36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's

house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner…

Luke 7:36-38

Have you ever found yourself in an incredibly awkward situation from which there was

no escape?

On Friday afternoon, October 27th 1995, my teammates and I flew from Kentucky to

Mississippi in preparation for a Saturday matchup against the Mississippi State Bulldogs

in Starkville. Most S.E.C. road games were incredibly exciting and included booming

college towns, nice hotels, amazing food and unbelievable football stadiums. The

glaring exception to this, over the course of my four years as UK’s punter, was Starkville

Mississippi.

The keyword in “Starkville” is “Stark” which is synonymous with “barren,” “empty,”

“dreary,” and “somber.” To find a half-way decent hotel our team would stay 21 miles

away from campus at the Holiday Inn in the small town of Columbus, Mississippi.

Our Head Coach, Bill Curry, who also served as the position coach for special teams

would often take the kickers and punters on short walks near the hotel to keep us

relaxed. On this particular Friday evening walk, we attracted the attention of a drunk

homeless man in Columbus who reeked of filth and body odor. Coach Curry was warm

towards the man and gave him some cash in an effort to minimize the potential for any

unnecessary conflict. However, Curry’s kindness had the opposite effect and we soon

realized the man had officially joined our party. At one point the homeless man took off

his putrid hat and put it on Bill Curry’s head. The entire special teams unit was frozen in

this moment of inescapable awkwardness.

This week we take a look at a similar scene in the life of Jesus. While enjoying dinner

with prominent community leaders, Jesus is approached by “a woman of the city, who

was a sinner.” The only thing more shocking than how this story begins is how it ends…

with Jesus saying to the sinful woman “go in peace.” Wait….WHAT?!? There is no way

that this woman, who is most likely a prostitute, should have any measure of peace in

her life. She is a professional sinner. But fortunately for her (and for us) Jesus came to

bring peace to professional sinners. And yet, so many of us (professional sinners) live

without it. Why??? Why so much discontentment, anxiety and fear in our lives? That’s

the question we want to try and answer this week from Luke 7.

Question: What people, places or things seem to rob you of peace?

By Jimmy Carter