Reb Rev's Blog

“And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” – Matthew 9:11

A guy walking through the desert desperately needed a drink of water.  As he followed the dunes, he came upon another man riding a camel.  He asked the man if he had something to drink.

The man on the camel said “No, but if you like, I have a nice selection of ties.  Would you like to buy one?”

“No!” The first man replied.  “Are you crazy?  I need water, not a tie!”

So the man on the camel rode on, and the walking man continued his slow and very thirsty trek for several days.  Finally he came upon a cantina.

He gratefully approached the doorman at the cantina and said, “I’m so glad I made it!  Can I get in and get some water?”

The doorman frowned at him.  “Not without a tie.”

Have you ever felt like you were the guy without the tie? Someone placed a standard on you, and in spite of a desperate need, you didn’t measure up to some arbitrary standard.

We do that at times to others. We do it socially, and sadly we often do it in our churches.  Clothes aren’t right, hair is too long, tattoos, piercings, and we (either verbally or by our actions) tell the person they aren’t welcome in our circle, church, wherever.

Let’s determine this week, by God’s grace, that we will be more welcoming to those who need to know someone cares, and show the love of Christ even to “the least of these.”

This entry was posted on March 14, 2013 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.