Isn’t it interesting the kind of people Jesus hung out with and recruited? He didn’t seek out the people most of us might expect him to the religious types in his culture, the priests or the teachers of religion, the Pharisees.
None of his closest apostles had an impressive resume. He sought out fishermen and women and ordinary folks. And yes, he even wanted outcasts and sinners in his ministry.
He made the hated Samaritan the hero of one of his greatest parables. His first evangelist, who converted her whole city, was a woman with multiple marriages and was currently living with a man, not her husband.
One thing we know for sure, Jesus sees the potential goodness in people despite their backgrounds or their sins. His closest friends included people like Mary Magdalene and Matthew. The good news is if he liked them, he'd probably like most of us too, warts and all.
Jesus is unapologetically intolerant of sin, but he is all-inclusive in His offer of salvation for those who repent. I think the message for us today is: no matter what we might think of our qualifications, Jesus reaches out to us to be his representatives.
The question for us is: Who would Jesus be attracted to today?
He isn’t on earth now to seek out the sick, but we are. He isn’t on earth now to reach out to sinners, sinners with hidden potential to become saints, but we are.
Maybe it is time for some serious reflection about reaching out in love to those who Jesus would if he were here.
… “sinners”
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