Bible Passage: Luke 7:36-50
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: Thanksgiving 2021

Bulletin Thanksgiving 2021

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

It is hard for us to know the motivations of Simon, the Pharisee, in our text.  Why did he invite Jesus to dinner?  One would like to think that it was born of noble motives.  A genuine attempt to get to know him better.

Yet, we are not left with a lot of evidence that Simon was moved by higher motives.  We will hear Jesus call attention to the fact that some of the most common courtesies extended to guests in your home were NOT extended to Jesus when he arrived.  No water to wash his feet.  No anointing with oil, which was what you did if you really wanted to honor a guest in your home.  We are even told about kind of a snarky thought Simon has about Jesus.  We are not left with the “warm and fuzzies” when we examine Simon.

But it is here we notice another guest at Simon’s dinner.  There is less mystery with this one; we know why she came!  It was “thanksgiving” for her!  And it was “thanksgiving” because she knew Jesus was at that table!  Indeed, When You Know Jesus is the Table, it becomes Thanksgiving. 

Do your best to picture the dinner at Simon’s house.  Dinner parties then were not like they are today.  The table would have been a lot lower to the ground.  And there were not high-back, Victorian-style dining chairs.  They had what were called dining couches that extended away from the table at an angle.  Guests would recline on these couches with their legs extending away from the table, and they would prop up on one elbow and then eat with their other hand.  That helps us understand the beginning of our text:  Jesus entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. (v. 36) We don’t know if Simon had a 20 pound turkey or a 6 pounder – which is a way of saying we don’t know how many were in attendance.

But immediately our attention is drawn to a person who has slipped into the room.  She positions herself behind Jesus, near his feet.  Oh, it’s her!  Everybody in town knew her.  She is described as having lived a sinful life in that town.  The word used to describe her is a word that was used for those people who openly and clearly lived their lives violating the Torah, the Law of Yahweh.  Commentators are quick to say this woman was a prostitute.  She might have been; we don’t know for sure.  She most certainly did have a reputation that preceded her.  Why was she there?  We are told, [she] learned that Jesus was reclining in the Pharisee’s house. (v. 37) She learned Jesus was at the table!  And so it became “thanksgiving day” for her!

She stands behind Jesus and begins to cry.  This is not softly sniffling into a hanky.  The word used means weeping so all could hear!  Big tears are rolling down her cheeks and dripping onto Jesus’ feet.  Now she lets down her hair and gets her face and head right down at Jesus’ feet.  And with handfuls of her hair, she dries his feet.  The whole time she kisses his feet again and again!  Does even hearing what she did make you uncomfortable?

It made Simon uncomfortable, too.  He thinks to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would realize who is touching him and what kind of woman she is, because she is a sinner. (v. 39)  Can’t you just picture Simon scrunching up his face in disgust as he thinks about what a yucky woman she is?

Jesus wants to help Simon understand something about this woman’s thanksgiving.  So Jesus asks Simon to think about something.  Two men owed money to a lender.  The one owed ten times as much as the other.  The lender forgives both debts.  Jesus puts it to Simon:  Which of them will love him more? (v. 42) Simon answers, I suppose the one who had the larger debt forgiven. (v. 43)  Good answer!  And now to apply the lesson…Jesus turns to the woman at his feet.  The tears, the hair, the oil, the kisses – all of it was LOVE!  It was the loving gratitude of one who knew Jesus had forgiven her very, very large debt!  All of it was thanksgiving for forgiveness!

Dear friends, as we come to our tables this Thanksgiving, there are many things for which we are grateful.  We live in a first world country and enjoy blessing upon blessing and “creature comforts” not too many in this world enjoy.  Oh, sure, we are hearing a lot these days about supply chain issues and pandemic-related shortages.  But honestly, are any of you lacking anything you need – truly NEED – to get along?  We are very blessed!  But the greatest blessing we have – the one that makes a body weep for joy and kiss Jesus’ feet – is forgiveness!

What a good example for us is this woman.  She was completely overwhelmed by forgiveness!  Are you overwhelmed by forgiveness?  When is the last time you wept when you thought that all your sins are forgiven?  I’m not suggesting that you have to cry or that you are less of a Christian if you don’t.  But you get the point, don’t you?  Forgiveness is overwhelming! Here was this woman with the bad reputation.  People in town probably avoided her, or whispered into their hands when they saw her.  Probably hustled their children away.  And the reputation was well-earned!  But Jesus loved her.  Jesus forgave her, even though she may have sinned ten times as much as the next person.  Think of what your reputation would be if we all knew your sin?  Kind of makes you want to cry when you think that Jesus loves you.  Jesus knows exactly who you are, and what kind of woman, or man you are!  And he still loves you!  Jesus forgives you!

This woman’s thankfulness was even “weird” to some, wasn’t it?  Do you ever look weird because you’re so thankful to Jesus?  When your family sits down in a restaurant and the food arrives, do you bow your heads as a family and say a prayer?  Or is that too weird?  When you decorate for Christmas this year and you have hung the lights on the house and all the big inflatable stuff is in the yard, will there be a manger anywhere, or a cross, or the name “Jesus” up in lights?  Too weird?  When everyone else in the group is going along with a very bad idea, will you be the one to let down your hair, and kiss Jesus’ feet, right in front of them all?   Nah?  Too weird? I wonder if after the dinner party at Simon’s this woman had a different reputation.  I wonder if after this she became known as “that one who cried, and dried, and kissed, and perfumed Jesus’ feet”?  So let us gladly bear a new reputation as the people who weep for joy and kiss Jesus’ feet, as people who love much, for we have been forgiven much!

In the end, what will distinguish the tables of Christians and non-Christians at Thanksgiving?  It is just this, that we, like the woman in our text, will find the loving and forgiving Jesus at our table, and in finding Jesus, it becomes Thanksgiving!

Amen.

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