Meet With Sinners?

Good Morning,

Luke 19:1-10 (NIV)
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

In this story we see that the adage, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," is pretty much true. Just as people tend to mutter and grumble about some things today, they did the same thing over 2,000 years ago. People were complaining that Jesus would go to be with a "sinner" when they sort of forgot to take a look in the mirror, so to speak.

Jesus put it succinctly at the end of this short section of Scripture when He said, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Jesus showed us what we are to do with sinners that we meet in our lives as we are "passing through" wherever we go. Jesus called out to a sinner. Jesus showed him a better way. Jesus provided for him a way to forgiveness from his sinful ways. Jesus shared with him God's plan of salvation. You see, that's exactly what WE are supposed to do, be the imitation of Jesus, as we live our normal, everyday lives. We are to call out to the sinners around us and ask them to be with us; maybe go out for a cup of coffee; spend some time together just talking. We are to present, in a gentle and loving way, the facts of Jesus Christ life, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sin and for the prospect, the true hope, of salvation and an eternity in heaven with God.

Yes, there will be scoffers who will say much the same about us as those who derided Jesus. You know, "Huh! Look at him, he's hanging out with those sinful folks again." Well, as Jesus said on another occasion, "When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Mat 9:12-13) So, that would tell us that our time and efforts might be better served if we were to be speaking to "sinners" who need Jesus' love and God's salvation. For, it's true today, it's those who are sick that need the Physician. For those of us who might not be sick, the Physician is there to help us STAY well.

I would say that we're being taught today not to shy away from the sinners we come into contact with, but to be gentle and loving with them. We are to model Jesus' behavior. We are to sow the seeds that we've been given by Him into the lives of those who need the Physician.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David