June 4

Beloved of Good Shepherd Parish,

Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!

Jesus often had tax collectors and sinners around him at mealtime. He seems to have loved to share meals with people whom other people held at arms length. In symbolic terms tax collectors are people who are trying to make ends meet by any means possible even if they have to live less than honorable lives. Sinners are folks who try as they might cannot hit the mark of love on a consistent basis. Selfishness and self-centeredness are their go-to moves. Jesus wanted these people around him as much as possible because they are the ones who needed his help the most.

I want to avoid difficult people at all costs. But perhaps the wildest, most challenging thing about being a follower of Jesus is that he continually calls us to spend more time with the tax collectors and sinners in our midst. Sometimes he has me peek in the mirror to see that I am one. 

When everyone else was moving away from tax collectors and sinners, Jesus moved towards them, and he didn’t read them the riot act and tell them how to behave.

Take Matthew, for instance. Matthew was a tax collector and when Jesus saw him he said, “Will you come with me? Follow me. Let’s walk together. I’ll talk and you can listen, then you talk and I’ll listen.” Matthew became a companion to Jesus, and he wrote one of the Gospels.

At Good Shepherd we say, All are welcome, because we are trying in our humble, broken way to welcome everyone, no matter the things they’ve done or left undone, into our fellowship just as Jesus did.

Who are you avoiding? Is there a safe, healthy way to move towards them? If there is, I can all but promise you that when you find them you’ll find Jesus too.

Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!

Love is all,

Hendree+