(Preached on Sunday, June 13, 2010)
“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.” -Luke 7:47-48
Do you see her? More importantly, what do you see, when you look at her? How do you see her? The author of Luke’s Gospel directs the focus of this story directly upon the woman. No doubt about it. We know this because the writer introduces her with the two Greek words kai idou, which are best translated, “Behold.” Now we’re all looking at her, but not everyone sees her in the same way. After “behold,” there are two very different reactions to her bathing Jesus’ feet in her tears and anointing them with expensive ointment.
Simon the Pharisee beholds this woman and sees her one way: “She is a sinner.” Simon sees a sinful woman. The fact that her hair is hanging down loosely is probably a dead giveaway to Simon. Prostitutes wore their hair this way. This woman is also foolish and inappropriate according to the standards of the day. She comes into Simon’s home uninvited. She dares to touch Jesus and even kisses his feet. This is completely unacceptable according to the social and religious practices of the day – a sinful woman should not touch a holy man.
Jesus beholds this woman differently. Jesus points out how Simon extended no hospitality to him as he entered the house, but the woman “has bathed my feet with her tears.” Simon did not welcome Jesus with a brotherly kiss, but “from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.” Simon shows little respect and honor for Jesus, but “[the woman] has anointed my feet with ointment.” Now, to be clear, Jesus is not asking Simon for special treatment. The hospitality of water to wash dusty, dirty feet and perfumed ointment for the head or feet would have been standard in the home of a Pharisee in those days. Simon has failed to extend basic courtesies to Jesus. The woman has been extravagant in showing her respect and gratitude.
Simon and Jesus see the same woman in very different ways. Simon’s perspective is judgmental. Jesus refuses Simon’s superficial judgments and instead sees her as a beloved child of God, imperfect perhaps, but nevertheless of great value and worth. Jesus looks at her with gentle eyes. Everyone else in the room is either leering at her with lust or sneering at her with contempt. Not Jesus. He sees her as a forgiven child of God. Jesus says three things to her: “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” She is forgiven, not because he is offering her a special dispensation. No, she is forgiven because Jesus understands that we are all forgiven children of God. That is the radical message of grace. God’s grace, forgiveness, love and freedom are there for each and every one of us. That is what Jesus sees when he looks at this woman. What do you and I behold when we consider her?
The key to this whole story and the most important sentence in this passage is the simple question, “Simon, do you see this woman?” Simon, can you look past your pre-conceptions, you assumptions, your cherished beliefs, your social status, your religious prejudices…and see a child of God? Simon, can you accept the lesson she is teaching you at this very moment? Simon, can you turn off that harsh voice playing in your head, and open your heart to the tenderness of this moment? Simon, can you let grace change your life?
Often the “respectable” people try to avoid looking at those we consider “less respectable” than we are. It’s easy to ignore those we think are beneath us, who are not like us. It is hard for us to look at those who disagree with us politically or religiously, and consider them as anything other than our “enemy.” The question to us is can we look past our preconceptions, our assumptions, and our cherished beliefs, and see a child of God? Can we let grace change our lives, too?
The key is to look with gentle eyes, as Jesus did, as God does. The scripture tells us over and over again: “God does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” The Lord looks on the heart. That is looking with gentle eyes. Simon’s tunnel vision caused him to miss the heart of the teaching of his own religious tradition – justice for the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed – because he was looking straight ahead, at the Law, at respectability, at his own moral purity, and he failed to “see this woman,” to look on her heart. Jesus offered to heal Simon’s blindness by opening his eyes to his own failings in hospitality and by hold up the woman as an example of extravagant hospitality, gratitude, and love.
That is how we can develop the ability to look with gentle eyes. By first looking at our own lives with gentle eyes, the eyes of forgiveness for our own shortcomings and eyes which focus on God’s love for us. When we are able to do this we begin to understand ourselves truly for who we are – in the words of hymn writer Brian Wren: “forgiven, loved and free.” This is the place of healthy humility where we are able to look at ourselves with gentle eyes and see who we really are: neither failures nor perfect, but God’s beloved children, loved and accepted by God just as we are. When we embrace the truth about ourselves, when we are practicing looking through gentle eyes, we will be able to let go of the embracing of negative stereotypes. We will stop seeing labels – black, white, rich, poor, gay, straight, male, female, citizen, immigrant – and we will start seeing people, simple, ordinary people who are children of God. And knowing ourselves forgiven we will know each other as forgiven, and we will begin to let go of fear, hostility, and pride.
One of the groups of people we are currently having great difficulty seeing with gentle eyes today is immigrants. Arizona has passed a law authorizing local police to apprehend people suspected of having entered the country illegally. The law clearly states that its intent is to chase people out of the state of Arizona, to make sure that they are not comfortable there, that they are not welcome. But this is not just an attitude in Arizona. Recent polls indicate that 60% of the people in the U.S. agree with the Arizona law. The law has not even gone into effect yet, not until August, but it is already having an impact. Churches in Arizona are seeing dramatic decreases in worship attendance, as they hear of parishioners who are afraid to leave their homes. They are also hearing of many members leaving and moving to Nevada, or Utah, or other neighboring states. But perhaps the strongest effect of the law will be a polarizing of congregations. One pastor expressed this concern: “As a pastor, how do you keep the people of God focused on being the people of God? How do you keep people who feel differently and passionately together in the same sanctuary?”
Increasingly there has been a movement to demonize immigrants so that it has become increasingly difficult for us to see them with gentle eyes. We have forgotten that the border between the United States and Mexico has never been firmly fixed. Many families have members living on both sides and shoppers cross back and forth. Every day thousands of people pass over it, some with documents and some without. In the past two decades, millions of immigrants have come to the U.S. without obtaining legal status. They are spurred on by the collapse in Mexican agriculture, shifts in labor and trade caused by the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the desire of separated families to be reunited.
We forget that the number of people coming into the country has less to do with border restrictions than it does with the job market in the U.S., and restricting border entry has ironic consequences. For example, when the border was more open, Mexicans and Central Americans tended to move freely back and forth between the U.S. and their home countries. When border restrictions intensify, immigrants stay in the U.S. for fear that if they leave, they may not be able to get back in.
We also forget that immigration is not a problem to be solved; it is a fact of life. For millennia, human beings have been migrating in search of a better life. Ask yourself: “If you had to support your family on $3 a day or less, but had the opportunity to cross a border illegally to raise your living standard, would you migrate?”
We need to look at the people involved in the immigration crisis in our nation with gentle eyes. After all, God who welcomes us as strangers sees us with gentle eyes. God calls us to welcome the aliens and strangers in our midst by viewing them with gentle eyes, too. And the commands Jesus gave us include the command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This faith perspective doesn’t neatly translate into public policy. But it does call us to listen and respond to the stories of the men, women, and children who are now caught in the throes of American immigration politics and policies. It does call us to look at them, and at those in the debate with whom we disagree, with gentle eyes. As we look through gentle eyes then there is greater chance the debate will be transformed, and we will no longer be discussing demonized people, but beloved children of God, each with worth and value and deserving of respect, kindness and compassion.