“Gifted”

Luke 7:36-50

There was once a very unhappy man.  It wasn’t that he was poor, for he had a large house, a good job, and plenty of good food and fine clothing.  He didn’t lack for honor in his village; people admired him and wished that they were as well off as he.  He wasn’t alone in the world either.  He had a wife, two grown sons and two married daughters, and five grandchildren from them.  Yet this man was unhappy.  His many possessions gave him comfort and pleasure, but also many cares.  A house like his needed constant care to maintain it as one of the village’s nicest dwellings.  His work carried with it heavy responsibilities that kept him busy by day and sleepless some nights as he thought of ways of solving problems and keeping his boss happy with his work.  It felt good, was flattering to be well-thought of in his village, but it also brought with it a kind of pressure, an unspoken demand that he know and remain within his place in the community, speaking and living in ways that kept those greater than him happy.  His family should have been his source of joy, but somehow with the demands of his work and all that he needed to do in the community as one of its respected leaders, he had little time to spend with his family.  For years his wife and children had been polite to him but not warm, and he wasn’t sure what he was to them beyond a provider. 

This man had a friend much like him in every way but one.  They lived in the same part of the village, having homes of similar size and value.  The friend also worked hard for a demanding boss and was well paid for his efforts.  He was also a man of influence in the village like his friend, and he had one more son and three more grandchildren than the unhappy man.  Yet there was something different about this man.  Unlike his friend he was a happy man.  His home and possessions did not seem to burden him as much as his friend.  He seemed glad to be involved in his community, friendly and ready to help others as he could, unfettered by his friend’s worries about pleasing his neighbors.  Busy though his life was, the man took great delight in his wife and family.  He couldn’t be with them as much as he would have liked, but he enjoyed his family meals, walks with his wife, conversations with his children, and play with his grands. 

How could two men be so similar and yet so different?  One had lost something precious while the other still held it close in his heart.  What was lost by one and still kept by the other?  The unhappy man wondered.  Life had been tiresome for him for a long time, and there were days when he longed for it to be over.  One day he went for a walk with his friend, and he asked him how he kept going on so happily.  A mix of sadness and hope filled his friend’s eyes as he heard the question.  He stopped walking.  He looked into his weary friend’s face, rested his hand on his shoulder, and said, “I fear that you have forgotten that your life is a gift.” 

Had Simon, the Pharisee host of Jesus, forgotten the same thing?  Luke doesn’t offer us a full character sketch of Simon, but how does he describe him?  Apparently he was a hospitable fellow, for he invited Jesus to his home for a meal.  Why did he do that though?  The Pharisees were the religious leaders of Israel in those days, and as whole they were Jesus’ critics rather than His friends.  Had he invited Jesus over to get to know Him personally, or did he just want a chance to evaluate Him?  When he witnessed Jesus’ acceptance of the woman with a sinful reputation, Simon was quick to judge Jesus and find Him wanting, wasn’t he?  “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”  You get the feeling that Simon would only have been satisfied with Jesus’ performance if He had drawn back from the woman’s display of emotion with disgust and sent her from the room with cold rejection.  It seems as though that was what Simon wanted to do. 

From where we sit it’s easy for us to see Simon’s problem.  What a proud and self-righteous man he was!  He felt so good about himself that he believed he was in a position to look down upon the sorrowful woman and Jesus.  Her sinful lifestyle had been the talk of the town for years.  Simon knew enough about the holy laws of God to know that this woman was worthy of rejection and punishment; she could never redeem herself.  As for Jesus, well His tolerance of this woman seemed to Simon to be clear evidence of His lack of spiritual knowledge.  A real prophet would join the Almighty in His holy condemnation of such a hopeless case.

Or would he?  Simon was a careful man; he thought judgmental thoughts of the woman and Jesus, but he said nothing out loud.  Yet Jesus knew what he was thinking of them.  He told the Pharisee a simple story of a banker and two clients.  He had extended loans to both of them: to one a large sum and to the other a small one.  Perhaps they were victims of an economic downturn, and then neither of them was able to repay his debt.  The banker then forgave each debtor the money he owed.  Today of course no banker has authority to do such a thing, but it would be an amazing act of kindness he could, wouldn’t it? 

