When I was in elementary school, someone asked me what my favorite class in school was. My answer was lunch. I know, lunch is not a class but it was my favorite part of school. I can tell you what my least favorite class was all through school, gym. I wasn’t athletic, I didn’t know anything about sports, and I was overweight, so gym class was a nightmare. The worst part wasn’t when we had to play games or climb the ropes for the physical fitness test, it was when they would choose teams. It didn’t matter who the captains were, the same kids were always chosen first and I was always one of the kids chosen last. There is nothing worse than watching the entire class go to one side of the gym or another and you are left standing in the middle. I can still feel the embarrassment of knowing that I just wasn’t good enough to be chosen first, or second, or even 15th.
If you have ever felt left out, if you have ever felt ashamed or unworthy because you weren’t good enough to be chosen or invited, then I want you to hear one of the greatest truths of the gospel. Jesus invites the people that others reject. Jesus welcomes and includes those that others overlooked, and those that society and religion often turned away. Jesus invites everyone into God’s family. You are invited into God’s family. No matter who you are or where you have been or what you are struggling with today, you are invited into the family of God. Jesus invites you in.
In Luke 7 there is an amazing story about Jesus inviting into God’s family someone that everyone else would have turned away. It takes place at a dinner that Jesus was invited to at the home of a Pharisee named Simon. As a Pharisee, Simon would have only invited into his home esteemed religious leaders and teachers of the law who were above reproach, and as part of the meal there would have been deep theological conversations about the topics of the day. Simon’s neighbors and people from the community would gather around the open doors to listen to what was being said as a form of entertainment or enlightenment. There was no TV or netflix or sports to watch, so people would gather to hear the leaders debate and discuss important topics.
Into this gathering of invited guests came someone who was clearly not invited. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. Luke 7:37
Let’s be clear, the woman who crashed this party and came to Jesus was a prostitute, that’s what Luke means when he says that she led a “sinful life”. While we don’t know anything more about her, it’s safe to say that she hadn’t chosen this lifestyle. Maybe she had been rejected by her husband, or family, and been forced to sell her body to survive? Maybe she was a widow with no one to take her in, or a woman who had always been used by the men around her and rejected by the women.
We don’t know how she ended up here but we do know that everywhere she went, people looked down on her. The women would have excluded her from most activities, and the men gathered at the table that night would have walked to the other side of the road to avoid her. Every day she got the message from those around her that she wasn’t good enough and that she was not invited. She had not been invited to the dinner but she crashed the party and worshipped Jesus.
That’s what we see taking place in this emotional scene. The woman takes her most valuable possession, a jar of perfume, and pours it out on Jesus' feet. Perfume was rare and expensive. This jar could have been her nest egg for the future, it could have been what she used to wear around town to let men know she was available, and it could have been given to her in payment for her services in the past. No matter where she got it, it represents her entire life, past - present - future, and she gives it all to Jesus. In a posture of worship she gives all she has to Jesus, she empties herself at His feet.
Not only has she given all she has, she also empties herself emotionally. She is so overcome being in the presence of Jesus that she not only weeps at His feet, using her tears to wash away the dust and dirt, but she then takes down her hair to dry them. Women would not have been seen in public with their hair down, so for her to untie her hair in front of all these men and use it as a towel shows how swept up she is in her worship of Jesus. She simply cannot contain her love and devotion for Jesus. She has come to Him longing for love and peace and a new life.
It is a stunning scene of worship. We could ask ourselves what this kind of worship might look like in our lives today and how we could, or maybe should, give all we are and all we have to Jesus, but for Simon and the others at the table - they were asking - what is going on?! This is not right! Not only had a woman invaded their space, but a woman the entire town knew was a sinner had just poured herself out at Jesus' feet, and Jesus allowed it to happen. Simon, the host of the dinner, is deeply offended by all that has taken place and he thinks to himself that if Jesus was a prophet, or even a good religious person, He would have stopped this woman from making a scene. Luke 7:39
Then the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
What Simon and the rest of the Pharisees were thinking is that Jesus should have known she was a sinner and that sinners were to be rejected, shamed, and tossed aside. They were not welcome in God’s family, they were not welcome at this dinner table or any dinner table. That’s what they were all thinking and Jesus knows it, and this is how he responds. Luke 7:44-48
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Her sins were forgiven. Jesus didn’t judge her, condemn her, or shame her. He forgave her. He is the one washing her clean and giving her the chance at a new life. The one others rejected is the one Jesus invited. To all who feel unworthy, Jesus says, you are loved and you are invited into the family of God.
One question that I never stopped to ask before was why this woman risked so much to crash the dinner party and come to Jesus? What caused her to enter into a room filled with people who would have shamed her and mocked her and rejected her? What caused her to bring with her all she had and pour it out on Jesus? What caused her to humble herself and repent in such a powerful way? There really is just one answer, she had either seen or heard about God’s amazing grace and powerful love found only in Jesus.
Maybe she heard about Jesus from a friend? Maybe she heard the message of Jesus herself and it found its way from her ears to her heart? If that’s true, what could that message have been? While we don’t know, we can look at a parallel story in the gospel of Matthew that might tell us what that message could have been.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Maybe it had been earlier in the day when this woman heard Jesus issue the invitation, come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Maybe all day she had been hearing that simple invitation to come to Jesus to find rest and realized that is exactly what she needed and wanted more than anything in this world. Come to me. You are invited. You are forgiven.
Come to me is still the invitation of Jesus.
Come to me if you are feeling left out, unwanted, and ashamed. Come to me if you are tired of trying and failing and being ashamed.
Come to me if you are wracked with guilt, if you find yourself trapped in a life you didn’t want and didn’t plan for.
Come to me if you are empty and broken and brokenhearted.
Come to me when you have nowhere else to turn and no one else to turn to.
Come to me and find rest.
You are invited into the family of God where you can find freedom and forgiveness and a love that will change your life.
Come to me. You are invited.
It’s important for us to understand that what changed this woman’s life wasn’t having her sin pointed out to her. It wasn’t that she was shamed and made to feel guilty. Judging her didn’t change her. What changed her was an invitation to come and experience God’s love and grace and peace. What ultimately changes our lives and helps us experience God’s fullness and best for us is an invitation.
Today, you are invited. You are invited to come to Jesus and experience the power of His love and grace. You are literally invited to be at this dinner table with Jesus where you can see and taste for yourself the grace of God.
Come to Jesus and be forgiven.
Come to Jesus and be set free.
You are invited.
Next Steps
I’m INvited
When have you felt unworthy? Unwanted?
How has being left out or not invited hurt you or someone close to you?
Read Luke 7:36-38
● What things do we know about this “sinful woman”?
● In what ways does her jar of perfume represent her entire life: past, present and future?
● How is this scene an act of true worship?
● What can we learn about worship from her actions?
● In what ways could we worship Jesus more personally and powerfully?
● How can we give Jesus our past, present, and future?
Read Luke 7:39-50
● Why does Simon think what he does?
● Why did religious leaders shame and avoid sinners?
● In what ways might we still shame and avoid sinners?
● What was Jesus’ response to Simon?
● What was Jesus’ invitation to the sinful woman?
● Who might need this invitation from Jesus today and how can we invite them in?
Read Matthew 11:28-29
(Both this teaching and the story of the sinful woman follow the story of Jesus meeting with followers of John the Baptist, so it MIGHT be this teaching that the woman heard.)
● How might this message have given the woman boldness to crash the dinner party and worship Jesus?
● What might “rest for the weary'' look like for you?
● What burden do you need to lay down to come to Jesus?
● Who needs to hear this invitation today and how can you share it with them?
