Jesus certainly made strange choices in his selection of Apostles. When we look for “vocations”, we tend to search among committed and well-balanced Christians. But in today’s gospel (Luke 5:27-32) we see Jesus picking someone who was regarded as an immoral money-grabber, a religious outcast.
Tax collectors in Jesus’ time were despised on two counts: first, they were seen as venal collaborators with the hated imperial ruler, Rome, for whom they were working; and second, they were corrupt and extorted far more money than was their due.
But Jesus knows his man. At the sound of the invitation, Levi drops everything, including his business and the security it brings him. We have seen this before in the fishermen leaving their boats and their nets. Where are they going? For what? They have no idea. Like Peter and Andrew, James and John before him, in a great act of trust and faith, Levi throws in his lot with Jesus, whatever it is going to mean, wherever it is going to bring him. We see, particularly in Luke’s gospel, that following Jesus involves a total commitment.
Then, as sort of a last fling, Levi throws a party for all his friends. They were social outcasts like himself. He wants his friends to have the same experience he is having. He wants them to meet Jesus. But the religious-minded scribes and Pharisees were shocked at Jesus’ behavior. “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
This time, Jesus answers them directly. Only the sick need a doctor, not the healthy; Jesus has come not to call the virtuous, but to call sinners, a call to repentance. Jesus’ words can be read in two ways. On the one hand, there is no need to preach to the converted, which is what we do a lot of in our Christian churches. What is needed is to reach out to those who are lost, those whose lives are going in the wrong direction, those who are leading a self-destructive existence.
Jesus tells us that is what the Church needs to be about today. There is still a lot of the Pharisee within us. We are still shocked if we see a priest or any other “good” Catholic, in “bad” company and often jump to hasty and unjustified conclusions. “A priest/sister should not be seen in such company,” we can hear ourselves say. As a result, the Church is, in many cases, very much confined to the church-going fringes of society.
Jesus’ words can also be taken in a sarcastic sense. His critics regarded themselves as among the well and virtuous. In fact, they totally lacked the love and compassion of God that is reflected in Jesus. Their “virtue” does not need Jesus because they were closed to him anyway. We remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple. It was the one who acknowledged himself as a sinner and wanted God’s mercy who won God’s favor.
We too need to be careful of sitting in judgment of others, taking the high moral ground, claiming to be shocked at certain people’s behavior. All of us, without exception, are in need of God’s healing.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!