Let Love and Gratitude Shape Our Lives

“Let Love and Gratitude Shape Our Lives” Rev. Sonja Dalglish, M.Div. for FPC Kingsville 1 Kings 21:1-10(11-14)15-21a, Psalm 5:1-8, Galatians 2:15-21, Luke 7:36-8:3

Focus: God loves and forgives us and provides us with life and blessings. Function: Encourage people to respond to life with gratitude

Introduction I am repeatedly reminded how important gratitude is in our lives. It has been an important part of our Reformed Faith from the beginning. We emphasize how God acts firsts with love, offers us a relationship with forgiveness, and asks for a response from us. John Calvin spoke of the best response being one of gratitude.

Gratitude is a response that can bring us a good life and guard against some of the anger and bitterness that can creep into our lives. No one’s life is without pain. No one is exempt from sin impacting them or those around them. No one I know has ever had everything they have wanted. No one has ever been able to do all they wanted to do. Today, we have in our Biblical stories, two opposite responses to life, you might say, stories of give and take, of gratitude and greed.

OT Lesson Let’s begin in Old Testament today with King Ahab and his queen, Jezebel. Jezebel is infamous for worshiping Baal and bringing Baal worship into Israel, complete with priests who could conduct this worship. Jezebel’s greatest sin was in not acknowledging the one true God to be God of all creation. She broke the commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Today, she is playing another disruptive role. Sometimes in cartoons, we see a person with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The angel is a symbol of the conscience urging the person to do the right thing. The devil is a symbol of the worst self, encouraging a person to do the wrong thing, the selfish thing.

Jezebel is that devilish encourager today. In a way, I can sympathize with her. Her husband is acting very childish. He is throwing a temper tantrum because he cannot have a vineyard that he wants. The king is depressed and

1 cannot eat. He is pouting like a child. She could have said, “Get up, for goodness sake. You are the KING!”

Instead, she encourages his envy and his greed, his desire to have what is not his. And we see why one of the ten commandments tells us not to covet the property of our neighbor. It can lead to deception, theft, and even murder. Lies and murder, all in order to get the king out of his funk.

The prophet Elijah is commissioned to tell the king that God is displeased with his actions. God is so displeased that Ahab and Jezebel will die in horrible circumstances, as justice for the evil they had done. This is a tale of greed, deception, and murder.

NT Lesson Turning to the NT, we have a very different story. It is a story of hospitality, forgiveness, and gratitude. Jesus has been invited to dinner. In these days, people reclined on cushions on the floor. He is reclining, with his feet to the side and back of him, most likely. A woman enters and while weeping, pours ointment and tears on his feet, drying them with her hair.

Jesus critiques the powerful and showing kindness to the powerless. The owner of the house must be a person of means. He is wondering about Jesus, and says, if he really was as good as they say, he’d know this woman was sinful. And, of course, good people did not associate with sinful people.

Imagine that you were giving a dinner party and had invited the high school principal over. And, into your house comes student who is a troublemaker, known for disrupting classes, being caught with stolen property and maybe drugs, and out of class half the time. At your dinner party, the student talks to the principal, sits beside her, refills her water glass, and does other acts of hospitality. As you are watching this, perhaps you wonder about the principal as she interacts kindly with this young person. How well does she know the students at her school. Does she really know this youth that she is responsible for?

This is what the Pharisee is thinking, and accuses Jesus of not knowing the kind of woman who is at his feet. To this accusation that Jesus tells a story of debt, debt forgiven, and gratitude. He asks the host who would be most grateful. And, the host answers that the person who was forgiven more, will have more gratitude. Jesus, then, critiques the hospitality of his host.

2 We do not know what kind of sin this woman has lived in. Many commentators, primarily, if not exclusively, male commentators have thought it was sexual sin. Perhaps this shows a lack of imagination on their part. Just look at Jezebel. She was quite adept at breaking many commandments. We have no indication that she was ever unfaithful to her husband, Ahab. Her worst sin was that she worshiped Baal and put Baal ahead of the one true God.

Whatever sins the woman in Luke committed, she showed profound love and gratitude for Jesus. She must have heard him preach and teach. In him, she found forgiveness. And to him, she showed her gratitude. He proclaims her sins forgiven and tells her that her faith has saved her. She may now go in peace.

Then, after that dinner party, Luke tells us that Jesus went out proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. “The twelve were with him, as well as some women … who provided for them out of their resources.” [Luke 8:1-3]

So many times, we have heard about the evil women of the Bible, how Eve caused Adam to fall, how Jezebel corrupted Ahab, but what about all the faithful women? Their gratitude helped to spread the word of God’s love and the expectations God has for our life together.

Conclusion There’s a story on Facebook that illustrates the difference that gratitude and forgiveness can make in our lives. A man relates how when riding in a taxi, a car pulled out in front of his taxi, resulting in the taxi driver having to slam on his brakes and come to a screeching halt. The car’s driver turned and yelled and gestured with his hands, clearly furious that the taxi had almost hit him. The taxi driver smiled and waved and wished the man a good day. The rider was amazed at the cordial response and asked how it was possible for someone to do this. The taxi driver told him about what he calls the “Law of the Garbage Truck.”

He said that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage trucks fill up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes

3 they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally – and don’t pick up and hold onto their garbage.

Instead, wish them well and move on!! Don’t take someone else’s garbage and spread it around to other people at home, church, work or on the streets. The bottom line is that stress-free people don’t let other people’s garbage take over their day.

Lay down your burdens every day at the foot of the cross, asking forgiveness for the good you left undone as well as for your mistakes when you missed the mark of being the best person you can be. Accept God’s forgiveness just as the woman at Jesus’ feet accepted it. And, get up grateful for all God has given you and has done for you. Be grateful, not greedy; loving and kind, not angry or bitter.

Let your life be shaped around love and gratitude. Wherever you are in life now, God is with you and loves you.

Let us pray:

Gracious God, we thank you for the words of love and grace we read in the scriptures. We thank you for our lives and our families, our country, and the beautiful world you have given us. Open our hearts to love you and others more. Help us to serve you better. Amen.

4 Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, June 16, 2013, the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading 1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14) 15-21a

1Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 2And Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money." 3But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance." 4Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, "I will not give you my ancestral inheritance." He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat.

5His wife Jezebel came to him and said, "Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?" 6He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it'; but he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" 7His wife Jezebel said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

8So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 9She wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; 10seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death." 11The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, 12they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly. 13The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him; and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city, and stoned him to death. 14Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned; he is dead."

15As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the

5 Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead." 16As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

17Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: Have you killed, and also taken possession?" You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood."

20Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, 21I will bring disaster on you; I will consume you, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel;

Psalm Psalm 5:1-8 1Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing. 2Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. 4For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you. 5The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful. 7But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house, I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you. 8Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

6 Second Reading Galatians 2:15-21

15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Gospel Luke 7:36-8:3

36One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 37And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38She 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. 39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him-that she is a sinner." 40Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."

"Teacher," he replied, "Speak." 41"A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" 43Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the

7 greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." 44Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do 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. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

47Therefore, 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." 48Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

1Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.