Face of Sin

THE FACE OF SIN

(Luke 7.36-50)

His face said it all.

Jesus was having dinner with Simon the Pharisee.

He was lying on a couch with his legs stretched out behind him, in the traditional eastern fashion, with his back to the open door, resting upon his left elbow, leaving his right hand free to pick up the food.

Opposite to him, facing the open doorway on to the street, was his host Simon.

It was obvious from Simon's face that someone passing the open door had just come in and was standing behind Jesus,

The noise of the weeping and the aroma of perfume indicated that that person was a woman.

But not just any woman. Having broken open the flask of perfume, which she wore around her neck, she poured it upon Jesus. Then she did what no ordinary Jewish woman would ever do in public - she let down her hair.

Simon could contain himself no longer. He burst out and said, 'If this man were a prophet, he would have known who, and what kind of woman this is who is touching him – she is a sinner.

But Jesus looks up at Simon, his host, and says, 'Her sins which were many have been forgiven,'

In this Gospel reading, St Luke gives us two contrasting images upon which to meditate.

First, there is Simon the Pharisee. He is a self-righteous, self-assured and self-satisfied religious leader. He obviously enjoys entertaining celebrities, though he lacks some of the basic social graces.

For instance, he does not bother to offer a foot bath to Jesus so he can wash off the Eastern road dust from his feet. He does not even bother to greet Jesus with the customary kiss, let alone put perfume upon his head in order to disguise the body odour occasioned by the hot climatic conditions.

In short, Simon is a typical first century male chauvinist who, like most of his contemporaries, would have thanked God daily in his prayers that he had not been born a woman. He is anxious to be seen in the right company; anxious to do the right thing, and anxious to be well thought off by his colleagues.

He enjoys flattery and carefully measures out his respect for another according to the recipient’s potential to assist him in his social advancement. Above all, he is anxious to be accepted by society and puts on a jolly good front, hoping to paper over the cracks in his character.

At the same time, he inwardly feels unsure, insecure and threatened as he seeks for popularity. Position in society, whether it be religious or secular society, is all that matters, together with the material possessions which go to prop up that self-image which he seeks to promote.

Then there is the woman.

By contrast, she is not even given a name. She has no false image to promote and protect.

Everyone already knows her for what she is – or was - a common prostitute. Perhaps she is even looking into the eyes of one of her former customers!

She has nothing to lose which she has not lost already. She is used to having the finger of scorn and criticism being pointed towards her. She is indifferent to the rules of social convention.

The one thing of which she is not ashamed is that she has known and experienced the love and forgiveness of God in her life. When all have used and abused her, there remains one who genuinely cares for her, and accepts her, thereby affording her dignity.

She is recklessly happy. She is spontaneously joyful, She is so thrilled to see Jesus, as she passes that open doorway, that she rushes in. Her eyes fill with tears and her vision becomes blurred. She fumbles for the small cruse of perfume which is hanging around her neck. She breaks it open and pours it upon Jesus, Then she falls to the ground, hugging and kissing and wiping the tears away with her hair.

And what is more wonderful is that Jesus allows her to demonstrate her new-found love and does not try to push her away.

What a contrast! Two very different personalities. The one cold and indifferent, the other warm and tender. The one carefully measuring out his response, the other responding spontaneously. The one over-concerned about his public self-image, the other with no concern for herself. The one who knows intellectually about the love and forgiveness of God from books, the other who has known and experienced the love and forgiveness of God in her life. The one aloof and reserved, the other, quite literally, letting her hair down. Yes, what a contrast!

And who are you in that courtyard?

Which of those two characters symbolises your practice of the Christian faith? Are you Simon the Pharisee or are you that nameless, notorious woman?

I suspect we all know who we would like to be, but we also know we are not.

Now don't be too hard upon yourself. I doubt if anyone is wholly like Simon the Pharisee or wholly like that nameless, notorious woman. If we are honest, there is a bit of both of them in us.

The problem is that we are reluctant to let go and allow ourselves to become the person God created us to be. Deep down, we are afraid to be demonstrative in our love for God, afraid to acknowledge our sinfulness, afraid to admit we are not the person we encourage other people to think we are. Above all, we are afraid that our faith may prove inadequate for the task ahead.

Yes, we are Simon the Pharisee. Yes, we are that nameless, notorious woman.

What then is the good news for us today in this gospel reading?

Firstly, the good news, which may appear as bad news, is that God sees through all the pretence of Simon the Pharisee. He has a face which says it all! God also sees through all the pretence of you and me. We cannot pull the wool over the eyes of God. Jesus knew that woman for what she was - a sinner, and a notorious one at that!

Secondly, the fact that she was a sinner did not really matter in the end. It may have mattered to Simon the Pharisee, but it did not matter to Jesus. What really mattered was that she had acknowledged and owned her sinfulness, and in so doing, had opened herself up to receive the love and forgiveness of God.

She, unlike Simon the Pharisee, was able to accept herself, just as she was. Now one of the reasons why we often find it hard to love God is because we cannot love ourselves - I mean our real selves, and not the false self behind which we so often hide.

Thirdly, one final piece of good news. Jesus does not desert us in our self-righteousness. He was prepared to accept the phoney hospitality of Simon as much as he was prepared to accept the genuine hospitality of that notorious woman. We do not have to stew in our own juice of self-righteousness. If stew we do, it is because we will not genuinely accept Jesus fully into our lives, and thereby know what it is to be loved and forgiven by God.

His face said it all. What does your face say.