A Magnet for Sinners

Jesus and his followers were accused of many things. Frequently and typically, the accusations came from the highly trained, professional, religious establishment. The accusations made of Jesus and his followers were both persistent and humorously accurate. They weren’t telling embellishment or half-truths. Jesus was exactly as they described him. The most consistent objections these religious elites had against Jesus was regarding the company Jesus kept and his complete disregard for the social expectations and taboos. Everything was fine when Jesus had dinner at their houses, as he routinely did, but the second Jesus darkened the door of notorious sinners their hackles were raised. Jesus, however, wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

As Luke reports, whenever Jesus entered a town “all the tax-collectors and sinners drew near to hear him” (Lk 15:1). Now this is what I call community! ALL of the sinners and crooked politicians showed up to hear Jesus. None of them are missing. This is a shady crowd — and that’s putting it lightly. If you needed to make a score tonight in this town then the Jesus meeting is the place to be. If you were looking for something real specific that you can’t buy in your local bodega, you could find it in this crowd for a price. If you need something very specific accomplished, someone in this crowd is likely experienced and will do it for you for a fee no questions asked. This is a group that can get you whatever you want.

Imagine the people at this gathering. The attendees are recidivistic serial offenders. Commandment breakers par excellence. People not known for being a positive influence or making good mature wholesome Godly choices. This is a crowd of people comfortable in places they shouldn’t be. Folks comfortable operating and residing in the shadows. Every degenerate, low life, and pusher is here. It’s Deep Elem. It’s Mos Eisley. It is a literal Shakedown Street. It’s the dark end of the street with the brightest light shining in the midst of it. Thieves, gamblers, organized crime families, sex workers, pimps, the homeless, crooked politicians, drunks, moonshiners, addicts, dealers, mentally ill, cripples, bastards, uneducated, people on their fifth marriage, folks with questionable family pedigree, frauds of all stripes, untouchables. You need to watch your back and your stuff in a place like this. I’ve known several people like this in my life, I’m sure you have too. In fact, I’m one of them!

The reaction of the upstanding religious leaders was anything but subtle: “And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners, and eats with them” (Lk 15:2). Now, the Romans had zero interest in regulating Jewish ethical law, so that responsibility fell to these Pharisees and scribes. And this was the place to be if you’re law enforcement. A lot of good research can be done at an event like this, similar to when the FBI showed up at Connie Corleone’s wedding in Godfather 1 taking pictures of the guests and license plates. “Goddamn FBI don’t respect nothin’”. It’s unlikely that all these people have been in the same place at once. They’re too busy hustling. Tonight, it’s fish in the barrel for the law.

The professional experts on God and morality disdain the people that showed up. But to have a Rabbi fraternize with such rabble? He should really know better. The professionals have no association with people like this. They stick to their own kind — the pure group, the undefiled, the clean, the godly. They don’t go to the other side of the tracks or this side of town. It is despicable to be with this crowd, but Jesus somehow can’t get enough of this group.

Then Jesus does something really fun. He hears the Pharisees and scribes’ complaints and doesn’t thank them for their sanctified correction. Instead, he stands up and he tells them three parables about what he’s really up to in that moment. He gives them metaphor and images for what is taking place in front of their very eyes and they can’t stand it. Jesus attracts sinners. He’s a magnet for sinners. They’re a magnet for him. Sinners are catnip to Jesus and Jesus is catnip for sinners.

Jesus shares three stories about finding and not losing. And before their eyes he’s found every sinner. The shepherd has them all there. No sinner, lost sheep, lost son or piece of silver is missing. Jesus is demonstrating what his ministry is all about through his actions and his storytelling. This is his crowd. This is his scene. He’s spending quality time with these kinds of people. And having a good time in the process. “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” The father is saying to the older brother “Let’s throw down boy, go inside and have a drink and a cheeseburger. Quit being so uptight and lighten up.”  

It is precisely one’s lostness that makes them a candidate for Jesus to find them.

Personally, I have fun playing hide and seek with God. (But, is it I that got lost or did the woman, shepherd, or father lose me?) Nothing I can do saves me, I’m lost and don’t know my way back. Thankfully someone is looking. I need to be found, and according to these stories, being found is equivalent to what repentance is. It’s through being dead and lost that life finds you and scales fall from your eyes (Saul on the road to Damascus).

