I am digging into Dallas Willard’s newest release, The Scandal of the Kingdom. I am so thankful his family carries on his work!

This is a book looking at key parables and how Jesus’ teaching scandalized the religious and secular world of his day… and continues to do so if we truly look at the implications of what Jesus is saying. Chapter 9, “Lost and Found” has been profound to me.

We need to understand lostness… and how being lost makes us useless to God and to ourselves. Being out of place or misplaced makes our lives less available and far less useful. But the radical grace of God comes looking for us so we can find our way back to him. His heart is full of kindness and mercy. He is never condemning.

One story is from Luke 7 where Simon the Pharisee has invited Jesus to dinner. Somehow, a woman who was a sinner made her way into the home. She had a flask of fragrant oil and made her way to Jesus, stopping at his feet, standing there and weeping. She then began to wash his feet (his nasty, crusty feet that had not been taken care of when he got into Simon’s house) with her tears and then drying his feet with her hair. She then took the fragrant oil and poured it on his feet.

It’s not a beautiful sight for Simon. It’s embarrassing. Simon has invited prominent people to be at table with him because he has Jesus in the room! You don’t invite women of “reputation” in! Everyone knew that woman, and not in a good way. They begin to mumble, “If this Jesus is a prophet, how is he allowing this? Surely he would know her reputation and shove her away!”

This is too often how we treat the lost. Shove them away. Unless we can get a quick photo op for our social media account.

But we will forego the photo op if the woman is someone everyone knows to be, well, of a not so good reputation. I don’t want any phones out taking pictures! (“Guess who DAN invited to HIS house to impress Jesus?!?”)

The woman was welcomed by Jesus. And Simon was questioned.

“Simon’s withholding of these common courtesies like washing Jesus’ feet and other traditional greetings seems to have been based on Simon’s suspicions about Jesus. Perhaps Simon guessed something like this would happen and didn’t want to have to tell his friends that he had actually washed this guy’s feet.” (p. 148)

Simon was exposed. But more, the woman’s motives were unveiled. She loved Jesus because her sins were forgiven. Her love was an expression of the forgiveness she received.

“… when people don’t love the Lord very much, it’s often because they lack a sense of how much forgiveness they have needed. Maybe they have a small sense of it, but not very much. Perhaps no one has really walked them through what it means to be forgiven.” (p. 148)

Sometimes we have lived such easy lives we don’t understand the forgiveness we have in our lives. We don’t realize our lostness. When we know we are forgiven, the love in our heart flows and won’t be held back any longer. Plus, no one can condemn us.

It is a tragedy to be lost and not know it.