The woman with the alabaster jar

Luke 7:36-8:3

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN

Our gospel reading for today focuses upon Jesus’ meal at the home of Simon the Pharisee. In the midst of the story an unnamed woman comes in, an unnamed woman of ill repute, and as Jesus reclines at the dinner, she stands there and washes his feet wit her tears, wipes them with her hair and anoints his feet with perfumed ointment. This is scandalous on all sorts of levels.

Not only is this woman an uninvited guest, but she is also a known sinner, and then she performs this practically erotic act toward Jesus.

It’s no wonder that the host of the meal thinks what he does.

But Jesus does not see the scandal in this woman.
Instead he sees her dire need for forgiveness and reconciliation.
He sees the transformation that has already taken place in her as she comes to him and washes his feet.

And Jesus makes this known to all those present at the dinner by telling his parable of the two debtors.
And he forgives the woman and he declares to her that she is saved, she is made whole, she is healed, by her faith in him.

So, what do you think of that?

Do you identify with anyone in particular in the story?
The “right” answer of course would be to identify with the woman, wouldn’t it?
God knows all of us need forgiveness and healing and wholeness. And who wouldn’t want to be made an example of ultimate hospitality. The teacher Jesus bestows a gold star on this woman for her transformation and faith. She knows the capacity of Jesus to forgive and this sparks a great gesture in her, to show this extravagant love toward Jesus, not in the least bit worried about her honor or what others might think of her. She just acts in her love for the Lord.

I suspect, however, that most of us ought truly to identify with Simon the Pharisee, if we’re completely honest with ourselves.

We invite Jesus here, to be present with us at our meal together on a weekly basis. We like to have a nice, orderly, service- good music, appropriate behavior, no cell phones and texting- and when the meal is over, we go our separate ways, back to our orderly, respectable lives.

We probably hope that no one asks us to do any more than we already do- because God knows that we have a lot of bills to pay, work to do, houses to keep, relationships to maintain, we’re already stretched thin as it is, surely a nice, weekly meal with Jesus is adequate.
And if any one thinks we’re not doing enough, or we’re not hospitable enough- well shame on them, because they’re just being unreasonable.

It’s a good thing we have this story today.
It’s a good thing because we need to be reminded about transformation. We need to be reminded that we are a bunch of Simon the Pharisees, and we need to learn to be, or at least appreciate, the woman with the alabaster jar and her extravagant behavior, and her incredible hospitality, and her crazy love for Jesus.

Most of you know that I am working on my dissertation and it is on sonship and discipleship in the gospel of Mark. Basically, what that means, is that who Jesus is defines who the disciples are. Because Jesus is the Son, so too are the disciples children of God.

And that’s what we have here today in Luke’s gospel, isn’t it? Who Jesus is, what he has the capacity to do in his forgiveness and in his dying for the whole world greatly affects the woman with the alabaster jar of perfume. She is completely transformed- she was a sinner but upon her act of hospitality and love toward Jesus she receives forgiveness and reconciliation. She becomes who she was truly made to be because of her relationship with Jesus.

Does Jesus affect who you are? Have you been transformed in your baptism, in your weekly attendance at church? Are you transformed by hearing the word of God and consuming his body and blood? Or are you just being polite? Are you being a good boy and girl, doing what you’re supposed to do but not really letting it affect you too much because of what others might think.

An answer to the question is yes. Jesus does affect who you are.
And another answer is no. Because we are all sinners and we fall very short of the glory of God and we are not like the woman with the alabaster jar. And we do not demonstrate transformation in our lives. In fact, we bring in all the crap in our own lives in here and deem that our own expectations about church and life ought be met rather than what the gospel demands of us.

Frankly, I’m angry that we don’t witness more transformation. I am tired of the apathy and the feeling that everyone is just too busy or too annoyed by church to demonstrate what God has done in our lives. And I’m heartbroken and tired. Because I take it personally.

And it’s amazing to me that in spite of our apathy, in spite of our lack of transformation that Christ still shows up. That Christ will never give up, just like he never gave up on Simon the Pharisee- he did dine in his house, he did try and teach him, he was in relationship with him as he was in relationship with the woman with the alabaster jar.

We reap our own consequences. We believe we’re fine the way we are and the life of the church demonstrates that.

At the same time, Jesus continues to come down in here, to be like that woman with the alabaster jar and to practice extravagant love and hospitality among us. He pours out his body and his blood like she poured our her tears and that ointment. He fills us with his words of love, with his healing power, with his nourishing body and blood because he knows, he knows that our transformation exists, he knows that we are baptized in his name and that radically affects who we are and how we act in the world.

And he doesn’t give up. I don’t know how- but he doesn’t.
He has been crucified and dead. I guess a little apathy is not going to hurt Jesus.

So please remember that you have been crucified and dead with Jesus by virtue of your baptism.
You no longer live by the power of your own life- you live only through Christ- and that ought to mean something.

Just like the woman with the alabaster jar, your faith has saved you. You are whole, you are reconciled to God. You have been transformed- so go and live a life full of transformation, faith, salvation, and extravagant love and hospitality.

We are dead to sin, but we are alive in Christ Jesus.
Thanks be to God.
AMEN