Columns and Common Sense
3rd Sunday after Pentecost (6-17-07)
Rev. Steven D. Spencer
Luke 7:36-8:3
36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee's house, and reclined at the table. 37 And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume. 39 Now 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 person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner." 40 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." 41 "A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 "When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?" 43 Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." 44 And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. 45 "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." 48 And He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." 49 And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" 50 And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 8:1 And it came about soon afterwards, that He began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
It is said that Abraham Lincoln made life’s tough decisions by taking a piece of paper, putting a line down the middle, and writing out pro on one side and the con on the other. Then after listing all the pros and cons he would tallying up each side. That would tell him what decision to make. He did it so often that this list is sometimes referred to as a Lincoln list.
While living in the Midwest I saw a new take on this 2 column list. We had a large landscaping project that required 200 yards of top soil. One of the members of our congregation owned a road construction company worth millions. But he also sold and delivered top soil. While in his office purchasing the soil, the secretary hand wrote the receipt. Now that shouldn’t be surprising, after all it was quite a few years ago and many people didn’t have computers. But sitting not even 5 feet away was a fairly new computer.
A moment later the owner greeted me from his office and I had to tease him a little bit about the receipt and how the computer must not be working. He chuckled and said, “It works just fine the ladies in the office play solitaire on it every afternoon”. But his office didn’t run on it. He showed me two tablets. These tablets, had two columns and line of boxes to check with initials, C.S. above them. On the top of one of the tablets was, Income and Expenses and C.S. On the second tablet were Assets and Liabilities and C.S. He explained to me how his whole operation was run from these simple columns. After each transaction he always asked himself, was this done with common sense? C.S. common sense!
Our text today talks about Columns and Common sense. Let me read again a portion of our text Luke 7:41-42. “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
The answer is obvious, so obvious that even Simon the Pharisee can get this one right: "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." But even though he gives the right answer, Simon still is far from agreeing with Jesus. It appears he misses the point completely. We might miss this too because in our society we don’t use a debtor’s prison. It doesn’t matter how large or small the debt, the punishment is the same, bondage, public humiliation and banishment from friends, family and society. Maybe, for our benefit, we should modify the parable just a little bit, (just for our sake):
There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Actually, both owed five hundred denarii, but one assumed that he had made up for most of it with his good will towards others, his civic duty and high moral character, although he never really ran this by the creditor. When they had nothing with which to repay, the creditor freely forgave them both. Tell me, which of them will love him more?
The answer again is obvious, though a bit more refined: Who will love him more? The one who realizes just how great the debt is that was forgiven. The other, would figure that he's made up for most of it, and will discount the forgiveness and easily take it for granted.
There is no doubt in our Gospel lesson that the Pharisees knows who Jesus is. Already, He has healed the centurion's sick servant without ever going near him; then He raises a dead man back to life. After that, He performs all sorts of other miracles, comforts the disciples of John the Baptist, and preaches an edifying sermon to the crowd. He is certainly the Savior, and even gets the attention of Simon the Pharisee, who invites Him to be guest of honor at a meal.
There, the Savior encounters two sinners of our text.
There is, on the one hand, Simon the Pharisee. He realizes that he's sinful yet believes that he makes up for this sin by the good and pious deeds in his life. He is careful to keep the rules, be an icon of society; in fact, he rejoices that he's not nearly as sinful as those "other people" all around him. In other words, with the rest of the Pharisees, Simon figures he's made up for his sin. By his efforts and good works, he’s balanced out most of his failings. His columns of sin and pious works are about equal. Therefore, it's safe to have Jesus over for dinner, reclining as the guest of honor. Eat with Him, hear what He has to say, conversation among equals, this attitude is shown in fact when the Pharisee doesn’t wash His feet. That would be a sign of Simon being a subordinate or good host.
