I Desire Mercy

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.”
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” Matthew 9:9-17

I Desire Mercy

So many tweets, so many judgments
words that hurt, behaviors that wound
demands that the poor make sacrifices
shaming the broken from any protest.

There are Pharisees among always
wanting to shame the weary and sad
hurling tirades and rejections
love will never exclude the broken.

The Incarnate One came to the table
of outcasts, sinners and tax collectors
made friends with rough sailors
and women who were society's scorn.

Yet even know God desires mercy
not requiring sacrifice from anyone
making room at the table for the least
shutting out the criticism of the powerful.

Come sit at the table where mercy is spread
there is always enough for everyone
we are not cast out or down or aside
always gathered in to be cherished by God.