Sometimes I can be such a snot. We attended a wedding, the second for both bride and groom. The bride, who is on the hefty side, wore a very tight, very low cut white dress. It was sleeveless, the better to show off the large tattoos on each bicep. I thought to myself, “How trashy.”
I’ve felt bad about that ugly thought ever since. I sounded just like the Pharisees who criticized Jesus for the company he kept. Among the sinners that the Gospels mention were tax collectors and prostitutes, probably because their social position and appearance made them easy to spot.
I imagine who Jesus might dine with today. My bride with the all the body art would be welcome, as would other women who wear too much makeup and too few clothes. I’m certain the homeless would be there, with their shopping carts and body odor. The mentally ill would be drawn to Jesus’ calm compassion, just as those “possessed by demons” once were. I’d also expect to see several gamblers and drunks at the table.
You and I might feel as uncomfortable with that guest list as the Pharisees were. We Christians are hard on those who cannot control their physical appetites. We might fit in better at the tax collectors’ end of the table. They used their position as employees of the Roman government to extort money from their fellow Jews. Such abuse of power is still common. We all know bureaucrats who make life difficult for ordinary citizens. We all know politicians who live better than their salary allows.
Yet we seldom snub white collar sinners. Perhaps that’s because they look like us, talk like us and live like us. They’re respectable sinners, just like us. True, we don’t deal drugs or beat our children, but sin is sin. It’s a refusal to freely give the love we have freely received. I knew I was being uncharitable to that bride, but I ignored law of love so I could enjoy feeling superior, just like the Pharisees who refused to join Jesus’ party.
Anyone could eat with Jesus. They didn’t have to clean up their act first. I doubt they continued in his company long, however, without addressing the sin in their lives. He had that effect on people. Think of the Samaritan woman running to tell her neighbors about Jesus or Zacchaeus giving away his ill-gotten gains. Prostitutes and thieves who followed Christ lost their jobs and probably their friends. Shedding my respectable sins wouldn’t cost me nearly as much, yet I cling to some as tightly as a miser does his money bags.
Anyone could eat with Christ, but can anyone eat with Christians? I have no trouble picturing a drug-addled welfare cheat in Jesus’ company. I have trouble picturing her in church. We get upset when someone comes to Mass in shorts. Can you imagine a heavily tattooed prison parolee serving as a lector? How about a eucharistic minister who lives in her car? Yet I’ve never heard of a parishioner being snubbed for cheating on his taxes or underpaying her employees.
Jesus never said sin was okay. His first public word was “repent.” However, he managed to convict people of their sins in a way that brought them joy rather than shame. They probably got a little dramatic, like the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, but their gratitude and loyalty endured through persecution and even martyrdom. Is there anything going on in our parishes today that excites sinners that way? Or are they too full of Pharisees like me?
Kathleen welcomes comments. Send them to Kathleen Choi, 1706 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo, HI 96720, or e-mail: kathchoi@hawaii.rr.com.
