13th Day of Lent
Mixed Company with Jesus
"There were many...sinners...who followed him." Mark 2:15
It has been said, "The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints." In other words, we all come in need of healing from something, not to display our goodness or righteousness. Right from the beginning of his ministry, Jesus reached out to the crowd that "good" people rejected. Imagine the shock it must have been to Levi, a tax collector for the Roman authority, when Jesus called him to be his disciple. This wasn't just saying hello to him, being nice to him, blessing him, or forgiving him. Jesus actually called him to be one of the twelve, part of his leadership team, if you will. And then imagine the shock to the "good" people, especially the religious scribes of the Pharisees, who specifically taught their fellow Jews to stay away from such sinners, lest they become impure. Jesus was really shaking things up, and people took notice.
Too often, from the outside looking in, the perception of the church is that it is only for the righteous. The truth, of course, is that we are a pretty motley crew who come from all kinds of different backgrounds. We are a mixed company of sinners, in need of God's grace every day. I pray that we might communicate that truth, whether that be in our personal witness to our faith, or in what we do collectively as a congregation. May we be that hospital for sinners, and let people know that the Great Physician sees patients every week in need of His healing touch.
Embracing sinners! I really feel that the “motley crew” at OSLC does this well Pastor Jeff! I have attend many churches since I left Salt Lake and I have been welcomed, but not felt embraced. We are all in need of love and forgiveness and within the fellowship of believers we receive this! Of course, we receive this from God, but we need each other to remind us that Jesus came to love us into wholeness in Him. Today’s devotional reminds me not to get to comfortable within that fellowship, to reach out and love the “unknown” to bring them into the fellowship of believers.
ReplyDeleteThe truth of this devotion is something we need to be reminded of frequently!!! It is far too easy to become comfortable with where we are and what we are doing. Thank you, Julie, for pointing out the gift that our church has for EMBRACING. I think of the many people pastor visits and ministers to. I think of the new member that our renewal group embraced and the powerful way that he has inspired us. Although I shouldn't be surprised, I often find that huge spiritual experiences happen not only with close friends, but also with people whose paths I wouldn't otherwise even crossed. We've missed you as part of our 'motley crew', Julie, but your participation in this blog is refreshing and keeps our hearts close!
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