Lessons From A Sinful Woman

September 20, 2018

Have you ever come before Jesus in tears? Have you ever been broken? Have you ever let your hair down and gotten real with the Lord? Have you ever physically reached out to God, just needing to feel him in your life? 

Today we learn our lesson from a “sinful woman”. I wish I knew her name because the label of “sinful woman” just doesn’t seem fair to be known as, oh, you know for all eternity! Jesus was dining at the Pharisee named Simon’s house and a woman that everyone in the village knew had been a sinner (one can only imagine the nature of the sins that she was known for…) felt compelled to encounter the man she had heard so much about. It makes me wonder if she was friends with other “sinful women” that told her stories about his compassionate way, his merciful heart, and his tenderness. Was she there the day they tried to stone the woman caught in adultery? Was she next-door neighbors with Mary Magdalene? Whatever it was, moved her so much that she was willing to risk it all by showing up uninvited to a dinner party, and then exposing herself in such a way that could and would be interpreted as scandalous. Raise your hand if you have ever felt so strongly about something that it caused you to recklessly abandon protocol. 

Our first lesson from the “sinful woman” is that she showed up. Sometimes all I can do is show up in my prayer and there are no words or fancy things for me to say, and all I can do is be (“still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10). She was brave enough to show up even though the host and dinner guests did not welcome her. Sometimes Jesus is surrounded by unwelcoming and off-putting people, but he wants us to ignore them and focus on him. Upon showing up, she stood behind him and cried at his feet. This woman was in need of healing and forgiveness and tears are God’s precious way to help us fall down the cheeks of mercy, paving the path to wholeness with the very things that hold us back. Her tears flowed as a sign of surrender. 

The “sinful woman’s” next lesson for us is to break ourselves open at the foot of the cross. An alabaster jar filled with perfumed oil would have been an extremely expensive and precious gift and we have to go all in in order to get all out. We need to be willing to give our best and most precious selves in service to Jesus and often times that requires us to be broken so that we can be poured out. Perfumed oil is used to soften the dryness, wash away the dirt, and to freshen the stench in our lives. We all need soft, clean, and fresh hearts in order to surrender ourselves to God. 

Once we show up, surrender ourselves, break open our hearts and allow them to soften, then it’s time to let our hair down and be real with God. God already knows us and has counted every hair on our head, so we might as well let it all down, shake out the stiffness, and in that vulnerability, Jesus will meet us where we are at. When we are real before the Lord, we can use that to get rid of or dry off any excess worries from our lives. 

Showing up and surrendering, open hearted, and completely real at the feet of Jesus will lead us into an intimate and personal relationship with him where feet washing are a beautiful and mutual exchange between us and our Savior. Jesus uses this intimate and scandalous encounter to teach the judgmental Pharisees about mercy and forgiveness, and the “sinful woman” with no name is used as a model of grace for all of us to learn from. I recently figured out what the sinful woman’s name is: it’s my name, Jen, and because of God's undeserved mercy toward me, I want to show up, surrender, break myself open, get real, serve Jesus in whatever way He calls me, and it is well with my soul. 

Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, and Paul Chong Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs
Lectionary: 446

Reading 1 1 COR 15:1-11

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the Apostles,
not fit to be called an Apostle,
because I persecuted the Church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed. 

Responsorial Psalm PS 118:1B-2, 16AB-17, 28

R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
"His mercy endures forever."
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
"The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD has struck with power."
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
You are my God, and I give thanks to you;
O my God, I extol you.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Alleluia MT 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 7:36-50

A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,
and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.
Now there was a sinful woman in the city
who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
she stood behind him at his feet weeping
and began to bathe his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair,
kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,
"If this man were a prophet,
he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,
that she is a sinner."
Jesus said to him in reply,
"Simon, I have something to say to you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
"Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days' wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?"
Simon said in reply,
"The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven."
He said to him, "You have judged rightly."
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,
"Do you see this woman?
When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,
but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
You did not give me a kiss,
but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.
You did not anoint my head with oil,
but she anointed my feet with ointment.
So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;
hence, she has shown great love.
But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."
He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
The others at table said to themselves,
"Who is this who even forgives sins?"
But he said to the woman,
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace."