At the dinner, everyone seems to know where you belong before you sit down. The place they offer tells you something about how they see you. In Luke 7, Jesus asks His host to look again at a woman the room has already judged.
She wept on Jesus' feet, wiped them with her hair and poured out expensive perfume. Simon the host decided that if Jesus were a real prophet, He would know what kind of woman was touching Him. Luke never names her, and she is a different woman from Mary Magdalene, who first appears in Luke 8.
Jesus turned toward her and asked Simon, "Do you see this woman?" (verse 44). Simon saw a reputation. Jesus saw a woman who loved much because she had been forgiven much. This is what release looks like. A woman who has been set free stops reading the room.
She walks in, pours out her love and hears Jesus say, "go in peace."
Let the reading meet your day
Consider how quickly we reduce people to the thing we know about them. Mercy asks for a better look. You can receive Jesus' attention and learn to offer others the dignity of being more than a category. Love doesn't need to become small simply because the room has decided what to think.
A question to sit with
Whom have I reduced to a reputation, including myself?
You can take this slowly.