What Are We So Afraid Of?

What Are We so Afraid Of?
Luke 19:1-10

5 When Jesus came to that spot, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today.” 6 So Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus.
7 Everyone who saw this grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

I attended an extremely strict Christian School. Looking back, they always tried to keep us in a bubble from the outside world. What were they so afraid of? Halloween is a great example. They would tell us at school not to participate, do not trick or treat, dress up, etc. Of course, I did not listen to that advice. It’s one of my favorite days of the year. You dress up, meet all your neighbors, and get candy. This was often the normal advice from the school; hang out on your free time with other kids from this school only, don’t hang out with people who might have a different opinion or who might not attend church. It was a bubble to protect us, but I never understood it because it did not look like Jesus.
In the passage for this week, the religious folks are worried about who Jesus is going to have dinner with. Why would Jesus want to eat with a tax collector? Why would Jesus hang out with “sinners”. Doesn’t Jesus know we have made a nice, safe little bubble of who is and isn’t welcome to join us in our faith journey? Do we ever want to exclude anyone from the good news of Jesus? How do we change that? How do we bust the doors wide open and boldly proclaim, “God’s love is for everyone.” We all know our church recently took a vote to remain or leave the denomination. It’s a strange time filled with some fear and anxiety. Bob Goff has a quote that’s perfect for us this week, “quit waiting for a plan, just go love everybody.”

Pastor, Andy