faith variation by gilad
He was a man of high stature. He was moral, righteous, well-respected. He had a comfortable home, and a comfortable place in society. He was the right kind of man to be seen with, the right kind of man to have dinner with. Living a successful life, an empty, successful life, for he had money, power and respect.
She was a prostitute. She was used, undeserving and disrespected. She did what she had to in order to get by. Sell what she had to offer in order to make it through another day. Living a despairing life, an empty, despairing life; for she had no love, no respect, and no hope.
He had heard of Jesus. A man who he had heard performed miracles. A man he heard had great insight. A man who he heard had come to visit and should be invited over to dinner to a respectable mans' home. A man who he knew would look good at a man of high stature's table.
She had also heard of Jesus. A man she heard had the power to heal and guide. A man she heard had come and would be eating at the well-respected man's table. A man who caused her to long for something better, caused her to follow after him, to weep mournfully at his feet, and to give all that she earned in year to buy perfume to pour onto his feet.
He scoffed. He was disgusted. He was disappointed. He thought, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him."
She submitted. She was broken. She was defended. Jesus spoke, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
He feigned interest. He gave a cordial smile. It hid the disdain he held for the woman who entered his home and the man who associated with her, who did not dismiss her, "Tell me, teacher."
Jesus asked him, "If two men were in debt to a banker--one owing five hundred silver pieces and the other fifty which neither of them could pay--and the banker canceled both debts, which of the two would be more grateful?"
He was confused. He wasn't sure why the prophet was asking him this; maybe to test his wisdom. He looked around to see if anyone else thought this odd, and then answered, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most."
She sat at his feet. Jesus looked at her, "Do you see this woman? She rained tears on my feet when you would not provide water. She has not stopped kissing my feet when did not even give me a greeting. She has poured perfume on my feet when you did not provide any means of freshening myself up. She was forgiven many sins, and so is very grateful. But he who has been forgiven little has very little gratitude."
adapted from Luke 7:36-47
Is it as it seems? If we are stuck steeped in a cultural mindset of deservedness and self-sufficiency; if we are living in a wealthy society and have segregated ourselves in individualism to the point where the only thing that holds bonded to one another is our emotional connection. Or can we rightly choose to be there, the ultimate romantic ideal to choose or be chosen. What does that reflect on how we are connected to God? If we don't need each other, if we really think we can survive on our own, then really how much do we need God?
Maybe I am only preaching to the choir, to people who recognize their need for God. Who know that they need to be connected to God in more than emotions, more than choice. But for awhile now in North America even the choir has been singing their own solos. We've begun to notice it, we've begun to try to correct the things that are missing, we realize things aren't right. We talk about standing as a body, but still have our own personal lives away from the Church. I'm not claiming to have some indepth knowledge that no one has noticed before, maybe I'm just trying to comprehend it, work through it.
What has the Church done? We like others around us are seeing problems in this culture, and are making desperate attempts at fixing what we see going wrong. But I wonder if maybe we need to just put down our sheet music and think about the tune we've been singing. Maybe we need to admit that the Church like the rest of our culture got caught up in the idealism of individualism, admit that we've done enough to contribute to the problem.
Have you ever noticed that the times when we most full-heartedly turn to God, when we become most faithful in following Him, is after we've fallen the hardest on our asses? When we've come face to face with rotten circumstances, whether we've chosen them, or they've chosen us. I wonder if in our 'blessed' circumstances, in our height of technology and freedom, in our depth of wealth, if we have become more depraved than ever before. I wonder if we've got so much that we missing what we need. I wonder in who's opinion that the prostitutes sins were more than the pharisee, or maybe she could just see the depravity she was being saved from better than the man who thought he owed little to anyone, needed to be saved from little by anyone.
Where is God in the life of the Pharisee? Where is He in the life of the Prostitute? Where is He in the life of North America?
