1 Kings 21:1-21a
Psalm 5
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3
The Other Side of Division
In my senior
year of high school, I had the opportunity to play in the pit-orchestra for the
school’s musical production of The Student
Prince. The Student Prince is the story of a nineteenth century German
prince who goes “undercover” as a common college student at
This
plot of love being so strong that it overcomes and breaks the rules of what the
community deems as normal is very popular with us. The
Student Prince is not the only show with such a scene of love conquering
societal norms; the 1988 Eddie Murphy film Coming
to America has just such a scene.
Some of Shakespeare’s plays also contain such a plot; Romeo and Juliet
both broke the rules of their community for the sake of their love. Even the Bible is filled with similar
stories. In 2 Samuel chapter 6, David
dances joyfully before the recovered Ark of the Covenant. He danced in such a way that was unbecoming
of a king – but he danced this way to honor God and to show the joy and love he
had for God. Even the central tenet of
Christianity, God coming to earth as a human to not only live with us but also
to die for us, has the same overtones.
It’s love overcoming the natural order and normal rules of society to
express itself. Our reading from Saint
Luke’s Gospel is just such a story.
The scene opens
with Jesus being invited to dinner at Simon the Pharisee's house. Now, this was not simply Simon saying,
"Hey Jesus, why don't you come on over to my house tonight and my wife
will whip up her special dinner."
No, in the Roman world, particularly first century
So,
what does all this mean? Well, for one
thing, it’s much easier to see how the woman could walk up behind Jesus to wash
and anoint his feet. She would have been
allowed into the house with all those who had come to watch and listen. Jesus’ feet would not have been under a chair
but behind him as he lounged around the meal.
Yet, what she did broke societal norms.
She, being not only a common woman but also a woman known as a sinner in
the community, would under no circumstances touch a man of Jesus’ stature – let
alone do such a thing like wash and anoint his feet at a Pharisee’s house. After all, to wash and anoint a guest’s feet
was an honor done only at the digression of the host. This woman essentially insulted Jesus by
merely touching him.
Simon,
the Pharisee, points this out. He makes
some assumptions as he makes his point.
First, he assumes that if Jesus is a prophet, Jesus would know what kind
of woman she is. He assumes
correctly. Jesus did know what kind of
woman she was. Next, Simon assumes that
if Jesus knows what kind of woman she is, Jesus certainly would not allow her
to touch him. Here, Simon is wrong. Jesus not only knew who this woman was, but
he also knew her motivation for breaking these societal rules. He knows that she was doing this out of love
and thanksgiving. In response to Simon’s
accusation, Jesus tells a parable about the master who forgave his servants
debts. Both servants had substantial
debts. However, one had a debt much
larger than the other. The point was,
that the servant with the larger debt had more forgiven and thus may have been
more grateful.
The
parallel between the parable and the real life event is clear. Both Simon and the woman needed Christ’s
forgiveness. As Simon was a Pharisee who
kept the law, his “spiritual debt” was seen as being less than the woman who
was a known sinner. Truthfully, both
were in need of Christ’s forgiveness.
After all, both servants owed money.
To put things in perspective, the average laborer in first century
So,
who are you in this story? Who are we in
this story? When I asked myself who I
was in this story, I had to admit that I was not always the woman rejoicing in
the love and grace I’d received through Jesus Christ. Sometimes I’m Simon the Pharisee; sometimes I
can get so focused on what culture says is appropriate that I miss the true
expression of love and grace before me.
It can be so easy to be persuaded by society, by the world, that we miss
opportunities to not only experience God, but to also fulfill our part as the
body of Christ in this world. Sometimes
we can be so focused on the divisions created by society that we neglect to see
how God has called us to overcome and reconcile the divisions. Simon only saw the socially created division
that would keep this woman distanced from Jesus; he did not see the grace and
love that Jesus offered by allowing this woman to cross through the
divide.
Often,
we are faced with the decision between being Simon the Pharisee or the woman
the sinner. We’re faced with this
decision when we face such things as racism, sexism, and ageism. We’re faced with this decision when we find
ourselves in situations where we can offer reconciliation. We’re humans, we have divisions between
us. Some divisions are between groups in
the larger society and world. Some
divisions are even caused by disagreements between those who love each other,
or at least are supposed to love each other.
Our culture has influenced us in how these divisions are to be
handled. Culture teaches us that when
we’ve been hurt or attacked, we must retaliate.
Now there’s even the understanding of pre-emptive attacks; hurt others
before they can hurt us. There’s a
mentality of taking others to court when you feel they’ve done something to
you. Have you heard about that judge in
the
The
concept of forgiveness is really a foreign concept in our culture today. Vengeance, pay-back, punishment, lawsuits,
grudges… these are typically how culture tells us to handle division,
disagreements, and the accidents of the world.
After all, it would be said that the master in the parable did not have
very good business sense by simply forgiving both of the servants their
debt. Wouldn’t negotiating a payment
plan be a better option for the master according the world and the
economy? Maintaining division is what
society dictates. But God came to earth
in Jesus Christ to bridge division, not to maintain the culturally constructed
divisions. That’s a big part of the
ministry that our youth missions team will conduct. They will be going to places and working with
people that they most likely would not otherwise come into contact with because
of social status. That’s a big part of
our mission as the Church. We’re to go
to those whom society deems as unapproachable or unworthy. Who are those people around us? Who are the unapproachable? Who are the unworthy? They may be of a different ethnic background,
they may be those neighbors that “you just don’t socialize with,” they may be
inmates, they may be the sick, they may be the poor, they may be just like that
woman who was known as a sinner, they may be someone whom you don’t get along
with or are even angry with. They’re
always the person on the other side of a divide.
So,
where do you see division in your life?
Where do you see division in your relationships? Where do you see division between us? Who’s on the other side of that
division? Christ bridged the great
division to reconcile with us. Now it’s
our turn.
SDG