Luke 7- Andy's thoughts

This is a great passage. I guess I’m going to be saying that a lot. The Bible is great. But there are parts of this chapter that really speak to me. I am struck most by the account of the “sinful” woman meeting Jesus. Traditionally, she is thought of as a local prostitute. I’m sure that the local men would have had certain negative opinions about her. And I wonder what Jesus would have thought. I heard a sermon by Tony Campolo that got me thinking.

Jesus never met a prostitute

I realize that this is a strange thing to say. I realize that for someone unfamiliar with the content of the Bible that it would sound strange to talk about what Jesus did or whom he never met. Perhaps you are now wondering whom else Jesus never met. Maybe- Jesus never met an astronaut. Jesus never met Elvis. Jesus never met an Eskimo.

Perhaps you think, “Well, I suppose that makes sense. Jesus was a holy religious person so why would he meet a prostitute.; It would be rather scandalous if he met a prostitute. He’s got to be better than the famous religious people of our time who not only meet prostitutes but use them for their own sexual gratification- whether it is Jim Bakker of the 1980’s sex scandal or Ted Haggerty of the Christian Coalition today who used male prostitutes. There is a rampant immorality among the religious- even specifically within the Christian, evangelical Christian community. Surely this Jesus has to be a nobler person than that. So, yeah, it makes sense that he never met a prostitute.

Some of you, however, are bouncing up and down in your seats. Some of you have peeked into this book and are so excited to yell at me. “WHAT!!! How could you say that Jesus never met a prostitute?” And you are so set to show me passages in the New Testament that prove me wrong. And the first time I heard someone say this I was feeling that same thing.

And some of you, I hope, can guess what it is I’m about to say. For those of you who have read through some or all of the Bible’s description of Jesus- Do you really think that Jesus met a prostitute? Do you really think that when Jesus met Mary Magdalene he thought to himself, “Self, I’m meeting a prostitute”? Somehow, I just don’t imagine it that way…

Jesus met people. Jesus didn’t meet doctors and lawyers. Jesus didn’t meet kings and rulers. Jesus didn’t meet sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes. He met people. He met people that were made in his own image. He met people who were image bearers of his Father. He met people he would love, people he would serve, people for whom he would die. Jesus never met a prostitute.

Jesus met people with broken lives carrying a legacy of bad decisions, bad circumstances, and bad habits. Jesus met people who were products of sin and producers of more sin. Jesus met people who appeared clean on the outside but were filthy on the inside and people who were filthy on the outside and would clean them on the inside. Jesus met people. Jesus met me.

In meeting me, Jesus did not meet a teacher, a small business owner, a ministry leader. Jesus did not meet a son, a brother, an uncle, a godfather. Jesus did not meet a male, a Korean, German, French Canadian, Native American. Jesus met me.

There have been various points in my life where all I have been labeled as, has been stripped away. My identity is never found in my profession, my volunteer service, my address or even my last name. My identity is not found in my gender or ethnicity or my age. My identity is found in the one in whose image I was made. And this identity, this true me, is the one that Jesus met.

Amanda, I love your comments. Her reaction to Jesus is beautiful. We should learn from her reckless abandonment in worship. I know at ORB, we tend to be goofy, yet at our Sunday services we are still a rather reserved bunch. Why not let more emotion and passion spring forth? If the Spirit moves us, let us more freely raise up our hands to God, cry to God, and stand up in awe and wonder. The only shame would be in holding back our expression to God.

Steve, you ask a good question about the centurion and his slave. While it is awesome that Jesus heals the sick slave and it is noble that the master cares for his slave, why permit it at all? I think that it is good to ask ethical questions like that as we read. If we didn’t, I would think that we are not really reading the Bible as true history.

Too often, I think, people treat the Bible as a fairy tale and bring into it the same level of suspended disbelief that we would to a mythical tale or obvious fiction. But I believe that the Bible is telling us about real people who had real pains and real suffering. We should be bothered to read about slavery.

I’ll make a few comments here, but the topic is bigger than I will post about tonight. First and foremost I will say this. I believe that slavery is evil. I will not try to sugarcoat it or make it seem more palatable just because it is mentioned in the Bible. While the condition of a slave during the early Roman Empire was different than the condition of African slaves in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries, it was still evil. (Roman slaves had far more rights and even had a very likely chance to become free after a number of years. Roman slavery was also less about race and more about nationality and indebtedness.)

Next, I’ll say that often times the Bible tells us the way it was and not always the way it ought to have been. This is a really crucial facet of interpreting narrative portions of the Bible. Just because slavery is mentioned, I don’t believe that God is condoning slavery.

Finally, I would say that though slavery was evil, Jesus did not set right every single thing that was wrong during his earthly ministry. His primary mission was not to overthrow oppressive political systems nor to reconcile all racial and gender disputes. His primary mission was to set humanity right with God. In doing so, there would be long lasting effects that would lead to genuine change for the oppressed and hopeful reconciliation between ethnic groups and men and women.

I believe it is our task as believers and followers of Jesus to continue to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the captive, to heal the sick. In short- to continue the outworking of God’s redemption of humanity through our words and actions. We should work with groups that are protecting women and children. We should work toward racial reconciliation. We should serve with organizations that literally help to end slavery throughout the world. Some of you already know about IJM- the International Justice Mission. For those of you who don’t- they are a ministry that is actively working to end slavery. There are over 27 million people around the world who are currently living in forced servitude. 27,000,000 people. Many of them are women and girls and boys who have been abducted and forced into prostitution. Who will help them?

We need to live fuller lives. I need to live a fuller life. Jesus did not come to make my comfortable life a little more comfortable. He came to redeem my broken life. He came to resurrect my dead life. And he sends us back out into the world to continue to join him in redeeming others.

Application-
*What will we do about the 27 million living as slaves around the world?
*Are we holding back in our expression of worship to God out of shame?
*How can we encourage each other to take part more fully in Jesus’ mission for us?