Even though Americans have much more than most other peoples on earth, we don’t exactly go out of our way to express gratitude to God for what we have. To the contrary, we have, to a large extent, become a nation of whiners, lamenting about never having enough.
In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus tells us we should feel gratitude for having been forgiven of our sins, but how many of us think that’s owed to us, too? How many of us actually believe God owes us a means of escape from our sins, which is why he sent Jesus to die for them? And how many of us actually believe that when we choose sin over God, he’s still duty-bound to save us?
Many people feel and think that way. So if you feel no need to be forgiven, why is it necessary to show gratitude for something you don’t need? The gratitude we feel is a good index as to how much of God’s forgiveness we have experienced.
There’s a striking contrast of gratitude and ingratitude at the house of Simon the Pharisee. Simon may have invited Jesus because there was a lot of talk among Simon’s peers about this highly unusual prophet, so Jesus may have been invited to be the entertainment for Simon’s friends and colleagues.
The reason doesn’t matter; it’s what happened and what Jesus said that does.
The banquet was interrupted by a woman known to be a notorious sinner, setting the stage for Jesus’ teaching about gratitude as it relates to forgiveness, which is that, as a rule, those who have received the most in terms of forgiveness express the most gratitude.
It’s obvious Simon the Pharisee felt no need for the grace of God. His attitudes toward Jesus present a timeless portrait of ingratitude, one we’ve seen to the point we don’t even notice it anymore. Ingratitude always reacts to Christ with an incorrect motivation, approaching Christianity with an “It’s-all-about-me” attitude.
Simon’s mind probably was churning with curiosity about Jesus, but curiosity without commitment never results in gratitude toward Christ. At best, Simon had invited Jesus to this banquet out of curiosity, and at worse to entrap him theologically in front of his peers and colleagues. Absolutely nothing about Simon’s reaction to Jesus reveals any sense of personal need for Christ’s message of forgiveness.
If we have the gift of discernment, one of the first things we sense in people alleged to be Christians is whether they have a forgiving spirit or whether they enjoy meting out condemnation. Condemnation, obviously, is a much easier career path than forgiveness. It requires little or no effort on our part.
Think about how much harder it is to forgive than to condemn. Even Jesus had a hard time getting that across to folks.
Simon based his perceptions of Christ on man-made religious views that credited men with having more knowledge and wisdom than God, but it’s impossible for a cold, calculating self-righteousness to evaluate the mission and message of Jesus. Salvation is not based on something like a mathematical equation. Man’s logic is not God’s logic.
Simon calculated Jesus could not be God’s prophet because he let a sinner touch him. Like other Pharisees, he did not see himself as a sinner; rather as a man who had transcended sin, so he looked down his nose at those who were not like him.
Jesus was radically different than a religionist. He not only let sinners touch him, he seemed oblivious to the rules of the game played by religionists.
Because the customs of that day enabled uninvited guests to do what she did, the sinful woman came into the banquet room to express her gratitude in a spontaneous manner. For Simon and his entourage, it had to be shocking, because I’m sure none of them had ever felt the need to express gratitude to God. They just followed the man-made rules for religion that were a part of their culture.
The woman was so overcome with emotion, she began to weep at the feet of Jesus. This indicates she was not ashamed to demonstrate the depth of her thanksgiving. Authentic gratitude expresses itself humbly, and a true sense of lowliness marks authentic thanksgiving.
It’s obvious this woman had a deeper understanding of God than did Simon and all his cronies, although they probably had committed to memory all the Scripture available in that day and time.
Authentic gratitude also expresses itself sacrificially, and the woman was showing that when she used the alabaster container of perfume on Jesus’ feet. I believe this was the best she had, and it probably had been earned from her life of sin. So, symbolically, she was giving up her life of sin for Jesus, and she probably became one of his followers, whereas Simon and his bunch simply went on being religious for the sake of being religious.
When we deeply feel our need for Jesus’ grace, we will openly express our gratitude for that grace. And, when our needs are met in Christ gratitude will mark that discovery.
The person who shows no gratitude shows no evidence of experiencing God’s grace. The result of great grace is great gratitude.