WEBVTT 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:04.080 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:06.400 And blessed be God's family. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:08.240 Now we prayer. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:09.280 Amen. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:11.039 Let's pray together. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:16.080 Almighty God, to you, all desires. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:17.919 And from you. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.919 Bless the hearts. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:25.039 By the inspiration of your Holy Spirit. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:32.719 And we perfectly love you and perfectly magnify your name through Christ of the Lord. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:33.840 Amen. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:28.480 Let us pray. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.800 O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:53.839 Mercifully accept our prayers, and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:55.040 Amen. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:01.120 As you're being seated, I'd like to invite children forward who are interested in the children's sermon. 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:27.519 All right, one of our stories today is about how you welcome people into your home. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:35.759 So when you have somebody coming to your home and you want to show them welcome, what should you do or not do? 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:38.800 Yeah. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:43.839 Well, don't act like you're not there, because that's not a great welcome, right? 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:48.079 If somebody comes to the door and you just don't answer it, that wouldn't be great. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:53.759 And if they're in the home and you're like having a meal and you don't serve them or talk to them, like that wouldn't be great. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:58.639 How do we show welcome? 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:12.079 I think there's gonna be a lot of discussions at homes today. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:16.480 What do you say, Jonathan? 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:20.879 You can say hello, so you can acknowledge that you're there, that'd be sweet. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:21.360 Okay. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:36.959 Yeah, so you you if you wanted to show somebody welcome, would you consider what they'd like to eat or just what you'd like? 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:40.399 You could probably do both, right? 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:43.920 But it's nice to show that I've thought about what you'd like, right? 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:45.439 How what could you do? 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.000 Like have you ever been welcome to too much? 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:56.000 Have you ever been somewhere and somebody gave you a present for coming? 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:00.079 I don't know if you have. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.360 Would that just be strange? 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:32.399 You ever had to be people with people you didn't want to be with? 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.799 So what are you supposed to do in that situation? 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:44.080 Jonathan, what are you supposed to do? 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:45.600 You got it, you got it tickled. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.320 You're gonna say what we're not supposed to do, maybe. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:49.440 Okay, okay. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:54.320 Yeah, I mean, so today there's a story about this, and I want you to hear it. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:09:02.879 There's a story where a lady does something that's a little bit wild, the show welcome, she starts washing Jesus' feet and she pours perfume on him. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:08.320 Now you might be thinking, he must have been really dirty if she needed to do that. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:15.279 Or maybe you're thinking, I wouldn't want somebody washing my feet when I went to their home for dinner or perfuming me. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:20.159 But this is a story you're gonna hear about radical welcome. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:25.600 And to be honest, I don't think I want somebody to welcome me radically. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:40.879 So maybe think a little bit today about who you could show radical welcome to, what kind of welcome you would really like to have, and what kind you wouldn't like to have. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:46.960 And even better, what happens when somebody gets welcome that you don't even think should be there? 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:49.679 You ever had that happen? 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:53.600 Somebody's there that shouldn't be there, and how they're supposed to get treated. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:10:00.639 Hey, we all still think about those things because they happen over and over, and today you're gonna hear a story about that. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:05.200 And you can see if you like my my thoughts on it or not, or you can do the covering pages. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:06.000 Thanks for coming up. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:11:09.519 Now the judge of all flesh spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the women and men of Israel and say to them, If the wife of any man goes astray and betrays him with a betrayal, and a man if and a man lies with her, yielding an emission of seed, yet is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she conceals it, and she has rendered herself unacceptable, and there is no witness against her, and she was not forced. