Many years ago there was a movie titled “Guess Who‘s Coming to Dinner.” It was about an interracial couple about to tell their parents that they were in love and planned to get married. In Sunday’s Gospel, Simon, a Pharisee invites Christ to have dinner at his home. When Christ enters, he is not given the normal courtesies of a guest of that time. No foot washing, no kiss, no anointing. Enter the unknown woman, a sinner, uninvited person who sat outside Simon’s house who proceeds to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. She also anoints him. It was expression of gratitude and love. Christ tells her your sins which were many are forgiven.
We are in debt to God and in some cases, debtors with short memories. An important asset when you’re in debt is a good memory. Because if you don’t remember to whom you owe money you’re going to have trouble. Simon’s problem was that he had a poor memory. What Simon forgot was that he was a sinner also who owed God just like the woman. His sins were sins of the heart, and he didn’t recognize them as sins. It was easy for him to forget that he stood in need of forgiveness.
God’s forgiveness is available to us. He offers it to us through His Son Jesus Christ. He challenges us to look once more at the cross and realize that the price has been paid for our sins. He invites us to come and know Him as Lord and Savior and to receive His forgiveness as His gift. When we come before God broken and in need of forgiveness that’s like a freshly broken alabaster vase, a sweet aroma to God.
We can never pay God back, but we can roll up our sleeve and go to work. We can worship and we can serve and we can cry a little bit together and we can pray a bunch. We can get out and reach people for Christ. We can do all that not to be forgiven, but because we are forgiven.
