Daily Devotional • October 12
A Reading from Luke 7:36-50
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and when he went into the Pharisee’s house he reclined to dine. 37 And 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. 38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair, kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39 Now 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.” 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then 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. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” 48 Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Meditation
Over the last few years, I’ve slowly recovered from a devastating neurological illness. This illness pounced on me all of a sudden, turning my world inside out nearly overnight. At times, I couldn’t walk. At times, I couldn’t eat. At times, I truly despaired and wondered whether I would ever recover. Now, nearly a decade after my first symptoms began, I go for regular walks at high altitude where I live in Colorado. I enjoy many a homecooked meal. I have never been more grateful for my health.
Of course, my own experience immediately came to mind as I read today’s Gospel excerpt about the unnamed woman—defined only by her status as “a sinner”—who caresses Jesus’s feet with her hair. She has no shame as she weeps over his toenails, even though she probably overhears the host criticizing her. Her bone-deep gratitude spills out into unabashed action. She loves God wholeheartedly because she, more than anyone else in the room, knows who he is and what he has done for her.
I’ll admit, I’m not always quick to thank God for my health. I more often talk about my amazing doctor—she saved my life, I say, because she did. I tell everyone I meet about her. Which makes me wonder, why am I not this enthusiastic about God? Why don’t I tell others about the powerful healing I’ve received through the Spirit, physically, spiritually, and emotionally? What would it look like for my gratitude and love for Jesus to overflow in such abundance that I, like the unnamed woman, am entirely unashamed of my overwhelming exuberance?
This Gospel reading is a challenge to all of us to reconsider who we think Jesus is and look for the ways he may be working in our lives—both the big, miraculous ways and the small, nearly imperceptible ways. God acts in grand gestures, sure, but he also enters the world in unassuming ways, like a baby. When we take note of what he’s doing, we may just find ourselves like the unnamed woman entering unexpected places and crying with joy.
Elizabeth Hamilton’s writing has appeared in the Dallas Museum of Art, Southern Humanities Review, and Texas Monthly. She has an MFA from Seattle Pacific University. Find her work at elizabethannehamilton.com
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
St. Pierre’s Episcopal Church, Gautier, Mississippi