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:50.000 And if a spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he is jealous on account of his wife, and she has rendered herself unacceptable, or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him and he is jealous on his wife and she has not rendered herself unacceptable, then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and she shall bring the offering for her one tenth of an ephah of barley flour, about two quarts, and he shall not pour oil on it, and he shall not put frankincense on it, for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of remembrance for remembering iniquity. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:55.200 Then the priest shall bring her near and set her before the judge of the earth. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:12:05.519 The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and from the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, the priest shall take and put water into it. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:17.200 Then the priest shall make the woman stand before the dread God, unbind the hair of the woman, and place upon her hands the offering of remembrance. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.679 It is an offering of jealousy. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:24.799 And in the hand of the priest shall be the curse begetting waters of bitterness. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:42.159 Then the priest shall make her swear, saying, If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to that which is unacceptable, fall under or subject to your husband, be uninjured from the curse begetting waters of bitterness. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:13:16.480 But if you have turned aside, fall under or subject to your husband, if you have rendered yourself unacceptable, and a man has lain with you who is not your husband, now the priest makes the woman swear the imprecation, the oath of cursing, and says to the woman, May the all-seeing God make you an imprecation and an execration or a ritual cursing and the curse itself among your people when the fountain of justice makes your uterus collapse and your womb swell. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:25.440 Now may the curse-begetting waters of bitterness go into your inners and make your womb swell, your uterus collapse. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:28.799 And the woman says, Amen, Amen. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:35.519 Then the priests shall write these curses on a scroll and dissolve them in the waters of bitterness. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:45.360 He shall make the woman drink the curse-begetting waters of bitterness, and the curse-begetting water shall enter her, creating bitterness. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:14:07.200 When he has made her drink the waters, then if she has rendered herself unacceptable and has betrayed her husband with an act of betrayal, the curse-begetting waters shall enter her and cause bitterness, and her womb shall swell and her beer is collapse, and the woman shall become an imprecation among her people. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:17.519 But if the woman has not rendered herself unacceptable and is pure, then she shall be uninjured and be able to be sown with seed. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:19.919 The word of the Lord. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:35.120 Please read with me responsibly by the half verse. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:40.159 Sheltering one, my God, in you I take refuge. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:48.559 Else, like a lion, they will rip me, body and soul apart. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:52.000 They will spare and no one will deliver. 00:14:52.320 --> 00:15:08.320 Righteous one, my God, if I have done this, if I have repaid my ally with harm, then let the enemy pursue me and overtake me. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:13.360 And travel my mind to the ground, and lay my glory in the dust. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:18.159 Rise up, thundering God, in your anger. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:23.039 Raise up in opposition to the wrath of my enemies. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:31.440 Let the congregation of the peoples be gathered around you. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:38.159 The righteous God judges the peoples. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:44.720 Judge me, righteous one, according to my righteousness, and according to my iniquity. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.600 Look, he is pregnant with iniquity. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.600 And he can see troublemaking and heard the loss. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:56.399 And it fell into the whole. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:07.200 But because of sexual immorality, each man should have his own woman, and each woman her own man. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:12.799 For the wife, the husband should do his duty, and likewise the wife for her husband. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:18.400 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, rather, the husband does. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:24.559 Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, yet the wife does. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:37.839 Do not ever defraud each other except by agreement for a time to devote yourselves to prayer and then to come together again so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:41.359 This I say is a concession, not a command. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.480 I wish that all were as I myself am. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:51.680 But each has their own gift from God indeed, one to one and another to another. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:57.119 To the unmarried and the widows, I say that it is good for them to remain so. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:03.759 But if they are not showing self-control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.640 To the married I give this command. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.039 Not I, but the most high. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.079 A woman should not separate from her man. