Everyone loves the
underdog. That’s what we always say,
right? Everyone roots for the underdog.
We say that, but is it really true? Nationwide, which baseball team has the most
fans? It’s the New York Yankees, the team that’s won the most
championships. Who are the most popular
NFL teams? It’s teams like the Green Bay
Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the teams that have won the most
championships. We may we root for the
underdog in a particular game, but when it comes time to actually pick a
favorite team, we tend to choose on one the top dogs. Our favorite teams tend to be the teams that
usually win.
As Christians, of course, we’re supposed to love
everyone. Top dogs, underdogs, middle
dogs, all dogs. All people, in other
words. That’s what Jesus told us to do. And that’s what Jesus did.
And yet, Jesus did often stick up for the underdogs,
rather than the top dogs. Think about
it. Who were the top dogs of Jesus’
day? They were the religious leaders,
right? They were the Pharisees and the
Sadducees and the scribes and the teachers of the law. And who did Jesus usually get into arguments
with? That’s right, the Pharisees and
the Sadducees and the scribes and the teachers of the law. Jesus did not try to flatter the top dogs. He did not even try to get along with them. Often, Jesus fought against them.
Who were the underdogs of Jesus’ day? That’s right, they were the “tax collectors
and sinners”. They were the sick and the
blind and the deaf and the lame. They
were the people who were threatened with being stoned. They were the people who were looked down on
by “proper” society, sometimes because of what they’d done but sometimes
through no fault of their own. Those
were the people Jesus spent time with.
Those were the people Jesus stuck up for. Those were the people Jesus worked hardest to
save.
And we have an example of that in our story from the
gospel of John. Jesus, for a change, is
spending some time with a top dog. He’s
been invited to have dinner with a Pharisee.
So Jesus is sitting there in the Pharisee’s house, and here comes a
woman who, we’re told, “lived a sinful life”.
It sounds like she was not invited to the Pharisee’s house. She found out that Jesus was going to be
there and crashed the party. She brought
with her an expensive jar of perfume.
She comes up to Jesus, and she’s overcome with
emotion. She starts crying. She wets his feet with her tears, wipes them
with her hair, kisses his feet, and pours the perfume on them.
The Pharisee sees this, and he’s appalled. He probably thought about kicking this woman
out of the house. But since Jesus does
not seem to mind, the Pharisee does not do anything. Still, he thinks, if this Jesus was all he’s
cracked up to be, he’d know what kind of woman this person is and would not let
her anywhere near him.
Of course Jesus knew exactly who this woman was. And Jesus knew who the Pharisee was, too. But I want us to think about both of them.
First, the
woman. All we’re told about her is that
she “lived a sinful life”. That’s
it. We’re not given any more details
than that. We’re not told what it was
about her life that made it sinful. We
could guess. I think, though, that
there’s a reason we’re not given any other details about this woman.
I think we’re
not given any other details because what this woman’s sins were is
irrelevant. What’s important is that
this woman was a sinner and she knew she was a sinner. And that’s why she was so overcome with emotion
in the presence of Jesus.
We don’t know
how much she really understood about Jesus.
We don’t know if she understood that he was the divine Son of God. We don’t even know if she’d have understood
what that meant. What she did know was
that Jesus was someone special. She knew
that Jesus was greater than she was. She
knew that she did not deserve to be in Jesus’ presence. But yet, she felt like she had to come. She had to be there. Even though she had no right to be there,
even though she knew Jesus was far above and beyond what she was, she still
needed to be there, in Jesus’ presence.
Now let’s
think about who the Pharisee was. He was
one of the religious leaders. He was the
one who defined Jewish religion for other people. He did not think he had led a sinful
life. He did not know he was a
sinner. And so, he was not overcome with
emotion in the presence of Jesus. It
would never have occurred to him to think he did not deserve to be in Jesus’
presence. In fact, he probably thought
he’d done Jesus a favor by allowing Jesus to come to his house. He probably thought he’d been very generous
by allowing Jesus to eat with him. He
did not think he needed to be in Jesus’ presence. He thought Jesus was lucky to be allowed into
his presence.
Now, this is a
pretty clear case of an underdog and a top dog, right? And it’s pretty clear which is which. So, two questions.
First, which
of these people do we think we are? Do
we think we’re the person who’s lived a sinful life? Do we think of ourselves as the person who
really has no right to come into the presence of Jesus at all, but simply feel
like we need to be there anyway? Or do
we think of ourselves as the Pharisee, the person who feels like we’ve done
Jesus a favor by allowing Jesus to come into our presence.
Now, we know
what the answer is supposed to be. We
know we’re supposed to say that we’re all sinners. We’re supposed to say that we’ve all fallen
short of who we’re supposed to be and that it’s only by God’s grace that we’re
allowed into God’s holy presence.
We know that’s
what we’re supposed to say. And maybe,
in our minds, we know that’s true. But
do we really feel it? Do we really
identify with the lowest of the low? I
want you to think of the lowest of the low, and I’m not going to put a picture up
here because who I think of as the lowest of the low might not be the same as
who you think of. But think of the
lowest of the low. Is that really who
you identify with? Is that really who I
identify with?
Again, we know
we’re supposed to. The point is, do
we? Do you? Do I?
I want you to
think about that. And then, I want you
to get to the other question.
The other
question is this: If you were Jesus—if I
was Jesus—which of these people would be our favorite? Which one would we want to spend time
with? Would we want to hang out with the
underdog, with the woman who apparently everyone knew had “led a sinful
life”? Or would we want to hang out with
the top dog, the Pharisee, the guy everyone in town looked up to and wanted to
be on the good side of?
Again, we know
what the answer is supposed to be. We’re
supposed to say that we’d rather be with the underdog. But is that really true?
I already
asked you to think of the lowest of the low.
Now, I want you to also think of someone who represents the top dog to
you. And again, I’m not going to put a
picture up here because who I think of may not be the same as who you think
of. And when you think of that top dog,
don’t think of someone who lied or cheated their way to the top. Think of someone you really admire and
respect, someone who you think of as a good person. Because that’s how people thought of the
Pharisees. We look down on the Pharisees
now because we know Jesus looked down on them, but that’s not how it was at the
time. People looked up to the
Pharisees. People respected the
Pharisees.
Have you got
the two pictures in your head?
Okay. Now, which one would you
rather be with? Which one would I rather
be with? Would you rather be with the
underdog, or the top dog? Would I rather
be with the underdog, or the top dog?
The Pharisee
did not want to be around the underdog.
He did not understand why Jesus did.
In fact, he thought Jesus must not know who this woman was, because
there was no way Jesus would want to be around her if he did.
But Jesus
wanted to be with the underdog. He told
the Pharisee that this woman had shown love to him and the Pharisee had
not. And Jesus told the woman that her
sins were forgiven.
Who are the
underdogs in our community? Do you
identify with them? Do I? Do you want to hang around with them? Do I?
Jesus loved
everyone. And we’re supposed to love
everyone, too. And that includes the
underdogs. So let’s stick up for the
underdogs. Let’s spend time with the
underdogs. Let’s show love to the underdogs.
And then,
let’s realize that we are underdogs.
Let’s realize that we, too, are sinners in need of forgiveness. Let’s realize that we do not deserve to be in
Jesus’ presence any more than the woman in our Bible reading did. But let’s realize that we need to be there
anyway. And let’s realize that we—you
and I—need as much as anyone to hear Jesus tell us that our sins are forgiven.
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