On the other hand, there's the sinful woman. She's a public sinner, it’s known by both God and man that she has broken His commandments, and now she’s publicly shunned by all. She lives a life of shame; perhaps that shame is actually a blessing. After all, she’s daily and remorselessly reminded that she is a sinner, that her debt before God is huge and unpayable. With dishonor like that, there's no chance that she's going to believe she's right with God. Her columns are far from equal. She sees her column of sin filled and pious works empty, meaningless.
Her actions speak of her knowledge of this. Far from treating Jesus as an equal, she washes His feet with her tears and dries them with her hair. Rather than presume to be an equal, she kisses His feet in worship. Rather than offer no special reverence, she anoints His feet with fragrant oil. Obviously, she has heard His Word, and she knows of His miracles and salvation. Aware of her debt, she understands the payment He is going to make as He journeys to the cross to die for the sins of the world.
So there you have it. Simon, believing he has made up for his debt, has little use for a Savior. The woman, understanding the depths of the debt, falls at Jesus feet in worship.
To Simon, Jesus has words of warning. Yet, Simon believes he’s balanced the books, the column of works has more entries than the column of sin therefore making up for the debt of sin, and he sees no need for forgiveness and has little love for the Savior.
To the woman, the Savior speaks the sweetest words: "Your sins are forgiven." Her debt is paid. Jesus Himself credits her with His righteousness and holiness, even as He takes her sin upon Himself bearing it all the way to the cross. The sinful woman is sinful no more, because Jesus announces that her debt is paid in full.
"Your sins are forgiven," Jesus declares, and the woman is given life and salvation-what joy! No such joy for Simon and the other Pharisees, who spout, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" Because they don’t realize the debt, forgiveness doesn't matter. "They might as well be saying, “We want a Savior, and all this guy is good for is the forgiveness of sins." To them it doesn’t make sense, not even common sense.
This text takes us back to some basics that we cannot afford to forget. All have the overwhelming debt of sin, whether they realize it or not. Blinded by sin, man doesn’t realize the vastness of that debt. Therefore, God gives us His Law.
God gives His Law, first and foremost, to show us how extensive our sin really is. This isn’t a pleasant exercise, but a necessary one, for if we don’t realize our sin, we don’t take forgiveness seriously. A doctor doesn’t discount disease, saying, "You have a dire illness, but it's just your health and there's medicine if you want it." No, he makes clear the dangers of the illness so that the patient understands the need for the treatment. Likewise, God declares His Holy Law in all severity lest we discount the debt and fail to see our need for forgiveness. This is the purpose of God's Law, to show to us the debt and the depth of our sin.
By nature man discounts the debt. The sinner naturally believes that sin isn't all that bad, and that he has made up for his sin by the good works that he does. Along with that, the world is quick to assure us that God really doesn't hold sin against us-He really isn't concerned about that debt at all, so why worry?
This one of the greatest tricks of the devil: If we discount the debt, we fail to appreciate the enormity of Christ's sacrifice on the cross and see little need for forgiveness. If we see little need for forgiveness, then what use is this talk about grace and the means of grace - about the Sacraments and the forgiveness of sins?
But you and I are debtors, and it’s a debt we cannot repay. From the time of Adam and Eve, we have been sold into sin and cannot redeem ourselves. The devil is happy enough to extend to us an endless line of credit, although he fails to mention that he doesn't own the bank. Judgment Day is coming, when the Lord will call upon us to settle accounts. The payment for the wages of sin is death. Apart from Christ, we are in grave trouble indeed.
But Christ the Savior has come to redeem you-to buy you back and set you free from sin and death. The wages of sin is death, so Christ pays the debt to His Father by dying on the cross (T) in your place; and clears the column of sins on your account, and credits you with His righteousness. Is this Common Sense, no! But it’s God’s way!
Your debt is paid in full, and this is the Good News that the Lord gives us to proclaim, over and over again, until He comes in glory-for this Gospel is the power of salvation to all who believe.
You are delivered, and your debt is paid in full; and all your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen