When I was growing up, there was a little kid who lived a couple of doors down from me who had some mental challenges. Being a kid, I didn’t really understand his problems very well. But on the other hand, it didn’t make much difference to me. We played together, and I enjoyed being with him.
However, I got a rude awakening to the prejudices of life early in my childhood as I discovered that other kids in my neighborhood didn’t want to play with this kid. Not only were the kids avoiding him, but their parents also didn’t want their children playing with him. Instead of playing together, the children made fun of him, played pranks on him and gave him a nickname– “Stinky.” Pretty soon everyone in the neighborhood, even the adults called him Stinky.
One day I was playing with him when some of the other kids came up and started making fun of him. I asked them to stop and they asked a penetrating question– “Oh, are you Stinky’s friend?” To answer that question “No” meant betrayal. To answer that question “Yes” meant that I would be put down also and they would make fun of me too. In my neighborhood, I would be known as “Stinky’s friend.”
I have never regretted answering “Yes” to that question. I have never regretted being known as “Stinky’s friend.” My little buddy didn’t have a whole lot to be thankful for, but if there was one thing for which he was thankful and seemed to understand, it was that he had a friend. And this friend had a loyalty and an appreciation of me that maybe has never been duplicated in my life.
One of the titles or names of Jesus was a lot like being called Stinky’s friend. It was the title “Friend of Sinners”. “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ‘ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.” (Matthew 11:19).
To the greatest outcasts of all society, Jesus was known as their friend. Whether it was the notorious taxcollector who had all sorts of ethical problems or the prostitute who had all sorts of moral problems– Jesus was their friend. And when the religious leaders of the day would confront him, he would not deny it. He was the Friend of Sinners. He was rejected and despised because of his association with them. But his most loyal followers came not from the religious elite but from the outcasts.
A friend. What a name. And He is my friend–and your friend. I tend to always see someone else as Stinky, but when that is what people are calling me, it is good to have a friend you can count on.