Hanging Out With Sinners

“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed Him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when He heard it, He said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.””

~Matthew 9:9-13

Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were not anymore popular than they are today. In fact, the term “tax collector” was synonymous with corruption and they were often lumped together with the term “sinner.” Hanging around tax collectors often meant people would judge that person to be evil and underhanded, so when Jesus allowed “many” tax collectors and sinners to sit at the table with him, the Pharisees were in a tizzy. How dare someone allow such scum to sit at the table with them and then defend them when questioned about it? The Pharisees were a bit self-righteous and self-important, and given the choice of being in the company of tax collectors or Pharisees, I’d choose the tax collectors too.

There are a lot of people we see on a daily basis that we pay no attention to, or look at and dismiss, or we think our time is too important to spend on someone we deem beneath us. We might think we don’t make snap judgements about people, but we do. We all do. We all like to say we don’t judge and skin color doesn’t matter, but what do you think when you see someone with tattoos, long beards and hair riding motorcycles? Do they scare you because they’re “bikers”? What about people with different colored hair and piercings all over their faces? Do you think they’re ridiculous? Or what about someone walking into Walmart in their pajamas? Or someone who is so overweight they must use a riding cart because they can no longer walk any distance? Do you think they need to just put the Snickers™ back and have some self-respect? Or someone with a child who is physically or mentally impaired? Do you feel pity for them? Or the homeless? Do you think they just need to stop using drugs and get a job? Or someone who “looks” like they just walked out of prison? We might say we don’t judge but who wants a convict living next door? Who wants a drug recovery house in their neighborhood? Who wants anyone they don’t like or understand or looks different or had a different type of life living in close proximity to them? We judge people.

“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:32-36).”

Loving those who love us is easy. We love our kids because they’re ours and no matter what mistakes they make, we still love them. But loving those we don’t know is a little more difficult; showing loving kindness and mercy to a stranger we’d rather pretend doesn’t exist is difficult. But that’s exactly what Jesus did in so many instances in the Bible. He loved the sinners, and we are supposed to be like Jesus and love everyone. But how is that possible? How do we love the unlovable? I think first, we need to understand what love means. In this instance, we are talking about “Agape” love, godly love that doesn’t love based on merit but on the fact that God loved us before Christ wiped our slate clean. When we recognize that no sin is greater than any other, that our sin was as great as any convicted person in prison, or as any tax collector, drug addict, hooker, or biker gang, perhaps we can begin to look upon others as God looked upon us. Agape love is full of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. Agape love is a verb, it shows action. Mother Teresa, who showed true Agape love to countless people said, “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do. Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service. The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34).”

Read Psalm 32-36; Weekend reading Psalm 37-47

©2018 Marie McGaha