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:18.240 Though if she does separate, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her man. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:22.079 Also, a man should not divorce his woman. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:34.480 To the rest I say, I am not the most high, that if a believer has a woman who is an unbeliever, and she agrees to live with him, he should not divorce her. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:42.640 And if a woman has a man who is an unbeliever, and he agrees to live with her, she should not divorce him. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:50.640 For the unbelieving man is made holy through his woman, and the unbelieving woman is made holy through her man. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.079 Otherwise, your children would be unclean. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:56.319 Yet now they are holy. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.720 Now if the unbeliever leaves, let them leave. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:04.640 Sister or brother is not bound in such circumstances. 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.400 It is to peace that God has called you. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:12.480 For woman, how do you know whether you will save your man? 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.920 And how do you know, man, whether you will save your woman? 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:23.680 However, let each walk through life as the Holy One has designated, and as God has called them. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.279 This is what I instruct all the churches. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:29.680 The word of the Lord. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.720 Glory to you, Lord God. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:43.680 Now one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and Jesus went into the Pharisee's house and was seated. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:54.400 And suddenly a woman who was in the city, known as a sinner, having learned Jesus was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of perfumed ointment. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:22:03.359 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began with her tears to Bathed his feet, and with the hairs of her head dried them. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:06.319 And she kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:18.319 And when the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw it, he said to himself, If this man was ever a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:20.400 But she is a sinner. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:27.920 Then Jesus replied to his thoughts and said to the host, Simon, I have something to say to you. 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:30.240 Teacher, Simon replied, Speak. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:35.920 Two debtors had a certain money two debtors had a certain money lender. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:43.200 One owed 500 denarii, more than a year's earning, and the other 50, almost two months' earning. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:47.920 When they could not pay the money, the moneylender canceled both debts. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:52.480 Now, which of them will love their creditor more? 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:57.680 Simon replied and said, Well, I suppose the one for whom the moneylender forgave a greater debt. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:00.319 And Jesus said to him, Well, you've judged rightly. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:04.480 Then turning toward the woman, Jesus said to Simon, Do you see this woman? 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.160 I entered your house. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:08.720 Water for my feet you gave not. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:13.200 But she with her tears has spit my feet, and with her hair dried them. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:19.920 No kiss of peace did you give me, but from where I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:26.079 Oil for my head you did not prepare, but with perfumed ointment she has anointed my feet. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:32.640 That is why I say to you, forgiven are her sins, which work any, thus she loves deeply. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.839 But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little. 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:39.440 And Jesus said to her, Your sins are forgiven. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:48.400 Then those who were reclining at the table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:53.440 And Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:55.200 Go in peace. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:58.880 The gospel of the Lord. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:36.480 And it is always a strange thing after we read one of those to say the word of the Lord, thanks be to God. 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:40.799 I mean, I can't help but chuckle, because uh those are weird readings. 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:52.720 And um, I don't know how many of you, by show of hands, have read well the numbers reading it's because Episcopalians don't read the Bible, that's why. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:56.880 Uh sir, I read that as a Baptist, but not in a wana, and here's why. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:00.160 That's not what we call an edifying reading. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:07.279 So if you've never heard that reading before, that's because it doesn't show up in the revised common lectionary. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:15.599 Reminder, that's the lectionary we typically use that takes us through most of the biblical content on a three-year basis. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:23.519 Uh the compilers of the lectionary didn't like readings like that because they thought they'd be confusing. