Luke 7:36-8:3
Tom is a delightful man I met at the Homeless Garden Project on Tuesday. He is in his late 50’s and has been employed at the garden since September. He along with the 19 other homeless employees labor and tend to this expansive garden. The garden is over off Mission Street near the Long Marine Laboratory. The beauty of this program is it gives people on the margins an opportunity to help others in need by growing food and flowers. The vegetables and fruit are shared with the Co-op and with local organizations in need of fresh produce like the Homeless Services Center. The flowers they pick will brighten the day of people receiving hospice care. As Tom and his coworkers are earning money to get back on their feet, they are gaining as sense of purpose giving back to others.
Tom and I started talking after our garden grown lunch of salad and pasta. Gwen Yeo just showed me how to harvest lavender. Gwen had spent the morning harvesting while I was picking chamomile flowers for tea. Gwen practiced the Homeless Garden saying, “Step up, then Step back.” Meaning step up to learn a new skill like harvesting lavender, and then pass on what you learn to another. But also know when to step back and let new people lead. Nancy had taught Gwen that morning and then went on to other projects, so when I needed to learn Gwen stepped up to teach me. Nancy had stepped back. I got to meet her when we hung bunches of lavender in the drying shed.
While working alongside of Tom, he shared with me how he is learning how to answer the tough questions for job interviews. Questions like what is your greatest strength? He said he likes to take his time and do a good job. When asked about greatest weakness he answered, I put cheese on everything. I thought that was a humorous way of responding. We have all answered such questions. But it got me thinking about the tough questions of our faith.
While visiting a member in the hospital last year, who faced some life and death health issues, he asked a tough faith question: “Am I really forgiven?” He struggled with being worthy of God’s love, deserving Jesus’ forgiveness. We all have shame about things we have done and might still wonder to ourselves, if God will ever really forgive me. The first step of faith is admitting we need forgiveness. The second step is knowing that it is God through Christ who grants us forgiveness ridding us of our shame. When I look back over my life there is one thing that took a long time for me to believe God would forgive. But it is only through our mistakes that we can fully know God’s love.
The story is told of the great pianist, Paderewski, had a friend whose little girl was going to give a piano recital. Out of respect for his friend, Paderewski accepted the girl’s invitation to her recital. When she saw the famous pianist in the audience, she got stage fright, forgot her piece, and broke down in tears. At the close of the concert, Paderewski said nothing to her but went up and tenderly kissed her on the forehead and left. If she had not made the mistake and failed, she would not have received a kiss of love and understanding from the master pianist. Likewise, it is when we stumble and fall into sin and are complete failures that the mercy of God in Christ is experienced in terms of forgiveness (John R. Brokhoff, Lent: A Time of Tears, CSS Publishing Company).
Think back to a time when you felt shame, when you wanted to hide from the world and wallow in self-pity. A time you did not feel worthy to be loved or forgiven. That is how the woman felt who anointed Jesus’ feet. She was known for her sin which means it was public and brought shame upon her. She did not even feel worthy to look at Jesus, she stood behind him weeping and wiping his feet with her tears.
Yet she had the courage to come to Jesus, to enter the Pharisee’s house and minister to Jesus. Simon the Pharisee is the one who judged her, who represented the law and hence her shame. But I think we sometimes identify with the Pharisee seeing ourselves as good Christians, doing what is expected and looking down at those in need of grace. We might even look down at Tom, the homeless man I gardened with. But what does Jesus say to the Pharisee? He asks him, “Which of the two debtors would love the creditor more?” Meaning which of the sinners would love God more? The one who forgave a little or the one who forgiven lots? And he rightly answers the one with the greater debt; the one in need of more forgiveness.
This leads to the profound statement: “The one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Sit with that. “The one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Do you love little? Do you see yourself as one who needs little forgiveness, hence limiting your ability to love? To say this in a positive way, the more we need forgiveness, the more we are able to love. Yet we strive to do things right, to be good Christian people, to live without shame, or at least hide our shame if it comes. When we do this, we miss out on Jesus blessing us and being deeply forgiven; being forgiven in order to love. Go back to the time you felt shame, have you ever been able to share that hurt with another and have them love you through it? Have you wept with Jesus and laid your shame at Christ’s feet experiencing the peace of forgiveness? If the answer is no I invite you to do so now. Give that shame to God, or make an appointment and I will gladly hear your burden and lighten your load, paving the way for you to love more.
It was the woman with many known sins, shameful sins, who ministered to Jesus. Not the “I have it all together” Pharisee. The woman did what the Pharisee should have done as the host. Her tears washed Jesus’ feet and she wiped them with her hair. She gave her own kiss of love to Jesus her Master, while kissing his feet. She anointed Jesus’ feet with ointment. She is a model for us. She humbled herself, sins and all, and came to Jesus, showing him great love. We are to humble ourselves, sins and all, showing great love for Jesus and his world. That is why we work alongside people like Tom, so that he can make changes in his life creating a magnitude of change, much like forgiveness creates a magnitude of change in our ability to love.
Simon the Pharisee was the exact opposite of the woman. He was so sure of his standing with God he was judging her. He never looked at himself, considering how he had failed in hospitality that very night caring for Jesus; he gave no water, no anointing, no kiss. He was too busy pointing a finger at the woman, didn’t see the three pointing back at him. Pride can be one of the greatest obstacles to our being forgiven and released from the burden of our sin. Set down your pride and your shame right here at Christ’s feet, at Christ’s cross. When we do we get the magnitude of change, because the more we are forgiven, the more we love. We see this truth played out after Jesus forgives the woman and tells her, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” Jesus continues sharing the gospel, and the twelve disciples travel with him. These men were called to do a job, not because they were forgiven, but because Jesus called them to learn, to follow, and to teach. Then Luke tells of the women who traveled with them- an unusual practice to say the least. These women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna followed because Jesus had healed them from evil spirits and infirmities. He had made them well, granting them peace. From this great healing and forgiveness, they loved greatly. They provided for Jesus and his disciples, they risked being out in the world in order to love the world more fully with Christ.
So the next time you mess up, feel shame and need forgiveness, think to yourself: Jesus forgiving me now, will help me love more fully. Because the more we are forgiven, the more we love. Amen.
