tax collectors and sinners

"As Jesus passed by, 
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. 
He said to him, 'Follow me.'
And he got up and followed him. 
While he was at table in his house, 
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples. 
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, 
'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'
He heard this and said, 
'Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. 
Go and learn the meaning of the words, 
I desire mercy, not sacrifice. 
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.'"
(Mt. 9:10-13)

It's easy to stay in our comfort zones. It's easy to lock ourselves up in small worlds where we don't have to worry about being called upon to answer hard questions. It's easy to surround ourselves with people who think the same way we do and who hold the same opinions.

But is that really what we should be doing? Is that really what we're called to do? I think it's obvious from this Gospel that that's not the case. The Pharisees associated with people who thought the same way they did, who acted a certain way, who observed the law down to the last letter. They had no regard for those who disregarded the law of God - i.e., tax collectors, sinners.

Yet here we see Jesus and the disciples, eating with these tax collectors and sinners - offering them hope - evangelizing. Obviously, these tax collectors and sinners liked being around Jesus - if they didn't, they wouldn't have been eating dinner with him! He probably wasn't bashing them over the head with the Torah - but I'm sure he offered them hope and truth through both his words and his example. Maybe you've had an experience like this before - being around someone filled with peace and hope, who shared it with others - and to whom people seemed to be drawn by a magnetic-seeming force?

I know I talked about this a few days ago, but it's worth talking about again. We can't evangelize unless we get out of our comfort zone, place ourselves at the service of the Gospel, and take it out to the world. It doesn't require quoting chapter and verse - it requires willingness to be examples of the love of God - to bring truth and goodness to a world that needs it - to offer hope to those who are despairing. "'Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.'" There is so much despair in the world around us; how much hope can we bring? How much goodness can we share?

And besides this, being friends with those who don't think the same way we do, and who don't believe all of the same things we do, isn't the worst thing that could happen. Really. It's a good thing. You never know what you might learn. Learning the way others (who seem so decidedly different from us) think gives us new ways to think about things, broadens our perspectives, deepens our understanding.  What unites us is typically greater than what divides us. So go. Be the example. Offer hope. Bring peace. And learn something new about yourself, about others, about the world around you.

+Peace and good.