THE EXTRAVAGANCE OF FORGIVENESS Luke 7:36-8:3 Sermon ...

THE EXTRAVAGANCE OF FORGIVENESS
Luke 7:36-8:3
Sermon Series: “At the Intersection of Compassion and Challenge”
David W. Hull
Pastor, First Baptist Church
Huntsville, Alabama
April 18, 2010
What do you hear in this story of a dinner party with Jesus? Now, I am not talking
about the words that you read. Do you hear any other sounds? I do. Let me see if you can
hear them with me. Imagine two sounds. Go back in your memory to times when you
may have heard them. What emotions do they bring to mind?
The first sound is of a foghorn. Can you hear one in your mind? Listen . . . The
other sound is very different. It may come from the faraway places in your memory. It is
the sound of an ice cream truck. Can you hear that music playing which draws you to the
truck for ice cream? Listen . . .
[NOTE: For a different kind of experience, you can actually easily get these
sounds in audio files with an Internet search and play them for people to hear as the
sermon begins. Go to www.soundsnap.com for some examples.]
Now I want you to listen for these sounds in this story of a dinner party with
Jesus. What in the world do these sounds have to do with an encounter with Jesus many
years ago? More importantly, what do these sounds have to do with your life today?
THE SOUND OF WARNING
Imagine the sound of a foghorn. This is a sound that announces danger. It sounds
the alarm and warns people of trouble. I hear the sound of a foghorn in this story. It
comes from Simon the Pharisee – who was the host at a dinner party. Jesus was a guest at
his home and was reclining at his table when this woman approaches him. She begins to
weep, bathes his feet in her tears, wipes them off with her hair, and anoints him with fine
ointment from an alabaster jar. Jesus makes no move to stop her.
That is when the foghorn sounds. Simon is appalled by what he sees. He mutters
some words “to himself” but in a way that everyone can hear. These words are his
warning – the sounding of his foghorn. “If this man were a prophet, he would have

known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him – that she is a sinner.”
(v. 39, NRSV) According to Simon, everything about what was happening was wrong.
The woman was crashing the party. Nobody had invited her. In fact, she never would
have been on his invitation list to any party. She was a sinner – very likely a prostitute
from the streets of the city. She came with a public display of very intimate affection.
This was totally unacceptable in the home of one who worked hard to keep the laws of
his faith. Because she was such a sinner, her actions of touching defiled Jesus, the
honored guest in the home. Simon was upset, and the foghorn of danger sounded when
this woman washed the feet of Jesus.
Now, let’s be clear. There is nothing wrong with a foghorn. In fact, we need them
to sound out danger. But is this the best sound to represent something that we call “Good
News?” Is it the best sound to be predominant in our Christian faith?
Some think so. The Pharisees like Simon were not the only ones who majored on
sounding out the danger signals. There are always people who are eager to point out the
sins in others and warn us to stay away. There have always been people of faith who
passed judgment on the shortcomings and failures of those who did not measure up.
I agree with author Eugene Peterson who said, “Muckraking is not gospel work.
Witch-hunting is not gospel work. Shaming the outcast is not gospel work. Forgiving sin
is gospel work.” (Eugene Peterson, Tell It Slant, Eerdmans, 2008, p. 186) Jesus was
trying to say the same thing to Simon.
story.
I want to sound like Jesus, not like Simon. So listen now for another sound in the
THE SOUND OF WELCOME
I remember a welcome sound from my childhood days. It would ring through the
neighborhood and would stir excitement and delight in the hearts of children. Do you
remember the sound? It was the music of the ice cream truck. Rather than a sound of
warning that made people stay away (like the foghorn) the sound of the ice cream truck
was welcoming and inviting. We would run to it – rather than away from that sound.
Jesus sounded like that, didn’t he? The sound of his life was one that drew people
to him. Jesus knew all of the commandments. He certainly knew the dangers of sin. He
did not approve of the lifestyle of the woman who interrupted his dinner. But more than
all of that, he knew of her needs. She was like you and me. She needed to be accepted.
She needed someone who would welcome her rather than using her or judging her. She
was on the outside looking in and Jesus did not reject her. The song of his life welcomed
her.
Have you ever been on the outside looking in? Remember back to teams that were
being picked for a ball game on the playground . . . and you were not chosen. Think back