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:33.759 So instead, they left it in what's called the daily office because the founders of the Episcopal Church assumed you'd be reading the Bible every two years, cover to cover. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:35.839 That's their assumption. 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:39.359 And you would have read this during the Daily Office. 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:49.599 Um, we're not using the revised lectionary, we're using the women's lectionary for the whole church, which is really designed to highlight stories of women in the Bible. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:51.119 And so we get these. 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:54.960 And look, let me just say a few remarks about this, because it's weird. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:03.519 And if you're concerned that your wife has committed adultery, I will not give you a magic potion in church to do this. 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:06.400 I don't, we don't do that anymore. 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:11.839 I hope that is a relief instead of a disappointment. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:22.400 Um I also want to say sometimes people have this knee-jerk reaction and they say, Well, that's just that old testament. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:24.240 Good thing we got the new testament. 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:27.759 You read that one Corinthians reading, it's pretty weird, too. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:31.359 I I think it's pretty weird. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:40.640 So, look, I could easily make this a uh an exposition on structural misogyny. 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:43.039 I don't even need to do that. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:46.319 I mean, just a quick couple of words on that, right? 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.519 What if a woman's jealous of her husband? 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:50.880 What does she get to do? 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:52.160 Nothing. 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:54.000 Did you hear that? 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.960 What happens if you falsely accuse your wife? 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:58.000 Nothing. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:00.640 Except she just lost her dignity publicly. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:02.880 Do you hear the structural misogyny in that? 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:04.079 I hope you do. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:12.400 If a man drank this magic potion, what would shrivel and collapse? 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:13.599 I don't know. 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:17.039 I don't, I mean, I'm not even trying to be silly. 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:18.640 It's in the Bible, friends. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:19.680 We just read it. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:21.279 I'm not making it up. 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:36.480 And part of what I wonder is, is the potion toxic and it's a miracle you don't get the toxicity, or is it benign and it's a miracle you do? 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:42.000 If you're not wrestling with that, I don't think you heard the reading. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:51.519 I want to suggest that the reason it's in this week is not because of the misogyny that's there. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:28:03.440 I think it's in this week because the question is, how do we treat people we consider to be worse sinners than we are? 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:09.200 Well, you go to the priest and have them drink a potion and proof will be happy. 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:12.319 I don't have potions, so that's not going to work. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:14.079 Um why did I say it that way? 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:19.119 Because in the story that we get later, there's a woman who's known as a sinner. 00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:21.119 Doesn't say she was one. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:22.799 Did you catch that? 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:27.680 She was known as one, which means she had a reputation. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:28.960 Why? 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:35.119 Maybe she wore lipstick, which must have meant she was a loose woman. 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:40.960 Maybe her skirt was too short, which must have meant she was baiting men. 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:42.640 By the way, that is like false. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:44.000 I hope you know that. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:46.799 That's what men make up. 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:54.160 For whatever reason, she's known as a sinner. 00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:59.599 And she does this act of hospitality that I think would just be really hard to accept. 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:01.359 I mean, who let her into the party? 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:02.400 I don't know. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:05.440 Why did Simon let her in the home? 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:06.480 I don't know. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:07.839 It's possible. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:11.519 It's possible she was Simon's wife. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:14.960 And he was jealous of her. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:29.039 I sure don't think I'd want one of you, if you had me to your home for dinner, to start crying on my feet and drying it with your hair. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:38.480 That's a welcome so radical as to be hyperbolic, right? 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:43.759 Jesus tells, I think, the key to all the readings today. