The Woman Who Dared...

Sermon – June 16, 2013.  Proper 6, Pentecost 4.  “The Woman Who Dared”  2 Sam 11:26-12:10, Psalm 32, Gal 2:15-21, Luke 7:36-8:3   The Rev. Laura Adelia, St Peter's Episcopal Church, Casa Grande, AZ.

Good morning everyone!  And a Happy Father’s Day to all out there!

This last week, I had a few days military duty, a chaplain conference over in San Luis Obispo, "SLO" as they call it.  Oh, it was so beautiful, and 60 degrees!  So, I was at the airport gate waiting to catch my plane back to Arizona, waiting for the boarding call.  

A young college age woman, after getting her ticket checked at the gate, oblivious that the boarding call had not yet been announced, walked right toward the doorway to the ramp where the planes were outside.  The ticketing agent yelling to her not to open the door, she opened the door and the security alarms went off wildly, the TSA people running every which way.   It was a big commotion.

All eyes were on her as she walked back into the gate’s waiting area, where all the people were, including me, waiting to board the aircraft.  And she said loudly to everyone, “My bad!”

Embarrassment.  We have all been there, one way or another! 

And embarrassment, as we know is one of our many emotions, usually felt when we make a mistake such as in a social blunder. 

Some psychologists categorize emotions and say some are “root” emotions.  For example, fear would be the root emotion of negative emotions like annoyance, contempt, jealousy, pride, shame, guilt, etc.   

Conversely, love would be the root emotion of positive or pleasant emotions such as joy compassion, etc.

There are many theories about emotions, what they are, how to classify them, and so forth.  But one thing is certain, we experience them, we feel them, and we express them.  

Our emotions affect our physical body, our mind, and our spirit…and vice, versa.    For example, feeling or experiencing prolonged negative emotions such as anger or stress, can actually affect our health and make us physically and spiritually ill!   

We have all met people who have “baggage” and carry around their hurts and anger…unable to let go for whatever reason.   And they are usually no fun to be around.  Stuck, they can’t move forward, heal and be happy. 

The key is being able to let go. I know, much easier said than done!

It can be especially difficult to let go of anger and hurt when we were the ones who have been wronged.  That person who offended or hurt us perhaps doesn’t deserve our forgiveness!  

As well, if we are the one who has done something wrong, how difficult it can be to forgive ourselves!

But here is the secret about forgiveness…. it is not for the other person.  Forgiveness is for us, so we can be free!   Free of the hurt, free of the anger, free of the pain, and whatever we have been hanging onto!  

The Gospel story we just heard in Luke, is all about wholeness, healing, love and forgiveness.  

Jesus was attending a private dinner in the house of Simon, a Pharisee.  The people gathered for dinner would be reclined around the food in circular fashion on the floor.  In walks an unknown woman, she stands behind Jesus’ feet, cries on him, dried her tears with her hair, and then kissed and anointed his feet!

Whoa!  Imagine being at a dinner party and this happens!  As this action would be pretty outrageous today, it was even more so back then.  

In those days, Jews did not touch certain people.  Men did not touch women, women did not touch men.  And here, Jesus allows the woman to not only touch him, but to kiss him and anoint him, breaking all kinds of rules of social boundaries and etiquette.

Can you just picture the other dinner guests squirming with embarrassment?    This was no ordinary greeting!

In the Middle East, it was and still is very common for men to kiss each other hello.  In many countries, such as India, Bangladesh, and in other Asian countries, kneeling, kissing or touching feet upon greeting is a sign of respect for an elder, a teacher or a religious leader.  It is still done to this day, but traditionally it is done only by those of the same gender.  

But in the Gospel story, we have a female touching and kissing a man’s feet, Jesus’ feet, a big social no-no for the day.  

Instead of being embarrassed, Jesus did not stop the woman.  He just let’s her do her thing!

Simon the Pharisee, the host, is watching the whole thing.   Being judgmental and thinking, ‘Hmmm. If this man were really a prophet, he would have known what kind of woman is touching him, a sinner.’

Jesus senses Simons’ thoughts, and in usual Jesus fashion, takes the moment and uses it to teach.

He tells a riddle story to Simon of two debtors, one owing more than the other.  They both could not pay, so the creditor cancelled the debts.  (Nice creditor!)  Jesus then asks Simon, ‘which debtor will love the creditor more?’

Simon answers, ‘I suppose the one who had the greater debt cancelled’, and Jesus responds that he judged rightly.  And then Jesus packs in the power punch!

He then says, ‘You see this woman here?  When I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears.  You gave me no kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet.  And you did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment’.

You see, Simon had actually displayed intense rudeness to Jesus, as hospitality in those days dictated that the host provide these things for a guest.  And Simon provided none of these things, a statement in itself.  

Jesus continues, ‘Her sins, which were many, have been forgiven, for she has shown great love.  The one whom little is forgiven, loves little.’

Jesus then turns to the woman, tells her that her sins are forgiven, and that her faith has saved her.

The usual interpretation of this is that Jesus was the one who forgave her and made her whole.  

But let’s look at it from a different point of view.  What if Jesus was simply stating a fact?  Her great love and faith, her trust in God, made her well!  

We tend to think of ‘sin’ as the result of an evil act. But the word ‘sin’ actually means, ‘to miss the mark’.  For example, when an archer does not hit on the target with their arrow. 

In other words, to ‘sin’, in it’s root form from Greek and Hebrew, sin actually means to error, or to make a mistake.

So the unknown woman, a sinner, had made many mistakes. From her sins, she carried burdens, emotional scars… perhaps sadness, shame, guilt…and other negative emotions…who knows what else.  We do not know what her sins were… or how she sinned, it is really not important. 

What is important is that she is made whole again.  As Jesus said, her great love, her faith, made her well. 

The woman showed great courage too.  It takes a lot of guts to do what she did, break the rules of social boundaries and endure judgmental eyes.  But she dared to live in love, and not fear.

We have all made mistakes…we are human.  And many of us, like the unknown woman in this story, may carry hurts, angers and burdens of long ago.   Or, perhaps like Simon the Pharisee, we may be too quick to judge others, or may be blind to our own flaws. 

But, what if we dared to live and walk in love and dared to live courageously…in faith, in trust?

She performed an act of love, which helped her feel love, and became love in her heart!

Fear only leads to more fear….and love leads to more love.   

Did the woman love because she had been forgiven?  Or was it her love, that led to her forgiveness, healing, and wholeness?  

Perhaps, it was a bit of both!    

May we all walk in love.

Amen.