Diiner with Jesus

Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus 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 Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” Mark 2:13-22 

We are in the midst of a panic over Covid-19, or the Corona virus. Folks are hoarding items and avoiding other human beings. People are avoiding Asian restaurants, thinking they can contract the virus in these establishments. We are avoiding eye contact, hand shaking and touching our own faces. We are people who spend time and money to protect our health and our homes, and completely forget about the heart and the soul. 

Jesus calls Matthew (Levi) and then joins him for dinner at his home. The religious leaders were outraged, expecting Jesus was condemning himself and his followers to a life of sinfulness, as if sin was a communicable disease. Matthew's job was collecting taxes, yet his heart was craving God's love. That is where Jesus always is-  at the table with folks who crave the love of God. It is that judgement free place, the place where all are welcome and no one is excluded. The sketchiest, smelliest, weirdest and most confusing are welcome. We are invited to follow Jesus by setting a table for all.

Today, I ask God to help me sit with those who are shunned and outcast. May we find God's love renewed in our own lives as we sit with those we fear, knowing Jesus is present in our midst.