When the Spirit comes to you in his very subtle, wordless way and tells you that you have once again become tilted in thinking and bent out of shape in spirit, it is time to stop and reflect. There is no use in trying to evade or avoid that nagging, uncomfortable feeling. The only way through it is to deal with it.
Reflection on many years of church attendance caused me to ask some important questions. How (and when) during lifelong church attendance did I come to believe that if the church entity or church people find fault with me there is something wrong with me? When in my religious training did I accept the notion that to be found unacceptable by a gathering of people in a church building, I am, therefore, unacceptable?
I am sure there are counselors and psychologists who would love to evaluate religious indoctrination practices, self-esteem issues, trauma response, etc. But the bottom line is that I am responsible for what I believe. Do I believe that if someone else decides that I am disqualified for fellowship, I am therefore disqualified? Isn’t it a pervasive belief in our culture that religion disqualifies us for fellowship with a faith group and with God? Are there ways that we unknowingly exclude others from the open invitation that God intended?
I can’t spend my whole life as a spiritual being in human skin believing I am like a wounded, feral cat. People are inclined to care and try to help but end up getting scratched because I am responding based on fear. At some point, I am responsible for what I believe about myself and about God. What I believe has a paramount effect on how I live and respond to the world.
What do I believe about this question? If a religious entity, authority, or faith group tells me I am somehow unacceptable, disqualified, or not enough, is their evaluation of me the truth? Can other people decide that I am disqualified from fellowship with God or other believers?
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Anointing an honored guest with oil was a common practice in first century Palestine. Anointing was a sign of respect and position. Luke describes a moment in his gospel account when a woman “who lived a sinful life” approached Jesus at a dinner that was given in his honor. There is scholarly debate as to whether or not this event is the same event mentioned in the other three gospels. Luke places this event early in the ministry of Jesus in Capernaum, Galilee while the other three gospels tell an anointing story in Bethany within the week prior to the crucifixion. It is possible that Jesus was anointed more than once.
As Luke narrates the event (Luke 7: 36-50), Jesus is being honored at a dinner in the house of a Pharisee, a religious authority of the Jewish religion of the second temple period. The door of the house was left open, meaning that curious members of the community were allowed to observe the dinner quietly from the wall or outer area of the room. They were not invited guests and had no table privileges and were not welcome to speak to the invited guests. As uninvited community members, they could only observe and listen.
Among the uninvited community members was a woman with a reputation for sinful living. She broke the social rules by stepping away from the shadows and approaching Jesus who was reclining at the table. She began to worship him by pouring expensive oil on him while weeping. She let down her hair in public, an act not allowed by women in her culture, and wiped the feet of Jesus with her hair.
I can only imagine the stunned silence of those reclining at the table. The religious elite sitting at the table found the actions of the woman offensive. The host thought to himself that if Jesus were truly a prophet, he would have nothing to do with this woman. In the eyes of the religious people in the room, this woman was trash, an embarrassing offense to everything they believed.
The Sinner Gets It Right
The woman had to have known. She’d heard the gossip about her, felt the glares of judgment, clearly understood that she was behaving in a way that would make her more of an offense. Yet, she was compelled to step outside of the place that authority had assigned to her to commit acts that the authority over her would disapprove.
She was compelled by the love of God for Jesus to step in front of an audience that shamed her to behave openly, publicly in a way that adored and worshiped the Savior extravagantly and humbly. Luke recalls that the aroma of the expensive oil used to anoint Jesus filled the whole house. Because of her choice to love and worship the Savior, the sinner got it right.
Religion Gets It Wrong
Jesus rebuked the religious condemnation of the woman, even though she had stepped outside of socially accepted boundaries. The Pharisee had invited Jesus to be an honored guest but did not offer to wash his feet or anoint him. The religious elite invited Jesus to the table but did not understand who he was or what he was working to do in the world. Because of their refusal to allow the love and mercy of God in the practice of their religion, the religious elite got it wrong.
Jesus explained to his host that those who are forgiven the most love God the most. It is an intriguing human paradox. Religious people want to be forgiven but they don’t want to be sinners. Religious people want to do right but won’t admit that they do wrong.
Sinners approach Jesus with the knowledge that they are undeserving of His presence. Those who understand the depth of their sin understand the depth of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness. They are the ones who worship and serve God most freely and the ones to whom Jesus says, “Go in peace; your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50).
Conclusion
I am not who others say I am. No religious authority or group of people gathered in a building has a right to invalidate who I am in the eyes of Jesus. I may be too much of one thing or not enough of another thing. I may at times not meet social requirements for acceptability. Or I may step outside the boundaries of group expectations.
But I am loved. I am forgiven of my sins, which I freely acknowledge. The very same Lord that set the universe in motion and walked in the grave to live again calls me His friend. I accept the love, mercy, and forgiveness that I have found in Jesus, and it is the treasure of my heart.
The forgiveness and mercy of God should be the only requirement for acceptance in a church building, family, or faith group. If it is not the only requirement, then religion has missed the point and gotten the love of Jesus wrong. My prayer is that I might be the worshipping, grateful sinner that is so overwhelmed by the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus that mercy and forgiveness spills out of my heart onto the people around me.
It is an immense life challenge but, I believe, a worthy effort.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt 5:6).
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Copyright @ TA Boland 2024
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