They Can't Eat You

'After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." '

Luke 5:27-32 ESV 

When I read the passage I have referenced above, I am always drawn to verse 30 and the way the religious leaders questioned Him about who He ate with or spent His time with. What has always shined out to me was it gives us a window into the spiritual blindness that plagued these poor men. Due to their "laws" and the social standing of the day, they believed all these people to be beneath them. It would be like showing up to the country club with a busload of smelly bums right off the street. Imagine the looks and comments you might hear. 

The so-called leaders spent a lot of time hammering Jesus about how much time He spent with the "sinners" and the "unclean." These men didn't understand what Jesus was sent to earth to do. That He was sent to show the "sinners" of the world a way to God. And even if Jesus had wanted to He couldn't avoid the sinners in the world and neither can we. While Jesus walked the earth, there were literally sinners everywhere He looked. Every person He saw, came in contact with, or bumped into in the market was, as a matter of fact, a sinner, even if they didn't know that they were a sinner. 

Why are we so threatened and scared of sin? Jesus wasn't. He never excused it but He wasn't scared of it either. His boldness came from the orders He had received from His Father in Heaven. He came to earth to die and come out of the grave to redeem the people He ministered to and those that had no idea that they were a sinner too. He simply understood that every single person born into this world carries the spiritual mark of sin in their life. A mark created at the Fall of Man. 

It breaks my heart when I hear of church folks that have turned their backs on those that they are called to help. When they avoid someone in the Wal-Mart parking lot or quickly dart down another aisle in the grocery store so they don't have to talk to this or that person. It happens when they see someone that they know is struggling and could use an encouraging word but they choose to keep their mouths shut out of their own personal fear. When they see a woman or a child being mistreated and don't do anything to help. I could go on and on...If we allow ourselves to be a church full of Pharisees then we don't deserve the church. The church isn't a building. It is a people that serve a risen Savior. It is a body of believers that, even when it is difficult, do what God leads them to do. It is a people that understand they are just as guilty as the woman at the well or as Levi the tax collector. That if it wasn't for the grace of God they would be in the same situation. If not for the grace of God I would be in that same situation...dying in my sin...drowing in my own selfishness...struggling to understand all the wheres, whys, and hows of my life. 

Be Bold...Walk across the street...across the room...across the office...reach a hand out...be Jesus for someone tomorrow...They can't eat you