Weekly Wisdom with Nikki

Uninvited

2/13/18

Luke 7:36-50

This is one of the most intimate encounters we see with Christ. He's been invited to dine with Simon the Pharasee and while reclining at his table a woman enters. She wasn't just any woman... she had a reputation that proceeded her. KJV says she was a sinner. The Amplified calls her "an especially wicked sinner." NIV states that she "led a sinful life." Either way- she was a woman of ill repute.

Can you imagine the reactions of those in the courtyard, the awkward silence of fellow guests as she approached the table where Jesus was sitting. Can you imagine for a moment the whispers of the onlookers and even the look of contempt from the Pharasee himself as he realized who was standing in his presence. Who did she think she was barging in... uninvited!

The word says that once she found out where Christ was, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume and standing behind Him at His feet, she wept. Now this story doesn't exactly begin here. How she came to adore Christ is never mentioned in scripture but we know something had to have happened for her to adore him the way she did. Something before this scene.

Maybe earlier in the day she had stumbled upon him teaching. Maybe while he spoke she took a quiet and inconspicous place in the crowd and listened to what he had to say. Maybe his words resonated within her and maybe there, unbeknownst to anyone- maybe her heart was pricked. Maybe she met him in the village square that day as he made his way to the Pharasees' house. Could it be possible that when he looked at her, she saw compassion in his eyes rather than lust. Maybe when he looked at her he saw her as something more than a purchase. What ever it was- it caused her to do something reckless, something impulsive, something completely inappropriate. She comes to the last place in the world she would have been expected to be- ironically, the last place she would have been welcomed. She comes to the house of a Pharasee. You see- she's desperate. She is so focused on Christ that she never thinks about the propriety of the situation.

And so she approaches Jesus and stands at his feet. The courtyard has gone silent except for the murmerings of judgement, the glares of condemnation, and there are even those who avert their eyes in embarrasment. But all of that seems to fade once her eyes lock with Christ's and she realizes that he knows her...he KNOWS her. He sees her faults and flaws and how she's broken but that doesn't change the compassion that he has for her. He's not embarrased by her presence. He's not put out with her antics. He hasn't reuked her. She can't contain the flood of tears that now course her face. She drops to her knees and begins to kiss his feet while weeping openly before the entire courtyard. Looking down, she realizes that her tears have made streaks on his dirty feet. His feet haven't been washed? Why haven't they been washed?

She does the only thing she knows to do... She reaches up and pulls the pins from her hair allowing it to cascade down and immediatly the room begins to stir. She isn't deaf. She can hear the gasps in the courtyard. She can feel the glares of contempt. You see, this simple act was socially unacceptable. In those days women were required to wear their hair up while in public. For a man to see a woman with her hair down that was not her husband was considered to be such an intimate expression that it was grounds for divorce. But she begins to use her hair to dry his feet. Luke says that she had an alabaster jar of oinment or purfume. I've read that the spiknard inside was very costly. It may have been the most costly thing she owned. Here we see- she'd broken it and she doesn't just dab it on him sparingly, oh no... she pours it on his feet. She empties the entire container on him.

She knows he's valuable for why else would she have poured her expensive oil on him? She knows he's to be adored for why else would she have not ceased to kiss him? She knows he can touch her life, for why else would she have sought him out? She knows he can mend her brokeness, for why else would she have wept? She knows he's to be loved, for why else would she wash his feet?

Jesus percieving the judgemental thoughts in his host speaks to Simon in a parable and it's here church that one of greatest lessons is presented. Simon had not even entertained Christ with the basic of welcoming traditions. He gave him no kiss, he offered no oil for his head, nor had he allowed the oppourtunity to have his feet washed.

Oh Church...can you imagine this scenario on Sunday Morning? This story is represents the two mindsets concerning worship. We see a woman completely broken and undone in the presence of Christ. She comes into an atmosphere of judgement not moved by their condemning glances. She can hear the whispers around her. She knows they are all talking about her, but she isn't there for them. She is there for one reason and one reason only- to pour out her love and adoration on Jesus- and she hasn't even been set free yet!

She didn't passively sit by and wait on him. Much like the woman with the issue of blood- she initiated the encounter and she didn't bring him some token praise out of habit or ritual. She wasn't sitting on the back row checking her Facebook or texting...waiting to see what he does and then maybe offer a little extra praise. No, no, no! She brings him her best! What she brought was COSTLY! The tears she's shedding so unabashedly means she's crucified her flesh. The oil she brings is her praise and worship and she holds not one drop back from him.

You see- both the woman who remains nameless and the Pharisee, Simon, where both in the presence of the living God, but only one responded rightly. Simon only knew about Jesus, but he didn't know him well enough to give him the glory he so deserves. Religion does not recognize presence.

Some of you may question that last time you felt the presence of God. But I hear the Lord say, "I have been present. Have you responded rightly? If your praise and worship could be manifest into an oil would it be worth anointing the head and feet of Christ? Would it have cost you anything? Would it be a worthy sacrifice, acceptable to the Lord?"

True worship is costly. Before she could anoint Christ, the box, vial, the container had to be broken. True worship isn't a 20 minute song service. It isn't raising your hand when the pastor asks- no- true worship is a lifestyle. It's when you become broken before him. It's when you realize who has walked into the room.