*sings* So high, you can't get over it ...

Ok I admit, I'm borrowing very heavily from my Pastor's message this past Sunday, as my niece used to say, "Get over it!"

I'm reminded recently of the children's church song, I admit I don't remember all the words, but it speaks of how HUGE sin can be, So high you can't get over it/so low you can't get under it/so wide you can't go around it..." The only way past the sin in your life is through the door, which is Jesus. Jesus taught Matthew this. In the hierarchy of their time, Matthew was the lowest of the low. He was a tax collector. In their day, working as a tax collector wasn't the same as working for the "Internal Revenue Service". The Roman government imposed taxes, and hired tax collectors to gather them. Part of the idea was that they would hire local individuals, so that "Good Roman Citizens" wouldn't have to travel from their homes. These local collectors, since they pretty much didn't have any other means of income would charge fees over and above the taxes they were supposed to collect. Some did it because they needed money for their own needs, others, well, others just did it because they were greedy and didn't care who they hurt.

I'm not sure which of these schools Matthew fell into, but in Matthew's Gospel we read: As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9 (NIV)

Jesus didn't tell Matthew that he needed to clense himself. He didn't tell him that he needed to give all he had to the poor, He simply said, "Follow me." Here was a man that other people would avoid for any number of reasons, but Jesus showed that it wasn't important for your life to be perfect, or anywhere close to it. Jesus even went and ate with them! Sinners, adulterers, tax collectors, and you and me!

There are times in our lives we seem to think, "Well, I'm not perfect, but I'm doing better than THAT GUY." The problem with this sort of thinking is, God does not grade us "On the Curve" as our teachers did in school. You cannot make your grade any better by finding someone who is doing worse than you are, it just doesn't work that way.

Our sin in our lives is like a wall between us and God. Whether it is as thin as rice paper or as thick as a brick wall, there is only one way through that wall, and it is the door. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

We try and try to work out our salvation for ourselves. We think to ourselves, "If only I could do enough, I know I'd make God happy!" The problem is, there is no amount of works we can do for God to love us. There are no number of prayers, no number of "Hail Marys" or "Our Fathers" that will bring us into heaven. We are called to do one thing; follow Jesus. But in following Jesus, we need to remember to help bring others in through that door as well.

I wish you all a blessed day!
-Hat