Saturday after Ash Wednesday -- February 16, 2013
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Luke 5:27 – 32
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
I’m struck today by the sight of this table at which Jesus reclined. Around the table were persons of disrepute, those who were considered crooks and traitors, and some who were known “sinners.” Yet, there was a place for all of them at the table of Jesus.
I am dismayed by the lines drawn in contemporary life that polarize and create divisions . . . politically (not just Democrats and Republicans, but factions within each party as well) . . . racially . . . economically . . . religiously . . . nationally . . . and more.
In this passage, the hyper-religious folks were most offended by Jesus. The “good-church-people” – so to speak – reacted most strongly to the welcome Jesus extended to the marginalized folks at the table. Often, the religious segment has worked out the system that tells them who is “in” and who is “out.” They then give much of their energy to preserving their system of insiders and outsiders.
Perhaps this passage would invite you into a three-part prayer or meditation:
First, notice Jesus today at the table, welcoming everyone, finding a place for all. Acknowledge the part of you that is welcoming and inclusive of others.
Second, notice the strange mix of people around the table with Jesus. What part of you, perhaps an “outcast” part of your personality, has experienced this kind of hospitality and welcome?
Finally, notice the accusers in this scene, the finger-pointers. Be in touch with the part of your own inner landscape that tends to draw lines, that wants to divide the world into insiders and outsiders.
All three are likely a part of your interior. You can bring the “real you” into your prayer with God.
Luke 5:27 – 32
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
I’m struck today by the sight of this table at which Jesus reclined. Around the table were persons of disrepute, those who were considered crooks and traitors, and some who were known “sinners.” Yet, there was a place for all of them at the table of Jesus.
I am dismayed by the lines drawn in contemporary life that polarize and create divisions . . . politically (not just Democrats and Republicans, but factions within each party as well) . . . racially . . . economically . . . religiously . . . nationally . . . and more.
In this passage, the hyper-religious folks were most offended by Jesus. The “good-church-people” – so to speak – reacted most strongly to the welcome Jesus extended to the marginalized folks at the table. Often, the religious segment has worked out the system that tells them who is “in” and who is “out.” They then give much of their energy to preserving their system of insiders and outsiders.
Perhaps this passage would invite you into a three-part prayer or meditation:
First, notice Jesus today at the table, welcoming everyone, finding a place for all. Acknowledge the part of you that is welcoming and inclusive of others.
Second, notice the strange mix of people around the table with Jesus. What part of you, perhaps an “outcast” part of your personality, has experienced this kind of hospitality and welcome?
Finally, notice the accusers in this scene, the finger-pointers. Be in touch with the part of your own inner landscape that tends to draw lines, that wants to divide the world into insiders and outsiders.
All three are likely a part of your interior. You can bring the “real you” into your prayer with God.
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