Proper 6, Year C
Sunday, June 16, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a
Psalm 5:1-8
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3
In thinking about
our Gospel story this week, one thing occurred to me which had never really
occurred to me before. The Pharisee was
right. That woman had no business being
in his house. He was having a dinner
party, and this woman whom he hadn’t invited showed up and began harassing one
of his guests, all of that, in addition to the fact that she was a sinner. We don’t know how bad she was or exactly what
she did, but it was enough to have been well known, such that she was
notoriously sinful.
So the Pharisee
was right. She didn’t have any business
being there, and the Pharisee was committed to upholding what was right. The woman needed to change her ways, and
possibly make some big time changes to her ways before she showed up at the
Pharisee’s house.
The Pharisee was
holding this woman accountable for her actions, saying “that’s not who we
are. We don’t behave the way you’ve been
behaving. God has given us a way of life
in which the harm you’ve been causing yourself and others just doesn’t fit.” The Pharisee wanted her to change her ways,
to live as a Jew before he would have her in his house.
Jesus, you’ll
notice didn’t disagree. The woman was a
sinner, Jesus even said she had many sins, and yet rather than hold her to task
for her sins, rather than be concerned with what was right, he decided to
forgive her. The way of Jesus is the way
of love and forgiveness. Jesus knew she
wanted to repent, to change her ways, so he had no problem forgiving her. He wasn’t concerned with justifying himself
in his actions. He wasn’t concerned with
being right like the Pharisee was. Jesus
was only concerned about doing what was right for the woman.
Now the Pharisee
might have said, “but wait, Jesus, that woman doesn’t deserve to be
forgiven.” Jesus would have said, “You
got it. You’re right. That’s the point.” We don’t forgive people because they deserve
it. We forgive people out of love.
If we wait to
forgive until a person deserves it, until that person has paid whatever penalty
is owed, then we aren’t practicing forgiveness.
We’re just burning the note after a debt is paid. Forgiveness means forgiving the debt, not
collecting, burning the note before the debt is paid. That means giving up our pride, giving up our
sense of justice, and giving up our sense of what is right.
Being comfortable
with who we are, is essential if we are going to be forgiving people who love
God. I’ve found it easy
to forgive when I am at peace with myself.
When I feel threatened or wronged or feel somehow less than I should be
(don’t feel great about my life or myself), then I find it difficult to
forgive. I want to uphold justice and a
sense of what is right and part of that is to soothe my own sense of being
wronged or hurt somehow.
I think the
Pharisee felt this way. Like most of us,
I’m guessing he had varying degrees of self doubt and hurt inside of him. Carrying those burdens, the Pharisee had a
hard time forgiving. Carrying the
burdens of self doubt and hurt, he had a strong need to uphold justice and to
uphold what was right. To be more
complete himself, he felt he had to do what was “right”, he had to hold the
woman accountable for her sins.
Jesus, on the
other hand, was totally ok with who he was.
He was not burdened with self doubt or hurt, and so he could forgive the
woman. Unconcerned with making her pay
her penalty before she could be forgiven, Jesus saw a woman who was
hurting. Jesus saw a woman who was in
pain, probably from others and from her own poor choices, and he decided to
ease her pain and forgive her sins.
When we, like
Jesus are content with life as it is, we can more readily forgive. When we have
no need to feel strong, we can forgive. Forgiveness
is an act of weakness so to speak. If we
hold something over someone’s head, not forgiving them, then there is a feeling
of power over that person. Forgiving
that person is giving up that power.
Paul writes in 2
Corinthians 12:9-10, “The Lord said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for
power is made perfect in weakness.’ So,
I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ
may dwell in me. Therefore I am content
with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake
of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”
Content with our
own weaknesses, we can more readily forgive others out of love for others. Giving up our power, giving up our strength
and forgiving others is the way of God, the way of Jesus, to forgive out of
love, rather than to hold onto the wrong out of being right. The forgiveness someone’s wrong may not be
deserved, but that’s God’s way, to forgive.
Notice also the
result of forgiveness. She loved Jesus
greatly, having been forgiven much.
“Therefore, I tell you,” Jesus said, “her sins, which were many, have
been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.”
When someone acknowledges their sins, and that person’s sins are
forgiven, the result is love. We love
because of the kindness shown and want to then give that same kindness to
others.
Must we, then,
build up a huge store of bad deeds so that we can be forgiven much in order to
love God? Do we have to sin a lot in order
to love God more? If we live a wholesome
life, honoring God and honoring each other in our actions, will we then love God
less because we feel we have been forgiven less? By not feeling as strongly the gratitude from
having been forgiven much, would we necessarily love less?
Well, possibly,
but I don’t believe necessarily.
Otherwise, the lesson would be, “Go, sin a whole big darn lot, that way,
when you’re done, you can repent and really love God, and be that much better
off.” We can also love God purely for
the beauty of who God is. We don’t have
to hate ourselves in order to love God.
We do, however,
need to be able to look at ourselves honestly.
We do need to be able to acknowledge our faults. In doing to, we can become comfortable with
who we are. We may not like all of who
we are, but by acknowledging our faults, we can accept God’s forgiveness, love
God more, and be content with who we are, scars and all. Accepting our own weakness, we can trust more
in God’s strength, accept God’s forgiveness, and love more fully. For “‘[God’s] grace is sufficient for [us],
for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, [we] will boast all the more gladly
of [our] weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in [us]... for whenever
[we are] weak, then [we are] strong.” Amen.
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