Every generation has its "untouchables." In Jesus' day it included the lepers, the prostitutes and the tax collectors. These were people to be avoided at all costs: they were spiritual outcasts.

Tonight, sleep may be evading you because you are unsure how to react to our society's list of "untouchables"... a neighbor's son with AIDS... a girl suffering side-effects from an abortion... a co-worker who admits his homosexuality... a friend's father on death row. Your first reaction may be extreme aversion: Many tend to avoid these troubled people and walk on. They are, after all, the "untouchables"... yet, deep within you, God's Word is stirring.

Jesus mingled often with "untouchables" in order to demonstrate God's mercy and love. He supped with "undesirables": "And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples" (Matthew 9:10, RSV). It was in the home of a leper, Simon, that He was anointed with oil. Offering to let the sinless in the crowd cast the first stones at the adulteress and finding none willing to condemn her, Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more" (John 8:11, TLB).

He admonished His disciples then, as He is admonishing us today, to "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the lepers and cast out demons" (Matthew 10:8, TLB).

Look tonight on society's "hopeless cases" as opportunities to prove God's love, authority and power... follow His lead and reach out in love tomorrow.

Dear Father, forgive me for letting my natural self recoil from those who need Your love and mercy. Grant me courage, instead, to face these challenges and be used as Your vessel for miracles that will prove Your reality and love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.