June 17, 2007
Perry W. Polk
Rules of etiquette and service cross one’s mind as this
passage is read. Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus to his table, perhaps with
ulterior motives. Oddly a “sinful woman” offers hospitality to
Jesus, asking nothing in return. Luke uses this scene to show God’s
acceptance of all people and Jesus’ willingness to forgive sins when
one responds in faith as the “sinful woman” does. We leave this
passage questioning who was the true host at Simon’s gathering.
Research into the hospitality customs of Jesus’ day sets
the stage. The scene is compelling. The woman goes beyond the expected; she
violates custom in order to honor Jesus. She humbles herself, becoming a servant
as Jesus will do later and as He calls His followers to do. Following the
customs of hospitality is given importance in the scriptures and biblical
culture. The Bible relates dramatic stories concerning violations of hospitality.
This scripture passage is among a series of stories of Jesus
traveling throughout Galilee. Luke writes a picture of Jesus in touch with
people from all walks of life with all kinds of issues to be resolved. Jesus
emerges as the reconciler in Luke’s version of the Gospel, and Luke
will stick to this view of Jesus all the way to the Cross.
This text illustrates how we can be reconcilers in our world.
Reconciliation begins with acceptance of the person and then moves to offer
grace. The acceptance of that grace moves a person to commitment of heart
and mind then to transformation of the whole-self.
I recommend living with this text for a while. Read it a number
of times and in various translations. Go out on the edge and look at some
of the more radical approaches.
(For the full manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons.”)
The scripture passage offers opportunities to dramatize the
scene; it is powerful. Mental images are prompted by the table spread, the
smells from the kitchen, the travelers arriving dusty and hungry, the reclining
guests at the table, and the “host” in control of the situation
(or so he thinks). Then the woman enters unexpectedly and she executes all
of the hospitality customs, but with humility. What a contrast to Simon! Responding
to her humility, penance, and faith, Jesus offers her forgiveness and new
life. This is a good text with which to use the Paul Scott Wilson sermon formula
of trouble in the Bible, trouble today, grace in the Bible, and grace today.1
1. Paul Scott Wilson, The Four Pages of the Sermon (Nashville:
Abingdon, 1999). ?
