Quote from Forum Archives on January 14, 2004, 9:47 am

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

TWINS
January 11, 2004

Text: John 8:2-11; Luke 7:36-50

In a 1988 movie entitled Twins, actors Danny DeVito and Arnold
Schwarzeneger play twins who were separated at birth. Anyone who knows of
these two actors understands right away that the premise of the movie is
ridiculously humorous. DeVito and Schwarzeneger are about as physically
opposite as they come. DeVito is short and dumpy; Schwarzeneger is… well…
Schwarzeneger. The personalities given to the actors in this movie are
also opposite. Schwarzeneger is sort of the “perfect” person while DeVito
is a con-type who will do anything to make a buck or get ahead. As it
turns out, though, when they both get together, they do each other good.

Interestingly, I thought of the Twins’ plot as Pastor John Haines
recounted one of his experiences during his recent trip to Israel. On one
part of the plane trip, John sat next to two orthodox Jews. Although he
knew something of their rituals and practices, John conversed with them
as if he did not know anything, and he asked them a lot about their
beliefs and practices. When it came time for their prayers, they pulled
out their prayer boxes, called phylacteries. They affixed one to their
forehead and one to their hand. This practice comes from Deuteronomy
6:4-8. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your
hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at
home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get
up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”

When John asked about the boxes and what they were doing, the Jews
explained it to him. In addition to the Scriptures, they explained that
the one on the forehead is near the mind, and the one on the hand is near
the heart. Together, they represent wisdom. Their prayers were for
wisdom.

Similar to the disparity found in the movie Twins, intellect and emotion
are sometimes seen as some type of polar opposites that are brought
together only under the most extreme circumstances. This is especially
true in our modern world where so many psycho-analytical theories have
been tried out and popularized over the years. It is rather commonplace
for some groups to hold up intellect at the expense of emotion, while
another group will emphasize emotion over intellect. This has been
experienced among Christians over the years, as well. Extreme examples in
our day include worship that is heavily built upon tradition and liturgy
- specific forms of worship - on the one hand, and worship that is very
unstructured and fluid, such as Pentacostalism, on the other. For some,
the Christian faith is a rich intellectual experience in which one uses
his or her mind to understand, choose, and apply the Word of God. For
others, the Christian faith is an emotional experience through which one
feels the love and power of God in his or her heart.

Ever since being exposed to theories of psychology and personality, I
have been intrigued by these concepts, especially when they are combined
with theology. Mind you, I claim no expertise in matters of psychology or
personality theory. As the saying goes, I probably know only enough to be
dangerous. Nevertheless, I gain a great deal by comparing and contrasting
them with Scripture.

The truth is, intellect and emotion are both present in our lives. Not
only are they present, they are integrated. Some of the people easiest to
identify with psychoses are those who try to live intellectually without
emotion or emotionally without intellect. Head and heart. We have them
both; we use them both. As Christians, we are to use them for the glory
of God. Jesus did.

The Gospel passages read earlier each give the account of Jesus’
interaction with two women. In John, it is clear that this woman was
caught “in adultery.” Many commentators make the application that she
engaged in prostitution. The wording is not quite so blatant about the
woman in the Luke passage. Again, though, many commentators believe that
this woman is also a prostitute. “When the Pharisee who had invited him
saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know
who is touching him and what kind of woman she is - that she is a
sinner.’” In both situations, Jesus interacts with two similar women, is
criticized by Pharisees and others, and confronts his critics.

In John, Jesus confronts those trying to trap him with intellect - the
head. “They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher,
this woman was caught in adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone
such women. Now what do you say?’” We know his famous answer, of course.
“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone
at her.”

This brought a stop to them. “You really want to know what I say?” Jesus
was asking. “Do you really want to know? Well, think about this: if you
are without sin, throw the rock at her.” When they thought about that
honestly, they knew the answer. They probably knew each other well enough
to know that they were all without sin. When the older ones left first -
the ones with the wisdom of the years - the younger ones knew they didn’t
have a chance either. No matter how zealous they were, they knew that
they couldn’t pull this off in public any more. The logic that Jesus
demanded they apply worked against their intentions. They brought it into
the public arena so they had to deal with the intellect and logic Jesus
placed before them.

After they left, Jesus still was not done. “’Woman, where are they? Has
no one condemned you?’ ‘No on sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn
you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’”

“There is a decision facing you, too, woman,” Jesus was telling her. “Do
you want these men and this kind of trouble to leave you alone? Then stop
doing what you have been doing to get yourself into this mess. Go now and
leave your life of sin.” Whether she left her life of sin or not is not
told us. But at that moment, she had a decision to make - a head issue.
She could continue or she could stop. Jesus used intellect to confront
his accusers and the woman’s sin.

In Luke, Jesus confronts with feelings - the heart. The scene is one of
powerful emotions. The woman wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped
them with her hair. She anointed him with perfume. Verse 37 tells us,
“When a woman who had lived a sinful life…” It is past tense. Apparently,
this woman had heard Jesus before and had changed. She had been convicted
of her sins and was so moved that she broke all kinds of social etiquette
just to express her gratitude to Jesus this way. Imagine how embarrassing
it normally would feel to act so humbly in front of all these others -
these upstanding citizens of the community. She was that moved by Jesus’
love.

The Pharisees had an emotional response, too. Their hearts hardened; they
were offended and indignant. “If this man were a prophet, he would know
who is touching him and what kind of woman she is - that she is a
sinner.” Some remarkable contrasts exposed here: the woman’s feelings
toward Jesus; Jesus’ compassion toward her; the Pharisee’s attitudes
toward the woman and toward Jesus; Jesus’ “tough love” attitude toward
the Pharisees.

Yes, emotions were running high in that place, so Jesus used them to make
his point. “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not
give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and
wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman,
from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put
oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, her
many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been
forgiven little loves little.” Here was Jesus’ host, a man of some
reputation we can easily assume, who failed to carry out even the basics
of hospitality. Don’t think that was not a big deal, either. People in
that part of the world still stand on rigorous rituals of hospitality. To
fail in that regard, even unintentionally, is to sometimes begin a feud.
But those who loved Jesus deeply, who were so moved by his love and
forgiveness, went to great lengths to demonstrate their love for him.
Like this woman, their love could not be completely or adequately
expressed in just words. It had to be acted out from the heart. Jesus
seized the moment to ask the others in the household, “Where is your love
for God?”

Intellect and emotion. We do not come to Jesus at the expense of either.
They are both present in our salvation, our witness, and our
discipleship. Throughout the New Testament, we are called to believe.
When we read of Jesus in the Bible or hear of him through a Christian, we
are given a choice: do I believe that Jesus died for my sins, or do I
reject the testimony? It is a choice we have to make - the head. At the
same time, we are called to be moved to action. We are to love Jesus so
much that we do accept his forgiveness. We are to continue to love Jesus
so much that we live our life obediently to his will. Figuratively
speaking, we love him so much that we, too, wet his feet with our tears
and dry them with our hair. Like the two orthodox Jews that John spoke to
on his trip, let us remain aware that the head and heart together are
always intertwined. Let us hope and pray for wisdom.

The service of communion reminds us of all this. It reminds us that Jesus
gives us a choice: to accept him as savior or to reject him. It reminds
us that Jesus wants us to love him so much that we count service to him
above all else. It reminds us that Jesus loved us so much that he made
the choice to suffer and die for our sins. As we sing this next hymn, you
do whatever is necessary to prepare to receive communion. If you need to
repent and be saved, this is your time. If you need to renew your
fellowship with Jesus, this is your time

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