Scripture: Romans 5:6; 11 Luke 7:36-50

The district superintendent told me it would probably be one of the most unique appointments I would receive.  The question was what did he mean by “unique.”  Was it because attendance at all church functions including worship, Sunday school and special events averaged almost 100 percent?  Or maybe he was referring to the fact that even the three and four year old children knew key passages of Scripture.  Then again, he could have been referring to the fact that the Bibles given to third graders had to be replaced by the time the recipients graduated from high school.  This wasn’t because the original Bibles had been lost.  It was, instead, because they  were worn out from being used! 

But maybe he thought the congregation was unique because of the pianist.  After all, she thought all sharps, flats, and time signatures were friendly suggestions that could easily be ignored!  That was why she tended to use only the white keys.  It was also why every hymn we sang sounded strangely the same!  And if I happened to choose a hymn she didn’t know, she would fold her arms and announce:  I don’t play them new songs!  The first time that happened, she was referring to a Charles Wesley hymn.  I didn’t exactly think of him as a contemporary composer! 

But then, it all finally became to make sense.  As a matter of fact, my first Sunday there I was standing at the back door of the sanctuary greeting people as they left the service.  A matriarch of the congregation walked up to me and said:  What are you?  Now I didn’t think she was inquiring about my gender.  That was obvious.  And I was almost certain she knew I was the new pastor because, after all, I had been the one standing in the pulpit.  Then again, she had said what are you, not who are.

As I was trying to figure out how to answer, she said:  Are you one of them Methodists?  I knew by the way she said the right answer was not “Yes.”  So, I thought for a moment before replying:  No. I’m a United Methodist.  That was obviously the wrong answer, too.

The following week there was a Board meeting.  And, as was their custom, it began with the same matriarch giving the devotions. She always gave the devotions.  This particular week they were on Saint Paul.  It was not the person, mind you.  It was the school – Saint Paul School of Theology.  She didn’t like it.  As a matter of fact, she ended by declaring that nothing good had ever come out of that seminary.  Wanting to clarify some of the misconceptions she had presented, I responded:  I graduated from there and . . . Before I could finish the sentence, however, she said:  My point exactly.

Not long after that, she called the D.S. and reported that I was simply not the right pastor for that congregation.  The church would never grow under my leadership.  Go figure!

Now, was she simply a cruel person who was intent on destroying those she disagreed with?  No.  No, she wasn’t.  In all honesty, she honestly thought she was trying to save me.  The problem, of course, was it wasn’t her job.  It is never our job to try to save anyone.  It is God’sand God’s alone.  The moment we try to assume the role, we begin to judge and to throw stones. 

Christians, let’s face it, the Pharisees are alive and well in our churches today.  Look around.  Listen to what is being said and examine what is being done.  The very Scriptures that command us to love one another are being used as a club to beat people up and as a rule book to keep others out!  Far too much of our time is spent in arguing over who is right and who is wrong, who is in and who is out, who is saved and who is not. 

The problem with this is that while many of us are all too often willing to convict people of their sins and convince them of the need to repent, we live in a time when most of us don’t have to be told that we are sinners . . . that our lives are filled with mistakes and misdeeds that cannot be wished away or taken back.  We don’t need anyone to condemn us because most of us have done a good enough job of that on our own.

What we need, instead, is to be reminded over and over again that there is forgiveness, that the burdens . . . the sins . . . the failures that litter our past do not have to define our future, that we have a Savior who loves us so much that while we were yet sinners he was willing to sacrifice his life for us.

Friends, did you notice that in today’s Gospel lesson Jesus was the only one who was not interested in discussing the woman’s past?  Simon, on the other hand, was so focused on her sins he failed to even notice his own transgressions!  So, what Jesus did was focus on the one thing we all have power to control – the present.   What he saw was a Pharisee – a basically good person who was committed to upholding God’s holy ordinances and overseeing the temple’s ministry to the poor – who, at that very moment, was so intent on casting stones he was failing to fulfill his commitments.  He also saw a woman who was at that very moment acting on a faith that was strong and pure.  Because he had already forgiven her past, Jesus was willing to believe in her willingness and her ability to grow into the future God had prepared for her. 

In the end, that is exactly what forgiveness is.  To quote Rabbi Howard Kushner:  To feel forgiven is to feel free to step into the future uncontaminated by the mistakes of the past, encouraged by the knowledge that we can grow and change . . .

Christians, God sets high standards for us to live up to and urges us through the example of Christ to continue growing in our efforts to meet those standards.  Yet God also knows we are going to fail.  So, it is in those moments when we are lying in the ditch so beaten up by life that our future seems uncertain, if not improbable, that God comes to us, not with criticism and condemnation, but with encouragement, forgiveness and hope. 

Despite all our past sins, God still finds us worthy to love.  All we have to do is repent and believe.  The past is over and, through Christ, the future is ours.

That is the message we must believe.  That is the message we must give to others.  Through the love of God, our pasts are forgiven.  We are free.  So live with it!  And make sure you tell others so they can live with it, too.

To God Be the Glory!  Amen.