Pentecost 4
Jesu Juva
“The Canceller of Debts”
Text: Luke 7:36-50
Grace, mercy, and peace to
you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Simon the Pharisee is the kid who, after breaking
his father’s favorite mug, glues it back together and puts it back into the
cupboard! He is the kid who moves the
sofa over the grape juice stain in the carpet, hoping that will hide it from
his parents. He is the kid who stands
before his mother with chocolate smeared all over his face and boldly
proclaims, “But no Mom, I didn’t eat that chocolate!” Simon thinks
he can get away with it.
It is a common misperception; a common fallacy. I can
sin and get away with it. After all, it happens all the time, doesn’t it? We speed on the highway and don’t get
caught. We cheat on our taxes and don’t
get audited. We spread rumors about
people and they don’t even know we are talking about them behind their
backs. We get more change back from the
cashier than we should and put it in our pocket anyway, smiling at our good
fortune. We lie and don’t get called on
it. I
can sin and get away with it. And
even if I don’t get away with it, I can do something about it. I can fix it, or make up for it, or do
better, or pay the fine and make it go away.
Because, after all, I don’t do the really bad sins. My sins are, really, the small ones; the harmless
ones; the ones everybody does. Right? I’m not a
murderer, or an adulterer, or a thief, or a prostitute, or a corporate
executive who has bilked the investors in his company out of millions of
dollars! Thank God I’m not like that!
Like . . . that woman . . . !
That woman. She’s a sinner! And everyone
knows it. She’s the kid who can’t do
anything right. You know,
the one who’s always in trouble. The one
always sent to the principal’s office.
She can’t get away with anything, and so her parents and her teachers
and all those around her are always telling her she won’t amount to
anything. Nobody wants to be with her,
to be associated with her! She’s
one of those people who show up on the “Cops” TV show! What a loser!
And so imagine Simon’s surprise when such a loser
shows up at his dinner party! His respectable dinner
party, for respectable people, having
a respectable conversation. But then imagine his even greater surprise
when Jesus compares Simon to this woman, and Simon is the one found
wanting! She is held up as an example for him to follow! This is, to
be sure, quite scandalous! . . . Oh Jesus, you’ve done it now! Its one thing to go around forgiving sinners,
but don’t lump me together with them!
There’s forgiveness, and then there is FORGIVENESS! You’ve got to keep things straight. You’ve got to keep the distinctions. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due
– not lump us all together in one big sinful stew! Or worse yet, go around making sinful women
examples for us!
This is a powerful example of sin being put forth by
Jesus here. Not the woman’s sin, but Simon’s sin! Simon’s self-righteousness, which does not allow him to have any
room for a Saviour. Any room for forgiveness.
Any room for love.
Simon invited Jesus over this day because he was
interested in Him. He’d heard a lot
about Jesus and wanted to find out for himself if Jesus really was a
prophet. And so Simon sees in Jesus not
a Saviour, but a peer; an equal; someone to get into a good theological
jousting match with! He’ll show Jesus
how much he knows, how learned he is, and that he is worthy of Jesus’ presence
at his table. . . . But when this woman arrives, things take a
turn. Simon is quick to judge – not the woman,
for he already knows she is a
sinner. He quickly judges Jesus. Obviously
He is no prophet! If He was, He would
know who was touching Him! He would know
what kind of woman she is! This Jesus
doesn’t even know as much as me, Simon thinks!
And Simon’s self-righteousness grows even greater.
Sometimes we do this too. Judging God. When things aren’t going as we planned, we judge
that God isn’t doing things right. When
we don’t like His Word, we judge that it doesn’t apply to us, or is out of
date. When we don’t get our due, or our
credit, we judge that God isn’t holding up His end of the bargain. When we disregard His Word, we judge that we
know better; or that science knows better; or that what the world is saying
seems to make more sense. Yes, we do it
too. There is a little Simon the
Pharisee in each of us.
