A Cloud of Dust

A Series on Living in the Wilderness
The sinful woman
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 7:36-50 

[In this series we’ll be looking at people who lived in the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful, that He loves you and is always with you.]

  

One of the most popular characters in the cartoon strip Peanuts is Pig-Pen. A cloud of dust surrounds him everywhere he goes and he’s always dirty. Referred to as a “human dustbowl”, he could turn a white snowman into a dirty snowman.

 

Pig-Pen accepted the fact that he was dirty. Even when he tried, he couldn’t stay clean. Once, after bathing and dressing in clean clothes, he stepped outside and instantaneously became dirty. He then declared to Charlie Brown, "You know what I am? I'm a dust magnet!" 

 

In the story today, there are three main characters. A Pharisee who, following synagogue, invited the rising star rabbi for a banquet at his home. Jesus, who is the up and coming rabbi. And an uninvited guest… the sinful woman.

 

In this culture, women were expected to be married. And if you were married, it was expected that you wore a head covering to show not only that you weren’t available, but also that you were virtuous. If you didn’t wear a head covering, you were subject to speculation, gossip and likely considered promiscuous.

 

In the case of the sinful woman, who didn’t wear a head covering, she already had a well-known reputation for being immoral. When she knelt at Jesus’ feet, weeping and then drying his feet with her hair and anointing them with expensive perfume, the Pharisee judged them both.

 

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”           NLT

 

Like Pig-Pen, she was an outcast whose dirty reputation both preceded and followed her. Both of them lived in a wilderness of dust.

 

But the sinful woman had heard Jesus speak. She had heard his words of love and healing. His words of forgiveness and cleansing. His words of defiance against the religious establishment.

 

Because of this, she found the courage to break social norms. To not only walk into a banquet that she wasn’t invited to, nor wanted, but also to kneel at Jesus’ feet with unbridled emotion and touch him.

 

She looked in the mirror and saw her dust and wanted to change. She probably had wanted to change before, but now she believed it was possible because of the rabbi. By faith, she acted on her newfound hope in Jesus. The result was life changing.

 

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”  ^50b “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” NLT

 

Notice that Jesus never referred to her as the sinful woman. With his words of freedom, you can visualize the cloud of dust falling to her feet and disappearing. He has taken her out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

A Mighty Warrior

 

Continuing a Series on Living by Faith
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 6:1-16; Hebrews 11:32

 [Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… throw off sin; run with perseverance; fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, live “by faith”.]

  

In the comic strip Peanuts, there is a famous sequence where Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown to kick. 

She promises to not pull it back at the last minute. But invariably, she does exactly that. As a result, Charlie Brown completely misses the ball, falling flat on the ground. This comic strip story is repeated over and over again with the same results every time.

 

Life is like that sometimes isn’t it? You and I are Charlie Brown and Lucy is “life”. She represents all the negative things of the year 2020; the virus, the economic upheaval, the social, racial and political unrest.

 

She also represents life outside of 2020 with its unexpected disappointments, losses, pain and broken relationships. The uncertainty of life. And just when we think we can trust the Lord, I mean Lucy, she pulls the football out and we fail again; we cause pain to ourselves and to others; we lose hope.

 

I wonder if the Jews might have felt that same way about the Lord in regards to the Midianites. Year after year, for seven years, the Midianites invaded the Jews in Canaan. Always with the same results. Where was the Lord? Why was He letting this happen to His chosen people?

 

The Jews remembered that the Lord had brought them out of slavery in Egypt with mighty miracles. He had brought them into the Promised Land. And yet, here they were hiding in caves, and in Gideon’s case, a winepress.

 

So what did they do? They cried out to the Lord to save them. But instead of taking military action, the Lord sent a prophet who reminded them of all that the Lord had done in the past, and that they were in this situation because of their own actions; their own sin.

 

Thankfully, the Lord didn’t stop there. He never does. He sent an angel to speak into the life of Gideon. Even though Gideon doesn’t appear to be someone capable of leading the Jews to fight against the marauding Midianites, a violent group of nomads, the Lord speaks into Gideon’s heart by calling him a Mighty Warrior, and promises him this.

 

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” ¹⁶ The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” NLT

 

Gideon is one of my favorite characters in the Bible because he is so relatable. His faith is weak; he’s not a risk taker or a courageous leader. He’s very polite on the outside, but faithless on the inside. He doesn’t stand up to the Midianites like David did to Goliath, and yet in Hebrews, he is considered a Hero of the Faith.

 

So what does Charlie Brown do, what should we do, when life happens? Get back up and try again! But after seven years, or a lifetime, it gets more and more difficult to keep getting back up. However, we must keep trying; keep trusting in the Lord; and remember that the promises given to Gideon are true for you and me.

 

“You are a “Mighty Warrior”, and the Lord will be with you.”

 

 

 

Security Blanket

1 John 5:18-20

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%205%3A18-20&version=NIV;NLT

 

 

In the comic strip Peanuts, the character of Linus is always shown carrying his security blanket and sucking his thumb. If a cartoon strip character could have feelings, Linus would have felt protected. We all have insecurities and turn to different things to deal with them; to feel protected.

 

Many people turn to their spouse or significant other. Children naturally look to their parents. Students to their teachers. Addicts to their drug. The haves to their possessions. Many put up an emotional wall to protect themselves from being hurt. Anger, intimidation, abuse – all can be tools of protection.

 

Here’s what John wrote about being protected; about feeling secure.

 

¹⁸ We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. ¹⁹ We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.          NLT

 

We live in a world “under the control of the evil one”. There are dangers everywhere. Yet, as a child of God, we can rest in the assurance, in the security, that our Heavenly Father will protect us.

 

In verses 18-20, there are three “we know” statements in the New Living Translation. The first two are in the above quote. Here’s the third.

 

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.            NLT

 

When you combine these three “we know” statements, here’s what you get: Because we know that God’s Son holds his children securely; because we know that we are God’s child; therefore, we know the true God and live in fellowship with Him.

 

That’s enough knowledge for even Linus to give up his security blanket.