Today is the beginning of new worship series, “A Lenten Supper: Dinner with Jesus.” Meals were one of Jesus’ ministry strategies. According to the Gospels, Jesus ate with many people, including tax collectors, sinners, and his apostles. A Lenten Supper is any meal that becomes more than a meal. The soul is nourished along with the body. What can happen when we gather?

Tax collectors were the entrepreneurs of Roman antiquity and were generally regarded with disdain by mostly everyone. That Jesus would extend to Levi, a tax collector, both the call of discipleship and the intimacy of table fellowship is counter-cultural and unexpected. Pastor Mary’s message is based on Luke 5: 27-32, “Jesus Chooses Levi and Eats with Sinners.”