What we find out from looking at these stories is nothing is lost forever. The shepherd that loses the sheep will “go after that which is lost, until he finds it“. He will not quit searching until he finds that sheep. There is no distance too great for him to travel to get this one sheep. The woman that lost that coin “seeks diligently until she find it.” She’s no quitter. She will look all night long and sweep her whole house to get this one tiny piece of silver. The father is looking for the boy and he finds (sees) the boy when he is furthest away. It doesn’t matter how lost the sheep, coin, or boy become. Jesus has the sinning crowd found right where he wants them.

What happens when sinners are found? Jesus throws a party and older brothers everywhere are pissed.

Part of what Jesus is doing through his parables is appealing to the religious crowd to join in on the party. Edler brothers are invited and can experience the fullness, but typically and sadly they stay outside of the party. For fun, let’s assume the father in the prodigal story is really wealthy and the inheritance is ridiculous. The older brother is angry because the father has thrown a party for the younger brother who “has devoured your wealth with prostitutes”. Everything the old man worked for his entire life has been devoured. The older brother is mad because the younger brother went to Sin City and never looked back. He loved every minute of it, but now the money’s gone. The older brother has been serving his father for years and has never transgressed, but the younger brother has been gone for several years visiting the red light district and he is given a robe, ring, new shoes, and a BBQ. The brothers’ self righteousness, like the religious elite crowd, is the problem. He’s really good at spotting the mote in his younger brother’s eye but can’t see the big ass beam in his own eye.

All of these stories point to what Jesus is doing in real time with this crowd. Jesus has drawn his dragnet through this town and this is what it dragged up. The experts have a real trained eye for blemish. They see a piece of meat and can tell you definitively if it’s clean or not. “You can’t eat that”. They see a lot of dirt, filth, trash, and garbage around Jesus. They do not like what Jesus is finding or how he is doing the sorting.

Another fun example is in Luke 5. Jesus chooses Levi, a publican, to be a disciple. Levi would not be anyone’s first choice for ministry. He’s not going to be accepted to a divinity school or serve on a vestry or board. He has no ministry qualifications and based on his history is the wrong choice to be a disciple. But, God doesn’t look at the outward appearance, he looks at the heart (which makes this choice even more disturbing and perplexing — what does the heart of a sleazy tax collector look like? Not a good choice). After Jesus calls him, Levi throws Jesus a party (sound familiar?). Levi wants to throw down with the Son of God. He invites people just like him to come over. Luke tells us; “And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of sinners and of others that sat down with them.” 

Hell of a community. This had to be some party. And guess who isn’t far behind? The uptight professionals show up and ask, “why do you and your disciples eat and drink with these people?” These types of questions are set ups. Jesus tells them this is the crowd he came for. He digs this crowd. The professionals take it up a notch:

And they said unto him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but yours go on eating and drinking?” And he said unto them, “Can you make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?”

“Why are we abstaining from food and booze often, but you and your buddies are feasting and throwing them back one after another? We’re serving the Lord with our hunger and thirst and you’re all ‘fat and flourishing (Ps. 92:14).’ Why don’t you do all the religious gesticulations? Are you serious about God? You’re all relaxing, having drinks and eating unclean food, and we’re all praying, going to service, and fasting. Shouldn’t you be doing something more spiritual rather than having a good time with the unclean sinners?”

Jesus doesn’t share their prohibitions. He has total disregard for cultural, social, and religious norms. He’s not concerned with what you put in your body. He is excessive. His cup overflows and he doesn’t want small bites or small plates. He wants the whole enchilada, joining in the fun with everyone else, regardless of the reputation he earns.

If you’re free in Jesus, you’ve likely been questioned similarly as Jesus and the disciples. It typically comes in the form of “why aren’t you doing ___?” or “why are you doing ____?”. Feel in the blanks with your own prohibitions and religious traditions and rituals.

Sin works through the good, so when the devil shows up wondering why you aren’t or are doing x,y, or z, you can tell him to go back to hell.

Jesus’ reply is amazing. Essentially, he is saying “I’m in town, why wouldn’t we celebrate?” 

For anyone who’s been around Christianity long enough, the responses of the religious leaders to Jesus aren’t a big surprise. They thought they were looking after Jesus, perhaps with a bit of fear over whether his bad reputation would reflect back upon them. Like all of us, they couldn’t stomach who Jesus gave his time to. Confusing love with antinomianism, they were blind to the miracle taking place right in front of their faces. They couldn’t envision that God does his best work when he forgives sinners rather than lecturing them.

To the religious, grace is a terrifying idea. It was in Jesus’ day and still is today. But to the irreligious, the miserable offender, and the prodigal, grace the only thing that really matters. And it’s definitely worth celebrating.