Simon the Pharisee must have been congratulating himself. Jesus, the much acclaimed itinerate preacher and healer, had accepted Simon’s invitation to a dinner party in his home. Though Galilee was hardly a paragon of intellectual culture, still everyone who was anyone would attend to hear for themselves the teacher everyone was talking about. Could Simon have been so ignorant of proper etiquette, or was the omission of the obligatory washing ritual intentional? We cannot know. But Simon did not provide the usual vessels and servants for an esteemed guest to wash up before the meal.
The drama of this story only gets more interesting, for an uninvited woman with an alabaster jar appeared. She was known to make her living by selling her body for sex. This woman washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, following that with a kiss and a splash of perfumed oil from the jar. Simon was aghast and critical of Jesus for allowing himself to be handled by this sinner. A true prophet would have perceived his virtue was being tainted by this wicked woman. Jesus’ prophetic credentials, though, show in his response to Simon, for Jesus knew exactly what kind of woman she was. Even more, he knew by her actions that she repented of the way she earned a living in order to survive. Her actions reflected the honor in which she held Jesus. As Jesus pointed out to Simon, she offered what hospitality dictated though Simon was too uncouth to extend such to his guest.
Simon was probably not expecting he would become the object of Jesus’ public teaching that evening. Most of us would be quite embarrassed at such a social blunder. But Jesus’ point was less about the faux pas in the code of hospitality than in Simon’s blindness. For Simon, a very religious man, could not see the divine grace that brought this woman back into a relationship with God. She experienced in Jesus a love that cared for her, a love so overwhelming as to enable her to overcome her shame and fear, a love that nudged her from the shadows into the light. That inner coaxing was proof of her repentance—a deep sorrow for the sin that kept her from being a whole person. Her repentance met Jesus’ acceptance and divine forgiveness. But Simon was stuck. He could see only her past. He was blind to her present turning toward God.
The woman with the alabaster jar of perfume wanted to turn her life around so she came to Jesus. He released her from her past; those sins should never again bind her. She was free, clean, whole, and new, and Jesus said, your faith has saved you, go in peace (Lk 7:50). Saved by her trust in the God revealed in Jesus she went away enveloped in God’s peace.
Go in peace. What is that supposed to mean? And where is this woman to go? Jesus didn’t recommend a social worker to arrange counseling so she could understand the inner motivations and the external rewards that kept her in a life of prostitution. Nor was she enrolled in job training for a new career.
The woman was told her sins were washed away. She was to go in peace. But what was really new for her? Well, what is new for us when on Sunday morning we’ve confessed our sinfulness and been absolved, then greeted with, “The peace of the Lord be always with you?” Do those words mean more than its time to get up, stretch your legs, and say hello to your neighbor?
Perhaps it begins with the simple acknowledgement that the person next to you is a sinner just like you; someone dealing with lying demons which attempt to forfeit the life God intends; someone who also knows that life without power from beyond is unmanageable; someone just as vulnerable as you. God has forgiven that person and you as well, so the two of you, or the forty or one hundred of you, greet each other as friends. You are not enemies. And friends look out for one another. Help each other. Support and seek the best in each other. In other words, one is not alone. Rather, from now on this woman will have a community that loves her and shares the resources it has received from the abundance of God’s grace.
Peace is more than a casual greeting, far more profound than the usual off-handed words people say in meeting or departing. Peace declares that all is well between God and God’s beloved, as when the archangel Gabriel greeted Zechariah (Lk 1:12) and Mary (Lk 1:30) with a word of assurance that they need not fear, or the song of the angel host proclaiming the birth of Jesus (Lk 2:14). It is a prayer for the well-being of the other.
Peace is the condition of being blessed, whole, and in harmony with God and others. Jesus expressed it in the four beatitudes of Luke’s Sermon on the Plain in chapter 6. I’ll restate those beatitudes this way: the world judges poverty by material standards, but in the fellowship of the kingdom of God an abundance of riches are to be found. When hungry, God’s people share from their bounty yielding satisfaction for everyone. When sorrow consumes happiness, the companionship of spiritual brothers and sisters releases joy within. When persecuted and excluded for one’s belief in God’s Son Jesus, the great host of holy ones who have preceded you gives courage for your journey (Lk 6:20-23).
The woman with the alabaster jar left Jesus’ presence but he did not leave her. With the peace of God in her heart new life opened for her in communion with God’s people. The peace of God would enable her to see the world as God’s world, accepting a new mission that makes each life count. This life would be marked by giving rather than consuming; accepting responsibility for being part of the solution to the challenges of each day by investing one’s life for the sake of others; becoming a bridge for others for renewal of life.
The Peace of God offers so many things, but it starts when we repent for our waywardness and seek to be forgiven. Peace is the inner confidence of a right relationship with God which leads each child of God to a commitment to be a peacemaker and a friend maker. That peace involves a turning toward the adventure of using our resources to heal, strengthen, build up, and strive to serve.
As a member of God’s household how have Jesus’ words of forgiveness and peace made you a different person? How is God’s peace expressed in your life? Examples abound. Our J2A pilgrims went across the globe in search for God. In their quest it was revealed that they are deeply loved, that they need not fear the unknown, that God provides the tools to serve and the satisfaction that comes from service. On their return they have continued in active discipleship. These same students will continue their education, honing their intellectual and personal skills, to put them to the service of Christ in a wide variety of occupations.
Volunteers among us, singly and in groups, share their time and energy to provide meals for the hungry, stock the pantry, or connect needs with community resources offering a gift that surpasses what is required for a body to survive. Many provide comfort in hospitals. Still others tutor school children or invest their time, energy and money in the work of local service organizations. Our parish has reached out to victims of disasters, recalling Robin and Tate Perry whose home was torn apart by hurricane Katrina. Each Christmas, the season of peace, the Perry’s write to let us know how God has blessed their family. We have joined with the people of Ankowanda, Ghana, to bring safe, clean water to the village, helping to make their lives more healthy and productive.
We had a visit not too long ago from Mark and Bonnie Lambert who provide logistical support for Bible translators in Cameroon. Lauren Sexton recently took a year off from her studies at Cal Poly to share her love for Jesus, his forgiveness and peace, with college students in El Salvador. Soon her sister Megan will depart for south Asia to minister among orphans and young people caught up in the sex trade. Each person lives the peace of God by becoming an agent of that peace in the world. Neither the Lamberts nor the Sexton women can do their work alone. It takes a whole community, each doing his/her part in the bonds of peace and love, to accomplish the work of God’s kingdom.
Simon the Pharisee was blind to the work of God that brought the woman with the alabaster jar to Jesus, to repent of her sins, receive his forgiveness, and go forth in peace. May we be open to God’s Spirit, continually turning ourselves toward God seeking power from on high for new life, and becoming effective agents of Christ’s love in the world.
Peace be with you.
