As I write this we have just returned from a week away in Spain. It was during this week that the shootings in West Cumbria took place. We first heard the news on the television in the villa where we were staying. It is hard for us to understand why these tragedies happen and we often turn to the media for explanations. For most of us this kind of situation is completely beyond our experience thank goodness, and yet none of us know what lies before us. It can be easy for us to pass judgement on others when we haven’t walked a mile in their shoes.
Jesus said, ‘I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.’ Luke 5:32. He used this simple sentence to convey the purpose of his mission, God loves sinners. Unlike the Scribes and Pharisees of his time who excluded such people, Jesus’ message was to hate the sin but love the sinner. That’s what his actions proclaimed. He ate with outcasts, healed those possessed by evil spirits, befriended a tax collector, spoke with Samaritans and forgave the murderer hanging on the cross next to him; unheard of behaviour from one who claimed to be God’s Son. Today we know that isolating sinners from the healing touch of Jesus goes against God’s very self. God keeps vigil for us until we repent, and rejoices when the sinful one returns home. He counts on us to carry on the mission of Jesus.
I was reminded of a Day Retreat at Emmaus House in the centre of Clifton. There is a complex of gardens with many different places to sit, each one with a different view of the garden or across Bristol. I reflected that when we have something on our mind it is good to look at the situation from as many different viewpoints as we can manage; to get a holistic picture. So often we seem to have tunnel vision which rarely offers us a true and realistic picture of the problem in hand, and peace of mind.
God of love, help me to be an instrument of your forgiveness.