Sermon: A Pharisee and a Harlot

Delivered at Bethel United Methodist Church on June 13, 2010.
I share these thoughts, hoping they are of help to others, especially to other judgmental hypocrites like myself.

A Pharisee and a Harlot

Scripture:

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and He went into the Pharisee’s house and took His place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that He was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to bathe His feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing His feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him — that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has bathed My feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with Him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Luke 7:36-50

If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glaces from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we've never even met her

From “Does Anybody Hear Her?” by Casting Crowns

The story of Jesus' anointing is a familiar story. Jesus is a dinner guest at someone's house when suddenly a woman enters, completely overcome with love for her Messiah. She throws all pride and dignity to the wind and pours some very expensive ointment on Him, much to the chagrin of those present. While most witnesses of the event hold the woman in contempt, Jesus commends her for her loving act. This is one of the few stories that can actually be found in all four Gospels, though the accounts vary on the details. They differ regarding the identity of Jesus' host and the identity of the woman present. Two accounts record that the woman anointed Jesus' feet while others state that she poured the ointment all over Him.¹ What makes St. Luke's account of the story truly unique is that, while the other three Gospel accounts focus on the act itself and whether or not it was wasteful, Luke's account focuses on the people present and what is going on in their hearts.

In Luke's account of the story, we read of a Pharisee named Simon who invites Jesus over to his house for dinner. Jesus has already made a name for Himself as a rabbi with His bold messages about the Kingdom of God, and He has gained a large following for His miraculous acts of healing and His words of hope and kindness. Simon the Pharisee wanted a chance to hobnob with this famous teacher and maybe even pick His brain about various issues. Realize that this was no intimate gathering among acquaintances: when high-society types like Simon invited famous rabbis over for dinner, it was a public event. Wealthy Pharisees like Simon would hold dinner in his house's courtyard, and people from town would gather around to hear what was being said around the dinner table, hoping to glean some wisdom.²

Among the people gathered in Simon's courtyard that evening was a woman with a reputation. The scripture notes that she is a sinner. The Message translation identifies her as the town harlot. Word reaches this woman that Jesus was at the house of Simon the Pharisee, so she joins the crowd, bringing with her an alabaster jar of expensive ointment. She makes her way to the place where Jesus is reclining at the table. She stands behind Him crying and then proceeds to wash his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Afterward she begins kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment she brought with her.

Of course, this woman was not the only person there with a reputation: Simon, Jesus' host, was a Pharisee. The word Pharisee means “separated one.” The Pharisees set themselves apart, dedicating themselves to the Jewish Law, following even the unwritten laws to the letter. They set the bar high for others, and they were notorious for condemning others who did not follow the Law as rigidly as they did.³ We can almost see the disgust on Simon's face as he witnesses this spectacle taking place at his dinner table. A God-fearing, Law-abiding Pharisee like he would never associate with a woman of such a reputation, and he certainly would not let her touch him in such a way. He thinks to himself, “If this man [Jesus] were a prophet, He would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him — that she is a sinner.”

But Jesus was a prophet indeed, as He knows what Simon is thinking at the moment. He turns to the Pharisee and says, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” Simon perks up and says, “Teacher, speak.” Jesus begins teaching him, as He often liked to do, with a parable. He tells Simon a story of two people up to their necks in debt. One owed the sum of fifty denarii, roughly two months' wages for a laborer of the time. The other owed five hundred denarii, twenty months' wages, ten times the amount the first debtor owed. When the time came for them to pay up, neither of them was able to repay his debt, but, instead of having the two thrown into debtors prison, the creditor was merciful and canceled both of their debts.

When Jesus finished His parable, He asked Simon which of the two debtors he thought would love their creditor more. You can almost sense Simon's toes being stepped on as he says, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And he was right: the one with the greater debt would love the forgiving creditor more. The actions of the Pharisee and the woman with the bad reputation only went to prove Jesus' point. The Pharisee paid Jesus lip service: he called Him “Teacher” and gave Him the seat of honor at the table, but he neglected even the basic acts of hospitality of that time. He gave Jesus no water to wash His feet; he failed to anoint Jesus' head with oil; and he did not greet Jesus with a kiss, as was the customary greeting for a rabbi.⁴ The woman, on the other hand, poured out all of her love on Jesus, washing His feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, anointing them with precious ointment and with kisses.

So why did the Pharisee and the sinful woman have such different reactions to Jesus? What did the woman realize about Jesus that the Pharisee did not?

Jesus did not always see eye-to-eye with the Pharisees. The Pharisees cared more about following rules than about the state of their hearts. To them, the Law was about legalism and not about inward change. At a later dinner engagement with Pharisees and other teachers of the Law, Jesus becomes fed up with them and launches into a tirade against their hypocrisy:
Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God... Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it. Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed... Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.⁵

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law studied the scriptures, so they should have known best who Jesus was. To Simon the Pharisee, Jesus was just another famous rabbi gracing his dinner table; the sinful woman, however, saw Jesus for who He really was. In Him, she saw compassion. She knew that she was accepted, forgiven, and loved. She knew that Jesus was there, not just for the ultra-pious, but for people like her on whom the world had given up. She knew that Jesus was her Savior, the good shepherd who left behind ninety-nine well-behaved sheep to find the one that went astray.

