Back in the day, some two thousand years ago in the ancient world, tax collectors were considered among the least desirable people in Jewish society.  I suspect it was on a whole lot worse than how we think of IRS folks these days.

The story goes, they were like prostitutes; unscrupulous, greedy and corrupt, even vile as cooperating with the Roman occupiers in the land.

And yet they were the very people Jesus chose to hang out with. The undesirables, those of questionable character, in the shadows, those who struggled most, these people who needed him most, they were his cornerstone. He even called a tax collector named Levi (Matthew) to be one of his early companions, one of the  twelve. And he changed the people he socialized and worked with. He changed them for the better. He helped them see a new way.

Amen to that. Amen to helping change those around us for the better. AMEN.