{"id":18614,"date":"2022-01-28T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotionfriday-28-january-2022"},"modified":"2022-01-28T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T06:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-friday-28-january-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-friday-28-january-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion\u00a0Friday 28 January 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Luke 7: 36 – 50<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee\u2019s house and took his place at the table.  And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee\u2019s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.  She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, \u2018If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him\u2014that she is a sinner.\u2019  Jesus spoke up and said to him, \u2018Simon, I have something to say to you.\u2019 \u2018Teacher,\u2019 he replied, \u2018speak.\u2019  \u2018A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them.<\/p>\n

Now which of them will love him more?\u2019  Simon answered, \u2018I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.\u2019 And Jesus said to him, \u2018You have judged rightly.\u2019  Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, \u2018Do 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. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.\u2019  Then he said to her, \u2018Your sins are forgiven.\u2019  But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, \u2018Who is this who even forgives sins?\u2019  And he said to the woman, \u2018Your faith has saved you; go in peace.\u2019<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/span><\/strong>
Sometimes we get it wrong.  Those of us in the Church often bind ourselves in with rules and processes and procedures, and the more tightly we define our \u201cin group\u201d, the harder it is for those who most need to be in Church to actually get in.<\/span><\/p>\n

We see it in our \u201cvery friendly church that\u2019s like a family,\u201d which is then experienced by the newcomer as cliquey (do remember not just to talk to your friends on Sunday morning \u2013 make an effort to find someone you don\u2019t yet know well!)<\/span><\/p>\n

We see it in complex rules and culture that is impenetrable to those trying to join us (why <\/span>do we stand at that point and sit at the next; why do we expect people to know we sing Amen three times at the end of some hymns, and to which music?)<\/p>\n

We see it in unspoken attitudes \u2013 here\u2019s a person of different ethnicity, a single parent, a parent with a child who makes a noise in church, a person with a different gender identity: they are <\/span>not like us\u2026!<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong: good church order is essential, and culture (\u201cthe way we do things around here\u201d) is inescapable.  But are we open to learning from the Other, to welcome them into our circle and embrace them, and maybe even learn from them?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pharisee could only see the woman\u2019s sinfulness and was blind to the plank in his own eye.  Jesus showed him there was more to it: she knew how much she needed Jesus and how great the forgiveness he offered; the Pharisee thought he was already right with God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whose opinion and approach mattered most?  That of the Pharisee or the forgiven woman?  How shall we respond to the great love of God in Christ Jesus?<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer<\/span><\/strong>
God of mercy,<\/span>
Forgive us when we shut You out of our lives
and when we build barriers to keep others away from You.
Help us to remember that we are in no place to judge,
for we too rely wholly on Your grace.  Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Luke 7: 36 – 50 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee\u2019s house and took his place at the table.  And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee\u2019s house, brought an alabaster jar of … <\/p>\n

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