Who is this Jesus?

Rev. Harriette Cross Wesley United Methodist Church June 17, 2001 Who is this Jesus? Luke 7:36-8:3 Year C John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church told a story about traveling to America in a ship………. I hope that you have never sinned. Wesley also remembers the story of William Gladston, a prime minister of England , who trusted his accountant to write a report. HE took the report and presented to parliament. Which is any thing like annual conference, people where watching him like a hawk wating to ponce on him for the smallest infraction. And there was an infraction,except it wasn’t so small. He was attacked for the mistake. Afterword, he called the accontant- to thank him for the wonderful job that he had done thus far. Which of these men received the greater forgiveness? What was the greater sin? Who was the person of character in these two stories? In the gospel lesson, Luke tells a very similar story. Whenever a great rabbi was in town, it was expected that those who were well off would invite them to dinner. Every one was welcome to come. At these gatherings, you would become known for your hospitiality. It was custom that you would greet your guest with a kiss, wipe their feet and feed them. The guest would eat by reclining on the table. Simon, a Pharisee decided to do this for Jesus. A Pharisee was one who was set apart. So,of course Simon would have been a very important man in jewish society. A Pharisee, was an example of what it meant to be good. You diligently tried to follow all of the religious laws, you know who God was and what was expected of you, attended the synogogue on a regular basis, and you always did the right thing. Along with being righteous, it was expected that you would know to stay away from those who didn’t do what was right. On the contrast, a woman walks in off of the street. Luke does not say who she is, or what she does. In contrast to Simon, who offered none of the expected hospitality, She takes an alabaster jar of perfume and wipes Jesus’ feet. She starts to cry and wipes away the fallen tears with her hair. Now, if jesus has known any better, he would have rejected this woman and told her to go away. But he tells her that her faith has made her whole. Yet, for Luke, there is not question of who is of better character. Simon is one set apart,and this woman is known as a sinner. The bible does not say what her sin is. Some people think that she is a prostitute. But her sin could be anything. She could be a murderer, she could be a thief, or she could be stuggling with a grudge against a family member, she could be eating things which are harmful to her body, she could have said something unkind to a loved one. She could have done any number of things that either you or I are guilty of. We don’t know what she did. And it really does not matter. What does matter is that it bothered her enough to take responsibility for it and to bring it to the master, Jesus. What ever it was that was bothering her, she was able to say she was sorry. She could see her own faults, Simon could only see his rightouesness. She was able to show her love, For some reason, Simon invited this man into his house, but did not give him the common courtesy. She was able to say thank you for all that this man had done for her, Simon felt that he did not need to say thank you for his own rightouesness. At the end of this scene, Jesus tells Miss sinner that her sins are forgiven, for she has shown love. To simon, he says nothing. The question for us today is not even which one of these two examplesdo we identify with. Because I think that the truth is that we can see ourselves in both of these characters at various times, especially as Christians. We too are set apart. We too try to keep ourselves away from harmful things and behavior. We try to keep away from drugs, and violence, and things that we know are wrong. As we look around, we are aware of who it is that belongs herr and who may have just walkd in off the street. It gets to be so easy for us to think about all of the things that we do right, lose sight of our faults. But it is important to remember that when you lose sight of youself, as the woman off of the strrett, when you forget that you are a sinner. You also lose sight of your needfor forgiveness. In 1984, four months after he had had surgery to remove a cancerous lung, the doctor told Greg Anderson that the cancer had spread. He had thirty days to live. Anderson immediately desparately began a search for a cure. As he talked with others with cancer, he saw that a common theme had emerged. That theme was forgiveness. Those who were able to face their lives, and the wrongs done to them, were able to move on. Anderson remembers tht before he had been diagnosed with cancer, he had gotten into a bitter argument with a colleague. ……..That collegue also had been battling cancer. He went to the man, who told him that he was old enough to be a father to him, and he should have known better that the harbor resentment. They hugged and asked that God forgive us all. I will be the first to say that there are some really wonderful people, who suffer and die with cancer. Cancer is not a direct result of sin. But I tell this story because it demonstrates how the poison and toxic nature of our lives, can affect our lives,our emotions, our health, until we are willing to release it with forgiveness. Our relationship with the people around us, is a mirror of our relationship with God. If we are able to understand the sins of others, then we are able to understand that God too understands our sins. God pours out an alabaster jar of ointment into our lives everday. How willing are we to receive it and to see it for what it is? Joseph Bayly, author of Psalms for life speaks of God’s love in this way: Lord of the compost heap, you take garbage and turn it into soil, good soil for seeds to root and grow with wildest increase flowers into bloom with brilliant beauty. Take all of the garbage of my life, Lord of the compost heap, turn it into soil, good soil and then plant seeds to bring forth fruit and beauty in profusion. Or as one four year old girl put it, lord forgive our trash basket, as we forgive those who put trash in our basket. God loves us so much, that there is nothing that we do , that God won’t forgive. The question of the day, the question of the text is who is this who forgives sins? Who is this Jesus for you and me? Jesus us the most wonderful gift of love that a father could ever give to his children. My final story is about a gorilla, named koko. Gorillas are very intelligent animals. Koko had been trained to through sign language. She could coomunicate some very complicated concepts. And had learned to carry on a decent level of conversation until one day there was an earthquake. A concept that she had no experience with…… God wanted to show his love ina language that we we would understand. So he gave us a friend, a friend who loves to come to our parties and sit with us, who will accept us, even when everyone knows that we are sinners, a someone who will love us no matter what others may say. Who is this man who even forgives sin? What language do you use to show his love to others?