Scripture:Luke 5:27-32
Afterward, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Levi got up, left everything behind, and followed him. Then Levi threw a great banquet for Jesus in his home. A large number of tax collectors and others sat down to eat with them. The Pharisees and their legal experts grumbled against his disciples. They said, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn’t come to call righteous people but sinners to change their hearts and lives.”
Thought for the Day: Have you ever heard someone respond to an idea by saying, “That’s incredibly stupid!” or “That’s a waste of time!” It wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibilities to suggest that the religious leaders who grumbled at Jesus said under their breath or pondered in their heads those very thoughts. For Jesus to announce that he’s come, not for the healthy, but the sick – not for the righteous, but for sinners – would have been outlandish to say the least. To think that they might “change their hearts and lives” was not a credible idea. It didn’t happen…period! But Jesus invited these folks, the sinners who had taken advantage of people economically, to sit and enjoy a meal with him. If you’ve been told all your life that you are scum and have no chance of ever changing, do you think you’re going to try to change? Probably not! Jesus understood the social and cultural categories that stigmatized people and limited their capacity to see an alternative. A meal with Jesus may not seem very radical to us, but it undermined those categories and created a vision of an alternative reality. Suddenly those who believed they were stuck in their current predicament were given a “get out of jail free” card. This is just one of ten meal stories found in Luke’s Gospel, and each of them uniquely opens doors through which the participants and the reader are able to glimpse God’s reality where grace and mercy and kindness are changing hearts and lives.
Prayer: As I prepare to come to your table of welcome, O Lord, I make room within my heart for the gifts you will share – the gifts that will change me as I need to be changed. Amen.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT PROGRAMMING
Drop by for dinner between 6:15-6:45pm
Programming begins at 6:45pm
See You Sunday
