July 18, 2010 “Finding the Who in the What” Lynda Sloan, Lay Speaker Luke 7: 36-8:3

On my route to work, I often see people, mostly men, standing on the sidewalk just behind the Safeway supermarket. They hold signs that read “Hungry, need help.” “Will work for food.” “Homeless, no job, anything will help.” Some of them wear scruffy-looking clothes that look like they haven’t been near soap and water for a year or more. Some of them are fairly well-groomed, wearing clean shirts and jeans, recently shaved, carrying freshly made signs. I find myself being suspicious of the better groomed, wondering if they really need help. Almost all of them seem to have some kind of need – food, shelter, work – perhaps even companionship. I assume that they are homeless, wonder if they are on drugs or abuse alcohol, and speculate that they are con artists or criminals. I guess at what they are, but I don’t know who they are. I think that one day, when I have the time, I might visit with them to hear their story. But I’m always in a hurry, so I don’t stop.

When Jesus was invited to dinner by a Pharisee, he accepted the invitation. Jesus seemed never to be in a hurry. Jesus accepted invitations to eat with a variety of people: tax collectors, Pharisees, the poor, the wealthy, sinners and strangers. He was often criticized for the company he kept, almost always because his critics could only see what people were, not who they were. This Pharisee was no exception.

In Jesus’ time, hosts usually offered their guests the means to clean the dust off their hands and feet before they sat down to a meal. The Pharisee failed to provide that courtesy. A woman from the town had wandered into the Pharisee’s home, apparently seeking out Jesus. She cleaned Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her long hair, and used the expensive oil to soften Jesus’ skin. Jesus was grateful for her generous and loving act. The Pharisee, on the other hand, wanted to kick her out because she was a sinner.

I’ve been kind of intrigued with what defines a sinner ever since I saw a sign over the entrance to a church that read “Only sinners enter here.” I was rather put out by that message when I first read it. I thought I was a fairly virtuous person. I didn’t steal, didn’t make up lies about other people, was faithful to my spouse, tried not to dishonor God, and so forth. In fact, I was probably a lot like the Pharisee. But, as I thought about what the context of that message might be, I realized that more than making a judgment about the people who entered the church, it was really an invitation to atonement, an invitation to experience the love of a God who loves us and forgives us in spite of what we are. God knows who we are and loves us anyway, just as he loved the woman in the Pharisee’s house. The Pharisee did not have that kind of understanding.

In fact, the Pharisee thought Jesus was somewhat ignorant when he didn’t seem to realize that a woman who had sinned in God only knows what manner was taking some quite personal liberties with Jesus, and Jesus was letting her get away with it! Jesus, however, had a completely different take on the event. He realized this woman felt she needed to repent of her past lifestyle and somehow already knew that she was forgiven for her sins. Jesus knew who she was – a child of God, who knew God loved her no matter what her past life had been.

The Pharisees were known for the way they lived – righteously, following the Jewish laws, setting the example for others. In other words, for what they were. On the other hand, women were given little respect, especially if they were on their own. They had few property rights, and if they were married, they were generally considered the property of their husbands. The woman who appeared at the Pharisee’s home, uninvited, presumably had no visible means of support. Therefore the Pharisee assumed that she kept herself through sinful ways. Furthermore, he didn’t care to know what her circumstances were. He didn’t ask: Did she have a family? Was she abandoned by her husband because she couldn’t give him any sons? Perhaps she had to support an elderly mother. Because she was of no consequence to Simon, he didn’t bother to get to know her story.

But, are we any better than Simon the Pharisee at learning who someone is as opposed to what they are? How often do we make judgments about a person based on the circumstances in which we encounter him or her? Many years ago, I had a conversation with another member of my former church. Bill was complaining about the behavior of Tony, a teen-ager who attended our church, and he said that he thought Tony shouldn’t attend our church. Bill said Tony had been disrespectful earlier and Tony shouldn’t be allowed to attend any more. Hmmm, a disrespectful teen-aged sinner didn’t belong in church. Where, then, did he belong? Frankly, the comment left me speechless. I couldn’t think of a rebuttal. Now, I realize that Bill was not looking at who the teen-ager was but only his behavior. Bill was acting like the Pharisee.