Jesus finished His story by asking Simon, “Now which of them will love [the banker] more?”  The Pharisee knew the answer: “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.”  Now the prophet Jesus spoke.  As His story had compared the debt and response of two people forgiven, Jesus now drew a comparison of His own.  "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." 

Jesus had come to Simon’s house as a guest, but Simon had refrained from offering Him any of the common courtesies given to house guests of that time: water to wash hot and dusty feet, a kiss of friendship, or a handful of oil to soften and refresh his dry scalp.  Not much love there, was there?  What about the woman though?  Hearing that Jesus was near, she brought with her a jar of expensive ointment.  She risked the embarrassment of being turned away at Simon’s door, she went to Jesus and began to weep tears of what?  Sorrow?  Repentance?  Hope? Gratitude?  Her tears fell so freely that they wet Jesus’ feet.  She used her long hair to dry His feet, then she kissed them and anointed them with the precious ointment she brought.  The story just told helps us to understand her actions.  So do Jesus’ words: “her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much.” 

How did Simon respond?  We don’t know, for Luke doesn’t tell us.  What had happened to Simon?  He had forgotten that all of life is a gift.  He had no idea that Jesus had come to his house to give him a gift.  He didn’t know that he needed a gift.  Simon was a religious man, committed to the laws of God and customs of his people.  Simon kept those rules carefully, and he believed that living that way made him deserving of good things in life.  He enjoyed many of those good things.  He was well off; he could afford to put on impressive dinner parties.  He was well thought of; Pharisees were counted on in their communities as teachers of faith and morality.  Simon was happy with himself and his lot in life; he had worked hard to get where he was. 

Like a glance of ourselves in a house of mirrors, Jesus’ story offered Simon a view of himself that perhaps seemed strange to him.  It showed him something that he had forgotten.  Simon was a debtor.  God had given him his life.  God had given him the opportunity to study and become a teacher.  God had allowed him to prosper as he had.  The things in life that gave Simon pleasure, that he saw as the rich fruits of a lifetime of personal labor, were actually generous blessings from His Creator.  Simon owed God a debt of gratitude.  Simon had never given God the glory for being so good to Him. 

Now Jesus had come into his home ready to give the gift of the banker in His story.  Jesus came to forgive Simon as surely as He had the sinful woman.  Perhaps Simon’s debt was smaller than hers, but it was a debt just the same.  Would Simon see his debt?  Would acknowledge his proud, self-righteousness?  Would he tearfully apologize to Jesus for judging Him and treating Him with so little kindness?  Would he apologize to the woman he had condemned in his heart?  Would he thank God for all His gifts? 

What do you see as you hear the story of Simon and the sinful woman today?  What has led you to forget that your life is a gift from God?  It’s not the way most people think of life is it?  Aren’t we told that life is what we make of it?  That we can do whatever we want in life as long as we believe in ourselves and work hard enough?  That life is worth living as long as we can enjoy a quality of life that is acceptable to us?  Is all of that true?  If it is, then Simon may have been pain to be around for being so big-headed, but he had every right to his high opinions of himself and low judgments of others.  Who can argue with success, after all? 

Just one person.  When He created us, He planned for us to be people whose lives would mirror His own goodness and love.  When we rejected His plan and tried to live life for ourselves, He came to offer us a gift.  When we live for ourselves, our lives shrink into little more than a shadow of what they are meant to be.  He sees what we can’t.  He offers us the same gift He offered when He came under Simon’s roof.  Forgiveness.   The debt we owe God for trying to live our lives without Him, Jesus forgives.  He offered His life on the cross to pay that debt for every person.  Forgiveness is a gift; the fruit of Christ’s labor of love for you.  How will you respond to that gift?