Her Sins Which Are Many Have Been Forgiven

In one paragraph

This sermon followed a story from Luke 7 in which a sinful woman anoints Jesus' feet at the home of Simon the Pharisee. The pastor used it to look honestly at the difference between people who know how much they have been forgiven and people who have grown so familiar with Jesus that they have stopped feeling the weight of that forgiveness at all. The service also included a responsorial litany of...

Read together

1. John 14:27 quoted at the opening to lead the congregation into worship
2. 2 Timothy 2:13 read between worship songs: 'if we are faithless, he remains faithful, he cannot disown himself'
3. Colossians 2:6-7 read during the offering as a call to be rooted in Christ and overflow with thankfulness
4. Luke 7:36 Pharisee invites Jesus to eat; Jesus reclines at the table
5. Luke 7:37-38 sinful woman brings alabaster vial of perfume and wets Jesus' feet with her tears
6. Luke 7:39 Simon the Pharisee says to himself that if Jesus were a prophet he would know what kind of woman is touching him
7. Luke 7:40-43 Jesus tells the parable of the two debtors, one owing 500 denarii and the other 50, and asks Simon which would love more
8. Luke 7:44-46 Jesus contrasts Simon's lack of water, kiss and oil with the woman's tears, kisses and perfume
9. Luke 7:47 Jesus declares her many sins forgiven because she loved much; the one forgiven little loves little
10. Luke 7:48 Jesus tells the woman her sins have been forgiven
11. Luke 7:49 those reclining at the table ask who this man is who even forgives sins
12. Luke 7:50 Jesus tells the woman her faith has saved her and to go in peace
13. Luke 8:1-3 Jesus travels city to city with the twelve and women including Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna who supported him out of their private means
14. Luke 5 referenced as parallel to the forgiveness declaration, the paralytic lowered through the roof whose sins Jesus forgave and whom he told to arise and walk
15. Luke 10:13-15 referenced as last week's sermon: woe to Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum for not repenting despite miracles
16. Luke 11:34 referenced in passing as the turning toward the man passage in Luke 5 parallel
17. Psalm 51 announced as a passage to be read aloud in responsorial form during the service
18. Psalm 133 alluded to when describing the oil running down Aaron's beard as an image of anointing and unity
19. 1 John 1:9 paraphrased during communion prayer: if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness
20. James 4:6 quoted as 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble', noted as appearing in James and Peter
21. 1 Peter 5:5 quoted in full as the benediction about clothing yourselves with humility because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble
22. Matthew 11:28-30 referenced as the close of last week's sermon: 'come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest'
23. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 paraphrased during communion: on the night Jesus was betrayed he took bread and the cup and said do this in remembrance of me, proclaiming his death until he comes

Talk about it

1. The pastor described Simon the Pharisee as someone who invited Jesus in but did not offer him water for his feet, a greeting kiss, or oil for his head. What do you think that kind of familiarity with Jesus, without real warmth toward him, looks like in our own lives today?
2. Jesus told Simon that the one forgiven a greater debt loves more. The pastor connected this to people who grew up in church and wondered what sins they were even confessing when they first accepted Christ. Do you think it is possible to lose a felt sense of how much you have been forgiven, and what tends to cause that?
3. The pastor mentioned the guitar player from Korn who was completely overwhelmed when he came to faith, and contrasted that with church people who feel they have not done much wrong. Where do you see yourself on that spectrum, and what do you think puts us there?
4. The litany of penitence included lines about anger at our own frustration, envy of those more fortunate, and negligence in prayer. Which of those landed hardest for you personally, and why?
5. The pastor closed by pointing out that Jesus was funded by a group of women traveling with him, and reflected on the humility that kind of dependence requires. What does it look like, practically, to hold our resources and our self-sufficiency loosely before God?