She was weeping - uncontrollably weeping those super salty tears that make your eyes burn for the whole day. It was the flood of tears that couldn’t be stopped. Somehow she had heard about Jesus. What she knew of him was unclear. But I bet she knew about his love. Maybe she heard about how he healed people. She knew that seeing him, touching him, connecting with him might make all the difference in the world.

She had carried this weight around for far too long. Sin can be a heavy, heavy load. Broken promises, broken relationships, the many regrets and longings had taken her to the edge of her existence. Maybe in other ways she was bold and strong. After all, she walked right into the Pharisee’s house carrying her jar of costly perfume. Maybe everyone knew about her sin, maybe only a few.

But she did it. She approached his goodness with her brokenness and she lost it, completely. Were there words exchanged? Who knows? Who cares? What she did says everything. She began to bathe his feet with her tears. When that was too much, she dried them with her hair. She kept kissing his feet, rubbing them with the perfume. She let the pain flow like a river straight out of her heart.

Jesus took in her pain. Like no other, Jesus can take what’s broken in us and make it whole again. I know it’s true. I’ve been in that place of needing the forgiveness that goes beyond our human limitations. Only Jesus can take away the crippling effects of our guilt and shame, and the living Jesus works in amazing ways to take away that pain. Sometimes his blessing comes through the words of people who love us. Sometimes it comes in a quiet moment alone. But the knowledge that God loves us even when we have become unlovable can only reach us when our hearts crack open to receive that kind of unconditional love.

Obviously, there were those at the party who were not ready to be so open. The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was appalled at such a public display of emotion. He thought to himself that Jesus couldn’t possibly be a prophet if he let a sinful woman like that touch him. But Jesus used that passing negative thought as a wedge to open his host’s heart just a little bit more. He told Simon about a creditor who had two debtors – one with a greater debt, the other with a lesser debt. One had totally maxed out his credit limit and had not a penny to his name, but the other had a seemingly manageable amount of debt but a circumstance came up so that he couldn’t pay. The creditor forgave both – so which would love him more?

The analogy is perfect genius. We all owe God something. Perhaps it’s a little, perhaps it’s a lot. Jesus knows how to get the answer that he’s looking for. Which one will love the creditor… which one will love God more? Simon understands what his answer has to be. The one with the greater debt canceled will be relieved and jubilant; it may even mean a whole new chance on life. The other debtor may be grateful, temporarily, but in the long run may never really understand the gift that he was given.

She knows that she got a gift she didn’t deserve. But Simon hasn’t understood the gift himself. So, turning toward her, but addressing Simon, Jesus says, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.”

At this point, Simon must have wanted to crawl under a table. The contrast in gratitude, hospitality, and authenticity is dramatic. The “good” people at the party did not want to admit how much they needed forgiveness and love. It was embarrassing. It was far easier to begin to talk among themselves about Jesus. No one has the power to forgive sins – or do they? They couldn’t believe that this prophet Jesus was saying that she got it, and they didn’t.

So imagine yourself at this party. Where are you sitting? What kind of reaction do you have to the woman, to Jesus, to your host? Suppose you had to answer Jesus’ question – which of them will love him more? Is your heart open to receive the answer?

Forgiveness, acceptance, grace – these are all gifts that none of us deserves. Jesus has the power to condemn us, but he doesn’t. In fact, those with greater debts, bigger sins, painful lives, he says, will come to love God more. Thinking that we have it all together and owe God very little limits our capacity to love and be loved.

I’m not typically an altar call preacher, but today I will invite you to open your heart to Jesus. Let him in. If you have let forgiveness be small in your life, open up a little more. Let the bigness of Jesus’ love overwhelm you. Yes, it is emotional. Yes, it is scary. Yes, it may make others look at us differently. Meet Jesus in the raw places. Even as a formal party guest, he welcomes the broken ones to come to him and be put back together.

Amen.