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Loving God, you take us and make us holy and raise us up because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Teach us to live according to this gift of grace, and help us to see others as you do; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Pharisees, and many others among the religious leaders, were afraid of being contaminated. They worked hard to keep themselves pure and to offer the appropriate sacrifices to God. They would not allow table fellowship or other association with sinners to bring them down. They wanted to keep themselves separate and holy and acceptable to God. They would never defile themselves by touching somebody who was considered to be unclean. They would never give sinners the time of day, for they had earned God's favour and intended to keep it! And then along comes Jesus, whom they know to be powerful both in his teaching and in his miracles over illness and over nature and over demons. They can see that God's power must be at work in Jesus, but yet here he is, eating with outcasts and sinners. Here he is - touching people who are unclean, like the woman with the flow of blood or the little girl who has just died. Yet, with Jesus, it doesn't seem to work like the Pharisees would expect. They would expect Jesus to be contaminated by all of this contact with sinners and with dead people and with people with unclean diseases. Instead, it is Jesus who makes these people holy and whole and good. It is like the exact opposite of the saying where one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. In Jesus' case, it is like he is the one holy and good apple who brings everybody else up to his level. Some of you may have heard this story that is shared by Harry Wendt in The Parables of Jesus (p. 78). It tells about how Jesus makes us holy and righteous in God's eyes. "In "I Married You," Walter Trobisch recounts experiences during a visit to Africa during which he gave a series of lectures on marriage and related matters. During this particular stay in Africa, Trobisch was driven around by a driver called Maurice. Maurice wanted to marry, but insisted that when he did, it would be to a virgin - a condition not easily met. Early one morning, during the close of his stay in Africa, Trobisch woke with a start and felt a strong inner compulsion to go to a bridge in the city. Maurice saw to it that he got to the bridge in a hurry. When the two men arrived, they saw a woman standing in the middle of the bridge, looking down into the swiftly-flowing flooded stream below. She was deeply distressed, and preparing to commit suicide. Trobisch knew the woman and her background. He had already been trying to help her. Her life had been one of moral and spiritual chaos. She was tormented by the memory of her many illicit love affairs and her numerous other gross sins. She felt she could not bear the burden of these memories any longer. However, Trobisch was able to persuade her not to kill herself, and eventually God used him, and others, to bring her to a joyous faith in Jesus as her Savior and Lord. While Trobisch was talking to the woman on the bridge (her name was Fatma), Maurice remained in the car and prayed. While he prayed, something remarkable happened - of which Trobisch was to learn only later. Eventually the day arrived when Trobisch and his wife Ingrid left Africa to fly back to Europe. A number of friends came to say farewell to them. Among them was Maurice - with Fatma standing next to him. As the Trobischs left the terminal to board the aircraft, Maurice pushed a letter into Trobisch's hand, asked him to read it only after take-off, and to send him a reply as soon as possible. After the plane reached cruising altitude, Trobisch read the following: 'Walter, when I prayed in the car on the bridge while you were talking to Fatma, a voice came to me as clear as a bell. It said, "This girl with whom Walter is talking will be your wife." It was crazy. I had never seen her before and had no idea who she was, or what she looked like. Could this have been God's voice? Please send me a telegram "Yes," or "No," from the next stop.' Trobisch shared the contents of the letter with his wife and commented, "Poor Maurice. He wanted so much to marry a virgin, and it looks as though he'll finish up with Fatma!" Ingrid thought for a while and eventually responded, "But Walter, Fatma is a virgin now. She is washed in the blood of Jesus. She is without spot, without wrinkle, without blemish-as the bride of Christ. Maurice will marry a virgin!" The Trobischs sent Maurice a prompt reply: "Yes!" Though the only authentic thing we humans can offer God is sin, what God offers us freely, and without price, is the full forgiveness of sins through Jesus, crucified, risen and reigning." Just as Jesus took Fatma and made her whole; just as Jesus took the woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years and healed her; just as Jesus took the little girl and raised her from the dead; just as Jesus took Matthew the tax collector and made him one of his disciples - so Jesus takes each and every one of us and raises us up to his level. Jesus takes us and through our contact with him makes us holy. Jesus takes us and washes away our sins and puts them out of God's sight, for we have been covered over with Jesus' righteousness instead. As such, none of us have any right to stand there with the Pharisees and complain about all those sinners with which Jesus associates. To do so is also to complain about Jesus associating with us, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23)! Instead, we are called, with Matthew, to come and follow Jesus and to learn from him. We are called, with the Pharisees, to come and learn what it means to practice mercy rather than sacrifice. We are called, with all those who are sick and unclean, to come to Jesus and be healed. In a way, sacrifice is easy, while mercy is not. Sacrifice involves exactly what the Pharisees were doing: following all of the rules and regulations and offering exactly what is specified to God. Sacrifice mostly has to do with me and God. However, mercy has to do with other people. Mercy has to do with loving those who are least lovable -- the sick, the sinners, the unclean. Dorothy Day put it this way: "I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least" (from DVD What's So Amazing About Grace? with Philip Yancey). It's easy to talk about loving God, but "I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least." Mercy is much more difficult. Yet, this is what we are called to do as followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus acts first by taking our sins upon himself and offering us forgiveness and new life. We accept this gift by putting our faith in Jesus, and thus living according to his teaching and example. As we do so, we learn what it means to have mercy, for we can't follow the example of Jesus without it. And all of this happens by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us, who makes us holy and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God! Amen.
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