Sermon: Forgiveness & Love: A Tale of Two Hearts
March 3rd, 2019 Rev. Betsy Perkins
First Baptist Church, Delavan WI
Scripture passage: Luke 7:36-50
In the Christian church calendar, today is Transfiguration Sunday. It is the Sunday when many churches remember the day on which Jesus was on a mountaintop with 3 of his disciples and became transfigured, transformed in appearance to a brilliant light. Today, I have chosen a different story that shows a different kind of transfiguration, or transformation. The characters in this story are not changed in actual appearance, but their lives are transformed by Jesus’ presence and by his words as Jesus shines his light into their hearts. Jesus shines that same light into our hearts if we allow Him in, and invites us to receive that same transformation in our lives.
Today we hear a kind of “Tale of Two Cities” stories, only it is “A Tale of Two Hearts”, and just as full of surprises and unexpected reversals. That classic novel begins, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” This story is also about the best of times for one person who was not expecting it, and the worst of times for another who was also caught off guard. Charles Dickens takes 45 chapters to tell his story; but Luke tells just as powerful a story in only 15 verses.
I’ve chosen this story today for it captures the heart of the good news of Jesus in a single scene around a table – which is where our service is leading us this morning – to a table where each of us has been invited to join Jesus. Which leads me to wonder, why did Simon the Pharisee, invite Jesus over to his house for dinner? What was he hoping to get out of it?
Who is this?
It was not uncommon in Jesus’ time for religious and community leaders to host debates and discussions in their homes around important topics of the day or around big theological and religious questions. News about Jesus has been getting around – his ability to heal people, crowds of people, and his surprising teachings. Shortly before Simon’s invitation in Luke 7, Jesus saved the life of an army officer’s servant by healing him long-distance. Following that Jesus restored life to a dead man during his funeral procession, as he was being carried out of town to the burial grounds. Luke tells us that after Jesus did that, everyone was filled with awe and spread around this message: “A great prophet has appeared among us; God has come to help His people.”
So it’s no wonder that Simon is curious, even eager to check this news out for himself and judge for himself if it is true! We see that that is exactly what is on his mind as he evaluates Jesus’ response to the woman who interrupts the dinner, thinking, “If this man were a prophet…” Simon is trying to answer for himself the question “Who is Jesus?” At the end of the story the other guests at Simon’s dinner party are also asking, “Who is this?” If you ever wonder, “Who is Jesus?” then this story may lead you to the answer.
As Luke tells this story, those of us who are listening are quickly aware that Jesus is at the very least a prophet, for he can read Simon’s thoughts and is completely aware of who the woman is along with what her reputation is. Unbeknownst to Simon and his guests (though Luke has told us this in chapter 2), about 30 years earlier a very old, devout man named Simeon had taken the infant Jesus into his arms in the Temple and had prophesied, saying, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, … for that the hearts of many will be revealed.” (Lk.2:34-35) Jesus knows our inmost thoughts, and reveals our hearts. In this story, Jesus reveals two hearts.
A Heart of Gratitude
First, there is the heart of this woman who causes such a shocking disturbance at Simon’s house. She crashes the party, disrupts the meal with her crying, touches Jesus with shocking intimacy. What’s going on that she would make such a spectacle of herself?
It is unlikely that she and Jesus are meeting for the first time in Simon’s house. It is much more likely that there’s a back story. She has heard Jesus preaching perhaps – maybe even that Sermon on the Plain we’ve focused on the last two Sundays. The sermon where Jesus begins by reassuring those who are hated and hungry and sad, that they will be blessed, and warns those who think they’ve got it made that that’s all they’ll get. Perhaps these words caught her attention for she had lost hope for ever receiving any kind of blessing, lost hope for any kind of healthy relationships with her family and community, lost hope for any relationship with God. She had been told she was doomed in God’s eyes because of the things she had done, because of the miserable person she was. I mean her reputation was all over town. Simon knows her, “She’s a sinner” he’s thinking.
One of my New Testament professors in seminary pointed out that it’s been commonly assumed that this woman is a prostitute, as if the only sin a Jewish woman of the first century could commit was a sexual sin. (Jeannine Brown, Bethel Seminary, workingpreacher.com) But in writing the story, Luke chooses not to name her specific sin. My guess is that there were as many ways for her to have sinned back then as there are for us today and we should not narrow the scope of her sin to one particular fault. In the Jewish context, a sinner was anyone who was not faithfully following God’s law. This woman had made some significant mistake or committed some crime and everyone knew about it, and talked about it, and shunned her as a result.
