Which Comes First - And Does It Matter?

Which Comes First – and Does It Matter? Luke 7:36-50 The old riddle asks which came first, the chicken or the egg? What would you say and why? Well, if you ask a scientist they might say that eggs are much older than chickens. For example, dinosaurs laid eggs, the fish that first crawled out of the sea laid eggs, and the weird monsters that swam in the warm shallow seas of the Cambrian Period 500 million years ago also laid eggs. They weren’t chickens’ eggs, but they were still eggs. So the egg definitely came first. Then again, sometime in the distance past, two birds that were almost-but-not-quite chickens mated and laid an egg that hatched into the first real chicken. So, the chicken came first and the first chicken’s egg had to wait until the first chicken laid it. You following me so far? Then again, does it matter? In our parable today we have a similar conundrum. In the story, the woman seems to love Jesus before Jesus offers her forgiveness. She tends to him in an intimate and grateful way before Jesus acknowledges her and her actions and forgives her finally at the end of the incident. In the parable, however, forgiveness precedes love. The debt is forgiven, then, love or appreciation of the debt being forgiven comes afterwards. How do we make these apparent contradictions agree? If we understand that the basis for the woman receiving Jesus' forgiveness is her love, then the narrative and the parable disagree. The woman's love for Jesus would precede his forgiveness of her. But, if the woman had already received Jesus' forgiveness, after having heard him in the public square, say, like countless others, then her showing ”great love" in response to an earlier encounter, indicates why Jesus can so confidently proclaim her forgiven state. She truly treasures her forgiveness "because" she truly shows great love. What is our response to being forgiven? Do we truly treasure it, show great love for Jesus because of it, or take advantage of it because we know or expect He’ll keep on forgiving us as long as we ask for it over and over…? What did Paul say to this question? In Romans 6:1-2, he asks, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? By no means! No. We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” That would surely cheapen the gift of forgiveness now, wouldn’t it? 2 To better understand forgiveness, and to bring it closer to one’s heart, consider this prayer. “Lord, if You'll forgive me, (pause), I'll forgive me. I know You'll forgive me. That's the easy part. That's what Jesus and the Cross and the Resurrection were all about: Forgiveness. But forgiving myself -- that's another story. Help me, Lord, to forgive myself.” Hear those opening words again, “Lord, if You'll forgive me, (pause), I'll forgive me.” Have you or do you find yourself in that pause? Can you say, “I’ll forgive me.” I wonder why it's so hard to forgive ourselves. I don't mean giving ourselves another chance. We do that all the time, in so many different ways... we discover the error of our ways and, promising ourselves to do better next time, we 'forgive' ourselves. But the next time repeats itself, again and again. And each time we go through the same routine -- we suffer our brokenness, struggle through pangs of guilt, and "forgive" ourselves. But we don't really for-give, do we? Consider that word “forgive” for a moment. Or, maybe I should say, "fore-give." To fore-give is to give up in advance. To fore-give is to say “No” to the "sin" before it pounces; to ward off the anger, to reject the ill statement toward another, to resist the prejudice. Now there is a play on words. To fore-give a prejudice is to give up in advance a pre-judgment, a judgment in advance. To fore-give is to say “No” to our brokenness, to sin, and to say “Yes” to our Resurrection, to forgiveness and new life in Christ. So here is the new prayer, “Lord, ... help us to forgive us our sins, but, more importantly, to foregive us our sins that we may fore-give those who sin against us. For in the fore-giving is the receiving, and in the receiving is the Resurrection.” Many of us can identify truly with the woman who anointed Jesus' feet, but a less appealing prospect is to identify with Simon the Pharisee: Simon the judgmental, the disapproving, Simon the condescending, the arrogant, the patronizing, the critical, Simon who couldn't even show the common courtesy of a welcoming kiss, who believed himself several levels above Jesus, let alone the repentant woman. The problem is, if we are like Simon, we are not apt to know it, for Simon was blind to his need for forgiveness. Jesus did not tell the parable of the two debtors for the woman's benefit, but for Simon's. When a person suffers from sin-hiding blindness, it often takes a direct confrontation, one of those forehead-slaps from someone to open their eyes and force an insight. 3 If we don't see any of Simon in our own character, it may be because, he doesn't lurk there... but it could be because Simons always have trouble seeing themselves as they are. Jesus confronted Simon with the parable to make him see. We can use the parable in the same way to confront ourselves. When we do, we are likely to discover we possess elements of both the woman and Simon, and both need much forgiveness. Here’s a thought - have you ever put flour and water together? What do you have, glue. However, if you add butter and eggs, you have the makings of a cake. Question, where did the glue go? Let's put it this way: if you put faith and good works together, you get a self-righteous sticky mess. If you add love and forgiveness, you have the makings of a true Christian. Who wants the sticky mess? Today is the first Sunday of the month, the Sunday we typically have Holy Communion. Coincidentally, it is also the 4th of July, the day to celebrate our national independence. As we come to join together in this Communion, let us both come loving that we have been forgiven, appreciate with gratefulness that we are forgiven, that our debts are cancelled, knowing that we are in – dependence of God for all that life provides and in – dependence of God for His grace to carry us through all of life’s troubles. Let us come to the altar to pause, to pray, to give thanks and to rise forgiven and free to live life to the fullest in love and service for the good of the Kingdom. As we come to the altar ask yourself, what is my response to being forgiven? And pray, “Lord, if you'll forgive me, (pause), what’s the last part of this prayer? I'll forgive me.”