The Scene, Reverie and Cautions, A Thought or two, the Encounter, a footnote, and the ending, "they lived happily ever after, mostly" --

THE SCENE

•A warm, late-spring evening just before dusk… above the distant horizon an enthralling blend
of soft orange/yellow hues meld under cloudless skies whose textures of rich purples and dimming blues flow together
all bidding the day a colorful farewell…

•Guests filed through an arched entry into the patio which was surrounded by a massive stone wall …
•soft breezes playfully spread the intoxicating sweet perfume of fragrant flowers entwined on the wall …

•Guests mingled over an elegant Mediterranean buffet gaily arrayed on ornate tables by the distant wall…

• Conversations in clusters of women and groups of men were animated but reserved as befit a certain social status, the occasion, and the calming effect of ample wines…

•The host was the distinguished, popular, and well-connected Pharisee, Simon. Known for attracting the most interesting preachers and unique teachers to his patio, and gathering the movers-and-shakers for convivial salons, Simon was in his glory. His agile mind attended the trappings of the event while his lips curled in a polished smile and poured out the proper platitudes, all the while secretly forming or rehearsing his opinions of each guest.

•As was the custom of the times, the uninvited could come in to listen. A small group who knew of the preacher du jour stood against the wall closest to the entry and farthest from the food.

•Simon graciously ushered the preacher to a central, low slung couch on which he reclined. The host stood, purposefully cleared his voice, and a polite silence enveloped the patio. The invited guests gathered around in anticipation of pearls of wisdom that would flow as freely as the wine and, if I am not being too cynical, the words would be forgotten by the next day as certainly as the buzz of the fruit of the vine left its haze on their morning minds.

REVERIE AND CAUTION

•Simon was in his glory standing back and observing the preacher, waiting for Jesus to utter a fiery phrase, or provoke the crowd with his folksy rhetoric or one of his de classe farmer stories, or perform one of his magic tricks—oh, the obvious ploy to win the superstitious masses: faith healer and bread king!

•In certain circumstances the glory of the person and the gluttony of the spirit dangerously merge, a truth that would shortly shake Simon out of his reverie.

A THOUGHT OR TWO

Sin is withdrawal from God’s love, which is also withdrawal from the quest both for authentic being and union with God. Actions and behaviors that cause us to feel broken and separated are symptoms of this sin. The symptoms are warning signs that life is in a dangerous spiral. There are at least three things that seem to work in tandem to cause people to withdraw from God, the quest, and the union:

•Sometimes people intend to withdraw because they feel their thoughts or actions have betrayed God or, conversely, they feel that God let them down,

•withdrawal can result when people do not attend to faith and spiritual practices, and

•in both my personal and pastoral experience, withdrawal usually comes from inattention. In our busyness we gradually stop listening to and exploring our inner being, nurturing our experience of Divine love, and we get caught up in routines that distract us from the inner journey of faith that anchors our hearts and actions. The deeper a person gets into such states of existence the farther we move from the practices that enrich our humanity and fill us with inner serenity and outer joy.

At some point in the withdrawal a person’s behavior awakens them to the brokenness and separations that distort their lives. Such was the case of an uninvited woman standing in Simon’s patio. Tradition names the symptom of her withdrawal from Divine love as prostitution.
 

THE ENCOUNTER

Everyone was listening to Jesus when, without warning, a woman came out of the group by the archway, her face flooded with tears, and a small alabaster jar swinging from a loop of leather around her neck.

There was nervous movement and muted gasps among the guests who then fell perfectly still. Simon’s jaw visibly dropped as Jesus’ eyes caught the woman’s gaze. As she fell to the ground at his feet Simon started to move, but he froze when she ever so immodestly and insensitively let her silken hair down. Her lips gently kissed Jesus’ feet and with her long hair she wiped the torrent of tears that had fallen on them. Suddenly she poured the expensive concentrate of fragrant ointment over his feet and caressed them.

Simon’s look turned smug as he took momentary pleasure in his thought that Jesus’ credibility was flying at the speed of light down a greased slide: "If Jesus was a prophet he’d know this woman’s reputation and he certainly wouldn’t let this unclean person touch him."

Jesus read his mind and before Simon knew it Jesus was telling him one of those simple tales – "Me," Simon thought, "this backwater peripatetic rabbi – preaching at me, a learned Pharisee! The nerve of the man talking to me about forgiveness of debts and love!" He heard himself saying, "Why, the one who was forgiven much was certainly the one who loved more…right?" But this was more than a mini-morality play.

Looking directly at the woman and without taking his eyes from her, Jesus said to Simon: "Do you see this woman?"

