Scandalous Behavior

Sunday, June 17th, 2007
Third after Pentecost
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton
Luke 7:36-8:3
Rev. Leslie Park, preaching

How many of us would consider ourselves to be a good judge of people? Within a few minutes of meeting someone, we have them “figured out” and can sum up who they are, what they are about, and what they might want from us. Many times this takes place without any exchange of conversation. We size them up, we look at how they are dressed, how their body is shaped, how they come across, how they move. We construct narratives in our mind about the person based on shockingly inadequate information. And this information is collected as much from our preconceptions of them as from what is actually said in a conversation. Yeah, I am a pretty good judge of people. And sometimes I think that is a good thing.

But you know what I cannot stand? I cannot stand when people think they know all about me without getting to know me. They have preconceptions about who and what I am because I am a woman, because I am an ordained woman, because I am in my forties, because I am a preacher’s wife, because I am Southern Baptist. So, basically what I am saying is that I can’t stand to be treated the way I treat other people…

In today’s passage that Lindsey read, we have three main characters: a Pharisee named Simon, Jesus, and “a woman in the city, who was a sinner.” Before we even begin, we have some preconceptions about at least two of the people in this passage.

Simon, being a Pharisee, was a lay leader in the church who was constantly concerned with upholding the letter of the law. Pharisees do not have a positive track record throughout the Gospel narrative. More often than not, they are involved in proving Jesus inept in the keeping of Mosaic law, inadequate in teaching people how to follow God, and inconvenient in the context of their religious obsession with keeping the status quo. I mean, he eats with tax collectors and sinners, for goodness sake! Look in the passage just before our text today. In v. 34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” My goodness, he insists on eating with all the wrong people… and here we find him at the home of Simon the Pharisee.

The next person that enters the story is the woman. She is described as “a woman in the city, who was a sinner.” Well, that can only mean one thing. She was a prostitute. And everybody at Simon’s house that night new exactly what she did for a living. She was disgusting to those who found their salvation in keeping the law. They might not have known her name, but that didn’t matter. They knew what she did. They knew her complete disregard for propriety. They knew how she lived her life everyday. Now, here she was, in Simon’s house, blatantly crossing that line of propriety by exposing them all to her uncleanliness. Isn’t that just like a woman in the city who is a sinner.

We have our perceptions about Simon the Pharisee. We have our perceptions about the sinful woman. But let’s get into the story and see how each of these then perceive Jesus. Look at verse 39.

“Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him – that she is a sinner.”

Before even a word is spoken in this passage, we have Simon making the claim that Jesus must be clueless. If he really knew what was going on, he would have nothing to do with this woman. If he really was a prophet, he would know who and what she was and he would never have allowed this to happen.

The question then occurs to me, “Why did Simon invite Jesus to his house for supper?” Was it to scope him out? Had he heard him teach? Did he see him heal the widow’s son at Nain? Was he looking for proof that Jesus was a fraud? Maybe at some point, deep down inside he had hoped that this was the one promised to God’s people in Isaiah. But now, after this incident, he realizes that if Jesus cannot even perceive what is directly before him, how can he possibly understand things of God? Basically, Simon writes Jesus off. Notice that Simon is speaking to himself here. There has been no verbal exchange between the three of them yet. This by itself is a powerful lesson indeed. People write each other off; they dismiss each other even before a word is said. External appearances matter so much for us, and many of us are so quick to rush to judgment, that we will cut off a person even before the person has uttered one word. That is what the Pharisee has done here, to both Jesus and the woman.

There is an alternative perception of Jesus that comes out of the story, and that is how the woman perceives him. Her actions, though incredibly intimate, are not driven by erotic desire. She is not looking to get another “customer.” She genuinely pours out her heart to Jesus, perceiving in him someone who can make her life whole. Do you think she was naive about who and what she had become? Don’t you think she knew how she would be treated in the home of Simon the Pharisee? In this Gospel she joins the ranks of those outsiders who experience Jesus’ healing power like the centurion, the paralytic, the leper, and the Gerasene demoniac. Did Jesus have her in mind when he said in Luke 5:31-32, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call no the righteous but sinners to repentance”? Ironically, Jesus was answering a question posed by the Pharisees and scribes about why he and the disciples eat and drink with… you guessed it… tax collectors and sinners!

What truth is Luke suggesting here? Those who think that they are secure, those who have arrived, those who have perceived the world in ways that lead to their superiority and comfort… Those are the ones that are least able to be open to the word of Jesus to them. By acting on my own preconceptions, have I placed myself in a position of not being open to the word of Jesus for me? Hmm… not a very comfortable place to be.

