Undignified Faith

Sunday afternoon we studied about the sinful woman in Luke 7. You remember the story, Jesus is dining with the Pharisee, Simon. I imagine Simon had pulled out all the stops to entertain this young rabbi who was causing such a religious tir in the region. I imagine Simon and any other guests were on their very best behavior, wanting to impress this teacher with so many disciples. I imagine there was much pomp and formality, everyone wearing their best clothes and carrying on intelligent conversations full of many flowery words. (Isn't this just like the Pharisees?)
Suddenly this woman, a local, with a reputation for sinful behavior, crashes the dinner party. In an undignified show of faith, this uninvited guest begins to make a scene. She falls at Jesus' feet weeping so much that she is washing His feet with her tears. As if noticing the dampness, she begins drying His feet with her hair. It would have been so much easier to leave or to still her weeping, but she does not. Perhaps she is unable to stop crying and the thought of leaving didn't cross her mind. Perhaps she cannot tear herself away from the feet of the Teacher. She continues with her disruptive show of faith, a show so different from what Simon and his Pharisee friends are used to. Simon is ready, almost eager for Jesus to rebuke this woman. But, Jesus does not, rather in a parable, He praises her undignified, unstructured worship and forgives her sins.
After hearing Ned speak on this parable, I began to think about this woman and I began to think about us. I know the text says we are to worship in an orderly manner. I know our God is not a God of chaos. But I also know how stiff we have become in our worship. I know that too often we are like Simon, judging those who show their faith in a less than dignified way, a way contrary to ours. We have a way we worship and we have become so good at it that we can even do it without thinking. The zeal we felt when we came out of the waters of baptism has been replaced by a concern for the dignified. I wonder if this sinful woman ever stifled her faith, did she ever swallow an "amen" or choke down a "praise God"? Did she ever force herself to stand very still willing herself to not respond to the invitation? Did she worry that others might think her a fanatic? I don't think so.
I hear and see all the comments about changes in worship. I too, want to worship in a way that pleases my Father. And so, I have been studying Jesus' words to those who came to worship Him. This account is representative of others. From them we learn, Jesus did not care about dignity, He lowered Himself and became sin for us so that we might be righteous. Jesus cared about heart worship. He wants to feel our hearts in the movings of our hands, He wants to hear our hearts in the words of our mouth, He wants to see our hearts in the tears of our eyes. And so, while I want to be orderly, I wonder if we have stifled, swallowed and choked down our faith too much?

Neva