Called to compassion
I came face to face with a woman in a painting at a bookstore in Hutchinson about 15 years ago. Immediately I knew who it was: the woman from the Bible, in Luke chapter 7. Scripture calls her the "sinner woman." Apparently, nobody has bothered to ask her name! She crashes a dinner party because she's eager to show her gratitude to Jesus, for all he's done.
In the painting the woman is bent over, her face pressed to Jesus' feet. Luke tells us she cries so many tears of gratitude, she is able to wash his feet with them. Then she dries his feet with her hair, and kisses his feet, over and over.
However, someone is not especially happy about her exhuberant display of affection. So Jesus tells his host, a very religious man who is tsk-tsking in the corner, “Simon, the reason she has done this is because she has allowed me to work in her life." She has outdone the religious man by doing the things for Jesus that he should've done, the minute he walked into the door: giving him a kiss of peace on his cheeks, anointing his head with oil, having his servant wash his feet. And So Jesus tells him, "Simon, you love me very little, because you have not allowed me to do anything for you.”
This is the Good News that I believe God imprinted on my heart to call me into ministry. To tell people, whenever they say, “Pastor, I could come to your church, but the walls might cave in.” No, my friend. Your distance from the Lord, now, is no indicator of what your relationship can be, in the future. In fact, just the opposite may be true. Greater your love may be for him, if you allow him to work more, in your life. To heal. To forgive. To put back together.
It doesn't seem to make sense, but this story tells us that the more we hand over to Jesus to deal with, the greater our capacity to love him.
I don't know who you are so grateful to, that you would up behind them and weep, without saying a word. I’ve thought about this a lot, since I first read the last half of Luke 7, and saw this scene play out so vividly in my mind.
This is the Jesus I have come to know and love. Who loves everyone! Who is filled with great compassion, and will come alongside us in our messy lives, listening, healing, making us whole.
Wherever you are, know that you mean the world to him! The Lord loves you incredibly—even more than all the people on earth who have ever loved you, combined. So whether it’s been a minute since you’ve been to church, or you’ve never been, we invite you to join us and find this same Jesus with us. Come, just as your are.
—Pastor Kim Andrews
In the painting the woman is bent over, her face pressed to Jesus' feet. Luke tells us she cries so many tears of gratitude, she is able to wash his feet with them. Then she dries his feet with her hair, and kisses his feet, over and over.
However, someone is not especially happy about her exhuberant display of affection. So Jesus tells his host, a very religious man who is tsk-tsking in the corner, “Simon, the reason she has done this is because she has allowed me to work in her life." She has outdone the religious man by doing the things for Jesus that he should've done, the minute he walked into the door: giving him a kiss of peace on his cheeks, anointing his head with oil, having his servant wash his feet. And So Jesus tells him, "Simon, you love me very little, because you have not allowed me to do anything for you.”
This is the Good News that I believe God imprinted on my heart to call me into ministry. To tell people, whenever they say, “Pastor, I could come to your church, but the walls might cave in.” No, my friend. Your distance from the Lord, now, is no indicator of what your relationship can be, in the future. In fact, just the opposite may be true. Greater your love may be for him, if you allow him to work more, in your life. To heal. To forgive. To put back together.
It doesn't seem to make sense, but this story tells us that the more we hand over to Jesus to deal with, the greater our capacity to love him.
I don't know who you are so grateful to, that you would up behind them and weep, without saying a word. I’ve thought about this a lot, since I first read the last half of Luke 7, and saw this scene play out so vividly in my mind.
This is the Jesus I have come to know and love. Who loves everyone! Who is filled with great compassion, and will come alongside us in our messy lives, listening, healing, making us whole.
Wherever you are, know that you mean the world to him! The Lord loves you incredibly—even more than all the people on earth who have ever loved you, combined. So whether it’s been a minute since you’ve been to church, or you’ve never been, we invite you to join us and find this same Jesus with us. Come, just as your are.
—Pastor Kim Andrews