Every time I read the first two verses of Luke 15, I’m reminded that if the religious crowd become irritated with whom we’re reaching we’re probably doing a good job. What’s interesting about Jesus’ ministry is that the Pharisees wanted to kill Him, but “the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.” Reading this passage this morning brought up a question in my mind:

What does it look like to have the heart of Jesus? Obviously, to have an attitude even remotely like the Pharisees, who speak negatively of Jesus being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners,” would mean we’re off track; but what does it look like when followers of Jesus share His heart?

1.     We realize that we (the church) are not what people need, they need Jesus.

• We have fallen off the cliff if religiosity when we think if people were just like us, they’d be better off. Nothing could be further from the truth.

2.     We realize that those outside of the faith are no different than we are, we’re just like them. We are the same, the difference is Jesus.

• We are made whole by Jesus when we make our prayer and plea. (See Luke 18:9-14)

3.     We have an unquenchable desire to see those outside of the household of faith hear the message of Jesus.

• When we have the heart of Jesus the question, “why are they here?” never comes out of our heart or mouth.

4.     We remember we are the lost sheep Jesus came to seek and save.

5.     We still have a crazy desire ourselves to draw near to hear the words of Jesus.

Jesus, friend of sinners, friend of mine.

Soli Deo Gloria