The apostle Paul was a Pharisee who persecuted the followers of Jesus because he didn’t know Jesus the son of God. He only knew what Jesus was teaching seemed contrary to the Jewish law as Paul understood it. Jesus was taking on the role of God, healing people, performing miracles, forgiving people for their sins. The Pharisees believed only God could forgive sins. They didn’t know who Jesus really was. Paul (then Saul) approved the killing of Stephen, one of Jesus’ followers. Acts 8:3 says “But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.” One day, on a mission to Damascus, where he planned to arrest followers of Jesus, Saul encountered the resurrected Jesus. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” asked Jesus. Saul was blinded by a light and could not see, but he could hear Jesus identify himself. Jesus told him to continue to the city where Saul would receive further information. Saul did as he was told, and not only eventually regained his sight, but became a follower of Jesus. Jesus had renamed him Paul, and Paul became as fervent a teacher of Jesus’ way as he had been a Pharisee. He learned who Jesus was, repented of his past, and loved Jesus the rest of his life.

Could Simon the Pharisee find the measure of forgiveness that Jesus bestowed on the woman Simon called a sinner? Yes, but only if he was willing to see and admit the sins he had to atone for. But because he couldn’t see them or admit to them, he didn’t think he needed to be forgiven.

We have to learn who we ourselves are too. If we are blind to our own shortcomings, we will not take action to change. Think back to Saul’s situation. When he was persecuting the Christians, he may have thought he was doing the right thing. The Christians were not completely adhering to Jewish law. They hung out with gentiles, lepers, thieves and and tax collectors. Some of them ate unclean (according to Jewish tradition) food. Those kinds of actions could not be tolerated. It wasn’t until Saul became Paul and enlightened by Jesus that he realized his own tactics were sinful. Paul reiterated many times over in his letters to his eventual parishes that he was a sinner of great proportion, yet he truly believed that God was forgiving him as he atoned. He preached forgiveness himself to thousands of people in his lifetime.

Only sinners enter here. When we atone and ask forgiveness, we are relieved of heavy burdens. When we can forgive ourselves, we can forgive those who trespass against us. When we learn who our neighbor is, it doesn’t matter what they are or have been. Jesus told the woman who washed his feet with her tears that her sins were forgiven. He could see into her heart and lifted her burden of sin.

I know that I need to be forgiven for many sins; some are small, like procrastinatng, being headstrong at times, carelessness, being in too much of a hurry, inattentiveness, forgetting to vote. But I also need forgiveness for inaction, failure to keep promises, not getting to know my friends’ needs and passions. I know that as I ask forgiveness for my past sins and am truly sorry for them, God will forgive me.

Let me share a poem by Donna Swanson, a contributor to the Alive Now devotional. I believe it reflects the call to action that I feel for myself.

One of the Least

Hey!

You people!

You beautiful, healthy, comfortable people.

Please?

Please don’t turn away from me.

Please don’t look at me with fear.

I’m here,

somewhere.

I know I am!

somewhere deep inside this ruined flesh.

I know I’m not beautiful.

I know you’d rather not touch me.

I know.

But, you see.

I need you so much!

I need someone who will listen to my soul.

It’s beautiful, you know.

God loves it.

Won’t you please love it, too?

Sometimes, I think my heart will burst

With the need to love you

And touch you.

Maybe you can’t love me.

I will not ask for that.

But, could you look at me

and not slide your eyes away

to the empty spaces around me?

Will you look into my eyes

And see my soul looking back at you?

Will you pause long enough to know me?

long enough to hold a twisted,

fevered hand?

Just a moment

To understand my uncertain speech.

Just a moment

to fill this lonely hell with a touch of heaven.

Just a moment

and I will show you Jesus.

From Alive Now Sept/Oct 2008

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to begin to know a person whom the Pharisee likely would have considered unworthy to associate with. This man has a mental illness and sometimes has erratic behavior. I’ve known him only as a client of the agency I work for until a couple of days ago. I had a long conversation with him about what he wants out of life and I found that he has goals and dreams. I’d never thought about what he might need to make his dreams come true. Once again, I’ve been the Pharisee. But this time I am not going to be in a hurry. This time I will grasp the opportunity to see beyond the what this man may be and learn more about the who he is.

I pray today not only for forgiveness for my sins but for direction in how to know who the people are that I associate with. I truly would like to know the fellows who hold the signs asking for help. Maybe if I learn the who of what they are, I can help them find the way to a better life too. Next time you encounter the homeless, the unwashed, or someone whom you wouldn’t ordinarily talk to, will you reach out a hand or look them in the eye, perhaps share a smile? Will you look into their eyes and see their soul looking back at you?

May God help us all to see the who in the what we see every day. Amen.