Tell Me Those Wonderful Stories

Luke 7:36 – 8:3, Galatians 2:15-end

There are some stories in scripture that I always look forward to popping up in the lectionary.... The talking Donkey in the book of Numbers and Elijah’s meeting with God after the earthquake, to name but two... and this one that we are hearing today.  The sinful woman at the feet of Christ.

Like all great stories, you can return to them again and again and never tire of hearing them.  You can know one off by heart down to the last comma and syllable, but you always want to hear it again, it feels soft and comfortable, you know exactly where you are with it and what it means....  but beware, they can catch you out these stories...  sometimes a narrative is liable to kick up its heels and flounce off down the path... and you’ll need to run after it, catch hold and look again with new eyes...  

This is what I think the lectionary is all about.  Visiting the all gospels and the rest of scripture in turn over a three year cycle.... so you come at them again from a different place, with a different perspective.. Because you are a different person than you were three years before...

It seems that the obvious link between the two readings we have just heard is salvation by faith, both the woman’s in the gospel and then St Paul passionately explaining it to the churches at Galatia once again!  And that’s quite true... But whilst I was mulling over the readings,  a quote from Tom Wright came to mind “All who share faith with Christ belong at the same table no matter what their racial, social or cultural differences..”   So I had another look...

If you glance at the window in our baptistry there they are... Simon the Pharisee, Christ seated at the table, and a woman pouring oil onto his feet..    Now history seems to place her firmly in the role of a prostitute...  but all we are told is that she is a sinner.

I wonder what her burden was that was so great... so overwhelming that she couldn’t put it into words... and yet, she had a faith that was so great that she knew just who this Jesus was... not just an itinerant teacher having dinner with the elders of the town... but the messiah, who could and would remove this burden from her. 

So she wept, anointed and kissed his feet...  confession and proclamation of love all in one gesture... No words needed.  Christ accepts her presence at the table...  accepts her offering of confession and love and gives her the forgiveness she craves. 

And don’t forget Simon...  he had invited Jesus to be at his table... perhaps he represents someone just on the edge of faith.. Christ sits at the table between them, both ministering at the margins and bringing them in to himself at the centre.

Now although we didn’t hear it, what has sparked off Paul’s fervent speech to the Galatians does actually have something to do with table fellowship...  He’s in the middle of a row with Peter...   For the early church was not all tambourines and kumbaya – they were still working it all out.   Up until recently Peter had always sat down at table to eat with both Jews and gentiles, but Paul has heard that he is no longer doing this, he’s starting to say that gentiles cannot be admitted to the faith unless they live like Jews.  This is what Paul is so worked up about.. that people can come to sit at Christ’s table through faith, not through having carried out the correct rituals, dressing in a certain manner, eating certain foods.

Because being in fellowship at the table with Christ is...

Not about the colour of your skin or what you wear.

Not about the rules you keep or those you break.

Not about the bits you cut off or the bits you add to your body.

It is what is in here... our faith in the Son of God and our love for our Lord.

A faith and love which can pick you up and turn you inside out, so that you find yourself swallowing your prejudices and extending the hand of fellowship to people and in places that you never dreamed of.

A faith that means you can stand before God and not have the words to say what you feel, but he will hear you and understand your anguish.

It’s something that strikes me every time I sit down round a table in our Coffee Shop with the Prayer Pastors on a Friday night, when the Street Pastors are out in the town.  We all of us come from very different traditions... Anglican both high and low, Baptist, chapel and community church members.  But we can gather around that table to pray because of our faith in Christ.

It’s why I worship here and why I am looking forward to the privilege of serving you as a Reader.

Because it is what we practice here at St Matthew’s... table fellowship with all who have faith in Jesus Christ.

13-06-10