While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Mistakes get made…we all do it, some are considered bigger than others…but bottom line, we all make mistakes. But when a serious mistake is made, something that grabs the attention of many, something that is thrust into the public spotlight, we tend to take a step back, distancing ourselves from the offender and their mistake. It’s almost as if we stand outside some perimeter, an innocent bystander, rubber-necking at the scene, hands clean of the offense just committed. We form opinions, start pointing fingers, maybe even get angry at the offender…all while managing to somehow completely forget about how we too are offenders…how we too once stood, and will likely stand again, in the similar shoes as the current offender. We fail to see the plank in our own eye and focus solely on the obtuse current plank that juts out of the eye of another. In the text above, Christ is found sitting with sinners…sitting with people that have made big mistakes in their lives…yet he dwells among them. Why? The answer is found in verse 17 when Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” When we make mistakes, crying out for mercy and forgiveness, it is God that comes running to us, arms open wide, willingly embracing and sheltering his child. Christ did not think about his reputation when he interacted with sinners…all he saw was a person broken by their sin, crippled by their mistakes…a person that needed rescue, compassion, forgiveness, and love. As Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ…the one who provided a perfect example of compassion and mercy…we are called to do the same. When we encounter a person broken with sin, we are to take the example set by our Savior…embracing that broken soul and leading them to the Lord…disregarding what it may do to our image or reputation and focusing solely on leading them to repentance and repair. If we don’t know exactly what to do, may we start with love…for as it is written in 1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” May we start with love…and allow the Lord to work from there, using us as his instrument to rescue another. To God be the glory!
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