Jesus is Coming to Dinner

This is a sermon on Luke 7:36-8:3 for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year C.

I remember a skit that we used to do when I worked at Bible camp.  It was called “Jesus is coming to dinner.”  A visitor comes and knocks on the host’s door and asks for food.  The host turns the visitor away without any food.  Another visitor comes and knocks on the host’s door and asks to use the bathroom.  The host says no and shuts the door.  The next visitor to knock on the door asks to use the phone.  But the host again closes the door providing no help to the visitor.  The host was too busy preparing for Jesus to come to dinner, to assist the visitors with their needs.  Lo and behold, Jesus never comes, or at least Jesus doesn’t come in the form that the host was expecting.  Actually it had been Jesus that had come asking for food, a bathroom, and to use the phone.  Jesus had come, but the host was too busy preparing for Jesus’ arrival to even take time to extend hospitality to the one at the door.

In today’s text, Simon is hosting a dinner party and Jesus has been invited.  You can about imagine what the other guests are thinking, “Jesus is coming to dinner!”  Jesus arrives and dinner begins.  And then in walks a woman—a sinful woman.  I am sure the mood of the guests took a nosedive.  Who does this sinful woman think she is that she can just waltz into our dinner party, uninvited?  And then the woman begins washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and drying them off with her hair.  She kisses his feet and anoints them with ointment.  Who does that?  Surely Simon didn’t do that when Jesus arrived.

In fact, Simon was not a very good host at this dinner party.  It was custom at the time for the host to provide a basin of water for the guests to wash their feet when they arrived at the host’s house.  After all, Jesus had just come from walking the dusty roads in sandals or maybe with no shoes at all.  His feet were dirty and tired.  They could probably have used a good soak in some warm water.  Simon must have been too busy preparing for Jesus to come to dinner to take the time to extend a hand of hospitality to him when he arrived.  So here we have it—Simon the inhospitable host.

The hospitable one in this story is actually the uninvited sinful woman.  She takes it upon herself to welcome Jesus properly.  She does the unthinkable by using her tears to wash Jesus’ feet and using her hair to dry them off.  She kisses his feet and anoints them.  Simon thinks this is absolutely inappropriate.  He wonders why Jesus is allowing such a woman, a sinful woman, to wash his feet.  After all, as Jesus allows this sinful and unclean woman to wash his feet, he is becoming unclean in the process.  Simon thinks this is crazy, but we know that this is not new for Jesus.  Jesus often spends his time with the outcasts, poor, the unclean, and sinners.  In fact, Jesus appreciates this sinful woman’s hospitality.

Jesus takes this opportunity to prove a point to Simon by telling a parable about two debtors.  Their debts are of differing amounts, but both of the debts are canceled.  Now I would love it if Jesus were really talking about canceling debt.  I know I have a large amount of educational debt that I would love to be canceled.  But, Jesus is talking about another type of debt here.  This debt is sin—the same sin that we are in bondage to, as well.  The debtors are meant to resemble Simon and the sinful woman.  The one who has the greater debt loves more.  The sinful woman in this story shows more love to Jesus.  She is hospitable.  She does this because she knows she is sinful and knows that she is in need of forgiveness.  Simon on the other hand is also sinful.  In fact, we are all sinful.  But Simon seems unaware of his sin.  He does not seem to know that he needs forgiveness.  Those who are forgiven much, love much.  Those who are forgiven little, love little.  Their debts are canceled.  Their sins are forgiven. 

As a result of the forgiveness granted, the other guests at the dinner party begin to question the identity of this person that is granting forgiveness.  I imagine we might have done the same thing if we were guests at Simon’s house that day.  They wonder if this person may be a prophet.  In fact, this person is more than just a prophet.  This person is Jesus.  This person is God’s Son.  This person is God.  This person is the one who has the ability to forgive the sins of the sinful woman, of Simon, and of us.

So who am I in this story?  Who are you in this story?  Sometimes we might be like the sinful woman.  We might know that we are sinful and are in need of forgiveness.  This happens when we are able to honestly look inward at our own sinful nature.  At other times, we might be like Simon.  We might be completely oblivious to our sin and therefore unaware of our need for forgiveness.  Most often this happens when our eyes are so focused outward on the sins and shortcomings of others that we are unable to recognize our own sin.  Regardless, our debts are canceled.  Our sins are forgiven. 

Do we receive forgiveness for our sins because we have already shown love?  Or are we forgiven of our sins so that we may begin to show love.  On one hand, love is a response to forgiveness.  On the other hand, the ability to love can be related to the ability to receive forgiveness.  I can best visualize this by using a mathematical equation.  Love + forgiveness = more love.  It is kind of like a² + b² = c².  The equation is not complete without all of the parts.

Now I don’t want it to seem like I am telling you that you must do x, y, and z in order to be forgiven.  We know that is not true.  We know that our forgiveness was secured through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  However, we are not just off the hook and free to do whatever we please, knowing that we will just automatically be forgiven.  We, as Christians, are called to act in response to the forgiveness we have been given.  We are called to be hospitable to the stranger—the one in our midst.  In doing this we are also being hospitable to Jesus.  We are showing love to God and the stranger.

Now I know that we don’t get many strangers in these parts, but just imagine what you would do if someone showed up.  What if you got to church and someone was already sitting in your pew—you know the one that has your imprint on it?  Maybe you would just go and sit somewhere else and ignore the stranger in your pew.  Maybe you would sit next to the stranger and still ignore them.  Maybe you would sit next to the stranger and actually welcome them.  If their feet were tired and dirty would you be willing to use your tears and hair to wash their feet?  What if this person was Jesus?  May we, who continue to be forgiven much, continue to love much, because we never know when Jesus might actually show up for dinner.  Amen.