Luke 5:27-39
“Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…’” (Luke 5:29-31)
You gotta imagine that as exuberant as Levi was to be hosting Jesus, Jesus’ disciples had to be equally uncomfortable. For, undoubtedly, each of these disciples had been raised to regard tax collectors as lowly scum, those who had sold out to the empire ruling over them and who took money from their own community. And you know how prejudice works. Over time, we create stories that help justify our prejudices. “You know what I heard? That all tax collectors have extra smelly feet because they all have webbed toes!” “Oh, do you know what I heard? That they’ve been brainwashed by the mainstream media.” “Yeah, I heard that they are inherently inferior to the rest of us, that their brains are smaller than ours… and they eat children when no one is looking!” But now, all of the sudden, the disciples are having dinner with these folks! And they are uncomfortable. This is actually why I think the Pharisees direct their questions toward the disciples. It’s not only that the Pharisees are little punks and too afraid to talk to Jesus (though they are), but rather that they want to exploit the disciples discomfort; they want to see if all those myths and folktales born out of prejudice still hold any sway in the hearts and minds of the Jesus followers. I suspect it is a good thing that Jesus intercedes for them.
And when He does, He’s not terribly polite. The metaphor He uses more than implies that these tax collectors are sick and unrighteous. He doesn’t succumb to the mythological tales of prejudice, but neither does He act like they’re the bees knees. Instead, He makes the simple case that His presence is needed in their lives, if their lives are to have any chance of glorifying God. I fear this is a lesson we still haven’t learned.
About a month ago, I made this Facebook post:
60 years ago people were protesting and there wasn’t so much looting/rioting happening. Know why? 60 years ago, multiple church leaders had a role in crafting what protest would look like by preaching to young-and-angry people that non-violent direct action would bring about the change they wanted better than burning it all down. Pastors and mature church leaders were guiding the movement toward justice as an extension of their Christian faith. At least part of the Civil Rights Movement was also a faith movement.
But then y’all spent the last half-century formally (hello, Johnson Amendment!) and informally (tsk-tsk-ing pastors) telling the church to “not be so political.” And here we are. Target has to burn now. Store windows aren’t safe. Don’t park your car downtown.
It’s tragically ironic to me that the same people who lament the loss of prayer in schools don’t equally lament the loss of prayer in protest. Really, what did we think was going to happen?
My point, undoubtedly delivered with a little edge (but, I don’t think, much more edge than Jesus displays in calling the tax collectors sick and unrighteous!), was that any place where the church pulls out its presence and participation is a place that will, just inevitably, fall into disrepair. The motivation for this post was all of the Christian animus being directed toward “Black Lives Matter” (both the official organization and the mantra/general sentiment, which are two different things that ought not be confused with one another). A devotional is no place to share my particular opinion on BLM and doing so would miss the point. Instead, I wanted Christians – especially the Christians who were doing all the criticizing – to recognize that whatever foibles and flaws might exist in modern-day cries for justice was, to a very real degree, a result of those Christians vacating this field of work. And, not surprisingly, once we vacated this work, those who were left behind – maybe sick and unrighteous already, who knows? – became as monstrous as the tax collectors were to the Pharisees. As a rule of thumb, any time Christians find themselves accurately reflecting the Pharisees… well, one word: Repent.
Ultimately, the affirmative hope of that Facebook post (as well as my understanding of today’s selection of scripture) is that Christians will take seriously the gifts they can bring to any undertaking. Through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives inside us, we can (and should!) influence every sector and corner of society toward holiness. This is both a privilege and an obligation of our Christian discipleship. Amen.
