“This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Luke 15 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. ² Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

³ So He told them this parable, saying, ⁴ “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

⁸ “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

¹¹ And He said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. ¹³ And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. ¹⁴ Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. ¹⁷ But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ ²⁰ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; ²³ and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate…³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

“This man receives sinners and eats with them.”   This verse and others like it, which tell of Jesus interacting with the undesirables of the society He lived in, serve as motivation for many in the church and in the world to condemn the church. Jesus did indeed receive sinners and associate with them. In the story of the prodigal we see an excellent of the love and compassion that Jesus and the Father have for sinners. It says:      So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.    The father embraced and kissed him, remember this is the man who had just been wallowing with the swine. He had lost everything, likely any extra clothing he may have had. One can assume he didn’t look or smell very good, yet the father ran to him and embraced him and kissed him. That’s the heart of the Father, to love and embrace the unlovely. That is the heart we too should have toward the unlovely of our society and culture, love and compassion, a willingness to embrace them even though they are covered in the filth of the world.

Let’s look though at the prodigal to see what there was that caused the father to run to him. The son had come to a revelation, a revelation that his choices were not working very well. The son knew that things needed to change. The text says:       But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ ²⁰ So he got up and came to his father.      This son who had previously demanded his rights now recognized that he was not worthy. He changed his mind. That’s what repentance is, a sinner changing their mind and turning back to the Father. We see that the son truly was repentant, not just trying to regain some provision in order to maintain his lifestyle. Even after the father ran to him, embraced him and kissed him, the son remained repentant. He said:   ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”  Again we see the father’s response:    But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; ²³ and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.   

Jesus receives sinners, not though that they might stay in their sin. Jesus says of His association with the sinners and the unlovely: "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32) Jesus received the sinners, but He did not rejoice in their sin. He says:   ^“I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”  And  “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   He says:  “this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”      Jesus received sinners, He rejoiced and celebrated in their repentance.

We see in scripture that often as in today’s text the religious people of Jesus day were offended by Jesus behavior, His choosing to associate with sinners. I am sure that there were some sinners too, who were offended by Jesus. Jesus had compassion for, associated with the sinners and the unlovely, He embraced them. He however did not embrace their sin. Jesus says: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)   Jesus is the truth and He tells the truth. Surely there were some in His day who were offended by the truth, the truth that they too needed to change, to “go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)

Jesus and the Father have one great advantage over us when it comes to balancing loving the sinner with hating sin.  1 Samuel 16:7 says:  But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."    We cannot see the heart of others. We cannot know for sure if their repentance is real. So we have to love recklessly. We have to receive the sinners and the unlovely, we have to embrace them in spite of their appearance. But we never should embrace their sin. We, like Jesus should speak the truth. We should encourage them to change their minds.

There will be many in the church who will be offended by our association with sinners. There will be many in the world who will be offended by our hatred of sin, our love for the truth. There is a famous quote by John Lydgate which says: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”   Fortunately we are not politicians, our concern is not to please people. Our concern is to, like Jesus says in John 8:28-29:     "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."            Our concern, like Jesus, is to always do what is pleasing to the Father.    Our hope, our desire is that the result would be as it was for Jesus, the next verse says:          As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.   

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for receiving me when I was a sinner. Thank You for calling me to repentance, to change my mind and my life. Thank You for loving and embracing me while I was unlovely and thank You for telling me the truth. May I, like You, empowered by the Spirit of truth live as You did. May I receive and embrace the unlovely yet may I stand firmly on Your truth. May I not concern myself with pleasing men, but only with always doing what pleases You. Through love and the truth may others come to know You and may there be celebration in heaven.    Amen.