Wherever Jesus went, whatever he did, he experienced grumblers muttering their discontent about his ministry of Love. In today’s gospel, it is his visit to the tax collector, Zacchaeus, that sets them off. Jesus just isn’t doing things the way they ought to be done! Doesn’t he know that good Jews don’t associate with obvious sinners, and certainly tax collectors fall into that category? Moreover, Zacchaeus is the chief tax collector of Jericho! Jesus is disturbing their peace, for sure, rocking the boat of their certainties, challenging them to see beyond the ways things have always been done and to recognize that love is more important than tradition.

There are grumblers in every age. The prophet Habakkuk saw “strife and contention arise” in his day. They are alive and well today in every arena of our lives: professional, educational, economic, political, spiritual, wherever we are, whatever we do. We find grumblers in our families, our churches, our communities, our nation, and around the world, airing their complaints about the way others do things that don’t suit them. How are we called to deal with those grumblers in our lives? A quote from the poet, Edwin Markham, answers the question for me: “He drew a circle to keep me out— Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in.”

But what if we discover the grumbler wears our face, bears our name? Can we hear Jesus’ challenge? Can we take a lesson from Markham? Can we begin to see beyond our differences and draw our circle big enough to include those we about whom we frequently grumble? For most of us, I suspect the answer is: “Only [as our baptismal covenant notes] with God’s help.”