
OPENING PRAYER
Holy Spirit, open our hearts
to understand how precious we are to you,
how loved we are by you.
Open our eyes
to see the gifts you have put before us this day.
Give us the grace to recognize each encounter with you.
Teach us to respond in gratitude, to grow in gratitude.
Teach us to be generous, as you are generous with us,
and to collaborate with you in serving our sisters and brothers
for your greater glory.
Amen.
SERMON
POINT: Jesus is like no other.
Matthew 1:22-23 NRSV
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.”
POINT: Gratitude can help us stay rooted in the present.
POINT: Faith flourishes best with repetition and rhythm.
POINT: In ancient times, eating together symbolized friendship, intimacy, and social unity.
Leviticus 19:2 NRSV
Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Mark 2:13-14 NRSV
Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus (Hebrew: Matthew), sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
“[In Jewish literature,] tax collectors were grouped with murderers and robbers. To avoid loss, one could deceive a tax collector. The word of a tax-gatherer could not be trusted, nor could his oath be believed. As a consequence, he could not testify in a court of law or hold a communal office. Money in the pocket of a tax collector was considered stolen property.” —Frank Stern, A Rabbi Looks at Jesus’ Parables
Mark 2:15-17 NRSV
And as he sat (reclined) at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
- “Why does he eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2.16)
- “He has gone in to be the guest of one who is a sinner” (Luke 19.7)
- “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15.2)
- “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (Matt. 11.19; Luke 7.34)
POINT: Jesus shared real meals with real outcasts and listened to their real stories.