Odd Man Out
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13
Insight
I remember all too well when I felt like the odd man out. My mom bought me Wrangler jeans instead of the popular Levi's. I tried to pass my no-name brand sneakers off as Keds. In my young world, I just wanted to fit in. To be not like the others was devastating.
In the way of Jesus, identity and labels take on a very different meaning. Time after time, Jesus reframes the way we see things, through the lens of love, inclusion, and acceptance. In this passage, we see an example of the way of life Jesus introduces to first century Jews. It is a radical departure from the structures and segregation of the Pharisees. This sharing of a meal would have been viewed as unacceptable. In Jesus' day, one did not eat with tax collectors! Tax collectors were despised for collaborating with Roman rule, for inflating taxes to increase their profits, thus enhancing their status in the eyes of the Roman authorities. Yet in the way of Jesus even tax collectors and sinners were welcomed. These people, whose professions and social standing were not respectable, were offered a seat at Jesus' table.
Jesus offers a new way of seeing, regardless of labels, that includes everyone. It's often those caught on the margins of society, ostracized by the majority, that are most in need of compassion, of understanding, of healing both physical as well as spiritual.
When the Pharisees see Jesus, they scoff at the idea that a Rabbi would lower himself to sit with such riffraff. To them Jesus replies, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." He is rephrasing what we read in Hosea 6:6, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." In the days of law, sins were thought to be excused with the proper animal sacrifices. Unrighteous deeds could be wiped away with a balance of bloodshed. Today, the idea of slaying animals has been left behind; our modern sacrifices are often the series of good deeds we do to show our gratitude for our blessings or to repent for a wrongdoing.
Jesus asks us to go deeper. Often our sacrifices are still about us, what we are willing to do, give up, or offer. Though acts of kindness can be generous & wonderful, here Jesus reminds us that mercy transcends what we think is right and good and gets to the needs of others. We cannot know the pain of another, the need of another, if we don't sit down with them, relate to them, break bread with them.
At the heart of sin is separation. At Matthew's table, Jesus is forging relationships that at their core show true concern for another. Mercy matters because it takes us beyond a balancing of scales as typified by the rule of law and invites us into a transformation only possible when we open our hearts. Mercy is what joins us all together in compassion despite our differences.
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us, "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."
We carry all that we have been given into relationships with one another, by the power of the Spirit, so that our commonalities far outweigh our differences. Jesus reconciles all that threatens to separate and disconnect. All are welcome at His table, to feast on a meal of mercy and love. Let us not only accept His invitation, but extend that invitation to our families, our communities, and beyond.
Reflection
How is Jesus inviting you to delve deeper in your relationships? Where can your compassion make a difference in the life of another?
Is there an area where you feel like you are balancing the scales with God, settling for sacrifice when we are called to show mercy?
Prayer
Father, we are so grateful for the life You invite us into. We pray for the wisdom to see as You do, the heart to feel as You feel. Help us to slow down and listen to each other and respond in the likeness of You. Help us to see past surface differences to the core where we all belong one to another in harmony with Creator & Creation. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.
Port City writer Paula Argenio wrote today’s devotional.
