found

All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives. (Luke 15:1-7, CEB)

So the Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling because Jesus was welcoming everyone and spending time with them. Today this would be the evangelical church saying that LGBTQIA2S+ aren’t welcome because they are sinners and not following the life God calls them to follow. And the church would still grumble when Jesus shows up at the gay bar and has a drink with them. Now push the parable further and I am not saying members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community are sinners nor need healing, any more than any of the rest of us are sinners and need healing.

All of us need to be in the presence of God because all of us fall short and need to know that we are loved as we are, and lifted up as we are and children of God as we are.

God celebrates when we live as we are created to make the image of God complete.

You complete the image of God when you live as God created you, not as the world wants you to be.

Know you are loved as is. Period.

Loving People. Loving God.