Our text for today is the Gospel reading.
The Christian church throughout the world has in common a number of different practices and traditions. While we tend to focus on our differences, there are those things that are pretty customary and found in many churches. One of these is something Lutherans tend to do very well. It harkens back to our “top ten list” we had some weeks back. That is, Lutherans are known for having food at any kind of get-together and/or celebration. Now I don’t think this is because Christians tend to eat more than the rest of the world. But, rather, I believe in a lot of ways the church has always known to be true a very simple principle, namely “if you feed them, they will come.”
While we may jokingly suggest this is a church thing, if you think about it, feeding guests is a frequent practice in our culture. Anytime you invite someone to an event or celebration, isn’t food usually expected? How many wedding receptions have you been invited to where food of some kind was not served? What would you think if you came across one? I’m sure there would be some mumblings between you and your spouse, especially as you went through the drive-through on your way home.
I wonder if things were very different during the days of Jesus. Consider how often we see Jesus sharing a meal. By the second chapter of John, you already have Jesus attending a wedding celebration, where food and drink abound. Just a few chapters later, you find Him eating with a tax collector, to the chagrin of the Jews. And here, in our text for today, He is once again reclining for a meal. This time, however surprisingly, it is with a Pharisee.
And no doubt these opportunities and invitations were very welcomed by Jesus and His disciples, even if it did involve eating with a Pharisee. If we put ourselves in their traveling shoes, we can just imagine: being tired from long days of walking, and being so far from home, a nice comfortable place to recline and a nice home cooked meal would sound really good to any one of us. So much so, that later on in Luke, we know Jesus didn’t even always wait for an invitation: “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
But a meal was much more than a time to fill the stomach. It served as an opportunity for discourse; an opportunity for a great teacher like Jesus to share words of truth and wisdom. Have you ever noticed how in scripture when there is a meal, there are usually other people, those who clearly are not at the table, but present nonetheless? Take our text for today: where did this woman come from? Well, it was common for the locals to come to these meals – not as participants, but as spectators – to hear the words of the special guest, and to learn from them. This woman had shown up that she might be able to hear the authoritative message of Jesus.
So this event would have been a time in which Jesus was to be honored, as no doubt Zacchaeus did while Jesus was his guest, as no doubt the tax collector did when Jesus ate with him. A time to honor and a time to learn. But is this why Jesus was invited to the meal that day?
In our text for today we have a record of what I think might be the first roast ever recorded in history. The only difference is this one was not done in the light and loving spirit in which most roasts are done. But consider for a moment that Jesus was invited to be the honored guest at the dinner only to be disrespected. We read, “…I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet… You gave me no kiss… You did not anoint my head with oil…” Now we read this and think to ourselves, “Who would do these things?” In those days, however, these were expected ways of treating an honored guest. By the time this woman had even entered into the picture, Jesus had essentially already been dishonored. The host had shown Jesus what he thought of Him by what he failed to do.
It’s clear this Pharisee had no plans of honoring his guest that day. One might even suggest that this man had failed to do these common practices in hopes of honoring himself – of showing himself to be greater.
Now there is little doubt that this Pharisee was going out of his way to dishonor Jesus. And, ironically, he used a setting and a context in which one would normally be honored. But I wonder if this reflects a reality that is more common than we might initially think.
As Christians we hope and we pray that our daily lives might be ones that honor God. I think we all share that prayer. And certainly we are called to honor God with everything we are and with everything we have. But how does one honor God according to our text for today?
I think it’s clear that those who begin to trust in their own efforts, who point to their own works, may be in danger of dishonoring Christ. I do not believe we honor Christ when we attempt to make His sacrifice for us null and void. This might make us feel better about ourselves; for a time, we may escape that uncomfortable feeling that comes when we recognize our own sinfulness. But this is not how one honors God. Instead, like the woman who came to Jesus in our text for today, we honor Christ when we fall to our knees, knowing that He is the one through whom we receive forgiveness and eternal life. When we come to know the Gospel as Paul preached it to the Galatians: that one is not justified through the Law, but through faith in Christ Jesus.
This is not a new understanding of how to honor God. When Moses and Aaron found themselves in the wilderness with the complaining Israelites, there came a time when Moses was commanded by God to speak to a rock, and water would then come from it. And if you remember, Moses did exactly what God had commanded, right up to the last minute when Moses struck the rock twice instead of just speaking to it. Hear what God said to Moses: “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
“Because you did not believe in me.”
Was it Simon the Pharisee or the woman who honored Jesus? Was it the righteous man, the one who lived a life according to the law, or the sinner who approached in faith? Notice, she did not honor Jesus by honoring herself. Her faith that Jesus could deliver her from a life of sin; her trust that Jesus would in fact accomplish what He promised; that is what honored Christ. Her actions were done out of love, not out of seeking her own glory. The tears that washed Jesus’ feet were tears of repentance, tears that recognized the great need of forgiveness, and of the One who meet that need.
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” We honor Christ by believing in the promises He has given to us. That we are saved not by the works we do, not on account of our own righteousness, but because of His death and resurrection. We are honored not on account of our own worth and worthiness, but through the humiliation of our Lord, when Jesus brought honor to our lives by leaving His highly exalted place in the heavens to dwell among the sinful, to eat with the tax collectors, to recline with the harlot. A humiliation that brought the truth of God’s Word and grace to our lives. A humiliation that allowed for those who stood on their own righteousness to cast judgment upon our Lord and upon those who were embraced by Him.
We honor Christ not by earning salvation, but by receiving it… receiving it with thankfulness, receiving it knowing we would be lost to sin and hell without it. And, like the woman, the words of forgiveness which our Lord proclaims to us shall move us to show love and compassion to those around us; to grant the place of honor at our tables to those who are considered lowly and detestable.
We will only grow in this kind of love if we grow in our understanding of the great gift of grace we have received freely from our Lord and Savior. A love that is given to us at the meal Jesus now prepares for us. A love given to those who journey in this world, those who suffer from temptation, those who suffer from struggles of both body and soul. Jesus now invites us, the ones who are left in our travels, to His meal; a meal that gives rest to the weary, a meal that calls the sinner to be forgiven and strengthened, a meal that honors God as we participate in His death and resurrection for our salvation.
Let us always respond to the mercy and love of Christ with the same act of faith and love. Knowing that we are the greatest sinner of all, let us honor God by humbly receiving from the Lord His gift of life and salvation. May this be true for all of us. AMEN.
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