When I was a boy, my dad had a grocery store called "Basil's Market". It was a tiny store, probably no bigger than the size of the meeting room we have in the Field Building. And from the time I was 10 years old, I worked there every Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. He taught me how to stock the shelves, and how to dust the merchandise so it looked fresh and new, and he taught me how to sit behind the counter and run the adding machine and cash register. The grocery store was my first experience in marketing, which is really all about how people decide that some things are worth more than other things. For example, whenever we had canned goods that were a little dented or boxes that were a little dirty or torn, I knew that people would set them aside and choose items that weren't dented or dirty. So in order to sell the items that came in dented cans or torn boxes, we put them in a box near the counter, and we priced them real cheap, hoping people would buy them. But hardly anybody ever took those items, no matter how low we priced them. The food was just the same as in the pretty cans and boxes, but people were worried that somehow, they were getting an inferior product – damaged goods.
The same thing happens with people. All of us have seen people on the street that just don't look right somehow. Maybe their clothes are worn out, or their clothes are dirty. Or maybe they just don't look right somehow. Or perhaps there's something about them that we just don't like somehow. We can't quite put our finger on it, but they seem like damaged goods.
In today's Gospel reading, we hear a story about a man named Simon, who invites Jesus to a dinner party. And while Jesus is there, a woman comes into the house and, weeping, begins to anoint his feet and dry them with her hair. Now you may remember that we heard a similar story during Lent where Mary, the sister of Jesus' friend Lazarus, anoints his head. But this is a different story and this is a different woman. We don't know who she is or why she is crying. All we know is that she is "a sinner" and that she felt drawn to come into the house to see Jesus that day. We also know that Simon disapproves of the woman. And after a while, Jesus, aware of his host's discomfort, says to him, "Do you see this woman?"
Now I can just imagine what Simon must have thought. 'Do I see this woman?' Is he serious? She's walked into my house uninvited. She's so ashamed of herself, she's crying her eyes out. She has gone over to my guest of honor and started rubbing his feet with lotion and kissing them. And then she's using her hair as a wash rag.
Seeing is believing, and Simon believes what he sees. He sees a loose woman, a shameful woman, who has a past. He sees a sinner...damaged goods. But Jesus sees someone very different. Jesus sees a woman who has sought and received forgiveness; a woman who is moved to tears, not by her shame, but by her joy at being forgiven. Jesus sees a woman who is moved to acts of love and servanthood because she has been released from the sins of her past, through forgiveness.
The word for sin in this story is αμαρτία. It is an archery term; a sin is something that misses the mark. For Jews, like Jesus, a sin is an action that misses God's intention for us. It is a thought, word or deed that runs agains God's desire for us. It was only later that Christians began to think about sin as a state of being, as in "living in sin." These two different ways of thinking about sin have a profound effect on how we "see" people. Because if we think of sin as a bad action – an action that misses the mark – then we can see how we all have the opportunity to change our lives, even though we are all sinners. But if we believe that sin is a state of being – that people sin because we are sinful creatures to begin with – then we might sometimes see the game as rigged. We'll begin to believe that we're all damaged goods, and that sinfulness is a condition that we have to live with forever.
The fact of the matter is that we are all sinners. We all miss the mark. But I believe that Jesus saw that we do not constantly live in a state of sinfulness. We don't become damaged goods by our sinful action. When we seek forgiveness for our sins, when we believe that we can turn our lives around, God releases us from the burdens of our sinful acts of thought, word or deed. We are released from the guilt and shame of whatever was past, so that we can get on with living free to love God and to love each other.
Most of the time, my dad would have to bring home the damaged goods for us to eat. Most people couldn't see that what's inside the cans was just as good as any others. But occasionally, a smart shopper would stop and pick up a bargain. But Christ sees that it's what's inside of us that counts. He sees us for who we are, and he forgives us and loves us, so we can get on with the business of loving and serving the rest of the world.
Today, we will be sending off our junior and senior high youth on a pilgrimage. They will be traveling for a week, visiting places and meeting people along the way. They will be seeing old things for the first time, and hearing old stories with new ears. They will be thinking about what they see, and whether it matches what the expected to see. May God grant them – and all of us – the ability to see people for who they really are. Children of God, who are forgiven so that they can get on with the business of loving and serving the rest of the world.
Thanks be to God.
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