In fact, Simon did not see her, he saw a categorical sin. Simon, do you see this woman, do you see her for real?

"I came into your house and you poured no water over my feet. This woman poured out her tears and wiped my feet with her hair.

"You gave me no kiss but she covered my feet with kisses.

"You did not anoint my head with oil, but she poured out her ointment."

A FOOTNOTE

In the ancient Near East there were very well defined and practiced rules of hospitality extended to guests without regard for their social, political, or religious status. For reasons we do not know, Simon failed to extend the top three to Jesus. A guest is always:

1. welcomed with an extended hand and a kiss of peace,
2. coming off of hard, rocky, dusty roads, cool water is poured over the guest’s feet, and
3. a tincture of fragrant oil is placed on the guest’s head.

THE END – HAPPILY EVER AFTER, MOSTLY

A careful reading of the story informs us that the woman did NOT come to this cozy little salon to be forgiven by Jesus! She came to pour out her heart-full gratitude for having earlier been liberated from her withdrawal from God and from a multitude of self-destructive behaviors that deeply distorted and imprisoned her life. Listen to what Jesus said to Simon about her, "I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love."

The tears, the hair, the caresses, the expensive ointment, and the kisses were nothing less than an unrestrained outpouring of love and gratitude that should have moved and changed the heart of every witness. Presumably to drive home the point, Jesus repeated the words he had earlier heard, "Your sins are forgiven." The guests, apparently unmoved and not transformed, questioned his right to forgive sins. And then Jesus said it all: Because of your trust you have ended your withdrawal from Divine Love, you can go now and live in shalom – in peace and in wholeness.

Self-forgiveness -- the hardest to give and the most important to receive -- and

The acceptance of God’s forgiveness – the most difficult to believe and absorb -- and

The forgiveness of those who hurt us – the impossibly essential act – each of these holds three indispensable blessings:

forgiveness is the ultimate act of generosity and love because it does not hold on to wrongs, inadequacy, or guilt;

forgiveness is the ultimate act of liberation because it gives hearts and minds the serenity that makes us immune to the harm created by the wrongs; and

forgiveness is the ultimate act of humility because it seeks to restore wholeness to the offender while lifting the burdens of pride, hurt, and self-righteousness carried by the offended.

This woman and her story are for each of us an internal wisdom guide. She knows what it feels like to withdraw from Divine love, to behave in ways that harm her soul, her psyche, and her body, AND she knows first hand what it means to be loved back to life and peace – to be a new person in Christ.

I want you to sit in dialogue with the woman in the story this week. It may help you grow in trust, faith, and peace – the state of existence that Jesus helped the woman find again.

A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE BASED ON THE TEACHING

The Text: Luke 7:36-50

One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house and took his place at a table, a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of fragrant ointment. She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is that is touching him and what a bad name she has." Then Jesus took him up and said, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Speak, teacher, was the reply. "There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed him 500 denarii, the other 50. They were unable to pay, so he pardoned them both. Which of them will love him more?" "The one who was pardoned more, I suppose," answered Simon. Jesus, said, "You are right."

Then he turned to the woman. "Simon," he said, "you see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with fragrant ointment. For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little who shows little love." Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Those who were with him at table began to say to themselves," Who is this man, that he even forgives sins?" But Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Let us assume that there are elements of this woman, the Pharisee, and Jesus in each of us. Write a dialogue between yourself and this woman but write the dialogue as if she part of who you are. Talk with her about who you are and about how you treat her/yourself, and ask her to tell you about the peace she found when Jesus sent her away in peace.

Let her be your internal wisdom guide: she knows how it feels to have withdrawn from God and behaved in a way that harmed her soul, but she also has a first hand experience of forgiveness, and love, and peace, and trust, and a new love of God in Christ. This is who she is, so what can she help you discover and learn about yourself and about Jesus Christ? It will be hard, but ask her some questions and let her speak freely and candidly from and to your heart.

For further reflection:

Has your experience of forgiveness resulted from love or created it or ----- ?

Jesus told her that her "faith" saved her. Without using jargon or God-Talk, what does

the word ‘faith’ mean to you – what does it involve in your life to have faith?

How have you treated yourself as Simon treated this woman?

This woman had been forgiven before she came into the Pharisee’s courtyard but once there she gave herself to Jesus with great love and abandon. Remember a time when you felt so liberated by God’s love and so full of gratitude and life that you poured yourself out to God. Take time to meditate on what it was like to feel that way and ask yourself what it will take to rekindle that love if it has cooled.

DIALOGUE

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(use additional pages to continue your dialogue)

This practice is expanded and adapted from Walter Wink, Transforming Bible Study.