Luke 7:36-8:3

One of the religious folk invited Jesus to a dinner party. When he got there and had sat down to eat, something happened. A woman came in and began washing Jesus' feet. And she was not the kind of woman a religious person would want at a dinner party. I don't know how she had gotten in there. The people were stunned by her behavior. I imagine that before anyone could ask for her invitation she just barged in. She was crying so that no one could stop her. Then she went straight to Jesus and started anointing his feet, washing them with her tears, kissing them and drying them with her hair.

Can you picture the scene? There she is at Jesus' feet with her hair down, crying her eyes out and kissing his feet right there in front of God and everyone. Now, if she had been the right kind of woman it would be one thing but she was that kind of woman. You know what I mean. She was a sinner. Perhaps she was a thief or con artist. She definitely didn't go to church. She wasn't the type. She might have even been a street walker; a prostitute.

She was "that kind of woman," or was she? All the Bible tells us is that she was a sinner. That was the label that the religious people gave to her. So we have to ask ourselves what the religious people meant by "sinner." She might have been a widow who had little income. As a result she had to live on the seedier side of town and could not wash and dress like the religious folk. Since she lived in or near the red light district people assumed the worst. Or maybe she was divorced. Back in those days a woman could not divorce her husband but a man could divorce his wife for any reason. If she burned his toast he could divorce her. So divorce was a socially acceptable way to abandon one's family. She might very well have been a thief or streetwalker. The point is we really don't know. So let's not assume more about her than we really know.

Whether she was "that kind of woman" or not is not important to the story. Everyone called her a sinner and that was that. What is important is that this woman, no matter what kind of woman she was, was truly grateful. Jesus had done or said something that made her thankful. So she made a spectacle of herself. She expressed her gratitude and didn't care who saw her.

But the religious folk didn't understand. They were scandalized that Jesus allowed that kind of a woman to keep touching him. So Jesus told them a parable. There was a banker who had loaned money to two people. One owed $50,000 and the other $500. When neither of them could pay he forgave both loans. Then Jesus asked, "Who will love the banker more."

The religious leader responded, "The one who owed more." Jesus said, "Right, now look at this woman. She is truly grateful for she has not stopped anointing my feet and kissing them. But you did not even greet me as a friend when I arrived. I tell you her sins, as many as there are, are forgiven; therefore, she loves greatly, but the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.

This reveals a staggering truth. The level of a person's devotion to God corresponds to the level of forgiveness they have experienced: the greater their forgiveness the greater their devotion. This is where the women who followed Jesus come in to the story. Luke tells us that there was a group of women that traveled with Jesus and aided his ministry. These included Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus cast out seven demons and Joanna the wife of Herod's accountant.

Luke could have dropped this historical footnote anywhere in the book but he was led to put it here. These women were devoted to Jesus because they, like the woman who anointed Jesus' feet, were truly thankful. In a world where women in general were second or third class citizens, sometimes little more than slaves, Jesus showed them love. He took the time to cast out their demons and to address them as people no matter how high or low their social status. Joanna was rich and lived in luxury but she left that to follow Jesus and Jesus let her!

Have you ever noticed that women, who make up 50% of the church, do 75% of the work (if not more)? I saw it once when I was serving on the District Counsel on Ministries. The women report that 90% of the churches have an active United Methodist Women's unit and then they give a long list of things the UMW has been doing. After that the men report that only 10% of the churches have a United Methodist Men's group. It still amazes me that some churches don't let women have leadership roles in the church. In direct contradiction to the action of Jesus, they refuse to let women preach or speak from the pulpit or take other leadership roles in the church. Like the Pharisees they fail to give Jesus a warm welcome and they despise the true devotion of those who anoint Jesus' feet.

Jesus shows us why some people have such great devotion and others don't. Some experience great forgiveness and so they love greatly, while others experience little forgiveness and so they love little. So what should we do? Become great sinners so that we can be forgiven more and love more? I remember a story about a young man who was reading a number of testimony books so he could understand how to become a follower of Jesus. You know those books in which people tell how they came to the Lord. After reading a number of them, someone asked him if he had discovered how to become a follower of Jesus. He said, "Yes, first you get mixed up in drugs or drinking then you hurt all the people that love you and maybe even get involved in crime, then you turn to Jesus."

Let me assure you that you don't have to become a great sinner to become a great follower of Jesus. You don't have to become a great sinner, because you already are! We're already great sinners and it's human pride and sin that keeps us from seeing that. That woman did not love Jesus more because she was a greater sinner than the religious folk. She loved Jesus more because she had admitted her sin and received forgiveness.

Tell me, where are you in Jesus' parable of the debtors? Are you the one that was forgiven a great debt or the one who was forgiven little? Most "religious people" think they have been forgiven little. They say in their hearts, "I never really did anything wrong. I never killed anyone. I never stole anything. I never cheated on my taxed or my spouse. I never took drugs or drank. I'm not like those sinners."

