Gospel: Luke 5: 27-32
Imagine being Levi in today's Gospel. You are at your daily routine: your work, your everyday life. Some of your activity is good and just; some of it very much not. Your particular brand of sin is despised by many other people. But along comes this rabbi Jesus and he asks you to follow him - no conditions, no prerequisites, just go and follow him. So you do. Later that day you find yourself hosting a dinner for Jesus and all sorts of people come at your invitation - people just like you.
All of them come and dine with Jesus; none are excluded. They come for different reasons and motives. Some share in your joy; others are curious and want to know more. Yet, all are fed. Even Pharisees who despise you come and they raise objections to you and all these others dining with Jesus. You observe Jesus defending you all; it is only the Pharisees who find themselves unchanged by the meal with Jesus.
This scene is not hard to imagine. It is church on Sunday. People come for all sorts of reasons to encounter Jesus. Some are joyous and repentant; others are curious; still others think they're the only ones who deserve to be there. Yet all are fed, all encounter the mystery of the Lord. And as long as the relationship and encounters continue, change and transformation can happen in our lives. So we continue to come - to maintain the relationship, to hope for transformation in our lives, to follow the Lord imperfect though we be.
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