Willimon turns again to Jesus as he draws images of God's saving work.
Is it any wonder then that one of the earliest and most persistent charges against Jesus was, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15:2)? Jesus is crucified for welcoming sinners to his table, not only welcoming but also actively seeking them. At the end, with whom did he choose to dine at his Last Supper? Sinners. and in his resurrection, at a new beginning, with whom did he choose to dine at his first meals (Luke 24:13-35)? Sinners. His door was too wide to suit many of the faithful.
I like the connection between the people with whom Jesus spent time before his death and then the ones after his death - the same people. What he was about in life...is held up again after death. Death has no power over the work of this saving God in Christ, Jesus. The early church will be bands of folk who are not made of the most influential people. Rather, they are people who have seen love alive and healing the brokenness that can destroy a people. They, by the power of the Holy Spirit, continue to be the presence of Jesus - saving us all that we may be part of the saving movement of people that will let no one be left out or abandoned.
Connection: How wide is your door? Who is welcome into your life and into whose life do you let yourself enter? I find this is always a two way street - a boldness to welcome and a boldness to walk into the rooms of strangers and "others."
When your Reign comes down upon us, O God, let it shine within us and create a light within the world so that as we are embraced by your love we will also be that love that embraces our world. Amen.
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