But we are great debtors. The twist to Jesus' parable of the debtors is that the one who owed little is an illusion. When it comes to humans owing God for our sins there is no one who owes little. We are all great debtors in God's books. We all owe God more than we can ever pay, and our only hope is that God will forgive the debt and wipe the books clean otherwise we will all end up in the red.

So I ask you again, "Which are you: the one forgiven little or the one forgiven much?" Jesus died for your sins. That means that your sins are so great that the death of the only perfectly righteous human was required to pay for your sins. Go ahead and admit that you owe much so that you can be forgiven much. Then act like it and show your great gratitude to God. Don't worry if they call you a fanatic. You know the truth!

1 Kings 21:1-3, 7-21

The incident at Naboth's Vineyard was a long time ago. About 2,850 years to be more specific. Ahab was the King of Israel and he had a palace in Jezreel. One day King Ahab looked out his window and saw that Naboth, his neighbor, had a fine vineyard. Ahab thought to himself: "I love fresh vegetables. The stuff that they buy in the market is not as fresh as I like. Wouldn't it be nice to have a garden right outside my back door. Then I could just walk out and pick fresh vegetables any time I want them." So Ahab offered to buy that plot of ground from Naboth for a good price. But Naboth said, "I can't sell this land. It has been in my family for generations. God gave my family this land. I owe it to my children and grandchildren and my forefathers as well as God to preserve it." At this Ahab became mad and threw a royal temper tantrum. He refused to eat at all. If he couldn't have fresh vegetables he wouldn't have anything.

Jezebel, Ahab's wife, didn't like her husband's little hunger strike. So she said to Ahab, "You're supposed to be the King of Israel. Stop pouting like a little boy. I'll get you that vineyard." So Jezebel took some of the royal stationary and wrote a letter to the leaders in Naboth's city and signed Ahab's name. The letter said, "Ya'll are in trouble now. That man Naboth is a trouble maker. I want you to hire some men who can be bought. And I want you to pay them to tell some lies about Naboth. Have them accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king." Out of fear the leaders of the city did just that. And Naboth and his sons were stoned to death.

Well no one owned that vineyard now, so Ahab took it. Then the Lord spoke to Elijah. God said, "Go to Ahab and tell him you are a murderer and a thief. What you did to Naboth will happen to you." When Ahab heard this word he said, "How did you know what we did?" Elijah replied, "I found out because you did what is evil in God's eyes. God sees everything and the Great Judge of Heaven has judged you. God will do away with you and your sons, just as you did away with Naboth and his sons." So because Ahab desired fresh vegetables more than God's law, his family lost the throne. That was a long time ago.

Not so long ago, a little over 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus came to the Americas. Columbus was only looking for spice to trade for at a good price. But others came after him. They liked what they saw. The Aztecs had gold which would look so good in the treasuries of Europe. The North American Indians farmed land that grew tobacco and other delicacies in abundance. The Europeans looked out the windows of their ships and liked their neighbor's vineyards.

At first they traded for what they wanted: Cloth for tobacco, beads for land, iron for gold. But some killed their neighbors to get what they wanted. The Incas and the Aztecs were great people's with large cities. Now they are only archeological ruins in South America. Some Europeans tried to enslave the Indians at first. But they kept dying of European diseases. Or they escaped and ran home. In the end colonists in both North and South America just took what they wanted and killed the previous owners if they caused trouble.

God saw what was happening. Just as God saw Ahab and Jezebel plot to murder Naboth. God watched, and the eternal Judge of all, Jesus Christ, wept at the injustice. As whole tribes were wiped out, as land was stolen and whole peoples were made to move from their homes. As Native Americans and their culture were killed.

My goal in this sermon is not to participate in America bashing. There are a lot of great things to celebrate about America. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. This is the country that boldly proclaims, "Send us your poor, your .... huddles masses yearning to breath free." We have given a lot to the world. It is because of America that common people throughout the world, even in Russia, now have a voice in their governments. It is partially because of America that the idea of basic human rights is so widely accepted in the world. America played a major role in reform in South Africa and winning a vote for the majority of its people. Many beyond our shores owe their freedom to the responsible use of our influence. We have defended the helpless and oppressed from the Hitlers and Hussains of the world.

Despite all the good, we have to admit that we are the inheritors of Naboth's vineyard. Our country and the colonists which preceded it sometimes killed and stole just as Ahab did. It's true that we have defended the weak, but we have also taken what we wanted from the weak. Much of our land was stolen from Native Americans, and much of the labor that made our nation wealthy was stolen from Africa.

We can and should celebrate what is good about America, but let's not close our eyes to what is bad. Let's admit to ourselves that we have inherited Naboth's vineyard, and we have a responsibilities to Naboth's descendants. Let's confess the crimes of the past and pray for God's healing of the present. The song "America the Beautiful" includes a prayer for God to "Mend thine every flaw." If we don't admit our flaws how can we ask God to mend them.

This weekend you will hear people sing "God Bless America." When you do join in with them, but consider what you are singing. If we really want God to bless our nation, then we must confess to God our national sins. We must admit our failures so that we are humble enough to receive the blessing God is offering.

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