to a promotion that was given . . . but not to you. Then there was that party that everyone
was going to . . . except for you. You may know what it feels like to be on the outside
looking in. That is how this woman felt. Jesus included her on the team, promoted her to
a new way of life, and invited her to the party!
But what about her sin we might ask? Should he be hanging around with a woman
like this? There could be danger in this display of affection that she displayed. All of that
was true. What was also true was that her sinfulness allowed her to fully experience
forgiveness. Jesus told a story to Simon about this. Two men owed money that neither
could pay. Both men had their debts cancelled. Which one appreciated that more? Was it
the one who owed 500 denarii or the one who owed 50? Even Simon got this answer
right. The man who was forgiven the greater amount had the greater capacity to love.
Maybe that is why Jesus loved to spend time with sinners. The self-righteous
religious folks did not really think that they had sinned. Who needs to be forgiven if you
have not sinned? They never were able to fully respond to the grace of Jesus because they
never knew their own need for forgiveness. The sinners, on the other hand, knew all too
well the weaknesses of their own lives. When they heard the music of acceptance and
when they danced to the music of “Amazing Grace” their love abounded with an
extravagant response just like this woman did.
This message series is called “At the Intersection of Compassion and Challenge.”
The music of Jesus is the music of compassion. He had every right to refuse for this
woman to touch him. He had justification to judge her for her past and to warn her about
her present and future. But he did not. He showed compassion. He welcomed her into the
dinner party.
There is our challenge. Are we like Simon or Jesus? Is the music and message of
our lives more like a foghorn warning people to stay away or an ice cream truck, inviting
people to come?
As important as that question is, it is not even the most important question in this
story. For you see, the greatest message of the story is not about how two men received a
woman who crashed the party. The story is really about how two sinners, one man and
one woman, responded to Jesus.
THE SOUND OF WONDER
Jesus helps Simon to understand the dynamics of what was really happening.
Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I
entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet
with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the
time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head
with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her

sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But
the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are
forgiven.” (NRSV)
The story is not so much about a man who did not accept a sinful woman, but
about how this woman accepted Jesus when the man did not even offer the usual customs
of a good host. Guests who had walked with sandal feet to a dinner party were given
water to wash off their feet. Jesus himself did this when he hosted a dinner party on the
night before he died. We may offer a handshake or a hug as a means of greeting our
guests. The custom in that day was a kiss. Oil for the head provided a refreshing gift after
a hot journey. None of these customary offerings were provided by Simon. But the
woman came and gave them to Jesus in an extravagant manner.
There is another sound that we hear. This time the sound is not something like a
foghorn or an ice cream truck that I pulled from my imagination. The sound comes from
the text. It is the sound of a woman weeping. She approaches Jesus in amazement and
wonder. The depths of her sin were great, but she also was forgiven much. This means
that the height of her worship was towering over the man who thought that he did
everything right.
Randy Frazee, is the pastor of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. He shared
this story in a sermon several years ago:
I remember seeing a picture of a husband and wife in a gentleman's office. I said,
"Nice picture." I turned around and looked at the man, and he had tears in his
eyes. So I asked him, "Why are you crying?"
He said, "There was a time in our marriage when I was unfaithful to my wife, and
she found out about it. She was so deeply hurt and injured she was going to leave
me and take the kids with her. I was overwhelmed at the mistake I had made, and
I shut the affair down. I went to my wife in total brokenness. Knowing I did not
deserve for her to answer in the affirmative, I asked her to forgive me. And she
forgave me.
"This picture was taken shortly after that. When I see this picture, I see a woman
who forgave me. I see a woman who was willing to stand with me in this picture.
So when you see this picture you say, 'Nice picture.' But when I see this picture I
see my life given back to me again."
(Randy Frazee, then Pastor of Pantego Bible Church in Arlington, TX in a sermon
preached 6/24/01 entitled “Uncommon Confessions.”)
You see, the real challenge of the story is what we do with Jesus. Do we welcome
him into our lives? Will we shed holy tears of wonder and worship the Living Lord who
takes our sins away? Can we realize that compassion is not only for us to give to others,

ut it is for us to receive from the grace of God? Will we accept the extravagant
forgiveness that Jesus wants to offer to all of us and then follow in faith and love?
If we can welcome Jesus like this woman of long ago, then we can hear the
greatest sound in the story when Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”