February 22, 2023 - 1:29pm

Lenten Meditation: Saturday, February 25, 2023

Lenten Meditation: Saturday, February 25, 2023

Throughout the 40 days of Lent, we'll be posting meditations, opportunities to gather, and programs to support as we grow and learn together.

“Jesus answered them: ‘It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick; I have not come to call the virtuous but sinners to repentance.'” –Luke 5:31-32

The Pharisees were not alone in their judgement of tax collectors. In fact, tax collectors were practically social outcasts among their Jewish neighbors. As Jews who collected taxes on behalf of the Roman Empire, they helped to support a violent and oppressive regime, and effectively aided the subjugation of their own people. But it went even beyond that. Tax collectors made most of their money through extortion, collecting more from their fellow Jews than even the Roman government required—think more like the mafia than the IRS.

That Levi hosts a large (and seemingly extravagant) dinner for Jesus, likely paid for by these same ill-gotten gains…perhaps you can understand the Pharisees’ shock and dismay. Yet it’s important that we don’t read Jesus’ words today as any kind of permission to judge, to write some people off as “sick” and others as “healthy”. Rather, it’s a chance to appreciate the redemptive power of God’s love that subverts all expectations and hierarchies—this is not about who is good, who is respectable, or who is deserving. Jesus comes to be with everyone and anyone who needs him. Full stop.

God’s abundant mercy is gift, but it’s also a challenge. We have to be in touch with our own need for repentance if we want Jesus to come and be with us.

Today: So often in the Gospels we encounter Jesus eating and drinking with others. Help provide a meal for someone in need today—through a financial donation, volunteering your time, or just asking someone if you can get them something to eat.

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