God’s heart is worth the refining journey. His heart is worth our most daring and audacious love. His heart is worth the expensive nard and our tears and wiping his feet with our hair.
Photo by Nick Karvounis
“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Luke 7:47
Nard
Earlier this week, I knocked over an oil diffuser- the kind of diffuser with small sticks of wood that pick up the oil and fragrance the room. My ankle was so doused by the strong-scented oil that I undoubtedly knew I would be smelling it for a few days at least.
I immediately thought of the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50 who rubs expensive nard (ointment) on Jesus’ feet and wipes it with her hair.
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 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 wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
What would it mean to be like the woman who rubs nard on Jesus’ feet? What would it mean to be in full and intimate abandonment to the King? Do we ever come close to this kind of intimacy in this life when we can’t touch and feel Jesus in the flesh?
When we think of Jesus’ time and the nature of the woman whose sins were forgiven (prostitution) and the audacious way she rubs nard on Jesus’ feet and wipes it with her hair, we can see quickly this is not a woman who is going through the motions of faith. This woman knows that Jesus is Lord, and she dares to know him intimately by virtue of understanding — and returning — his great, abiding love for her in a sincere and vulnerable way. It is either the most scandalous thing we will read about Jesus in the Bible, or the most beautiful act of mercy.
I like to sit with this passage and imagine the scene. I imagine how shocked the Pharisee must have been when she anointed Jesus’ feet with nard and how intimate the moment must have been as Jesus cleanses this woman from her sins while tears fall and mingle with the nard and she wipes his feet with her hair. Surely, Jesus is pure love and mercy and grace looking upon his beloved.
Friends, do we love Jesus this way? Do we humble ourselves in penitence, in full submission and gratitude that he paid the bride price for us? Do we remember the cost that Jesus paid so we could be with him and the Father in heaven?
Have we become numb to grace?
Beloved
In the book Song of Solomon, we read an account of Solomon’s wedding to a Shulamite woman. It is a beautiful work of literal prose, yet the deeper we read, we can see that is also a metaphor for our relationship with Christ.
In Song of Solomon 5:2-6, the Shulamite woman awaits her groom in bed, but when he knocks, she is not quick to answer, and he does not come in. She seeks him and he is not quickly found. In the same way, the Holy Spirit comes near to us, and when we don’t jump up to open the bedroom chamber, he can pull back a bit and we have to go out and search for our love (the truine God) until we find him again.
SHE
I slept but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of night.”
I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
My beloved put his hand to the latch,
and my heart was thrilled within me.
I arose to open my to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
In my experience, God is extremely tender. When we know him and we can hear his voice clearly, yet don’t respond, he can be sensitive. Remember that God has all of our human emotions, too, because we’re made in his image. So, when we push him away or don’t respond eagerly to his loving call to our hearts, it can hurt his heart a little bit. That doesn’t mean that he is really pulling away from us but instead that we need to search a little deeper for him. We need to spend time with him and get to know him personally. We need to learn his heart. This only comes with time and a sincere desire to know God intimately, as a spouse and closest friend.
How to pray
Song of Solomon gives us the blueprint for an intimate conversation with God in the he/she model. For me, this means writing in my prayer journal something like this.
She: my thoughts
He: God’s response
She: my thoughts
He: God’s encouragement
She: my repentance
He: God’s grace
She: my questions
He: God’s answer
I have found that praying this way with a quiet and attentive spirit is truly like having a conversation with a spouse. When I need to talk about the day, unpack something hard, or simply need comforting, God is there with encouragement and the answers to my questions. Even the harder questions God will give tender, honest answers to:
God, what would you have me work on next?
Am I where you want me to be spiritually?
I have come so close to God that his holiness scared me because I could feel his love so palpably while also sensing my terrible, yucky, wandering heart in his presence. When we pray this way, our human faults are quickly juxtaposed against his perfection, and it takes some time to get used to the discomfort of our own inherent sinfulness.
But God’s heart is worth the refining journey. His heart is worth our most daring and audacious love. His heart is worth the expensive nard and our tears and wiping his feet with our hair.
Dear God,
Give us the fortitude to approach your holiness with honest and open hearts so that you can do the refining work in our hearts that matures us in our faith. Help us to love much as you have forgiven much. Help us to know you more intimately and to be disciplined in getting still enough to hear your still, small whisper to our spirits. May we gain a deeper understanding of your heart as we seek you in the stillness. You are our true spouse. May we yearn for you as you yearn for us.
In Jesus name,
Amen
Even if you have read Song of Solomon before, we encourage you to take some time to revisit this short book this week and to meditate on the intimacy that the Most High God desires to have with you.