As we keep reading in the passage, we see a delicious irony unfold. The more that Simon thinks that Jesus is clueless to what is going on, the more Jesus not only sees the woman for who she is, he sees Simon for what he is. When the passage was read, did you wonder why Simon did not extend the traditional practices of hospitality toward Jesus? Why didn’t he offer water for Jesus to wash with? Why didn’t he greet Jesus with warmth when Jesus entered his home? Was he more concerned with treading a fine line? Maybe he wants to make sure all of his bases are covered. If it is true that Jesus is a fraud, then Simon can safely say that he never "really" accepted Jesus, despite having him over to dinner. If it is true that Jesus is the "real deal," from Simon's perspective, he can claim that he was the first to have Jesus over to dinner. Simon is trying to have it both ways, but Jesus nicely slices and dices him to show that he has it neither way. He simply is a bad host. And, as the parable shows, he is a bad host who doesn't know the value of forgiveness.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He does something rather incredible. After he tells the story of two debtors, which Simon seemed to understand, in one of the most striking features of the passage, Jesus speaks to Simon but turns toward the woman. When addressing Simon about the woman's behavior, Jesus faces the woman. He says to Simon, "Do you see this woman?" (v. 44). But stop and think for a second. He is facing her, seeing her, looking into her, as he speaks to Simon. It is almost as if he is saying, "I am looking at her. Do you really see her, Simon?" She is one whom Jesus will say has loved much (v. 47). Jesus knew that beneath her seemingly vulgar display resided a heart of faith and love. She is the one who has shown great love, because she realized how much she had been forgiven. It is as if Jesus is saying to Simon, "Can't you see that, Simon? Are you, the one who thinks he is so perceptive about the world; are you really that blind to reality?"

All these contrasting perceptions ought to make us ask the question of what we perceive as we look at people. Are we ones who jump to conclusions? Do we judge primarily or simply by the externals? Will we be smart enough to know how to undermine those who think they perceive a lot without dishonoring them? Jesus has a remarkable way of dealing with the woman and Simon. This passage challenges us to rethink how we perceive the world and people.

But what about the parable? Jesus sees Simon's rush to judgment and wants to point out to Simon how this rush to judgment actually damages his own soul. But how do you do that? How do you tell someone that what they are doing is hurtful? Do you just tell the person, "Simon, you are such a jerk! Can’t you realize what is happening!" Well, Jesus doesn't do this. What Jesus actually does takes lots of insight, patience, and love. To tell a story to illustrate your point reflects a higher order of intelligence than merely to criticize a person for his conduct. To tell a story means that you respect the other person and that you let him interpret it in his own way. So, Jesus will honor Simon's independence of mind while, at the same time, telling a story which allows him "space" to repent and change his life, or not. Could that be another lesson for us?

The story Jesus tells relates to debtors and creditors. Jesus doesn't just pull this story "out of the hat." The theme of release of debtors is central to his message in Luke’s gospel. What anchors Jesus' message in Luke is the image of the Jubilee year of release of debts in the Old Testament. Indeed, Jesus has the disciples pray: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those indebted to us." Certainly there is a "spiritual" interpretation of that passage, but Luke has a grittier Jesus in mind.--he will actually challenge the system of ethics in his day by calling for the total forgiveness of debts. So, when Jesus tells the parable of the debtor and the creditor in this passage he is infusing it with language and concepts derived from his whole orientation to ministry. His ministry is about liberation of the oppressed, about the canceling of debts, about the acceptance of unacceptable people into the central places in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus' parable is straightforward enough. The debtor who is forgiven more will love the creditor more. Simon has easily gotten the right answer. But does he see the point? We never really know if he does. But the open-endedness of the text is no problem for us, because it means that Jesus' question to Simon still rings in our ears today.

So whose behavior is scandalous? Is it the woman’s behavior that is scandalous? Is it how she makes her living? Is it scandalous daring to enter the home of a Pharisee and risk contaminating all that are gathered around the table? Not to mention letting her hair down in the presence of men and offering hospitality that was seemingly overlooked by the host in such an intimate and familiar way?

Or is it Simon whose behavior is scandalous, only concerned with his preconceptions and how other people keep the rules that he failed to see himself for the sinner that he really was?

What about our behavior? Do our preconceptions of people stand in the way of us entering into relationship with them? Do we place ourselves in the position of missing out on God’s amazing grace by focusing only on the color of someone’s skin, their inability to speak the English language, their faith tradition, what they wear to church? Do we discount relationships that can show us how true forgiveness and great love have the power to transform even the most narrow of minds and the hardest of hearts?

If we truly pray the way that Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…” then there is only one question left for us to answer:

“What kind of debtor am I?”

Let us pray.