"Feet Kisser"

Though I’m not always so careful now, growing up in the 60s and 70s in a conservative southern town, we were taught not to cuss, or as northerners might put it, we were taught not to "swear". Unlike the pottymouths we constantly hear on television and in the movies today, we were expected to find alternatives to four-letter vulgarities and their like. You didn’t take God’s name in vain. So you said, "gosh almighty" or "my gosh" or "dad gummit." You didn’t say "damn." You said "dang." You didn’t say "hell." You said "heck." And you didn’t say "kiss my . . ." Oh, never mind. You said, "Kiss my foot."

Luke says there was a woman who took "kiss my foot" seriously, literally. What was going on with this woman? And what does she continue to teach the church?

A Pharisee had invited Jesus to his house for dinner. But, as one scholar writes, "it is a tainted invitation. The Pharisee Simon wants to display this interesting, quaint rural rabbi in front of his affluent guests. Who knows what entertainment his presence will bring?" (Herbert O’Driscoll, in The Christian Century, June 1, 2010, 21.) Who knows, indeed?

The church is always tempted to behave like Simon by only pretending to invite Jesus to the party. Jesus becomes a curiosity to discuss and, perhaps, study, but not to welcome into a living, loving relationship. Like Simon, the church may fancy itself as too sophisticated for Jesus. So Jesus is excluded from fellowship activities in order not to interrupt any fun. Quiet time for personal prayer and study of Holy Scripture is tossed aside for more important matters. Like Simon, the church may pretend to invite Jesus, but not as Lord. So worship priorities are set by country and culture not the gospel. Adult Christian education is devoid of substantive theological content, in order to concentrate on whatever concern might be interesting to the class. And though Jesus promised to be present in the poor, the weak, and the marginalized, those folks are kept a safe distance from the church. The church always has the temptation to follow Simon’s example.

But a woman from the city, a sinner, also showed up for the dinner at Simon’s house. Though some have speculated that she was a prostitute, we really don’t know what her sins were. We just know she showed up with an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind Jesus, crying, washing his feet with her tears, drying them with her hair. And then she was kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.

If you and I had been at that dinner what would we have thought? What would we have done? Would we have been scandalized and begun a rumor campaign? Or would we have joined forces with that sinful woman?

Simon, the Pharisee host of the party, was scandalized. He thought, "Hah! Jesus is no prophet. A prophet would know about this sinful woman and wouldn’t let her lay a finger on him."

But Jesus perceived Simon’s thoughts. And Jesus pointed out (act by act) the difference between Simon’s lack of hospitality and the sinful woman’s overflowing hospitality. Then Jesus forgave the woman’s sins and proclaimed, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

So what was the difference between Simon and this sinful woman? We know, don’t we? This sinful woman understood that in her lifetime she had made many mistakes, committed many sins, and that God, in Jesus, had forgiven those many mistakes and sins. Apparently, Simon did not see himself as such a sinner. And he certainly did not recognize or truly welcome Jesus. But the sinful woman recognized and welcomed Jesus with tears, kisses, and anointing. Her faith saved her, because her faith led her to such transforming gratitude and love. And the church recorded her story as an example for eternity.

Are we like Simon or are we like the sinful woman? Each of us is probably a mixture of both. Like Simon, we may think, "Hey, I’m a wonderful person on my own. I don’t really need much of God’s forgiveness, because I’ve never really committed many sins. And the sins I’ve committed are not serious sins like the sins of folks I read about or see on the news. So I can take this Jesus or leave him. I can study him like an insect under a microscope, but I do not truly mean he is my Lord and Savior." Maybe we’re a bit like Simon.

But we’re also like that sinful woman who understood, who "got it". We think, "Yes, as I take a long, honest look at my whole life, I can see so many mistakes and sins, it’s sometimes overwhelming. All the little lies and deceptions, the laziness, the pettiness, the greed, the lust, the pride, the unjustified anger, the gossip. I can see it and I am appalled. But then I remember God’s love poured out in Jesus and I fall at Jesus’ feet with a life of gratitude and joy at knowing I am forgiven."　Maybe we’re a bit like that sinful woman too.

So we ask God to nurture in us what that sinful woman finally discovered and lived. We ask God to create in us humble and grateful hearts and lives.

The elders and deacons being ordained and installed today are also to be God’s instruments. They’re to help build a church of feet kissers so grateful for God’s forgiveness and love that it falls to its knees kissing Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving with worship, service, and personal devotion. A church so aware of its own sins and failures and God’s response of forgiveness that it throws open the doors and welcomes other sinners, no matter who they are.

I tried to arrange an audience with Jesus to tell him all that I wanted, all the things in this world that needed to be changed, how things needed to be done my way. But there was this grateful sinner who got in my way. She was kneeling before Jesus, weeping, washing his feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, kissing his feet over and over. Some people have a lot of nerve. Maybe I’ll be one of them. Maybe you will too.