Good Morning Friends,
At first blush the answer to today’s question might be dismissed with a statement such as, ‘what option do we really have’ or a moralistic comment, ‘that one can tell what a person is like by the friends one keeps’ or ‘birds of a feather flock together’. Surely it is not so simple. We live in a time when people who believe a certain way attempt to influence that way in politics and even in the church. And since belief in the essential tenets of our faith has actually been debated within our system and too few consider Jesus Lord, I wonder about the effectiveness of the role of the church in society today. Still, even as we may be considering whose fault it is, it might just be wisdom to look in the mirror and ask, Should Christians Keep The Company of Sinners?
Scripture: Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day. The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.
Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 (NRSV)
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew 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 the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
Matthew 9:9-13 (NRSV)
Message: Today we explore the possibility that we can seek people’s company not because we like what they are and acquiesce in what they are, but because we hope to have some influence in changing them. Teachers spend their lives in the company of children not because they prefer the company of children to the company of adults, but because they regard it a great privilege to have some share in developing the potential of children to become adults. Social workers spend their time with challenged families not because they prefer families with challenges to families without challenges, but because they hope to be able to help to solve the challenges. Surely some hunger for the truth. But the Pharisees failed to discern that Jesus had a similar motive in fraternizing with publicans and sinners and even the likes of Matthew, a tax collector. Still, they made a false judgement about Jesus and assumed he preferred their company to the company of the righteous. In fact, they assumed that he approved of their sinful conduct. It does not seem to have occurred to these Pharisees that Jesus might have kept bad company for a good reason. But Jesus did have a good reason and so should we. Sinners need the message more than the righteous. Regardless, the Pharisees were outraged and scandalized by Jesus’ behavior given the culture and context of the situation. Here a man who was called a Rabbi was keeping table with people the Pharisees considered the very scum of the earth. Pharisees kept company with Pharisees, and Rabbis with other Rabbis. They were put off because Jesus was not praising them for their devotion to the Torah but instead castigating them as hypocrites because they did not understand that they were religious bureaucrats that were catering to the palate of those who wanted to dine on forgiveness without requiring real repentance and love. Friends, Jesus wants sinners who desire to dine on the word of the Lord. The Pharisees were starving themselves. But let us not judge them too harshly. If we think we are righteous we might be mistaken as well. I have gone into local jails to share the Gospel with the inmates. And some of those who are seeking the Gospel and actually seeking Christ most fervently are those who have committed the most heinous of crimes. I have met Chuck Colson who was an attorney and political advisor to President Richard Nixon. One of the most telling things about him is that he voluntarily pled guilty to obstruction of justice related to the Watergate Scandal and served prison time. But by God’s grace and mercy he founded Prison Fellowship as a cultural outreach to those behind bars. He worshipped for a time at Moorings Presbyterian where I worship weekly. He died ten years ago but leaves a legacy of an outreach to sinners including those in politics and had a lucid focus on the challenge of the church to create a culture of change. His position was that what we believe matters. He was clear that reaching out to sinners with an invitation to a better way of way of life is the strategy that the church should have to share this belief. He did not argue for an imposition of a law to control behavior as the Pharisees were inclined to do, but a matter of collective belief that will bring back the authority and strength and winsomeness of the Church, that can affect the culture for the benefit of all.
And So, it is way too easy to become self-righteous and miss the people that Jesus sought out and the reason he sought them out. Maybe we will not be as bold as Jesus, who was never afraid to get into places of darkness so that He could shine a little light, even the places of politics. But maybe this Fourth of July Holiday Weekend we could on occasion share a bright or enlightening word with those that hunger for God wherever we may be. Jesus as recorded in Matthew sets the parameters of his earthly ministry, including eating with tax collectors, one of whom, Matthew, would take on a ministry of documenting the good news. So, we need to be very clear about who we are and what we do and why we do it realizing that God can use sinners, and even sinners in the church, to help create cultural influence for a better world.
Pray we never lose our appetite for scripture. Pray we realize that what we believe matters. Pray that instead of being collectors and enforcers we become givers and sharers. Pray we hear and understand intellectually. Pray we see and perceive emotionally. Pray we open the eyes of our hearts and hear and see and understand spiritually. Pray we appreciate that Jesus is more interested in mercy than sacrificial protocol. Pray we are saved from a wasted life and a famine of failure. Pray we find abundance as we follow the Word and Way. Pray this Sunday our breaking of bread in communion becomes an invitation to a feast for all. Pray we shine a light in the darkness.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 