1 Kings 21:1-10, 15-21a; Luke 7:36—8:3
We don’t have time today to talk
about the last few verses of the Gospel reading, but I want to call your
attention to this list of women who supported Jesus. While the twelve lead
disciples were all men, there were also a large number of women who followed
him and supported him financially.
Today’s texts are about sin
and forgiveness, mostly sin. Whose sin in Scripture is worse than this one by
Queen Jezebel!? She wants whatever she can get, and forces her husband, King
Ahab to go along with her.
Property in ancient Israel was rarely sold; it
was passed on through the generations. Property was income and inheritance and
retirement for whoever lived there. It was the family home, and only in extreme
desperation would a family sell their land, or even trade it, as Ahab offered.
Ahab lay in his bed, dejected.
Dejected, probably as much because Naboth refused to give him the land as because
Naboth dared to speak to him the way he did. Jezebel wanted nothing to do with
his depression. Aren’t you the king?! I guess I’ll have to do this myself!
So, Jezebel made up a plan to
get the land by using forgery, perjury, and murder. Once Naboth was dead,
Jezebel announced to Ahab that he could go and claim the land.
Elijah heard what had happened
and hurried to see Ahab. Elijah declared the actions sinful, and that the
consequence would be his own death at the site of Naboth’s stoning. Eventually,
Ahab repented, and Eijah changed the condemnation to apply to Ahab’s children. About
three years later, Ahab was killed in battle; Jezebel was thrown down from a
window in her home, and trampled by horses until there was nothing left of her
body but her hands and feet, and her skull.
There is plenty of sin in this
story: Ahab covets what can’t legally be his; Jezebel steals the property,
bears false witness against Ahab; and arranges for his murder.
… In the story from Luke, a
woman, labeled a sinner in the town, entered the room where Jesus was dining
with some of the leaders of the town. The host was Simon the Pharisee, who
“knows” from his training what sin is. He was anticipating an interesting
evening, with a rich conversation of Scripture interpretation.
The evening got more exciting
than Simon had anticipated when a woman entered the home. She knelt at Jesus’
feet and began to clean them with perfume and tears. Her specific sins are not
named, but most people assume her sin is sexual, that she was a prostitute. Maybe
she was a prostitute; maybe it was some sin other than adultery. Perhaps she
was a thief, or she had to work on the Sabbath, or she coveted her neighbor’s
property and spent more of her husband’s income than he could afford.
Many scholars suggest that the
Jesus and the woman have had a previous encounter, during which the woman has
confessed and Jesus has already forgiven her. She has come to Jesus this night
to thank him for the gift of forgiveness.
Jesus knew what Simon was
thinking; either Jesus could read Simon’s mind, or he could read the look on
his face. Jesus wanted to challenge the judgment expressed by Simon so he told
them a story with a question at the end.
Such stories and questions by
Jesus are always traps intended to challenge the thinking of the person with
whom he is talking. Simon took the bait, and answered Jesus question. “I suppose
the one who has the largest debt cancelled.”
Jesus replied, “You have
answered correctly.” Turning to the woman, Jesus said, “Your sins are
forgiven.” The gasp of the diners is
almost audible. “Who does he think he is!? Only God forgives sins!”
Jesus disregarded the comments
of Simon and the others. He dismissed the woman. “Your faith has saved you. Go
in peace.”
There is plenty of sin in this
story, too. The woman is guilty of some unnamed sin. Simon is guilty of unkindness,
of judgment. He assumes he is clean, righteous in God’s eyes, but Jesus has just
pointed out that he is not.
It is a bit harder to
determine exactly which commandment he has broken. The first commandment – put
God first – requires us to treat creation as God intends. So, Simon’s judgment
of the woman meant that he was breaking the first commandment.
We remember the time the
Pharisees questioned Jesus. “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus reply was
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. And the
second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
It’s obvious that Simon does
not love his neighbor – and this woman in particular – as he loves himself and
as much as he loves his status in the culture as a righteous Pharisee.
The woman is so grateful for
the forgiveness she has been granted that she lavishes expensive perfume on
him. Most likely, she feels like she has new life ahead of her and this gift is
a small token of her gratitude.
… In our world today, the same
sins show up that our Bible stories reveal. Sin is anything that breaks our
relationship with God. It can be doing something forbidden such as stealing or
lying. Or it can be not doing something we know we should do, such as remembering
to bring food for the food pantry. The sin is in not trusting God to work out
our situation so we don’t need to steal or lie; and the sin is in not being
trustworthy in helping care for our neighbors.
I always get caught by the “what
I have left undone” part of the confession, and the part that reminds us that
we don’t always know in what ways we sin. There is no way to know what we have
done to hurt someone else unless they tell us.
Jezebel knew she was sinning,
but she went ahead with her plans anyway. There was no regret that we can
determine, except perhaps at the end her regret was that the people had turned
on her and killed her.
The woman who pours out her
gratitude onto Jesus’ feet knew what her sins were, regretted them, and knew
the blessing of forgiveness. Simon the Pharisee may have been perfect according
to the word of the commandments, but he failed to obey them in his heart. He
did not recognize his sin, and I’m sure he was resentful of Jesus’ accusation.
Because of his attitude toward Jesus and the woman, neither was he able to receive
the forgiveness Jesus would have offered him, and he never knew the gratitude
he would have felt at being forgiven.
… This week, think about these
things: When have you sinned? When have you confessed your sin, to God or to
another person? When have you been forgiven? How did that forgiveness feel? Was
it not a blessing to be forgiven?
When have you refused to
forgive? How does that lack of forgiveness affect your life? What is preventing
you from forgiving? How might your refusal to forgive be sinful? Would it not
be a blessing to be rid of the pain caused by the refusal to forgive?
And, it is not a blessing to
know that we are all forgiven by God through Jesus? What would you give Jesus in
your gratitude for the forgiveness you have been offered? A jar of ointment?
Your heart poured out in tears washing his scarred feet?
Please pray with me. God of
mercy, forgive us. We sin, intentionally and without realizing we are sinning.
We are so grateful for your forgiveness. Help us to offer the same forgiveness
to those in our lives, for our sake, and theirs. Amen
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