As long as we have not met God...

I like to think of one of the Gospel writers, Matthew. Looking at his life, we see a mirror of how Jesus thinks and how Jesus acts.

According to the gospel account, Matthew was a tax collector, a profession considered traitorous by his own country men. Strict Jews of Jesus time would have banned any contact or communication with such a person. So, of course, Jesus walks over to Matthew and says not "Hi. Howya doin?" but, "Follow me" (Mt 9:9). And Matthew rises up and leaves everything to follow.

I've often wondered at certain passages of the gospels, those that deal with the righteous being cast out and those considered "sinners" or "least worthy" being made friends of God. Matthew certainly fits in this category, but so does Mary Magdalen (Lk 7:36-50), the Centurion (Mt 8:5-13), and most especially, the story of the pharisee and the publican (Lk 18:9-14).

Jesus must see something humble, something honest, something authentic in these cast-outs of regular religious society.  According Matthew (9:9-13) Jesus response to those who questioned his association with Matthew and his friends were simple, Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

Swiss mystic Maurice Zundel writes As long as we have not met God...God is like a false god. Maybe this is the answer to the puzzle. All of the good works or piety or just deeds we do have no real meaning until we meet God. And in Jesus own words, we do that by mercy, not sacrifice.