Written by Jonathan Melton
Luke 15:1-2 (NRSV) Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
At every celebration of the eucharist, the priest invites the people to offer themselves to God with what is called an “offertory sentence.” The priest can choose from choices provided in The Book of Common Prayer or select another appropriate verse. I wonder if the grumblings of the Pharisees and scribes wouldn’t make a fine offertory sentence, too: “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” How good to remember that God’s delight is to welcome and eat with sinners like me.
The eucharist names the gift—Jesus’ very life—to be offered as an alternative to the guilt and shame that drive contemporary culture, challenging our fear of being seen with people who are, for all kinds of reasons, despised by the world, by our friends, and sometimes by our own selves. But God in Christ has not feared communion with each and every one of us! When we take the time to search and investigate this happy mystery, to whom are we now free to reach out in love?
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