Devotion - Wednesday, November 9

I was reading this morning from Matthew 9. Jesus calls Matthew as a disciple; he ends up sharing dinner with a number of tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees comment on this. Jesus says to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician."

Does this story speak to us in any way? Are we so far removed in time and context that we fail to grasp what is going on here? A fear is that we have become so comfortable with our inclusion in the community of Christ that we no longer hear those words which are meant to shake up that community.

One of last evening's Bible study participants correctly pointed out that we are "all sinners." Perhaps it is our willingness to admit our shortcomings which contribute to our reading Matthew 9 and seeing ourselves in the role of those whose presence with Jesus is questioned. We continue to think of ourselves as the unlikely recipients of God's gracious invitation to sit at his table. And thus we should see ourselves. But we are also those whose names appear on the list of temple keepers; are not many of us among those who arrange the chairs at the table and send out the notices that the meal is being served? We share traits with those who already have a place in the house and around the table. We may be one of the sinners who Jesus beckons to join him; but we are also one of the established guard reluctant to give up our status.

We need to continually understand ourselves to be sinners, welcomed to the table by a gracious and loving master. But we must also be on the lookout for those who are being called to the table, and do not consider themselves worthy. We need to be helpful to Jesus, in making them feel welcome and not part of the reason they feel excluded.

Look around you for the most unlikely of candidates for God's invitation. Look at them with differing eyes, with the eyes of Jesus, and through the experience adjust your understanding of why Jesus came and to whom he came. Allow this to alter the way in which you reach out to those persons and the ways in which you speak to them of God's invitation.