05-26-21

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
May 26, 2021
Scripture: Luke 5:27-32
Afterward, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Levi got up, left everything behind, and followed him. Then Levi threw a great banquet for Jesus in his home. A large number of tax collectors and others sat down to eat with them. The Pharisees and their legal experts grumbled against his disciples. They said, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn’t come to call righteous people but sinners to change their hearts and lives.”

Thought for the Day: This might be the greatest reverse pyramid scheme ever. Through the invitation of Jesus, Levi left behind his job. He then threw a party for Jesus using his own resources and invited all of his friends to do the same. And if each of those people threw a party for their friends… well you see where this is going. At every step, people were leaving behind their livelihoods and giving away resources. It didn’t enrich the leader, like every other pyramid scheme seeks to do. Instead, all this giving away was enriching the lives of complete strangers, but not in the traditional way we think of enriching. They walked away and gave away so they could live more like Jesus, hoping their choices would help introduce others to the values of the Kingdom — values like: generosity, kindness, compassion, mercy and love. The Jesus story is a story of reversals, of turning things upside down and discovering a new kingdom reality. Yet too often in our culture, we have normalized the Jesus story to the point of turning it right side up, and in the process, we’ve drained it of every ounce of its transformative power.

Prayer: Encourage my faith and strengthen a spirit of boldness within me. Living and serving you, O God, requires me to be a spiritual trapeze artist. There will be plenty of upside down acrobatics required to join in the great reversals by which you point us to your kingdom. Amen.

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