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:48.160 He says this thing that just sounds so logical. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:30:00.799 Pretend you've got two debtors, and one of them owes you 500 days worth of wages, and the other owes you 50, and you forgive them both. 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:02.880 Who will be more grateful? 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:06.640 Well, who will be more grateful? 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:16.240 You can answer. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:21.279 The 500 is that necessarily the case? 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:25.200 Boy, that sure is how we think, though, isn't it? 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:32.480 I mean, the truth is, what if you owe 500 days of wages but you also make 500 days worth of wages every day? 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:38.079 And what if you owe 50 days of wages, but you make one-fifth of a daily wage per day? 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:39.599 Who will be more grateful? 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:42.960 Actually, not even knowing how much you owe, it doesn't even matter. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:45.440 The truth is, right, who will be more grateful? 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:47.599 The person with the grateful heart. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:31:00.880 And if you don't hear anything else to say, I will tell you that most experts on this tell me that the biggest challenge to joy and gratitude is comparison. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:08.079 The biggest challenge to joy and gratitude is comparison. 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:14.640 At the end of the day, shouldn't they both be grateful because now they don't owe stuff? 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:23.279 Now, I like Simon, and I think this is our kind of secular logic. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:29.359 I'm not going to call it wisdom, says that the guy with the 500 should be more grateful. 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:40.240 And you'll notice that Simon is the one hosting Jesus, and yet he expresses no joy or welcome to have Jesus in his home. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:43.440 Because the truth is he didn't need Jesus that much. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:47.759 Like most church folk. 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:50.960 We're mostly pretty good, right? 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:53.519 I'm mostly pretty good. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:56.640 I didn't like party with the Rolling Stones. 00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:05.279 Uh, you know, I didn't like dye my hair blue, I never took to dancing, you know, like pretty good stuff, right? 00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:17.599 And if you're like me and if you're like Simon, you might find yourself thinking that you indeed are pretty good. 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:27.039 Which means there's not necessarily a lot of gratitude or welcome for grace. 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:29.359 Because you only need it a little bit. 00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:29.839 Right? 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:31.119 You just need it a little. 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:34.640 I mean, some people need it a lot more than we do, right? 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:40.240 I think the story is actually saying that that's dead wrong. 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:44.160 I don't think Jesus is affirming that Simon is right. 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:51.839 I think he's saying that is the criterion with which we live in competition with one another for who's good enough for God. 00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:57.440 I love doing that because I can always find somebody worse than me. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:32:59.279 Always. 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:04.160 I mean, Charlie Mann said, there you go, right? 00:33:05.039 --> 00:33:08.000 Better than that guy, so I'm not at the bottom, right? 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.039 Do you find yourself doing that? 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:12.480 Here's another question. 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:19.359 You ever did something wrong and you knew it was wrong, but when you got confronted with it, you found someone who did more wrong than you? 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:22.160 Like, let me just make this up. 00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:27.279 You got pulled over by an officer for speeding and you said, but that other car was going faster? 00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:30.960 Anyone ever thought that anyway? 00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:47.519 And I wonder, actually, if this isn't inviting us to consider where gratitude comes from? 00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:55.599 Does gratitude come from this idea that I owe less than you do, so you should be more grateful? 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:02.720 Does gratitude come from this idea that, hey, we're on this uh pyramid to heaven and we just need to beat the people behind us? 00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:14.800 Or does gratitude come from this idea that God gives us all remission of our trespasses, and that whatever we owe, it's something. 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:26.880 This is gonna sound like a little side trail, but this week I was on this panel, I don't know why, other than I was on it last year, and I think they were desperate for people. 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:39.760 So I was on this panel down in Galveston on UN Interfaith Harmony Day, and I was supposed to speak for 10 minutes on what forgiveness is in the Christian tradition, not like at St. 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:43.119 Thomas or in my own head, but it's supposed to represent the Christian tradition. 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:46.719 What's forgiveness and how does that relate to peace? 