Women in Need?
Sermon link https://youtu.be/Nuqfk8n8W60
Luke 7:11-17, 36-50
This summer we will be taking a closer look at the gospel of Luke, primarily on those passages that we don’t find in any other gospel. From the very beginning of his gospel, he establishes himself as a historian, who has searched out, questioned, and researched the story of Jesus and now is sending that writing to someone named Theophilus. Theophilus could be an actual person’s name, but the name means friend of God, so of course, his intended reader could be a lot broader. Paul’s letter to the Colossians also refers to Luke as a physician. The great part about having four gospels is that we get four people’s reflections on the life of Jesus. With Luke being both a doctor and a historian, it is no surprise then that we find his gospel a lot more concerned with social and physical healing. The beautiful thing that Luke’s gospel often points us towards is that our social physical, social, and even emotional healing often depends first on spiritual healing.
Today, we get two stories of women who are in hard times. A widowed woman who had just lost her one and only son and a sinful woman who kneels at Jesus’ feet to wash them with her tears. At first look, they both seem to be in desperate need and the first thing is that Jesus is there for us when we really need him. So I want to first look at the surface level learning of how Jesus treats us when we are in need.
When we feel like we have lost everything like the widow, Jesus enters in and shows us more. Sometimes what we lost is restored, and in those times we rejoice. In those times we should be utterly amazed and celebrate our Lord in Jesus. We actually do experience these utter reversals of fate, but my own life has shown me that sometimes it is really easy to ignore, forget or move past even the incredible ways God works in our lives. That being said, sometimes God doesn’t completely restore, and sometimes a loss is meant to help us make room for something else. A death might mean we have more time and space for family, friends, community, or a stranger. Some of the greatest servants of God have had no family other than their brothers and sisters in Christ.
When we feel ashamed or when we feel like we are nothing like this sinful woman, Jesus welcomes us in. He makes space for us and doesn’t care about how it looks when we come crying to him. Jesus does hate sin, but he loves us all the more and so the depth of his forgiveness never runs dry. When we recognize how much we have sinned and how much we need him, we might come humbled to his feet, but he lifts us up. Noticed it is the sinful woman that is forgiven and praised, not the pharisee who had the position and critique. The pharisee and we are meant to see Jesus’ immense love and forgiveness, but also that we both need to recognize our own sin so that Jesus can lift us up too. It is also meant to be in thankfulness that we lift up Jesus.
The fact that Jesus fills our loss and welcomes us with forgiveness and love is pretty incredible already. This tells us a lot about Jesus and God. He can raise the dead and forgive our sins. These are both things that should only be possible to one that stands beyond us. Death as the inevitable end of all living things seems inescapable. We might be able to prolong life, we might even be able to stop something that would otherwise cause death, but once our blood has stopped pumping for long enough there is nothing that can bring all of someone back. Sin is something that affects everyone. Even when we only say something wrong, or do a small act. It actually affects more people and the natural world than we recognize. It belittles or even takes away a moment of good God has specifically planted in the world. Anyone saying your sins are forgiven is ignoring the fact that sin is horrendous and affects more than just one person. Normally, I can’t forgive someone for something they did to you, right? Yet, Jesus as God himself, the origin of all good and all gifts given to us can forgive the loss. He can even redeem it, which the widow story shows us. He can even bring in new good and life, where it is impossible otherwise. .This is an even more incredible God in Jesus than we often give him credit for, but that is because we do not recognize how much of a debt we owed and how much Jesus has forgiven us. Our debt/sin is often like an iceberg, we only see a minuscule portion of what is there. The story of the Titanic is only the beginning of how dangerous misjudging it is.
Now I told you that I wanted to go even deeper into these stories. These are two women who at first look seem to be in desperate need, but the truth is that in today’s world they might not be seen that way. The widow, now that she had no male heir and no husband, would have for the first time in her life been able to hold property and wealth. From the crowds, her son’s death gathers it is of practically no doubt that she would have held standing, wealth, honour, property and even some kind of power. Her son’s resurrection would have reversed all of that. In order to see her need, she would have had to look past all of that to what was really important, which yes is her son, but is also the life in Jesus standing before her. We don’t see any of this, but the fact that Jesus’ heart went out to her tells me she wasn’t happy with the power and wealth, she wanted and lacked something more important.
You might be saying, of course, she cared more about her son’s life than all of that other stuff, but I don’t think that is as obvious. Many people, probably most of us act as if our jobs or stuff are more important than family, friends, strangers, or even our own life. Many people escape into these things instead of mourning whether it be a death or something else. Many of us can lose what is most important.
It is a similar reality for the sinful women. We don’t how she was sinful or what her life was like. She probably would have been shunned, at least by the most religious people, but she also probably had at least some money seen from the alabaster jar of perfume. At this moment though she too is willing to face ridicule and loss of wealth, so that she might find life and Jesus.
Now this shows us the other side of that all-so-important life and renewal that we often put to the side. Facing our own shame and communal ridicule for a restored life and community is a scary thing and not easy. It takes courage, it takes humility, it takes a willingness to give up what we have in trust that there is far more. There was no guarantee that this would have meant anything for this sinful woman, but she did it in faith and trust. My guess is that she did go out from there with a different kind of life, with the peace that Jesus offered and a new community in Christ. We don’t see it in the reading, but I have seen it in my life. It takes courage to risk everything for a greater life in Christ, but Jesus continually shows us what this can and will mean for us.
This idea is ultimately grounded in the passages surrounding these. There is the parallel story of the centurion. A powerful Roman army leader sends his servant to ask a no-status Jewish man for help. Even in this uneven social dynamic, the Roman Centurion doesn’t even see himself worthy to see or be in the presence of Jesus. It is this humility and faith that leads to healing.
The last story to look at is John the Baptist and Jesus. In jail, John has begun to doubt, he hears about his cousin Jesus’ work but in his fear he doesn’t know what to believe, so he sends some disciples to inquire if Jesus is the Messiah who will deliver them. Jesus tells him, look at what I am doing. Don’t you see that everything I do is to deliver people? The restoration of sight, sound, touch, mobility, and even hope. This is the work of one anointed by God. Jesus then tells the crowd, “There was no greater man born than John and yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he”.
What Jesus tells us at this moment is what these two courageous women in need live out. Nothing that you have or are can be compared to even the most minuscule reality of what is in the Kingdom of God. This is not because things or people are something they are not now, it is because it is only with Christ that they can truly become good, reflections of God, little Christ, those that can deliver and redeem, those that can humble while they also lift up and are lifted up. It is only when we are willing to forgo our own status, capacity, wealth, and perspective that we can truly put ourselves under the reign of Christ and into God’s Kingdom. When the widow does it, it means to life. When the centurion does it, it means healing. When the sinful woman does it, it means forgiveness and so much more. When we humbly put aside and put ourselves under the kingship of Christ, what could it mean for us?
