Them and us. Democrats and Republicans. Red states and blue states. Urban and rural. Those seem to be the strongest dividing mechanisms in our country today, but we come up with plenty of others. Some are innocuous, while others are deeper divisions. It feels like the pandemic, in combination with recent elections, have amplified the ways we are divided. The rhetoric is intense.
So maybe it's comforting to read that two thousand years ago, some people looked at Jesus and wondered why he would associate with a certain group of people. They assumed Jesus, as a religious figure, had come to see them, and they had little time or interest in people such as tax collectors and sinners.
But Jesus came for those far from God, those willing to be corrected, those willing to listen. Jesus came and spent time with the broken.
Who in society would you write off, and what would be your reaction if that group of people was the first group Jesus went to see?
The breadth and freedom of God's grace is astounding to us. It doesn't always make sense to our worldly way of thinking. May we be very cautious in drawing lines between groups of people, and may we be wise in recognizing God's radical love for all people.
And if God loves and serves all people, then we ought to be prepared to do the very same...
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