"Grumbling About Sinners" 

Luke 19:7 "When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, 'He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.'"

I think we all have certain types of sinners who especially cause us to grumble. Your least favorite sinner may not be mine. This passage in Luke is about Zaccheus. He was a tax collector. Not exactly a popular profession. On top of that, he was a rich tax collector. Uh oh, strike two. Plus, the Bible says he was small in stature. When you have two strikes, people often start looking for strike three. Anything will do.

We live in a culture that loves to pile on. But Jesus loved Zaccheus. Had lunch with Him. Shared salvation with him, changed his life. Zaccheus was transformed. Maybe it is easier to change a short, selfish tax collector than to change a short-sighted, self-righteous, judgemental grumbler. Lord, change our hearts today about who we categorize, minimize and want to chastise. Help us realize that everybody needs Jesus more than they need to hear us grumble about our opinions about sinners. After all, this grumbling process should probably start and end in a mirror.

Lord, may we be merciful with ourselves too.
Pastor Fred