Follow Him

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus said to them in reply, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners." (Luke 5:27-32)

Levi left everything behind, got up, and followed Jesus.  Then he gave a banquet for Jesus and other tax collectors.  The Pharisees and their scribes were displeased. So was Jesus because the Pharisees and scribes were with the “healthy” and the righteous.  Not much of a challenge for the Pharisees and scribes.  They were among and associated with their “own kind” so to speak.  They didn’t call the sinners to repentance as did Jesus.

Do we act as physicians to the sick during Lent?  Do we eat and drink with sinners meaning we welcome them as friends and help them in their hours of need instead of callously avoiding them for fear we make ourselves “impure” and “sinful?”

Like Levi, do we leave everything [or at least something] behind, get up, and follow Jesus?  Moreover, do we know we are sick and in need of a physician?  We all sin in usual and sometimes unusual ways.  Lent is a time to eat and drink with sinners, pray for forgiveness, fast from our sins, and give to Jesus the attention he deserves.  

Deacon David Pierce