I’ve been mulling over last Sunday’s readings and putting the first reading and the Gospel together, as the lectionary intends. Nathan’s words to David remind us that although the woman’s extravagant public display of affection seems to dominate the center of the reading, Jesus’ strongest words are for Simon, who was far more concerned about his reputation than about hospitality. Both were key issues in the culture of the day. Shame and honor governed social status. And a culture that had come from nomadic roots knew the importance of hospitality. Sharing food and shelter with another created a true interdependency.
Only the saints among us are without mixed motives, intentions and actions. And even they would say that they struggled every day with overcoming their faults. Jesus is asking us to let go of our fear of how we might appear and our judgments about other people and see the good that we can do, the love that we can show, the justice that we can bring about. And in the end, the only way that we do that is through the grace of God.
Like the woman in Luke’s Gospel, only when we realize how much we have been forgiven for are we free to set aside our fragile egos, to let go of our need for approval. When we have done that, we will be able to live and to love bathed in the only opinion that matters, the love of God who knows the worst we have done and loves us anyway.
