISSIVE; “TEACHER, SPEAK.” THEN JESUS TOLD THIS LITTLE STORY ABOUT THE CREDITOR WHO HAD TWO DEBTORS; ONE OWING 50 DENARII AND THE OTHER 500 DENARII. WHEN HE FORGAVE THE DEBT OF BOTH, WHICH, JESUS ASKED, WOULD LOVE HIM MORE. “I SUPPOSE,” SIMON ANSWERED IN A DISINTRESTED MANNER, “THE ONE FOR WHOM HE CANCELLED THE GREATER DEBT.” KNOWING THAT SIMON WAS SITTING IN JUDGMENT ON HIM, JESUS REPLIED, “YOU HAVE JUDGED RIGHTLY.” THEN, JESUS TURNED TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE WOMAN KNEELING AT HIS FEET, AND PROCEEDED TO TELL THE RIGHTEOUS SIMON HOW HE FAILED IN HIS OBLIGATIONS TO HONOR JESUS AS HIS GUEST BECAUSE HE FELT HE HAD NO OBLIGATIONS TO HIM, WHILE THIS WOMAN, AT GREAT COST AND RISK, DID ALL SHE COULD TO HONOR JESUS BECAUSE, IN HEARING HIS WORD, SHE KNEW HOW OBLIGED SHE WAS TO JESUS. SHE WELCOMED, AND HONORED, JESUS WITH EVERY THING SHE HAD. TO THIS FAITH, THIS ACCEPTANCE, THIS TRUST IN HIM, JESUS RESPONDED TO THE WOMAN BY SAYING, “YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN.” THE SELF- RIGHTEOUS, THE “GOOD” PEOPLE, WHO THINK WELL OF THEIR SELVES AND GET ALONG JUST FINE ON THEIR OWN, REALLY HAVE NO NEED FOR JESUS, OR FOR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY TO THEM. THEY CAN SIT BACK AND COMPARE WHAT JESUS HAS TO SAY WITH WHAT OTHER TEACHERS AND PHILOSOPHERS HAVE SAID, AND JUDGE THE WORTH OF WHAT JESUS HAS TO SAY. THEY CAN, LIKE SIMON, LISTEN TO HIM WITHOUT HONORING OR WELCOMING HIM, BECAUSE, AFTER ALL, HE IS JUST ANOTHER TEACHER WITH A MESSAGE, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE SOME VALUE. FOR SUCH PEOPLE, WHO ARE CONVINCED OF THEIR OWN GOODNESS, THINK THAT THE WORD OF JESUS ABOUT GOD’S FORGIVENESS DOES NOT APPLY TO THEM, FOR THEY HAVE NOTHING FOR WHICH TO BE FORGIVEN. THUS, THEIR HONOR OF JESUS, AND THEIR OBLIGATION TO HIM, IS MINIMAL AT BEST, AND, OFTEN, NON – EXISTANT. TO THE ONE WHO KNOWS HE OR SHE IS A SINNER, HOWEVER, THE WORD OF JESUS PROMPTS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT RESPONSE. TO THE ONE WHO KNOWS HE OR SHE IS A SINNER, AND BY THEIR SIN HAVE OFFENDED GOD, THE WORD OF JESUS IS THE LIFE – LINE TOSSED BY GOD TO THOSE GOING DOWN TO THEIR DEATH. THE WORD OF JESUS IS SALVATION FROM GOD, AND, IN HEARING THAT WORD, THEY KNOW THAT THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT, NOTHING MORE POWERFUL, NOTHING MORE FILLED WITH HOPE THAN GOD’S PROMISE OF SALVATION IN JESUS, GOD’S ONLY ANNOINTED SON. THE REPENTANT SINNER CAN ONLY FALL AT THE FEET OF JESUS, OFFERING EVERY THING HE OR SHE HAS TO HONOR HIM IN THANKSGIVING FOR WHAT JESUS HAS DONE. GOD HAS FORGIVEN US THROUGH JESUS. TO FIND THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS, WE CAN NOT JUDGE HIS WORDS, OR WEIGH THEM AGAINST THE WORDS OF OTHERS. IN DOING SO, WE ARE SETTING OUR SELVES UP AS THE JUDGE OVER THE KING OF HEAVEN. TO FIND THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS, WE MUST TRUST HIS WORD ABOVE ALL EARTHLY POWERS, AS LUTHER SAID, AND ACCEPT, TRUST AND BELIEVE BY RESPONDING TO HIM IN LOVE WITH ALL THAT WE ARE AND ALL THAT WE HAVE. WHEN THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD COMES TO US IN THE PERSON AND WORD OF JESUS, THERE IS ONLY ONE RESPONSE; TO CAST OUR SELVES, AND ALL THAT WE ARE AND HAVE, AT HIS FEET AND WEEP FOR JOY AT WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US. AMEN.
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