Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on Tue, 08/12/2009 – 15:26
Bible Book: Luke / Lukas
Chapter: 7
Verse: 36 – 50
Text: Luke 7:36-50
A sermon on Luke 7:35-50 I found on the Internet has a remarkable introduction that put the issue of the Pharisee’s attitude towards the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her tears in a clear light. It tells a story that was supposed to have happened during the 60’s of the previous century. I was not able to verify the story and have therefore changed the name of the person in the story. I quote the preacher:
“.. Dan’s first call was to Seoul, Korea. … He was an enthusiastic young pastor and he was enthusiastic about his first job at a church in Seoul, Korea. Dan was going to be a missionary in Seoul, Korea, but he was going to have a very specialized ministry in that he was going to minister to the street prostitutes of Seoul. So he went to work with these prostitutes in Seoul and he worked for seven years and he did not have one conversion. Can you imagine working in a garden for seven years and not having anything grow? Can you imagine working with your plants for seven years and none of them bear fruit?
And after seven years, it finally happened, and God got through to the heart of…Dan. You see, Dan had been working with the prostitutes but he felt that he was one, two, or three cuts above them. He felt that he was a little spiritually superior. Dan had this quality where he maximized everybody else’s faults and minimized his own. He would bring other people’s sins into focus with his giant microscope but he would blur and minimize his own sins. He had clarity about every body else’s problems but he was blind to his own. And so God finally got through to Dan’s heart and eyes and Dan started to see these people not so much as sinners but as people sinned against. These young prostitutes were young girls who had been sold into slavery by their fathers.”
Forty years after this story the stories of the AIDS pandemic sadly reveal attitudes of judging others without really understanding their circumstances.
To think about (or discuss): Can you think of examples of how you have shown attitudes similar to that of Simon, the Pharisee?
Author: N du Toit (Ds)
Language: English