Wellspring UMC; Third
Sunday after Pentecost; June 17, 2007: “Giving From the Heart”:
-Luke
7: 36-50
Last
week we began a journey of giving together, and for the next seven weeks we’ll
continue that journey, during which we’re each invited to pray, “Lord make me
an instrument of Your love everyday, and use me to give your love away,” then
listen and respond. Having been given
that charge, who would like to share one experience of giving this week? Who followed that prompting, gave something
away and would like to share what that was like? (If you didn’t or do not want
to stand and share this week, you’ll have ample opportunities in the weeks
ahead.)
One of the things that I’ve
discovered this week, is that in keeping this call to give at the fore of my
thoughts, I’ve been moved to reflect upon what it means to give AND what it
means to receive. In speaking with some
of you, it seems I’m not alone in this.
Many of us find ourselves more aware of the needs of the world around
us, and in doing so, God is laying the foundation for us to live into this call
to care through giving.
Our mission statement is simple in
words but deep in being lived out. “To
care as Jesus cares.” Our mission is to
live as Jesus did, be like Jesus was, care as Jesus cares. What a difficult mission to fulfill, and yet
how powerful it is when we do. The hope
for this time of focused giving is that, through our giving, we would learn to
care as Jesus cares, which in the end will mean others will experience Jesus’
care through us. I mention this because
in reflecting upon what it means to give and receive, it’s easy to make the
connection between giving and receiving, and caring as Jesus cares. Both were a part of who Jesus was, and both
reveal who we are to be.
So what do I mean by this. How does giving lead to caring? For the answer to this, we turn to our
scripture passage today.
It
is another interesting and powerful Word for us today. It is a story that’s found in all four
Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John, and though the details of the story
are a little different in each, the common thread is this woman who gives an
extravagant gift to Christ. She anoints
Christ’s body with expensive perfume, and in all but Luke, this comes just
before Christ’s death, as an anointing for burial. However, in our passage for today, the
anointing is not in preparation for Christ’s burial, but simply a gift given
from the heart.
Jesus
is surrounded by the keepers of the law, and during the meal this woman walks
up to the table. This would have been
easy to do since they most likely were dining in a courtyard, and anyone
walking by could have seen and had access to those inside. It is quite a bold move, that this woman,
characterized as “a harlot” would come into the home of a Pharisee and approach
the favored guests, but she does, bringing with her this costly perfume.
She
is obviously overwhelmed. I’d like to
think this was a powerful moment where God led her to come and lay out before
Christ the pain and struggle that resided deep inside her. The low self-image, the shame of her actions,
the fear of rejection, and the empty darkness which formed her core. She came hoping against hope for something,
someone to see her pain, see her shame, see her anguish, see her..., and so she
stands at his feet and weeps.
Drop
by drop the tears fall. The pain, the
struggle, the history, her reality released and transferred onto the Son of
Her
body connecting with his. Her hair the
cloth to cleanse the Savior. Their lives
connected by sinew and strand, and in those sacred moments she washes his feet
with tears and perfume, kissing and touching them in beauty and love. She brought before him the gift of her heart
and gave from the heart, that he would be blessed.
The
Pharisees don’t get it. In fact, they
are irritated. How could she, a woman of
her stature, come into their circle? How
could she come to their guest? Then, how
could HE let her do this? “If this man
were a prophet, he would have known who was touching him...,” they say, but the
truth is that he very well knew who was touching him. In fact, her touch was more than skin deep,
it was heart to heart.
This past week I was blessed to be a
part of the Virginia Annual Conference, one of the best I can remember. It was a powerful week with great preaching
and a call for all churches to get outside our walls and recognize that Christ
doesn’t live solely in the Church but is in the world, in the trenches and in
the pain, and that we, as the church, are called to be with Christ in the
world. I was truly blessed, and I invite
you to read up about the event on the Conference web site.
On Thursday I returned with that
healthy exhaustion that comes from time well-spent, but I was still tired. The ride home was long, and by the time I got
home I just wanted to see the family, eat, and go to bed. That’s basically what I did, but not before I
was greeted by my kids, standing at the glass door waiting for me to return,
then flinging open the door and jumping into my arms as I got out of the car.