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:49.360 And I had 10 minutes. 00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:53.519 And as you know, I can't do anything in under 15 to 18 minutes. 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:55.920 So I had my timer and I got it off. 00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:06.960 But it occurred to me, having been the first person to present, that it doesn't really make sense to talk about forgiveness unless we talk about why it is we might need forgiveness in the Christian tradition. 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:15.039 And there is a word that gets bandied about a lot that we've um, to be honest, really extorted from what it meant biblically. 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:20.719 So I'm just gonna give you the same stump speech that I give you semi-annually, and that is the word sin. 00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:38.559 So we have, depending on what church you grew up in, you might think that sin is disobeying God, or that sin is a moral blight on your white garmented soul that looks like a stain, or that sin is like punching your one-way ticket to hell. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:42.159 But biblically, sin means three things. 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:49.599 In the Hebrew Bible, it means first an archery term in which I aimed for the bullseye and I didn't quite get what I was shooting for. 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:52.960 I missed the mark. 00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:57.199 You ever had something go not the way you planned? 00:35:58.880 --> 00:35:59.920 That's sin. 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:02.639 Well, geez, Mike, that could be a lot of things. 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:04.159 Yep, sure could. 00:36:06.719 --> 00:36:12.400 The other word for sin in Hebrew means carrying a heavy weight. 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:17.119 Have you ever carried a weight having done nothing wrong? 00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:25.039 Like been worried about your children's future or their schooling. 00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:31.760 If you've had children, I suspect you've sinned because you carried a heavy weight. 00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:38.159 I'm not being playful, I'm telling you how it reads in the scriptures. 00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:42.079 If you've never heard it before, I'm sorry. 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:49.760 The third word for sin is the Greek word hamarsha, and it means your tragic flaw. 00:36:50.079 --> 00:37:01.840 I don't know if you know anything about Carl Jung, but we all have gifts and graces through which we illuminate the world, but sometimes those same sources of light cast dark shadows. 00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:05.519 You ever been too creative? 00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:12.239 You ever been too in control of your schedule? 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:17.280 As your spouse or parent, then I think you know what I'm talking about. 00:37:17.519 --> 00:37:21.360 Jeez, Mike, it sounds like you're talking about regular everyday stuff. 00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:23.840 Yep, that's what sin is. 00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:32.000 What we like to do, I just what I like to do is make it really big stuff. 00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:36.400 Like, yeah, I know I said a thing I shouldn't have said, but that guy's a murderer. 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:43.199 So, I mean, what I do is, like, I guess it's bad, but it's not like that. 00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:57.360 And in so doing, I strip my common humanity from my brother or sister, and I refuse to welcome Jesus with gratitude and elong. 00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:09.440 And I wonder if Jesus isn't questioning that whole bit. 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:14.159 What does this woman, what sins does this woman need forgiven? 00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:20.800 Well, I can tell you a burden she's definitely carrying is people think she's a nasty woman. 00:38:24.559 --> 00:38:26.880 That's a heavy burden to carry. 00:38:28.480 --> 00:38:33.760 It's an even heavier burden than just being a woman, not to overdo this, right? 00:38:33.920 --> 00:38:43.599 But uh most women that I've talked to sort of say being a woman is like having an app running in the background that sucks your energy because of things like structural misogyny. 00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:46.960 That's sin, that's a burden. 00:38:47.199 --> 00:38:49.599 You don't deserve it, but you bear it. 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:52.000 I know I'm redefining sin. 00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:54.000 I'm just doing it biblically. 00:38:55.039 --> 00:38:57.519 So, what does she need forgiveness from? 00:38:57.760 --> 00:38:59.840 Carrying a burden around. 00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:01.920 What mark did she miss? 00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:03.760 I have no idea. 00:39:04.880 --> 00:39:06.719 What's her tragic flaw? 00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:13.760 Well, maybe it is that she'll grow gr she'll show gratitude even to the point of making people feel uncomfortable. 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:18.559 That doesn't sound like murder, does it? 00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:21.039 Or sacrilege or desecration. 00:39:21.199 --> 00:39:23.039 It sounds like life. 00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:26.880 And who has authority to forgive her her sins? 00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:28.320 Well, Jesus does, but guess what? 00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:29.440 You do too. 00:39:29.840 --> 00:39:33.920 You can say, My friend, I see you are bearing that burden. 00:39:34.559 --> 00:39:41.519 Maybe I could help you lift it, or even better, what if we could figure out a way for you to just put it down? 00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:45.760 Friend, I see that you've missed the mark. 00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:50.639 That is, things did not come out like you thought they might. 