Episode 398

 

TODAY’S READING:

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:11-13

 

It’s so easy to hear these words and think of other people. So easy to think of people we know that sin. We think of cheaters and abusers; we think of people far from us. People who we would never associate with.

 

But the truth is, Jesus came for people like you and people like me. We are sinners. Our nature is sinful. The fact that we think of other people speaks to our self-preserving nature. We can’t even label ourselves as sinners.

 

But I wanted to remind you that being a sinner is being someone who steps outside of righteousness. That’s why He says, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

 

The thing is, we can try our hardest to be righteous, and some days we will be better than others. But we will always fall short of perfection.

 

Jesus came for us all.

 

Like a doctor that heals the sick, He came to help us all.

 

We don’t have to feel shame; He took that to the grave. We just get to acknowledge that we all fall short of perfection and that Jesus is our friend. He sits with us and walks with us; he talks to us. He is there when we eat and when we sleep. He is our friend.

 

PRAYER

Jesus, thank you for being our friend. Thank you for serving us. Lord, today we admit we are sinners. We fall short of righteousness every day no matter how hard we try. It’s in our nature. But today, we acknowledge that rather than hide from you, or rather than pretend we don’t have anything to hide, we leave it all out for you. Take our sins, and be our friend still. Give us the strength to be open and honest with you. Let us accept you into our hearts as the truest and greatest friend we have. Thank you. It is in your Holy Name that we pray, AMEN!