Sinners In The Hands Of A Gracious God - September 29, 2010

Daily Lectionary Readings for September 29, 2010
Psalm 37
Hosea 3:1-5
Acts 21:15-26
Luke 5:27-39

Luke 5:27-39
"Jesus answered, '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 to repentance.'"(v. 31-32)
Jesus has called Levi to follow him.  Levi has thrown a huge dinner and the Pharisees, predictably, get upset and want an explanation for why Jesus would hang out with tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus answer, pretty much, is that independent of tax collectors and sinners, he'd have no one to eat with.  He doesn't say it precisely that way, but it's there.  Jesus does say he didn't come for those who have no need of a physician.  So, basically, he didn't come for himself.  That leaves all of the rest of us throughout human history that he came for - sinners in need of being called to repentance.  The Pharisees model a behavior that is to easy to fall into - that is seeing the sin and need for repentance in folks around us, while seeming to be blissfully ignorant of the sin and need for repentance in our own selves.  Levi has heard Jesus call and responded because he has recognized his need.  The Pharisees have yet to come to the realization of need.  The Bible being the Bible this is more than a look at what happened once story, but a dynamic story in which we too are called and in which we too will need to respond.

NL Central Division Champions!
"The National League Central Division Championship belongs to the Cincinnati Reds".  That's what Marty Brennaman said last night after Jay Bruce hit a game winning walk-off homerun to propel the Reds to victory over the Astros.  One broadcaster threw out a stat (unchecked on) that this was only the fifth time in baseball history that a division championship had been clinched by a walk-off homerun.  It was sweet.  This has been an easy team to love - not a bunch of big stars, but a good collection of good players who seem to like each other and who can get blasted to pieces one day and seem to have totally forgotten it the next.  They are resilient.  They are gamers.  They are, for the first time in fifteen years, division champions.  And now a week to revel in it before the playoffs start.  Well done to my Reds!