A Church For Sinners.





Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Let us begin this reflection with a question: “Are you perfect?” The spontaneous response is going to be “No” because we would have to be God to say we are! Therefore, let us spend a few moments thinking about our imperfections. What are the things that stop us from being perfect. Is it a bad temper? Is it a tendency to swear when we are upset? Is it a propensity to get drunk? Or watch porn? Or flirt? I’m sure that if we give it a little honest thought, we’d come up with dozens of things that we do that we know we shouldn’t do. Right?Now, let us answer another question. Given how imperfect WE are, how can we judge others for THEIR imperfections? They are not robots; they are people just like us, no? It is in this understanding that we learn to accept people just as they are. And through this acceptance, which isn’t possible without love, people are changed. Ask Levi, whom we read about today, and see what he says. A tax collector, he was universally hated by everyone because they considered him a “sinner”. Yet, Jesus called Levi to follow him. And look at what he became and did. He wrote a gospel, known as the Gospel of Matthew. 

And we find his gospel replete with stories about “sinners”, perhaps because he understood that Jesus came for them. Once when Jesus was eating at Matthew’s house, many of his friends were there. They were all generally considered “sinners” too, which led to the scribes grumbling: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew understood this, because he was one of the “sick” people.

We need to accept and acknowledge that all of us are “sick” as well. In a world as messed up as ours, how can we not be? There is not a person among us who has his act completely together. There is not one who can claim to be truly righteous. Those who do so are obnoxious in the eyes of God. As the prophet Isaiah put it so well, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Do note that he says it is our righteous acts, not our sins, that are like filthy rags. If we understand this, we will be merciful toward others, and be understanding of their weaknesses and failings.

And then we will make this church the church that it should be. A church where Jesus would feel welcome. 

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