There in that moment, the longing of
my heart to touch and hold them, connected with their longing to do the same
with me. Their giving from the heart met
my need to receive, and my need to give met their need to receive, and all was
well in the world for me and them.
When I think about this woman
washing Christ’s feet with her hair, that’s what I see. That’s what I expect they were feeling. She longed to simply be with and touch Him,
and that longing of her heart touched Christ.
The reciprocation of their care for one another became the example for
those Pharisees of what it means to truly love, and the example for us of how
God invites us to touch and be touched by those whom others neglect.
Of
course the Pharisees don’t get it. “If
he was a prophet, he’d see that she was unclean and unworthy...” So Jesus tells a little story. “One person owed 500 denarii, the other 50,
but the creditor canceled the debts.
Simon, who was more grateful?”
“I
guess the one with the greater debt,” Simon said.
“Right
you are,” said Jesus. “Simon, a good host provides water to wash the guest’s
feet and greets them with a kiss, and you did neither. You did not anoint me, but she did. She gave from her heart, while you simply did
what was required. Yes, Simon, her sins
are great, but because of her great need, her forgiveness is greater.”
Then
turning to the woman, Jesus said, “Go.
Your sins are forgiven. Your
faith has saved you.”
As I was meditating over this passage
this week, it felt as if I was watching a movie which recounted two
perspectives. That is, it felt like I
was watching a movie of the Pharisees watching a movie of Jesus revealing the
true nature of God and humankind in relationship, which is the investment of
life in one another. It’s almost as if
those Pharisees are watching what’s going on but not really a part of it. Instead, they are standing back judging
whether it is good or not, and as they do they miss the whole point of the
story.
This woman, on the other hand, pours
herself into Jesus, and Jesus receives her.
He sees her, not as they do, but he sees her as a child of God. Even more so, he sees before Him a child of
God offering more than perfume, but offering everything she knows to give, so
that she can connect with the source of hope...her source of life...the arms of
love.
Her heart meets His. His heart meets hers, and in the giving and
receiving, through the giving and receiving, they are made one. And there at that moment, is found the
This
is disturbing to me. It is very
disturbing, because in many ways this is what happens with the Church. We’re not Christ who receives the repentant
giver, but we are the Pharisees who insist on staying in our own little corners
of the world, never reaching out, never even allowing those who seek a
different way of being to get near us.
Instead we allow our prejudice to guide our thoughts and actions.
“We
can’t have them here, they have piercings and tattoos!” “We can’t go to that
neighborhood, it’s too risky. No, let’s
host an event here in our building.” “Oh
no, he’s coming toward me, I hope he doesn’t ask me for money.” “They sure do need to pass that immigration
bill, because those people are just criminals.”
Or
even within the church we are imprisoned by our own prejudice. “But she’s a woman,” or “they are divorced,”
or “they are so young,” and the list goes on.
The holy church lives out unholy lives, thinking that they are Christ in
the world, when all the time, Christ’s focus is on all the others that are
judged unworthy by unworthy judges.
Friends, what does it mean to care
as Jesus cares? What does it mean to
give? What does it mean to receive? Friends, what does it mean to be a follower
of Jesus Christ?...to be just like Him?
It means far more than we give it credence, but that doesn’t mean we
remain where and who we are.
No, to care, to give, to receive, to
follow Christ means that we give our hearts to God, then let God show us how to
give our hearts for others. It means
praying, “make me an instrument of your love and use me to share that
love.” It means seeking out the
disenfranchised and the lost. It means
praying that God will bring to us those who need to cry at our feet, give their
hearts to us, and connect with Jesus Christ, who lives within us.
Those
Pharisees said, “If he only knew who was touching him...” But Jesus knew exactly who was touching him,
and in fact, knew how she was touching him – with her heart. In response Jesus received and Jesus
gave. Jesus modeled for us how we are to
live.
So friends, the invitation remains, how will you give for Christ this week? Who will God bring your way? No matter how, no matter who, whatever you do, open yourself up and give from the heart. Amen.