He Was Against It

President Calvin Coolidge was noted for his brevity of speech. He never used three words when one or two would suffice. One Sunday morning, he went to Church without his wife who wasn’t feeling very well.

When the President returned to the White House, Mrs. Coolidge asked what the sermon was about. “Sin,” Coolidge said. “And what did the preacher have to say about sin?” Mrs. Coolidge persisted. “He was against it,” her husband replied.

In today’s Gospel Lesson, the Apostle John tells us that while Jesus was at dinner, a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Him and His disciples. Seeing this, some Pharisees asked the disciples, “Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?” In today’s parlance, they might have asked, “Why does your Master eat with gangsters and prostitutes?” Jesus Himself answered their question, saying, “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick … And, indeed, I did not…