2004-06-13 In Need of Grace - Page 2 of 3
Both of these debtors owe money to the same person - one a relatively little (say $10,000 or
so), one quite a bit (maybe $100,000) - but neither one can repay the debt. The lender forgives them
both. “So,” says Jesus, “what does this story mean, Simon? Who would love the lender the most?”
And Simon says (perhaps cautiously since he must know the answer is obvious), “I suppose the
one who had the bigger debt canceled?”
Well, he’s got the right answer, but that’s only the beginning - Jesus wants more. So he turns to
the woman and says to Simon, “Do you see this woman?”
Interesting question. How could Simon not have seen her? And yet, he hasn’t seen her - he’s
seen his idea of her, and he’s judged her based on his idea of her. Jesus wants him to see her as she is,
as he sees her, as God sees her: that she is someone who has been forgiven much and therefore has
loved much. And maybe, just maybe, if Simon can see her he will also be able to see himself.
And now we learn a little more about Simon and his hospitality, which was not so gracious after
all. Now we find out that when Jesus arrived for dinner, Simon gave him: no water with which to wash
his feet; no kiss to welcome him; and no oil for anointing his head. (Not that they were required, but we
do know these were all gracious gestures of hospitality that Simon never offered Jesus.)
“You didn’t do that, Simon, but she did. She wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with
her hair; and from the time I entered hasn’t stopped kissing my feet and anointed them with perfume.
“Do you see, Simon? Her many sins have been forgiven. If you don’t believe it, just look at how she
loves me.”
Poor Simon, so sure of himself and his moral superiority, so blind to his own faults, and now
caught in the trap of his own hypocrisy. He could only love a little because he had only allowed himself
to experience a little of God’s love. Thinking he was blameless, he had no idea what it meant to be
forgiven and no awareness of his own need for forgiveness.
But Jesus has given him a gift - if he will take it - the gift of sight. Now he can see her behavior
for what it truly is - grateful and sincere affection made possible by her forgiveness. Now he can see his
own hospitality wasn’t so hospitable after all.
We don’t know what Simon did with that gift but we might imagine because there is at least a
little of him in each of us.
I think we have to remember that we can fall into the same way of thinking that Simon and the
Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Christianity has had and still has various renewal and holiness movements. The
PC(USA) has some of its own, on both sides. The danger comes when we make up rules that justify
judging instead of loving someone, something that we don’t understand.
And, in a way, that’s easier. I could go on at length about some evangelical Christians who
exclude everyone who doesn’t live according to their literal interpretation of the Bible. Or I could
condemn the Roman Catholic bishop who recently told his congregants that they must not receive
communion if they voted for a particular nominee until they have repented and confessed their sin of
voting for a particular nominee.
I might even feel pretty righteous about it, considering how unholy they are.
And then one day I might be walking along and hear someone refer to me as “Rev. Simon.”
And I would have missed out on the grace.
But I would like to suggest this instead: that each of us, like Simon, needs to look for those
places within ourselves that we might have been afraid to bring to Jesus and how much we are truly in
need of grace.
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