When you look at the Gospels, each one tells about a woman who anoints Jesus while he is at table, and in each Gospel someone is there to reprimand her, to scold her, but as we travel to Luke’s house for the summer, we find that unlike the other Gospels, Luke is distinct, and the act of anointing does not foreshadow Jesus’ death or point to his future. Instead, in Luke, anointing is seen as an act of sheer hospitality.
      Even as she crashes the party, the unnamed woman of Luke enacts a drastic kind of generosity; an extravagant kind of hospitality that she literally embodies in washing Jesus’ feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, kissing them with her lips, and finally anointing his feet with an ointment. ⁱ
      A few nights ago at a Presbytery meeting at Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Fernando Rodriquez, came before the Presbytery to become a candidate for ordination to Word and Sacrament. Fernando is a member of the Iglesia Presbiteriana Nueva Vida. He told of growing up in a Roman Catholic family in Puerto Rico, of moving to New Jersey to attend Rutgers. And just as he was struggling and scuffling with God about his faith and vocation, he met his wife to be, who with considerable hospitality invited him to attend church. Iglesia Presbiteriana Nueva Vida is a six year old church and Fernando is their first candidate.
      So here he stands, asking Presbytery to confirm the call that God has upon him to become a pastor and the Presbytery says, “Yes.”
      It was his wife however that brought us to our knees. After a short service of constitutional questions and a charge by his pastor, Fernando’s wife offered a prayer.
      She prayed in Spanish. She prayed fervently. She began with a simple “O Senor,” meaning O God, O father, and then after a long pause, she continued to pray through tears and sobs.
      I could only understand a few words, my Spanish being quite rusty, but it didn’t matter at all, because what we could all understand was her impassioned and enthusiastic need to thank God for her husband and his call to serve the church of Jesus Christ.
      Hospitality and thanksgiving were the recurrent themes, because:

even though most of us could not understand the words, we could hear the prayer;

even though most of us could not interpret the grammar, we could decipher the weeping;

even though most of us could not construe her nuances, we could experience the work of the Holy Spirit.

      And through her prayer we were all ushered into an ardent, joyful, eager praise of God.

      The unnamed woman in Luke ushers us into an ardent, joyful, eager praise of God. What we know of the woman is that she is a “of the city” and “a sinner.” Historically, she’s known as a prostitute, but no where in scripture does it say she’s a prostitute.
      Even the Presbyterian Worship Planner subtitles this section of Luke: Responses of a Pharisee and a Harlot. Ouch. Beverly Gaventa reminds us that to speak of this woman as a prostitute is to engage in useless speculation. What we do know is that even though she says nothing, she does plenty – weeping, bathing, kissing and anointing Jesus feet, and wiping them with her hair. Her action, says Dr. Gaventa, fulfills the hospitality neglected by the host. ⁱⁱ
      Through tears and sobs and weeping, she is a most intense and starling visitor.
      Yet even more startling is the difference in how Simon, the Pharisee and the woman, treat Jesus.
      Preacher Michael Lindvall notes that here we find Simon who is curious, open-minded, and bright, interested in religious ideas. Why not invite a traveling rabbi to dinner? How pleasant, after all, to host this young rabbi of note, who offers another fascinating perspective on Judaism. Simon didn’t need Jesus as Messiah or Savior; he was interested in good conversation. It makes his hospitality, such as it is, really all about Simon himself.
      But in contrast, the woman, offers Jesus a hospitality that is about Jesus. There is no theological dinner talk, simply an act of utterly earnest, self-yielding devotion. She needs Jesus, not to round out her personal spirituality, but so that she may give thanks to the Lord who has set her free;ⁱⁱⁱ and to go in peace.
      Interestingly, Fred Craddock wonders where one goes when told to “go in peace.” What she needs,” Craddock says, is a community of forgiven and forgiving sinners. The story screams the need for a church, and not just any church, but one that says you are welcome here.” ^iv

      Whatever her sin, the woman with the alabaster jar of ointment experiences a breakthrough into the very heart of God, and it changes everything.
      She is seized by God who has something to say and she listens.
      She is seized by God who has something to say, and as one preacher puts it -- God’s goodness is bigger than her badness; that life is gift, and birth is windfall. ^v
      There’s an old legend about Judas that Madeleine L’Engle tells. The legend is that after his death Judas found himself at the bottom of a deep and slimy pit. For thousands of years he wept his repentance, and when the tears were finally spent, he looked up, and saw, far into the distance, a tiny glimmer of light. After a time, he began to climb up toward the light. The walls of the pit were dark and wet, and time and time again he kept slipping back down.
      Finally, after great effort, he reached the top and as he dragged himself into a room, it was an upper room, he saw people, people he knew, people seated around a table.
      And then Jesus said,
      “ We’ve been waiting for you, Judas.”
      “ We couldn’t begin till you arrived.” ^vi

      So many people are looking for a community;
      a community of hospitality,
      a community of forgiven and forgiving sinners;
      a church of ardent, joyful, and eager worshippers;
      a church,
      and not just any church, but one that says:
      you, and you, and you, are welcome here.
      By the power of the Holy Spirit,
      may it be here and may it be now.
      Thanks be to God.

Endnotes
ⁱMichael Lindvall. Scandalous Behavior. Christian Century. June 1, 2004.
ⁱⁱBeverly R. Gaventa Charles B. Cousar, J. Clinton McCann, Jr., James D. Newsome. Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV, Year C. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994, 388-390.
ⁱⁱⁱMichael Lindvall. Scandalous Behavior. Christian Century. June 1, 2004.
^ivFred Craddock. Luke. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990, 106. As cited by James T. Moor in his sermon, A Place of Welcome. Luke 7:36-50. Day1, A division of the Alliance for Christian Media, Atlanta, Georgia, June 17, 2007.
^vJohn Claypool. Life Is Gift. Luke 7:36-8:3. Day1, A division of the Alliance for Christian Media, Atlanta, Georgia, June 13, 2004.
^viMadeleine L’Engle as cited by James T. Moor. A Place of Welcome. Luke 7:36-50. Day1, A division of the Alliance for Christian Media, Atlanta, Georgia, June 17, 2007.

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