The Lines that Divide Us
Where can a sick man go
When he can’t choke down the medicine
The old doc knows?
A specialist came to town,
But he stays at home
Saying, “No one knows,
So I don’t, honey.
When in Rome…”
Above is the first verse to a song by the folk band Nickel Creek called ‘When in Rome.’ The song (which I hope you look up after reading this) takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to point out how our desire to fit in and follow our social constructs does more to divide and destroy us than bring us together. Each verse begins whimsically and ends in destruction and isolation on behalf of whoever was trying to live by the idiom “When in Rome.”
Grab a blanket, sister. We’ll make smoke signals.
Bring us some new blood; it feels like we’re alone.
Grab a blanket, brother, so we don’t catch cold
from one another. I wonder if we’re stuck in Rome.
In our lesson this week we again see Pharisee feathers being ruffled because Jesus appears to be breaking the rules and eating and drinking with tax collectors and other sinners. The Pharisees question the disciples why their master would do and encourage this.
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matt 9:12-13)
Jocks don’t talk to Band Geeks.
Academics don’t mix with laborers.
Democrats don’t agree with Republicans.
The lines are drawn throughout society: here’s us; there’s them. Wear these clothes and you’re in; wear those clothes and you’re out.
But who decided this? Why do we buy into it? Part of it is because it is comfortable to hang around people who share our taste in music, in clothes and other manners of lifestyle. But Jesus quickly and succinctly points out why this is destructive: Doctors heal sick people, not healthy. What would happen if we only let healthy people into hospitals? What happens when we only let ‘holy people’ into our church?
Paul reminds us in Romans 3 “for all have sinned and fall short of glory of God.” You know what ‘all’ means in the original Greek? Here it is: All. Not “all of them” or “all of these.” It means all. Completely, totally, absolutely all. Paul further spells out in chapter 8 that “the law was powerless to [forgive sin] because it was weakened by the flesh…” It’s “the other golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules.” Because humanity wielded the law, we used the law to divide right from wrong, good from bad, you from me.
There’s another song, this one by Matthew West, that lament’s
There’s a sign on the door that says “come as you are”
But I doubt it.
‘Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew
Would be crowded…So say “I’m fine. Yeah, I’m fine. Oh, I’m fine. Hey, I’m fine,” but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say, “It’s under control,” but it’s not
and you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
But being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told
(Truth be Told, Matthew West)
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Let us stop drawing lines, leading others astray, and let’s start following.
Let us stop pointing fingers, playing the judge, and start being witnesses.
“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Cor 2:2)”
Amen.