Burgers in the Rain…

November 19, 2004 | 4:20 AM

It’s been rainy here all day. I hear it’s like Wales. One day I’ll go there. Been to London. Guess it’s about the same. Tonight we met at Liz’s house. Me, Justin, Kyle, Brent, Dave, and Liz. It was good times. Cooked burgers and hot dogs. Talked about our favorite Christmases… Brent’s was the best- snow, power outtages, fires… awesome. Justin’s were good, so was Liz’s Hawaii Christmas. Me? Man I don’t really remember a Christmas that was really eventful, and we really don’t have any traditions. It was kinda sad. Somehow we got onto some other stuff. Eventually ended up discussing the general negative attitude of Lipsey Hall. Dave, Brent, Kyle, and I live in Lipsey. It’s frustrating because it seems like people get all confrontational, even if it’s in a joking manner, and then there’s tension. I was supposed to lead a small time in the Word tonight, but I had decided to back off when nobody really brought it up… and then suddenly we got onto the topic of gratitude, which is what I was gonna talk about. Thank you God. Stop being weird, Lord. (Or not.) Anyhoo, I brought up the Luke 7 story.

Luke 7:36-50

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is–that she is a sinner.”

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. How which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven–for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
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Basically, our capacity to love other people is absolutely linked to our gratitude toward God for His forgiveness and grace. It’s like this: you owe Visa 50 bucks, I owe Visa 500 bucks. Mr. Visa cancels our debts. Who is more grateful? Me, because I owed the larger amount. How do you become more grateful? Go out and spend more. (Go out and sin more.) Don’t stop reading here. Of course not. You need to recognize the magnitude of your own sin, and ask forgiveness, which is available from God through Christ. Hmm. Because much has been forgiven, your capacity to love will be increased much. Just something to ponder.

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