Luke tells us a radical story in the 7th chapter of his Gospel (The good news of Jesus). Jesus is invited to a dinner party at the house of a Pharisee. This offends me. You see the Pharisees are the "bad guys." I mean they weren't but THEY TOTALLY WERE! They abused the system. They didnt care for you unless you play the game by their rules. And in many ways, when Jesus came he destroyed this religious system that they created (and sadly we have re-created in the West). But Jesus- totally full of love says Yes. Ya, I get it, he ate with sinners and prostitutes too but Jesus even ate with those that he would later rubke. He came. He ate. He gave them (and us) a billion chances to be loved by him.
Jesus is hanging with the Pharisees when a "sinful woman" comes into the house, into the party. She was not invited yet when she heard that Jesus was there she was driven by love to find him. She broke open a jar of alabaster perfume. She then lays at the feet of Jesus weeping like a mad woman. She takes her tears and perfume and cleans the dirty feet of the Messiah and drying His feet with her hair.
What a freak. What a weird-o. Right? But when one is compelled by love we tend to act irrationally.
With one statement the Pharisee tries to take out two birds with one stone. "If this man were a prophet, He would know who this is and what kinds of woman is touching Him- for she is a sinner!"
They were half right. She was considered a "sinner" because of her actions. She made some bad choices. She went down the wrong road once or twice (or more) and she was now isolated from her community. In fact, many in that culture were considered "unclean" as a result of their actions.
Jesus, being the beast that He is, responds in a story. He tells what we now refer to as the parable of the 2 debtors.
"Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more?” “I suppose the one who was forgiven more,” Simon replied. “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Jesus then points to the woman. Not to accuse but to PRAISE. He wanted to set her up as an example. He says "follow her lead"
“Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give Me water for My feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.You did not greet Me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing My feet since I arrived. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with perfume. Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Did you hear Jesus? He says "Because her many sins are forgiven she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little" In other words when we know how much we have been forgiven by the God of this universe we can respond in love. Love to Him and love to others.
I don't know how your 2019 was. Was it the best year of your life? The worst? Somewhere in between?
Can I propose a 2020 resolution? This is kinda vague so you can make it more personal but I propose we get 2020 vision.
For way too long we have misunderstood what God requires of us. We read the Bible and turn it into a rule book. I've even heard people call it "Basic instructions before leaving earth."
But what if following God wasn't that complicated? What if for 2000 years we have been muddying the water?
Here is what Nadia Bolz-Weber says "There is no resolution that, if kept, will make you more worthy of love. You, as your actual self and not as some made up ideal, are already worthy."
You see to follow Jesus is as simple as a kid playing "follow the leader." That is why we read the Bible. We see what Jesus did. And then we copy his actions. It's literally that simple.
You see we must have 2020 vision in the year 2020. We must know that we are loved by God, have the example of Jesus, and can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to love others in the same way that we have been loved.
I pray that God gives you 2020 vision in the year 2020. I pray that He helps you to see God clearly as the God of love and you are fully loved by Him.
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