As He passed by, He
saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him,
“Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.
And it happened that
He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners
were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they
were following Him.
When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating
with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He
eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”
And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who
are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to
call the righteous, but sinners.”
We sing with all the
choirs in heaven:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest
How familiar are these words, how often have we said them
before the communion table
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord
We here gathered are called to go in the name of the lord
The church is called to go forth in the name of the lord
But how often we fail to go anywhere
Christ calls us to go out for the sinners but sinners
Build a house where we like him can sit with sinners
But sometimes it seems we only go out for the saved
That we have built a house only for the saved
So lord we pray this
simple prayer:
Lord help us go forth to the lost
Help us past the door and walls we have built
Lord help us see your mission for the lost
Help us see past social convention
Lord help us go in your name
Help us live out this going
And let us make this
simple pledged
I will go in the name of the Lord
I will leave behind the thing of man in the church
I will forsake mans wisdom
I will embrace only the wisdom of the lord
For out there are the people of God
For out there is my mission
For out there the lords has need of me
I pray Lord
Let this be said of me
That I did not live to go to the righteous, but to the
sinner
That I went in the name of the lord
That I left what I knew and leapt towards what I did not
That I built a house for sinners, not just the saved
