Judgment invites us to draw a line between us and them.  Jesus does not buy into this false dichotomy.  Instead, he teaches through story. With his very life, Jesus teaches us about opening his arms wide enough for all: Tax collector and Pharisee. Rule-follower and rule-breaker. Self-righteous and self-loathing. Saint and sinner. Jesus brings life to us all.

In her sermon, Pastor Amy reminds us of a hymn that captures this gift:

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, 

like the wideness of the sea;

there’s a kindness in God’s justice 

which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows 

are more felt than up in heav’n.

There is no place where earth’s failings 

have such kindly judgment giv’n.

For the love of God is broader 

than the measures of our mind;

and the heart of the Eternal

is most wonderfully kind. 

But we make this love too narrow 

by false limits of our own;

and we magnify its strictness 

with a zeal God will not own.

(“There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy, ELW 587, vs. 1 and 3)

May we abandon our false limits and strictness this week, and lean into the wideness of God’s mercy that gives us life.