So what does the story of the Pharisee and the harlot have to say to us Christians living in the twenty-first century?

If you ask non-Christians about their impressions of the Church or their impressions of Christians, two of the most common responses you will hear are “judgmental” and “hypocritical,” two words that described the Pharisees that Jesus dealt with. One can peruse the religion section of the local bookstore and find numerous studies on Christian stereotypes, bearing titles like Unchristian,⁶ They Like Jesus But Not the Church,⁷ and I'm Fine with God... It's Christians I Can't Stand. We know that these accusations are not undeserved. We have all seen sidewalk preachers downtown, shouting words of condemnation. We have all heard stories of pastors and televangelists who preach integrity, morality, and “family values” only to be caught in the act, doing the very things that they preach against. Dan Kimball, in his book They Like Jesus But Not the Church, tells the story of a woman named Maya. Maya had a good friend who converted to Christianity. After his conversion, she found that they could not even carry on a conversation without him pointing out one of her faults.⁸ Whether we want to admit it or not, Christians have become the new Pharisees.

These are extreme examples, but I think that, to some extent, we are all to blame for the bad reputation that Christians have nowadays. How often do we fail to practice what we preach? How often to we utter judgmental whispers behind people's backs? How often do we find ourselves doing things out of obligation and not out of love? How often do we expect others, even non-Christians, to live according to our own standards? We have met the Pharisees, and we are they.

Imagine what it would be like if Jesus had been at the dinner table with modern-day Christians instead of Pharisees. I realize that I cannot speak for Jesus on this matter, but I cannot help but think it might have sounded like this:
Woe to you Christians who practice righteousness in public, but do iniquity in private. Woe to you Christians who throw stones with your words and with your glaces, forgetting the forgiveness and mercy I have given you. Woe to you Christians who try to create God in your own image, based on your own preferences, philosophies, and political ideologies. Woe to you Christians who compulsively quote Bible verses that suit your own lifestyles but ignore whole books of the Bible that you find troublesome. Woe to you Christians who say, “Hate the sin, and love the sinner,” but, ignoring the fact that you too are sinners, pour out loathing on others for the way they live. Woe to you Christians who fight for the rights of the unborn but have nothing to offer unwed mothers but guilt and shame.
I imagine that Jesus would have quite a large number of grievances against the way we conduct ourselves.

In England, atheist groups have taken out ads on the sides of buses reading, “There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”⁹ This ad campaign implies that the existence of God is not only a reason to worry but also a reason not to enjoy life. We Christians have read and have studied the Gospel time and time again, so we of all people should know the joy, the hope, and the freedom that its message brings. Instead of sharing this joy, hope, and freedom with others, we, like the Pharisees, have made the Gospel a burden for others. Woe to us indeed!

Was the Pharisee truly less of a debtor than the sinful woman, or was Jesus appealing to the Pharisee's own perceptions of himself? We have a tendency to try to make certain sins, particularly those of a violent or sexual nature, worse than all of the others;¹⁰ however, the Book of Proverbs reminds us that arrogant people are abominations to God and that God detests things like pride, dishonesty, and the sewing of discord.¹¹ Though we have tendencies to act like Pharisees, we need to realize that we are all in the same desperate situation as the harlot. We all have debts that we cannot repay, debts that Christ paid when He shed His blood on the Cross. We need to stop pouring out judgment and condemnation on others and, instead, pour out our love for Christ both in our worship and in the way we live our lives.

Jesus said that he came, not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill the Law.¹² This means that He came to Earth to show us what the Law really meant.¹³ He showed us, both in His message and in the way He lived, that the Law was about loving God and loving each other, a far cry from the soulless legalism that the Pharisees practiced. Just as the Pharisees had abolished the Law with their legalism, we Christians have abolished the Gospel with our judgment and hypocrisy. We need to break this vicious cycle. We need to show the world what the Gospel really means by living it out in our lives and in the way we treat others. We need to show the world that the Gospel is not a reason to worry but a reason to rejoice. We need to show the world that the Gospel is not a list of rules to follow or a list of doctrines to affirm but a message of forgiveness and reconciliation with God. We need to show the world that the Gospel is joy and peace for today and hope for tomorrow.

Amen.


Notes:
1 - Wikipedia: “Anointing of Jesus”
2 - William Barclay. The Parables of Jesus. 1999, Westminster John Knox Press. p.188
3 - Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz. I'm Fine with God... It's Christians I Can't Stand. 2008, Harvest House Publishers. p. 15
4 - Barclay, p. 190
5 - From Luke 11:37-54
6 - David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. Unchristian. 2007, BakerBooks.
7 - Dan Kimball. They Like Jesus But Not the Church. 2007, Zondervan.
8 - Kimball, pp. 97-98
9 - Dave Rhodes. “Euphoria Part 2: Joy in Humility.” 2010, Collide (Wayfarer / Southside Fellowship)
10 - Barclay, p. 192
11 - Proverbs 16:5, 6:16
12 - Matthew 5:17
13 - Rob Bell. Velvet Elvis. 2005, Zondervan. p. 48


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