"The Pharisees noticed this and they inquired of Jesus's disciples, 'Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?'" (Matthew 9:11)
About twenty years ago I was at a church as a guest concert participant. Before the program started, I ran into an old friend. We greeted each other with a hug, did a little catching up, then parted ways. An audience member then urged me to come over to where she was sitting. She said, "You should not be so close to that person, he is not well. He is very sick." I knelt down so that I could look her in the eye, and I said, "I know he is sick. And I also believe that God has the power to heal him. Do you believe that?" As I walked away, I suddenly realized that her first statement was an indication that, whether she believed or not, she was not in a healing mindset: she was in an isolationist mindset.
In titling her sermon "Outsiders", Pastor Althea captured the crisis of the church. She reminded us that we who are now "in" were once out, but at some point we were touched by the grace and power of Christ. We were converted, healed, and delivered. But, sometimes, we forget our past. We carry on our love-fest with Jesus without concern for the lost souls who need Him as desperately as we do. Such is the epitome of hoarding: denying the Balm of Gilead to the sin-sick soul.
The Pharisaical indictment rings as loudly now as it did in Matthew 9:11: Why associate with outsiders? The answer? It is what our Teacher did for us. None of us were born into the kingdom of God by our physical birth or pedigree. Someone reached out to us. We were offered a chance at spiritual birth, and we said yes to Jesus. Amen! Let us make room for countless others to hear the gospel and to have opportunity to respond to the call of Christ.
Is there any person on the planet undeserving of the opportunity to be introduced to our Lord Jesus?
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