The Outsiders | Willing to Pay the Price

All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

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

Luke 15:1-2; Luke 19:5-7 (Common English Bible)

The Pharisees and legal experts – the religious leaders who were supposed to know God best – grumbled about Jesus. They complained that he welcomed sinners and ate with them. They criticized him for going to Zacchaeus' house. They questioned his faithfulness because of the company he kept.

And it wasn't just the religious elite who had a problem with this. When Jesus went to Zacchaeus' house, Luke tells us "everyone who saw this grumbled." Not just the Pharisees. Everyone. The whole crowd was talking about how Jesus was compromising himself by associating with a known sinner.

Jesus knew this would happen. He knew that moving toward people others avoided would cost him his reputation. He knew that eating with tax collectors and sinners would make the religious establishment question his faithfulness. He knew that welcoming outsiders would make insiders uncomfortable.

But Jesus did it anyway. Because moving toward people mattered more to Jesus than maintaining his reputation. Because embodying God's welcome mattered more than gaining approval from religious leaders. Because bringing outsiders in mattered more than keeping insiders comfortable.

And if we're going to follow Jesus, we need to understand that moving toward people will cost us something too.

It might cost us relationships. When we welcome people that others think don't belong, some people in our lives won't understand. They might question our judgment. They might worry that we're compromising. They might distance themselves from us because they don't approve of the company we're keeping.

It might cost us our reputation. When we sit with people others avoid, when we stand with people others have pushed to the margins, when we advocate for people others have written off, some people will question our faithfulness. They'll wonder if we've gone soft on sin. They'll accuse us of caring more about being liked than being righteous.

It might cost us our comfort. Moving toward people whose lives are messy is hard work. It requires emotional energy. It demands vulnerability. It means entering into pain we'd rather avoid and dealing with complexity we'd rather ignore. It's easier to stay where it's safe.

But the cost of moving toward people is always less than the cost of avoiding them. Because when we avoid people, we might protect our reputation, but we lose our soul. We might maintain our comfort, but we miss out on seeing God at work. We might keep our relationships with other insiders, but we fail to embody the radical welcome Jesus demonstrated.

Jesus was willing to pay the price of moving toward people. He was willing to be criticized by religious leaders. He was willing to be misunderstood by the crowds. He was willing to risk his reputation for the sake of welcoming outsiders.

And he calls us to do the same. Not because it's easy. Not because it won't cost us anything. But because this is what following Jesus looks like. This is what it means to embody God's kingdom in a world that's constantly drawing circles and deciding who's in and who's out.

So who do you need to move toward, even if it costs you something? Who needs you to sit with them, stand with them, welcome them, even if others question your faithfulness? What relationship, what reputation, what comfort might God be calling you to risk for the sake of following Jesus?

Prayer:

God, we want to follow Jesus, but we also want to protect ourselves. We want to move toward people, but we're afraid of what it might cost. Help us trust that you're with us when we risk our reputation for the sake of welcoming others. Give us courage to pay the price of moving toward people instead of avoiding them. And help us remember that following Jesus has always required us to give up something for the sake of gaining everything. Amen.