Luke 7: 40-47 (MSG)
Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Oh? Tell me.” “Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.” “That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”
Simon was a Pharisee. He was a student and a teacher of the law of Moses, and he considered himself to be pretty holy as a result. It was his vocation to be holy. There was a place in Simon’s heart where he elevated his own holiness above the holiness of those around him. Simon was well aware of appearances, and he prided himself on keeping company with only the holiest of people. So when Jesus came to his house for dinner and allowed a sinful woman to not only touch his feet but to worship him right there in front of Simon, Simon couldn’t help but feel a little bit judgmental. His judgmental attitude caused him to question Jesus’ stature. He had believed this man to be a prophet, someone holy who spoke with God’s authority, but here Jesus’ was allowing himself to be contaminated by sin–at least in Simon’s mind–and how could anyone with God’s authority do that?
So Jesus challenged Simon’s view point. This woman was forgiven. Her sins no longer existed in God’s mind. She couldn’t contaminate anyone with her past mistakes. There were no more past mistakes. Instead, she demonstrated her holiness by expressing a deep understanding of all that God had done on her behalf and by giving everything out of her gratitude. This woman was so concerned with showing her thankfulness that she risked the judgment of others to worship God. Her only thought was what God had done for her. She didn’t have time to think about what others might think or who might be watching or even what state their lives were in. Her focus was on God.
God has forgiven all of us a great debt of sin. If we think ourselves holy already, we won’t appreciate the great gift God has offered to us. We will have little gratitude because our thoughts will be consumed with ourselves. We will be too full of judgement and concerns about the world around us to focus on God. But if we recognize our sinful state, if we see the true magnitude of what the Lord has done, we won’t have time to think about anything but our gratitude to God. In this story, which person are you? What does your gratitude show?
Father, sometimes I am very guilty of comparing myself to others and overestimating my own holiness, but now, God, I see that all my own righteousness is just filthy rags. I have nothing that you have not given to me. If I could see my sin the way that you see my sin, Lord, I would realize just how much you have done for me. Help me to not take your forgiveness for granted. Help me to realize just how much you have done on my behalf. Help me, Lord, to be grateful. I want to be so focused on worshiping you that I don’t have time to worry about the people around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
A Beautiful Mess 