Today's sermon - based on the Lectionary readings for Proper 6

“If this man were a prophet he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him – she is a sinner”
Saint Luke has the amazing skill of being able to convey an enormous amount of information about someone in a very few words. In today’s reading we meet three main characters. Simon in whose house the story takes place, Jesus, the invited guest and an un-named woman, the uninvited guest.
Simon was a Pharisee. A member of an elite group of religious leaders who saw it as their duty to make the Law of Moses relevant to the people of the day. They realised, just as we do today, that Laws written several hundred years previously needed explaining to the current generation. The problem was that their solution to this situation was to put in place even more rules and regulations to protect the Law of Moses and to ensure that the every day man (or woman) in the street could not actually get near enough to any of the old Law to be in any danger of disobeying them by accident.
Although this made them unpopular with many in society and left them open to accusations of hypocrisy, it also meant that some of them were open to new ideas. This probably explains why Simon had invited Jesus to eat with him in the first place. The majority of Pharisees would have refused to have anything to do with Jesus, but there were some who would have at least been prepared to give Him a fair hearing. There may also have been an element wanting to be in the limelight as Jesus was considered a celebrity. In any event Simon proves himself to be a somewhat inattentive host. He does not offer Jesus the opportunity to wash His feet when he arrives and does not greet Jesus with a kiss – considered a normal greeting among men at the time.
In Jesus’ day there was not the same sense of privacy as we have to day. Most people would have left their doors open during daylight hours and it was considered perfectly acceptable for uninvited friends, beggars or even just the plain nosy to wander into a house at mealtimes. The seating arrangements would have consisted mainly of couches on which people reclined to eat so it was not difficult for the un-named woman – who most likely was or had been a prostitute - to come and stand by Jesus’ feet.
She had brought with her a jar of expensive perfume. Matthew, Mark and John’s version of this encounter put the price at 300 denarius (the equivalent of about £4000 today and most likely her entire life’s savings) with which she presumably intended to anoint Jesus but emotion got the better of her and she began to cry.
It was at this point that her actions overstepped the bounds of social propriety as she firstly let down her hair and then proceeded to touch Jesus in what was considered to be a very intimate way. By now, no doubt, the eyes of all the room were focussed on what was happening. Some in amazement, some in mild curiosity and some, like Simon, in absolute horror.

“If this man were a prophet he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him – she is a sinner”

Everything Simon thought he knew about Jesus has just be proved completely wrong – or at least he thinks it has. Here is this man, someone His followers are claiming is the Son of God, the new Messiah and He is allowing himself to be touched by a woman and a sinner in an entirely inappropriate way.
What he does not understand, what he cannot understand is that Jesus knows exactly who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him but that it doesn’t matter!
Simon was unable to see past the outward appearance of the woman and her actions, whilst Jesus was the complete opposite. Once again He turned the accepted norms of society upside down and provoked far more questions than He appeared to answer.
Jesus knew that the woman’s actions were born out of her enormous gratitude that her sins, which were many, had been forgiven. She no longer felt like an outcast in society. She recognised that, although in her own eyes and the eyes of those around her she did not deserve to be forgiven, she had been. Consequently she was able to walk into the house of a greatly respected Pharisee with her head held high and offer her thanks to Jesus.
Jesus then confuses Simon even further by knowing what he is thinking and, just like Nathan speaking to David, using a parable to illustrate His teaching.
Jesus’ next comment is one which has caused a certain amount of confusion. Unlike when David has displeased God and needs to pay a price for his sin, the woman has no price to pay. She is not being forgiven because of her actions – her actions are an outpouring of her gratitude because she has been forgiven.
Jesus’ comment “Your sins are forgiven” was an observation not an absolution.

When David arranged Uriah’s death so that Bathsheba would be free to marry him once her thirty days of mourning were over, not only had he turned his back on God, but he had broken at least three of the ten commandments as well.
When Nathan was sent by God to speak to David and show him the error of his ways, David was quick to grasp the unfairness of the story but, as is so often the way with us all, he needed to have it pointed out to him that he was the baddie in the piece.
Once he had accepted responsibility for his sin – which is the first step towards obtaining forgiveness – David was able to ask for God’s forgiveness secure in the knowledge that he would receive it once a sacrifice had been made. Under the Old Covenant with Moses and his descendents a price had to be paid by the sinner. David had to watch his son, the result of his adultery with Bathsheba, suffer and die in order to redeem himself.
We are in a slightly better position than David was. We are part of Jesus’ New Covenant. There is no need for us to arrive at church on a Sunday morning leading a goat, nor do we have to start splashing blood around the altar or burning handfuls of grain.
Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice of Himself on the cross has paid the price for our sin from the moment of His death until the end of time.
However we should be warned. Jesus’ sacrifice is not a gilt edged “get out of jail free” card.
True, forgiveness is ours for the asking.
True, we will be forgiven as often as we need it.
True, every time we are forgiven, our slate is wiped clean and our relationship with God is restored.
But, and there is always a but, we must not, we cannot continue in our old ways with the attitude “well, God will forgive me anyway so I don’t really need to try”. That is not how the covenant works.
I’d like to end with a quote from Joyce Meyer, who is an American evangelist I was introduced to by my daughter
“The grace which we, as Christians, have received through the spilling of Jesus’ blood and the gift of the Holy Spirit is not an excuse to sin, it is the power not to have to.”