In my second year of seminary in Philadelphia, I was contacted by a pastor of one of the largest suburban congregations in the area.

I had no idea how he got my name, but he called to ask if I might be interested in working at his congregation while I was attending seminary. The would provide a healthy stipend and his people could experience a woman pastor! Now this was the same pastor who only 2 weeks before, on Easter Sunday, had appeared on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s feature section standing in front of his gun cabinet and talking about being such a successful pastor! Among other things, he was quoted as saying… “I haven’t mentioned the word sin in my pulpit for 30 years”!  Now that intrigued me… So, I went off to see him, knowing this would probably not be a lasting relationship.

After a tour of the campus, and noting the construction of another new building that would house a still larger sanctuary… we went to his office to talk.  And I asked him to tell me about that quote about sin… His quick reply was simply this…You know, these people who come here on Sunday have put in a tough week.  They are beaten down with responsibilities and hard work, so it is not my job to make them feel worse… So, I don’t load them up with negatives, and I don’t talk about sin!

Needless to say, we parted, and I never did go back to that congregation, though I know for a fact they continued to grow…

I can’t help but think back to that time today as we consider the lessons before us.  In every case, we are confronted with sin… the sinful action of King David whose greed drove him to use his power to overcome others; Paul’s description of the justification of all sinners ( and that would be all of us) through Jesus’ loving sacrifice and not through our works; and finally this extravagant act of gratitude  from a woman of the city who was, as we read,  a well-known sinner ( a capital “S” kind of sinner) and who then invades that all-male banquet stooping to anoint our Lord’s feet.  How can you avoid the subject of sin today?  Or any day for that matter???

No doubt about it…  This business of sin is uncomfortable for us, and probably that pastor was “right-on” when he suggests it can leave us feeling beaten down  -- or up for that matter…!  After all, sin suggests we are flawed – not perfect people.  And not one of us escapes that definition of ourselves, not even little Ledger Charles who will be baptized today.  All of us have it in us to sin.  But that is not the end of the story.

Remember – we began this service with Confession and Forgiveness.  Right up front Pastor Lull said , “Let us confess our sin…”    And in that moment we were called to open ourselves to God’s presence and sincerely expose the woundedness we bring here today. Oh, we use words prepared for us – not our own, of course, but we can translate them into our own lives… words like “we have turned from you and given ourselves into the power of sin…”  cause us to consider, when did we choose the convenient over the courageous or when did we keep what we could have shared?  This confession is all about taking a good look at those “things we have done and things we have failed to do…”  like loving our neighbor as ourselves, standing up for what is just or forgiving as we have been forgiven. The words in our confession pretty much cover all of our weaknesses, our sins… while we are invited to fill in the blanks.

Left there in the abyss of our own propensity to turn from God, we could feel pretty miserable about our lives. But then, out of the “blue”, without any prompting or “greasing the wheel”

we immediately hear… “God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin and made us alive together with Christ.

 By grace you have been saved. In other words, “In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.”  Plucked up out of the despair of our own brokenness, we are forgiven, so that we can venture out again to live a life worthy of such a gift.

We never hear how that woman – that big-time sinner who breaks into Simon’s party, actually came to know the message of her own forgiveness --- at what moment or in what way she suddenly heard that great good news, and it registered in her heart and mind.   But surely, it did.  Because in seeking out Jesus’ presence she acknowledges that wondrous gift with a lavish expression of her own gratitude… courageously entering into a place she was not wanted and where she surely would be ridiculed, and then humbly washing Jesus’ feet with her tears.  

The Apostle Paul reminds us what that woman found to be so amazing -- that our justification, our being made right with God --- FORGIVENESS , in the face of our own sinfulness, is not the result of anything that we do!  No work that we can perform, no good behavior that we can exhibit, and surely no promise that we make about future  behavior will win for us God’s forgiveness.  That is why we call this phenomenon – grace. It belongs to God to give and it comes with no strings attached.  It is pure gift. Won for us through Christ’s death  and resurrection, it is ours to claim. Whatever that woman was doing that made her such a target for the Simon’s judgment, (and you can probably guess what it was)while it might have been an ugly sign of her brokenness, it was not reason enough for her to be separated from God’s grace.  And so, she claimed that grace…

So, what’s the point, you might ask?  If it doesn’t matter what you do, because you will be forgiven by grace anyway, then isn’t that license to sin without regard to consequence?  I suppose it could seem that way…  But you see that attitude couldn’t be farther from the truth of what the woman in Luke’s story is telling us. For, in this story, this woman is coming face-to-face with a gift that can change her life. She has encountered the power of grace that has set her free.  Forgiven, she has faced her own brokenness and she is humbled in the face of such a gift.  For her, there is every chance that this fresh start could set her on a new path far more fulfilling, far more aware of God’s grace that accompanies her.  Just consider her first act as a forgiven sinner.  Gratitude… immense gratitude… generously poured out.

Unfortunately, while we give great lip service to this grace we witness in our texts today, many of us detour around  the depth of its meaning in our lives …  For without claiming the sin that is at work in us, we can easily overlook the grace that is already there and stands ready to set us free…  Frankly, I believe that in the experience of seeking and receiving God’s forgiveness we most closely bump up against the power of God’s grace to change our lives too.  In that vulnerable moment where humility leads us to seek forgiveness, to claim our own brokenness, and face our relationship with God and with one another, there ----- right there – is God with the embrace of a love that says,  “Your faith has saved you (even before you began); go in peace.” 

Rescued from the darkness, God’s grace showers us in light.  And we are opened to a new day. “Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts.” 

You see, mentioning sin in the pulpit or anywhere else is not condemnation but the opportunity to discover again and again God’s sweet grace that lives in forgiveness.

Thanks be to God, and Amen…