The Rev. Alissa Newton 

 text: Luke 15:1-10

"Tax collectors and sinners were people who, according to the culture and society that Jesus belonged to, should have been ashamed of themselves. They were the people who made bad choices, whose very presence was enough to disgust the righteous. And Jesus isn’t just spending time with these people, according to the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is treating them like people who don’t need to be ashamed. Eating, drinking, welcoming – it sounds like fun. Jesus is offering these people his time, his welcome, and his company at table – which is no small thing. I daresay he is enjoying them. Breaking bread with another person is, as we know, an act of relational belonging."