Written by professors, graduates, and others in
the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary community, these reflections, prayers, and spiritual practices will take you along the journey with Jesus through the cross toward resurrection.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
• Psalm 122
• Luke 7:36–50
My husband and I love to travel. We have some favorite locations to which we return, but can always find interesting and unknown places that lure us into packing our bags, juggling the challenges of modern-day travel, and heading down an untraveled road in search of new experiences.
Lent is an invitation to a journey of a particular kind. A journey of discovery, a pilgrimage, a time set aside to “go into the House of the Lord.” And while this journey is metaphorical, it shares certain things in common with the physical journeys we take.
One of those things is the preparation for the journey. What will we take with us to this new, unknown destination? What will go into our bags? Seasoned travelers know it is best to travel light. That means we have to choose carefully what we should take and leave out much of what we think we need. That is not an easy task. However, our task is simplified when we can bring ourselves to include the spiritual discipline of humility. Through humility, we can focus on those things that are important rather than those that simply make us look good.
Today’s reading puts this discipline into perspective. Simon, apparently a man of some importance, has invited Jesus to his home for dinner, and Jesus has accepted. But the evening holds some surprises. Luke tells us that we need to pay close attention to what happens next. “Behold!” he writes (v.37, RS V).
Simon’s carefully orchestrated dinner party is interrupted by the unannounced arrival of an uninvited, unnamed woman, one well-known for her unsavory reputation. As the host and other guests sit, staring in shock and indignation, she kneels behind Jesus. Weeping, she breaks open a costly jar of ointment and begins to massage his feet with her hair.
In order to serve Jesus, she has risked rejection and humiliation. But to her surprise and, even more, to Simon’s, Jesus challenges Simon’s behavior rather than the woman’s. Through her humility, the woman showed love. Through his pride, Simon could only show condemnation.
There is no room on our Lenten journey for both pride and humility, and we do well to leave pride behind. It is excess baggage of the worst kind, weighing us down, requiring many accessories. Can we do it? Can we promise, “I will, with God’s help?”
Loving God, help us to set aside our need for pride and selfimportance. Grant us the humility that delivers us from concerns of “what will people think” so that we are free to more truly love and serve you. In the name of Christ our Lord, Amen.
– The Reverend Jane Caperton Johnson (MDiv’06)
Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Smithville, Texas
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.
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