After she heard Jesus preaching hope for people like her, she heard him then speak about putting mercy into action. Clearly, this woman didn’t just hear about mercy in action, but went on to actually experience Jesus’ mercy in action. For unlike Simon, who was concerned about tarnishing his reputation by being seen with sinners, Jesus was getting the reputation of being a friend of sinners (Lk.7:34). (That’s in the verse just before our reading today.) We aren’t told about the extent of Jesus’ friendship with this woman, but it was enough that he had offered forgiveness to her for her sins and set her free from the terrible load of shame and guilt, of failure and worthlessness that she had been carrying. The weight of her past was lifted. Her mistakes no longer defined her. She was free to draw near to people again, free to draw near to Jesus, to draw near to God. She was free to move about in her community, a new creation, a new life.
What Jesus reveals of her heart is that such a great weight was lifted, such a great debt cleared, that her heart is overwhelmed with gratitude. She is crying with relief. After feeling worthless for so long, she feels loved and lovable, perhaps for the first time in her life. She doesn’t care what others think about her anymore, only what Jesus thinks. He reassures her again, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
A Hard Heart
Jesus exposes another heart at that dinner table.
“Simon,” Jesus asks, “who is more grateful, a person with one maxed out credit card debt written off or a person with 10 maxed out credit cards written off?” Simon’s no dummy, he knows his math, and gives the obvious answer: the one forgiven ten times the amount, of course. Jesus tells him that this is the principle that explains the woman’s audacious behavior. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He goes on to compare the woman’s extravagant hospitality with Simon’s neglect of even the basic considerations a host should offer a guest. Simon’s heart is exposed and what is revealed is that he has been so busy judging Jesus and judging the woman that he’s not taken even a moment to reflect on his own behavior. What is revealed is his sense of privilege and pride, such that he might deny having any faults at all that need to be forgiven. Simon’s heart is filled with a self-righteousness that prevents him from recognizing his need for Jesus’ righteousness. Without a sense of need, there is no reason for gratitude, there is no love.
Luke doesn’t tell us how Simon reacts to Jesus’ remarks, to having his heart exposed. I wonder if he reacts defensively, defending his lack of hospitality, maybe blaming someone else in his household for neglecting to provide the washbasin for Jesus. I wonder if he gave some smart come-back about how he didn’t have any debts, didn’t owe anything to anyone. Maybe he justified himself, explaining how he prayed at every meal and kept all the Ten Commandments and has gone to church since he was a little kid.
It’s no wonder Jesus was killed. Forgiveness is a powerful thing, leading hearts to either rejoice or resent. Offering someone forgiveness implies that they need it. Jesus doesn’t condemn Simon for his hardheartedness, he simply points it out, offering the observation: those who have been forgiven little, love little.
Our Hearts
Let me ask you a question now: what have your thoughts been about Simon the Pharisee as you heard this story being read and as I’ve talked about him? Did you pick him out at the bad guy in this story? Did you figure out that he was judgmental and unloving, full of himself? It’s so natural for us to fall into that same trap and BAM, before we know it we are the ones judging Simon. We’re criticizing the splinter in his eye, rather than looking for the plank in our own. Are we any less judgmental than he was of those who have made mistakes, who have bad reputations, who have made poor choices? Are we too confident in our good behavior, in our striving to follow God? Take your eyes off of those around you, and allow Jesus to shine a light on your heart. Allow Him to reveal your heart. What do you see?
This is an outrageous story that contains the whole outrageous message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That God had such love for us, such compassion for us in our weakness that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to offer us forgiveness, to write-off the heavy debt we owe so we can live life free from that burden, free from fear of failing, free to love with our whole hearts. The story of Jesus disrupts our lives, exposes our secrets – sometimes calling us to account, sometimes calling us to rejoice. Always inviting us to love.
In the final scene in Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities, one man is condemned to death for a crime, but at the last moment another man slips into the prison to take his place at the guillotine. Jesus takes our place, takes the consequences for our failures, our brokenness and selfishness, our shortcomings and shame. True faith, my friends, is that person who, knowing their heart, has an encounter with Jesus and discovers God’s forgiveness. The sign and the proof of this faith is love.
Closing Song: “My Jesus, I Love Thee” # 101
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