00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:52.559 Like you hoped. 00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:53.920 So, what could we do? 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:55.840 But we could practice with intention. 00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:59.199 Let's not give up, let's just keep practicing. 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:02.320 And let's put on some accountability guard rules. 00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:08.639 Because if you've ever been to, say, an archery range or you've been to a rifle range, you don't shoot wherever you want. 00:40:08.719 --> 00:40:11.920 The targets are there, and your people stand back, right? 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:14.639 There's safety involved. 00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:22.239 So maybe we help make it safe to try and to fail and to try again. 00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:31.760 As Charlie Bolden told me, his goal at NASA was that you fail quickly and that you fail smartly. 00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:36.719 Because failure is not to be avoided, it's to be learned from. 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:43.039 So if we don't learn from our mistakes, friends, we will keep making them. 00:40:43.199 --> 00:40:47.920 And many of you know, like I do, I usually learn nothing from my successes. 00:40:49.599 --> 00:40:51.840 I really only learn from my failures. 00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:58.880 Why are we afraid to fail in showing love? 00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:02.320 Why are we afraid? 00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.039 Because God might be mad at us? 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:10.079 And how do we handle our tragic flaw? 00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:12.960 Well, we just need accountability and we need support, right? 00:41:13.039 --> 00:41:16.000 Hey, I see you're doing that thing you do when you get wound up. 00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:17.599 Just take a deep breath. 00:41:17.920 --> 00:41:20.159 You've set together a great dinner plan. 00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:23.519 Now it's really important for you to be at the table and enjoy it yourself. 00:41:23.679 --> 00:41:26.079 So how can I support you doing that? 00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:28.320 That sounds like community care. 00:41:28.480 --> 00:41:33.199 It also sounds like the gospel of Jesus Christ, because that's what happens in the story. 00:41:34.159 --> 00:41:40.480 I don't know where you are in the story, but to be honest, I'm probably Simon most of the time. 00:41:41.199 --> 00:41:45.679 How could you let that sinful person touch you, Jesus? 00:41:47.360 --> 00:41:58.960 Only more competent, clean, good-acting, theologically sophisticated folks like me should have access to the Lord. 00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:11.519 And I hope that you hear that that attitude and orientation and way of behaving is a heavy burden to bear. 00:42:12.800 --> 00:42:21.599 I hope you hear that that attitude and orientation and way of judging my neighbor with about two sentences of information on them. 00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:24.559 Boy, I will miss the mark most of the time. 00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:31.280 I hope you will hear that Mike, who is an INTJ, and the J stands for judgment. 00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:39.519 I am really talented at judging, is a light to the world, and it's a tragic flaw. 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:42.559 So now you know my sins. 00:42:42.719 --> 00:42:44.320 They're in front of you. 00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:47.760 I'm suspicious they're in you as well. 00:42:47.920 --> 00:43:00.960 So the question is, when God says your sins are forgiven, do we say they didn't earn it, I didn't need it, or do we say you mean I can lay that down? 00:43:04.159 --> 00:43:07.280 I do mean you can lay that down. 00:43:08.159 --> 00:43:09.519 I do mean that. 00:43:11.519 --> 00:43:13.119 We're coming up on Lent. 00:43:13.199 --> 00:43:14.880 Look, it's just two weeks away. 00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:21.360 And the whole theme of Lent is what are you gonna lay down so that you can enjoy the life God's given you more? 00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:34.480 If you're thinking you're gonna lay down chocolate so that you can prove God how much you love God by being miserable for 49 days, I just would encourage you to lay something else down. 00:43:35.519 --> 00:43:42.800 Like, lay something down that's hurting you, like that's a habit or a thought pattern that is not helping you, and you know it. 00:43:43.280 --> 00:43:47.360 And you get to do it like in church, so you get like double credit. 00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:52.559 It's going to increase your life, and you're doing it as a sacrifice to God. 00:43:53.360 --> 00:44:14.000 And maybe, oh, maybe one of the things we just really have to lay down in some topsy turvy times, at least I feel like topsy-turvy times, is taking people's God, giving dignity away because they don't do what we think they should do. 00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:17.920 Because that's really the first thing that happens in the story. 00:44:18.079 --> 00:44:20.800 She's not even a woman, she's a sinner. 00:44:23.760 --> 00:44:37.920 I know that sounds controversial, but look, if you're a student of the Constitution, you understand we believed in that when we made this country because we said everybody gets a trial by jury from their peers, even if I caught them in the act. 00:44:38.480 --> 00:44:40.639 Everybody's worth a trial. 00:44:41.119 --> 00:44:42.800 Even when they're wrong. 00:44:43.119 --> 00:44:45.679 Forgiveness doesn't mean I give up on an accountability. 00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:48.880 What it means is I'm committed to dignity no matter what. 00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:53.840 Simon's not committed to dignity. 00:44:55.519 --> 00:44:57.840 I'm not sure I am either. 00:44:58.159 --> 00:45:02.320 Which is why we'll hear this story again in three years. 00:45:02.719 --> 00:45:04.400 In three more years.