“WHO Are You?”

Second Sunday in Lent

March 1, 2026

1 John 3:14-18

Luke 7:36-50

Children’s Message: (ash stick, washable markers, soluble paper, bowl of water)

Have you ever done something you weren’t proud of? Did you talk back to your parents or yell at a sibling or mess with someone else’s toy? Did you cheat on a test in school? Have you ever lied? Why did you do these things? Does it really matter WHY you did them? Were they the right thing to do?

Do these actions tell us the most important thing about who you are? No. They’re things that you did—me too. They’re things that we did, but they’re not who we are. They’re part of our sinfulness. Let’s write ‘SINNER’ on these pieces of paper. Now, how would you feel if you had to pin these to your shirt or paste them to your forehead?

If you were here on Ash Wednesday, we sort of did that. We put ashes on our foreheads. Not to remind everyone how bad we are but to remind us that we’re not God—that we don’t have all the answers—that we are fragile, and precious. I’m going to put an ash cross on your hand. Don’t worry, it comes off.

Today, we heard about a woman who we’re told was a sinner. She came to a dinner where Jesus was eating, and she kneeled down at his feet and washed them with her tears. She kissed his feet. She poured oil over them. And the host of the dinner got really mad because he didn’t want her kind of people in his house.

What did Jesus do? He loved her. He told her that what she’s done isn’t who she is. And he made her whole. Let’s take those papers with ‘SINNER’ on them and put them in this water. Each of you have been baptized into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What you’ve done isn’t who you are.

And now, with the same marker you used to write on the paper, I want you to draw a heart on your other hand. And put your hands together in prayer.

Dear God, you know we are broken and fragile and that we mess up a lot. Thank you for your love that makes me whole and wholly beloved. Amen.

Message:

This past week has been a heart-breaking news cycle for the trans community. Kansas passed a bill that has immediately invalidated and revoked all driver’s licenses and state ID’s that recognize a trans person’s gender identity other than the gender assigned at birth. If they are pulled over on their way to replace these legally obtained documents, they could be faced with 6 months in jail and a steep fine for driving with a suspended license.

Pete Hegseth has declared that Scouts of America will only continue to receive Pentagon support if they eliminate any form of DEI policies that recognize or honor preferred pronouns and gender identities. He’d like to take it further, saying “Ideally, I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men.”[1]

Nebraska, along with other states, continue to make it more and more difficult for trans people to use the restrooms, claiming that trans women are predatory men seeking to rape women in the bathroom. In the meantime, if trans women and girls are forced to use men’s bathrooms, they will be in the very space where predatory men can and will attack them.

Jesus entered Simon, the Pharisee’s, house for dinner. Simon was recognized as an upright religious leader in the community, simply by the title and position he held. His faithfulness was assumed because of the robes he wore and the language he used. He was held in high esteem. Yet, he apparently didn’t offer the customary hospitality to Jesus. Maybe because he wasn’t yet convinced that Jesus was worth it. After all, he was an itinerant preacher. He was dirty and dusty. He lived rough, and there were rumors about him—maybe he was a prophet; maybe he was crazy.

As they reclined around the table, a woman entered. She also had heard the rumors—that Jesus was a healer, and perhaps even the Messiah. We aren’t told what her life was like or why she was identified as a ‘sinner,’ but we can guess. Perhaps it was written all over her—the clothes she wore, the way she wore her hair, her makeup, her manners. She knelt at Jesus feet and wept. Tears of joy. Tears of regret. Tears of hope. Tears of relief.

Those tears bathed his feet. Her hair dried them. And then she took the expensive oil and massaged it into his dry and calloused feet. And though the Pharisee didn’t say anything out loud, his whole body screamed, “Not in my house!” Not in my backyard. Not in my bathroom. Not in my state. Not in my church. Not in my family.

Jesus knew. And even after his parable, as he asked Simon which person would be more grateful and Simon answered correctly, Simon still didn’t get it. He didn’t make the connection. He was still steaming over this ‘sinner’ in his pure and holy house.

So, Jesus made it clear. “See this woman?” Of course he saw her! He saw her clothes and her hair and her makeup. He saw her and he knew just what she was.

No, Simon. Do you SEE her? Do you see WHO she is? Not WHAT she is. Friends, we are not a WHAT. Our trans siblings are not a WHAT. We don’t have the right to claim we know anything about anyone based on outside appearance—whether that’s hair and clothes and makeup or body structure, genitalia, and chest size. People are not a WHAT. You are not a WHAT. We are a WHO. And WHO we are is so much more than physical attributes. WHO we are goes beyond righteous titles and fancy robes. WHO we are goes beyond our doctrines and social connections. WHO we are is declared by God and recognized by the individual.

If we are going to love God and love our neighbor, we don’t get to tell our neighbor what they are and then put them in a box meant to make us comfortable. God isn’t about my comfort or your comfort. God is about wholeness.

Jesus turned to the woman and said, “You are free. You are forgiven. You are released from the bonds of everyone else’s assumptions about what you are. You are made whole. Go in peace.” If wholeness is God’s mission in this world, we don’t get to parcel a person out—separating their heart and mind and soul and body as if we understand any of those. They are made to go together. God created us with heart and mind and soul and body intertwined, beautifully interconnected and unfathomably complex.

See this woman? See this trans woman? See this trans man? See this queer, unique, incredibly amazing and intricate person? They are not a what. They are a who. God made them—and us—that way. Thanks be to God!

Pastor Tobi White

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church

Lincoln, NE

[1] https://apnews.com/article/scouting-america-pentagon-military-boy-scouts-14a5fc1521fcd1e51103638f6f504214