March 14th: Leviticus 22, Psalm 125-127 and Luke 5

Luke 5.  Jesus didn't come to save "the righteous."  He came to save the sinners.  That means he spent time with them.  He took them out to eat.  He partied, er, "feasted" with them.  He loved them in the situations that they would be familiar with.  He accepted invites to parties, even if some people wouldn't be kosher (in the most literal sense of the word, HA!). Remember, Luke 5:29, "Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them."  I'm sure Matthew told his story.  But notice, it freaked out the religious ultra-conservatives.  Something here wasn't safe.

What does that look like for us?  Like Sunday afternoon buffets around the corner from the church?  Maybe, but my guess is that it looks more like O'Patty's on a Tuesday night talking about the hurt of a lost job, the frustrations of a failing marriage or celebrating at an open bar after the Smith and Williams wedding.  

Don't get me wrong, I don't feel like this is a open invitation to overindulge whether in gluttony, alcohol or to escape "normal" responsibilities.  But I think this is a call to seek divine appointments in the haunts of sinners and tax collectors.  A call to say "yes" to an invitation that may cause you to rub with the elbows of sinners... not in our churches, not in our youth buildings... but in their homes. In their 3rd places.