March 1, 2026: Acts of Love

The Gospels:  Matthew 25: 35-40, Luke 7: 36-50

The concept of hospitality and welcome goes way back. In fact it was much more important in the ancient days when there was not only no room at the inn, there was actually no Inn. The ancient Greeks practiced the art of hospitality for practical reasons: there was nowhere to stay and if they helped the traveler in need then when they travelled, hopefully, someone would help them when they needed a place to stay and a bite to eat. 

In fact the Rule for Hosts and Guests in Ancient Greece went something like this: when a traveler showed up at your door seeking hospitality, you invited them in, fed them and gave them a place to rest and refresh themselves. Then and only then, did you ask their name and their story. In exchange, you got news, often of far away places and likely some entertainment in the story itself. After all, it would be a long time before Netflix was invented. Think of Odysseus telling the story of his long and arduous journey fighting monsters to the Phaecians who offer him their hospitality and help on getting home. 

By Jesus’ time, the rules for host and guests had not changed that much, you still offered an abundant welcome, and it was customary to have a servant wash the feet of guests who would come in dusty from walking in sandals. After the foot washing, a bit of rest and a meal, the guest would often share a story. But in our Luke scripture today, Simon the Pharisee, who has invited Jesus in, has forgotten an important part of hospitality, the foot washing, but the woman has not. 

Who is this woman? We only know per Luke that she is a woman in the city who is a sinner. Many want to label her as a prostitute but we do not know that. She, however, knows her sin, and she also has faith in Jesus who she learned was eating in Simon’s home. Cognizant of Jesus’ teaching and power of forgiveness, she wordlessly enters Simon’s home, possibly an outdoor courtyard where they are eating, places herself behind him, lowers herself to the ground crying, presumably in acknowledgment of her sins, and begins to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and to dry them with her long hair. 

Picture that, she is on her feet behind him, leaning forward and crying unabashedly to create enough moisture to wash his feet using her long hair as a towel. Her face is right at his feet. It never says she looks up; it never says she speaks to him. 

Once his feet are clean, the dirt transferred to her hair, she kisses his feet continually then opens her alabaster jar and anoints his feet with ointment, moisturizing them.

Simon is utterly dumbfounded but also disgusted by her, but maybe also by Jesus for letting this happen as he thinks to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of a woman this is who is touching him — that she is a sinner!” 

Simon the Pharisee had invited Jesus in, presumably as a welcome guest to learn from him but he did not extend the hospitality due to a guest nor did he have a lot of faith in Jesus whom he seems to seriously question because he did not stop this woman groveling before him.

Jesus, as if hearing what Simon is thinking, answers with a bit of a parable. If a man forgives two who owe him debts one for $50 and one for $500, who will be more grateful? Simon correctly answers the one for whom a greater debt has been forgiven. Then Jesus points out what Simon did not do in welcoming him that this sinful woman has done, very humbly, as he forgives her. He looks back at Simon and says, “But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” 

Imagine Simon’s shock not only that this man Jesus is forgiving sins, especially of that woman, but also that he, Simon, a Pharisee, pales in comparison to her acts of love, hospitality, humility and kindness. Simon is so sure of himself and his position, that he does not have the ability to love and care for Jesus the way this woman has. Simon thinks he has little to forgive but he also seems to have very little to give Jesus, unlike this sinful woman. 

This story is a challenge because, if we are honest, we have all been Simon at one time or another. We have looked over and judged someone thinking they are less in some way. They might not be following society’s guidelines of decorum, they might dress differently, act differently, live differently or just not have what we have. They might not follow what we think of as the unwritten rules of society. 

However, in the act of judging, we are breaking Jesus’ rule of love and hospitality; we are the ones sinning. 

If we have a question as to what these rules are, we need only look at the Greatest Commandment: Matthew 12: 30-31: 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”

Jesus links these two because it is the love of God that helps us emulate God’s son Jesus in both loving our neighbor and forgiving them. 

Jesus further emphasizes this by equating the welcome of a stranger, the feeding of the hungry, the clothing of the naked, taking care of the sick and visiting those in prison with doing these things for him. He is saying by taking care of others, by welcoming all, we are indeed welcoming Jesus. We love God by loving all of God’s people, especially those who are in need at any given moment. 

The Ancient Greeks actually had a connection to this idea in their rule of Host and Guest as well. In addition to the practicality of helping folks who were traveling and getting some entertainment along the way, there was always the possibility that this stranger could be a god in disguise, thus you had an added incentive to treat strangers well. There were lots of examples of this such as when Athena disguises herself as an old man named Mentor who appears to Telemachus, is welcomed in by him, and then helped by him/Athena to find his father Odysseus. The Ancient Greeks often found out that they were welcoming a God rather than someone else when they transformed before them as Athena later does as she flies away as an eagle. 
While we are not likely to have the opportunity to invite Jesus over for dinner to learn from him in the way that Simon and others did, what if we could take his lessons of love and those of the Ancient Greeks to heart by treating anyone we meet like we would treat God? 

If God was hungry or homeless, wouldn’t we offer food or direct God to shelter?

If God needed clothing or household items, wouldn’t we donate them?

If God was sick, wouldn’t we drive God to the hospital and stay there to comfort God?

If God was lonely, wouldn’t we listen to God’s story and stay there or connect God to others to make sure God knew God was not alone.

If God escaped injustice somewhere else, wouldn’t we welcome God into the safety of our community?

If God needed a job, wouldn’t we try to help God find one?

If God was imprisoned unfairly, wouldn’t we work for God’s release?

If God made a mistake, wouldn’t we forgive God as God forgives us?

If God lived or looked different from us, wouldn’t we welcome and love God anyway?

The unnamed woman with the alabaster jar showed a kind of humility that most of us, me included, would not likely be able to do. Maybe we need to be at our very lowest to be that humble. And the beauty is, God will be there to receive our act of supplication if we do get there.

But we are all called to learn the lesson that Simon and the disciples learned that anything we do for God’s people, we are doing for God. To show love to God requires us to show love to all of God’s people. These do not always have to be big acts, they can be small acts of kindness as well. In fact, as we move towards the 250th birthday of our country, there is a campaign called the United Acts of Kindness that encourages us to do 250 acts of kindness in 2026. Sponsored by the Values in Action Foundation, a partner of the United Church of Christ, this movement celebrates everyday good deeds, creating a wave of positivity that unites and uplifts people. I have registered our church for this campaign and will work on setting up a way to record our collective acts of kindness from delivering for Meals on Wheels, to collecting soap, toilet paper and cleaning products for Black River Good Neighbors to decorating trees with hearts etc. I actually think we can far surpass 250 acts of kindness this year and in so doing, we are living into the Greatest commandment as God’s ambassadors of love. 

But there will still be hard days when we do not feel as loving. So the next time we feel a sense of judgment welling up within us for what that person is doing or what that person is wearing or what that person isn’t doing, let’s picture that person as a beloved child of God and consider what God would do in response. Amen.

Pastor Michelle Fountain

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