In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     Today, let's talk about a couple of very serious sinners. No, not Paris Hilton or Britney Spears. Not even Adolf Hitler, or Saddam Hussein. Today, our scriptures bring to mind King David and the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and then anointed them with expensive ointment. And what does Holy Scripture say about these two?

     King David, we know quite well, and from what we know, he was a great man, and a great leader. Read any history of David, and you will find he was a man of faith and mercy, a king who pursued justice and righteousness, and a king who did almost nothing without consulting the Lord God in prayer. Overall, the picture Holy Scripture paints of King David is of a pious, religious man who had a deep and abiding relationship with God, and tried to serve as a godly king-although he fell, once-and great was his fall! Our lesson describes how, after lusting after Bathsheba, David sent Uriah, her husband, into battle, to the front lines, assuring he would most likely be killed, so that David could have Bathsheba for his own. All of which happened-so that David was guilty of lust, of sexual immorality, and finally, of the death of an innocent man. All of which David committed, without remorse, without repentance, and without acknowledging his sinful, disobedient behavior. And our lesson picks up with the Lord's displeasure, and sending of the prophet Nathan, to try to bring David to his senses, and to his knees before the Lord, in heartfelt confession. And we see, that Nathan is able to open David's eyes, to bring David to repentance, and bring about reconciliation between King David, and the Lord God.

     The other serious sinner, we don't know so much about, although her story is told in all four gospels. There's been endless speculation about this woman, and what her sins were, but in each account, Jesus simply points to the fact that she has been forgiven much-a fact which the Pharisee is all too aware of, and tries to make a federal case of. And truly, neither the woman, nor Jesus deny the fact that this woman is, has been, a terrible sinner. Her actions betray that, as she, in her forgiveness and gratitude, kneels at the Lord's feet, cries, and anoints Jesus, because she has been shown great love-love that is merciful and transforming.love that, forgiving her, sets her free, and creates in her-a worshipful and adoring heart.

     And having heard about these two serious sinners, what good news is proclaimed to us, this morning? What are we to learn from these two sinful people?

     First, we learn that even good people, sin! One might think that King David is tainted and ruined by the fact that, in spite of his manifest faith, his love for God and for his people, he sinned, and sinned greatly in the eyes of the Lord. And yet, far from David being an example of a perfect person-David's life shows us that yes, even the greatest of leaders, even the most faithful of people, sin. St. Paul talks about that in our second lesson, where he's speaking to Jewish Christians, who consider themselves better than "Gentile sinners". But what if, Paul says, we who are striving to be justified by faith in Christ, are yet found to be sinners? What then? Our justification by Christ means even more-because, as Paul says elsewhere, the fact that Christ died, not for righteous people, but specifically for sinners, makes His sacrifice all the more profound! And truly, King David's sin, while gross, and grotesque, and selfish, and horrible-still, still, helps us to see that, as St. Paul writes, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The example of David helps us to see that we are all sinners; none of us are better or worse than the rest-and we sit here this morning, a congregation of Davids-a congregation of sinful people-each and every one of us! And believe it or not, that, is good news. It is good news that you, and I, are not worse than everyone else-are not greater sinners than everyone else, and not so guilty, that we are beyond God's forgiveness. Believe it or not, some of us here this morning feel just that-that we are more sinful than anyone else, and perhaps, God will not forgive-me, for what I've done. But the example of David helps us each be comforted by the fact, that even so great a figure as he, was a great sinner, in need of repentance! And that's the second thing we learn from today's lessons-we need to repent, and there will consequences for our sin.

     As hard as it is for us to hear, the reality of human life is that even though we repent, and are forgiven, there are consequences for our sin. Isn't it interesting that for all of Nathan's talk, for all that is included in our lesson from 2 Samuel, when David acknowledges his guilt, David said only, "I have sinned against the Lord." And this confession and repentance, was followed by God's forgiveness, and Nathan said to David, "you shall not die." Nevertheless, because by this deed David had utterly scorned the Lord, the child that had been born to David and Bathsheba, would die. And before we make judgments about the Lord's judgment upon David-remember, there was more to David's love-child than meets the eye. This child, born of an adulterous, murderous affair, was a betrayal of David's trust in the Lord-and a betrayal of David's sovereign kingship. A child born to David, to continue a royal lineage, and ultimately, to be a forefather of Jesus, the Messiah, could not come from such infidelity. The child born to David and Bathsheba was to die, to keep the lineage pure. And it is a reminder to us, that all of our sin, has consequences. We may repent, and we will be forgiven, but that doesn't change the consequences of our own actions. If there's one thing we learn from David's sin, it's that we must take responsibility for ourselves, and our own actions-and yes, that means our sin, as well. And it means our sin may have consequences, not just for ourselves, but for our friends and neighbors-for our families, and even for our children, and our children's children. For we fathers and parents on Father's Day, this is a difficult and frightening reality-that what we do, and fail to do, how we disobey God and falter as parents, may not have consequences for us only, but for our children and children's children as well. And we must remember that, and take that to heart, in the decisions we make, and whether we obey, or disobey God. And we must take responsibility for our failures, mistakes, sins and disobedience. We may be forgiven, but part of confession and forgiveness, is amendment of life, and trying to rectify the situations we have caused, by our sin. Better that we keep ourselves clean and pure in the first place, and refrain from sin altogether-but when we sin, we are to repent, and confess, and throw ourselves on Christ's mercy and grace-and then, make things right-do what needs to be done to accept responsibility for ourselves and our own actions. And what do we do then? We look to the woman in our gospel lesson, to learn from her example, about gratitude, and worship, and how we respond to God's love and forgiveness, with lives that are wholly given, to Christ, our Savior and friend. And how do we respond?

     For those of us who are great sinners, serious sinners, sinners after the order of King David-for those of us who sin, and fail to acknowledge our sin-for those of us who finally realize the kind of sinners we are, unclean, unworthy, undeserving of God's mercy-what can we do, but, fall to our knees at the feet of our Savior, bathing his feet with our tears, anointing him with our costliest ointment! What can we do but fall to our knees, worshiping our Lord with our songs and praises and adoration; what can we do but bathe Him with our hymns and prayers and thanksgiving; what can we do but anoint Him with our costliest sacrifices and offerings, giving to our Lord, our time, our gifts and abilities, and yes, our treasure. Yes, the sinful woman, was, as sinful woman-but forgiven, she became one of the greatest models in all of Holy Scripture. Indeed, as Matthew records it, Jesus says, "wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her." And let us not just remember her, but let's follow her example, not of sin, but of forgiveness, and of faith! Let us, as well, worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with all that we have, and all that we are-with our heart and soul and mind and strength! Let us kneel at Jesus' feet, and praise Him, as our forgiveness, our reconciliation, our hope, and truly, our new life!

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.