It was scandalous then, Jesus:
your inappropriate choice of associations,
your insistence on being with those
who were least likely to be friends of God.
It’s scandalous now, Jesus!
We like to think we’re more gracious than that,
but we still struggle
with who you choose to include.
Yet, you also include us who, if we’re honest,
are just as unlikely,
just as undeserving;
And as we walk with you and work with you
we discover others that journey beside us,
and who find us to be just as much the unlikely companions
that we find them to be;
So, we remember unlikely leaders,
who with few resources and little influence,
make significant contributions to the world;
We remember unlikely healers,
who through little more than their compassion,
bring wholeness to broken and wounded others;
We remember unlikely benefactors,
who, with no wealth to speak of,
give generously to those with even less;
We remember unlikely saints,
who, though tainted and stained, broken and imperfect,
bring sacredness and life to hopeless ones
And as we pray, we celebrate all the Zacchaeuses,
who, like us have been touched by your grace and forgiveness,
and have become your unlikely companions
in saving the world.
Amen.
