And as Jesus sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus 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 not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:10-13
The love of God is for everyone and the call of Jesus comes to everyone. But we aren’t all in the same place to hear the message or answer the call. It doesn’t change how much God loves us – that’s unconditional. But it does change how we respond and live our lives. Recognizing that God loves us unconditionally, especially when we feel like we have missed the mark, is an amazing thing. Trusting that (what we call “faith”) reorients us to live a new life going forward.
The text above is from the call of Matthew. He was a tax collector. That meant he had most likely been pretty well rejected by most of his neighbors. Tax collectors worked for the Romans to collect taxes that paid for the Romans to oppress the Jewish people. He was viewed as a traitor and a greedy one at that – someone who would do anything to anyone for money.
But Jesus calls him to follow and ends up at a dinner with all of Matthew’s friends – the other people seen as low-lifes who were willing to hang out with Matthew. Jesus gets a lot of flak for this. No good rabbi would do this and Jesus should be smart enough to know better. Jesus defends his decision by saying this is the whole reason he came – to change people’s lives.
We’re using this text in a series on climate change. Climate change can be overwhelming. The whole planet appears to be warming up. Huge chunks of ice are breaking off glaciers. Storms, floods and droughts seem to be almost weekly news stories now. The magnitude and pace of the changes is going faster than scientists had earlier predicted. It can seem pointless for any one of us to really think we can make a difference.
But what Jesus shows us is that change happens one person at a time. As each of us are impacted by the way we have been and invited to become something new, the chance to participate in what God is up to is made available to us. Jesus started with only a dozen people – most of them not even that respectable. But he changed their lives and a movement began.
It’s a reminder that God can change the course of history for millions of people. But God does it by working on each of us and calling us to join with others to become the change God dreams of.
Lots of things seem overwhelming. And most of them are too big for any one of us to overcome. But lots of us, guided by God and working together, can do surprising things. You can’t change other people – but you can let God change you. And you can’t change the past – but you can change the future.