But contrary to what Simon thinks, Jesus does
know who this woman is, and what kind of woman she is, and far worse for Simon, Jesus knows who Simon is, and what
kind of man he is! And so He springs His
trap shut on Simon. He asks Simon a very
simple question – a question which is clearly below Simon’s level of learning
and theological acumen! Which will love
more, Simon? And Simon, in a
condescending way, with a little smirk on his face, looking at all his other
invited guests, with a little sarcasm in his voice, answers, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger
debt.” He’ll play along with
Jesus. . . . But now Jesus springs the trap – just like
Nathan the prophet did with King David. “Simon,
you have [finally] judged rightly.” All along Simon has been judging wrongly – judging the woman wrongly,
judging Jesus wrongly, judging himself wrongly.
Now he has spoken the truth. He
has condemned himself. His lack of love
has revealed his lack of repentance and forgiveness.
And so this woman is an example for Simon,
and for us. For why did she
come? Why was she so bold as to crash
the respectable dinner party this Pharisee was giving? Why did she take such a chance? We heard it was simply because she “learned
that Jesus was reclining at the Pharisee’s house that day.” She came to see her God. Her God who came down to
her in the person of this man, Jesus of Nazareth. She doesn’t care what Simon, or anyone else,
thinks of her. She knows what Christ
thinks of her, esteeming her high enough to come and die for, and that by means
of the most shameful and excruciating death known to man. She doesn’t try to defend herself, she’s done
with that. There is no
self-righteousness or worth in her. She
is empty of pride and worry. Her heart
is open. She is free. She has heard the Shepherd’s Voice. She has found perfect joy and liberty in His
forgiveness. Her debt, so large, has been cancelled by
Him! His voice called her from her
bondage to sin. It has found her and
restored her, cleansed her and purified her.
In Jesus’ eyes, she is blameless and clean. Her sins are gone, and as a result, she cannot contain her love. Her love did not earn her forgiveness; no,
His forgiveness gave her the ability to love.
Simon, are you watching? Are we?
Here is the proper relationship between us and God. The trap of God’s Law has sprung shut on
us. You are the man! I am the man. This woman realized it. Do we?
We are not here as if we have anything to offer God; any service;
anything of worth. We are
worthless. He does not need us. No, we are here because we need Him. We are the guilty who need forgiveness. The weak who need
strength. The low who
need lifting up. The dirty who need cleansing.
The broken who need to be restored. The poisoned who
need to be rescued. The lost who need to be found.
The dead who need to be raised.
And to do those very things is why Jesus is
here. As the sinful woman knew, it is
why He has come. And so stop the pretensions, stop trying to justify your actions, stop trying to come before God with
some merit of your own, stop trying
to get away with your sin. Stop it! Instead, repent. Throw yourself on His mercy, for His mercy
endures forever. He is the canceller of
debts. He is here to seek and to
save. And He wants you. He wants to forgive the most horrible and
notorious of sinners. To heal and
forgive by the power of His cross, dying for you that you might live with
Him. To raise you, with
Himself, to a new life. Free from sin, and alive in Him. To wash you clean. To feed you with His own
body and blood. To welcome you
who are scorned and rejected by the world, and give you a place at His
Table.
And most of all, He is here to give you His
Name. He doesn’t just accept you, or
tolerate you, or put up with you. He
doesn’t say, “You can come into my
kingdom, but you gotta go stay over there in the corner!” No! He
has come to take you as His own. As His bride. To make you one with Him.
And so we come, filled with sin, and He takes us. Not letting us get away with our sin, but
dying for our sin in our place. And He
gives us His Name. We get that wonderful
name change after He takes us as His bride, from sinner to saint. And He gives us the keys to His Kingdom. Everything He has He gives to you. It is all yours. He can do nothing less. Your debt is cancelled. Your sin forgiven. His love is yours.
The sinful woman knew it. No one wanted her around – but Jesus
did. Not because He didn’t know about
her sin, but because He did. . .
. So what about you? How large is your debt? Are you still trying to glue yourself back
together? Or hide the stains on your
heart? Or deny the sin that is all over
you? Why? Jesus is here for you, not because He doesn’t
know about your sin, but because He does. And as He said to the sinful woman, so He
says to you, “Your debt has been cancelled; go in peace.”
In the Name of the Father,
and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Amen.