God eats with sinners! This is an absolutely astounding truth that deserves our full and constant consideration and praise. God desires to restore the fellowship between man and Himself. We have sinned against Him grievously in thought, word, and deed. We have rejected Him as our Creator and arrogantly despised His will. We have chased after false gods who can do nothing to help us or save us. And still, God enters into our flesh to suffer and die for those very sins, to receive Himself the punishment we deserve from Him. All so that we might be with Him again, that He might have our faith and our trust and so that we would be not lost to eternal judgment. We are rightly moved to joy at the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. Perhaps we are even a bit incensed by the pride and arrogance of the Pharisees who couldn’t believe that God would do such a thing. But the truth is that we are guilty of a similar error. We are invited time and again to sit with Jesus in His house, to be taught by Him, and to be fed with the feast of His Body and Blood. But do we always rejoice to eat with Him? In awe of His mercy, do we rush at every opportunity that is presented to us poor sinners to be restored to God and be welcomed as children at His table? In truth, we often despise these gifts and think little of them. God forgive us for our coldness and stir up in us thankful hearts that are eager to sit and eat with our Lord and fellow sinners this coming Lord’s Day.
Pastor Ulmer