Pastor William R. White
June 17, 2007 - Third Sunday after Pentecost
Bethel Lutheran Church, 312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, WI

The Sermon Text — Luke 7:36-8:3

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.6You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.
Sermon- Mission Statements
In recent years, businesses and organizations have attempted to define who they are and what they do by writing a mission statement. I find these statements quite interesting. I’m not a motorcyclist but I appreciate the mission statement of Harley Davidson. We fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling, by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments.
The people who quack at you on TV, AFLAC, the insurance people, have this as their mission statement: To combine aggressive strategic marketing with quality products and services at competitive prices to provide the best insurance value for consumers. I suppose the TV duck symbolizes being aggressive.
I’ve been surprised that very few businesses mention making a profit in their mission statement. Isn’t that always a part of their mission? Here is one who does: Profitable growth through superior customer service, innovation, quality and commitment. (AGCO – manufacturers of agricultural machines).
Most Churches today have mission statements. Here are three: Reaching out to the World...Preaching to the Unsaved...Teaching the Saved to Serve. Here is a very short statement: To connect people to Jesus Christ and each other. Bethel’s mission statement reads: Bethel is: A city-wide church with a world-wide ministry, responding to God and God’s world; Nourished by Word and Sacrament, offering diversity in worship, mission and learning opportunities.
Some individuals have a mission statement. Here is an interesting one: I am a one-woman campaign to stomp out guilt, the kind of guilt that clings like a leech to the coattails of our grief. A woman who says she serves as a life coach has this statement: My mission in life is to serve God by being: A beacon of light, A bridge of understanding, A tower of integrity, and A castle of realized dreams.
If they had such things during the lifetime of Jesus, the man in today’s story might have declared that his mission in life was to be like God. He might have been so bold as to say: My mission is to become holy by living a holy life.
Simon, the man who hosted Jesus in our story today, not only wanted to be holy, he belonged to an organization of men whose mission was to be holy. To reach this goal his group left nothing to chance. Nearly everything in life was planned to bring them close to God — how they ate, how they slept, how they did business, how they interacted with their wife and their children. By their count there were 637 laws in the Old Testament. Simon’s group memorized these laws and did everything in their power to keep them. Simon believed that there were lots of things going on in the culture that led one away from God. His plan was to separate himself from those things. Simon and his friends thought that to be holy meant that you were set apart, isolated, segregated.
I know about Simon and his friends. I grew up in a church with many Simon-like people. Nearly every Sunday I listened to a litany of things that I should avoid. Separate yourself from drinking, dancing, smoking, card playing or attendance at the movies. We were to identify ourselves by what we didn’t do. During my high school years I didn’t drink or smoke, but I lived with regret that I wasn’t acting like a Christian when I went to high school dances or watched movies
During this period of my life I wasn’t aware of any other path for those who wanted to love and serve Jesus. There was only one conclusion to draw. I wasn’t yet a Christian. I hoped to be some day, a day when I would be willing to give up card playing, dancing and the movies.
My hunch is that there were people during the lifetime of Jesus who drew the same conclusion. Some day I hope to follow God, they thought. But I don’t have the time and energy to memorize the 637 laws. I hope to get to it before I die. What other conclusion could they draw when Simon, or Simon-like people were the only models?
The twist in this story is that something happens that presents a different path to God. A new model suddenly appears. The model isn’t what we normally think of as a person who exemplifies the God-life, because the person, a woman, is described as a “sinful woman.” The Message suggests that she is the “town harlot.” The woman poured a very expensive oil on his feet, and kissed them. She let down her hair and dried his feet with her hair. Jesus approved.
Simon was upset. Jesus responded to Simon’s non-verbal communication by explaining that the woman had shown him great hospitality. “She soothed my feet with her perfume,” she said. The woman modeled the God life by exuding love. Simon and his friends thought being godly was primarily about prayer and attention to public ceremony. Theirs was a private religion that included honesty, sexual purity, and a rigorous prayer life.
My hunch is that the woman didn’t go to synagogue, and during one stretch she was not sexually pure. Her road to God began with a great sense of gratitude for being forgiven, and continued with a strong sense of hospitality, affection, compassion and love.
Jesus did not reject Simon’s way of life. He responded to him because he could see that Simon had rejected the woman’s way of life. If Jesus had to choose, he would choose the non-church going woman over the rigidly faithful Simon. We are reminded of the words of St. Paul, “If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Love is the key to following God. It is superior to rigidly following rules.
Let me ask you men a question. If you have a visitor at your house are you more apt to greet that visitor like Simon or the woman? Would you politely shake the hand of your guest and offer them something to drink, or would you offer to massage their feet? It may seem that this means Jesus is applauding the woman’s way more than the man’s way, but it is not that simple. The reason Jesus talks tough to Simon is that Simon, without speaking a word, passed judgment on the woman. He rolled his eyes and let his body language indicate that he rejected the woman. He saw her as an inferior. Jesus is saying: her way is not inferior. Hers is a loving way.
It is altogether possible that most men will serve God differently than women. One way is not better than the other. If women cook food and men provide physical services can we acknowledge that both are needed? Can we applaud the service of the other?
Back to my days of growing up. I don’t think the thou shall nots – card playing, going to movies, dancing – were helpful. But what was great for me was the witness of men in my church and family. We had strong male role models for faith. When we went to a home for a dinner I had uncles who led the family in prayer. I had men who taught Sunday School and who quietly told me of the importance of faith in Christ. Men talked to me on Sunday mornings and showed interest in me. Without that male support I would not have become a pastor.
Mothers play a huge role in the faith life of their children, but when the father also has a faith life the chances that a child – male or female – develops a faith life is multiplied many times. We know that single women have done wonderful jobs as parents, but the statistics of problems in a father-less household are staggering: Children from a fatherless home are: 32 times more likely to run away, 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders, 9 times more likely to drop out of school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 20 times more likely to end up in prison.
You who are fathers are tremendously valuable in the life of your children. God bless you.
This final word is to all of you: What is your mission statement? What is your goal in life? I hope a part of your mission is to be a servant of God. There are many ways to do that. Compassion and love, however it is displayed, is a part of that model.
I pray that each of you will find your path of service. Amen

© 2007

Not for publication.