Could you turn with me and your Bibles to Luke chapter 5, beginning in verse 27, the calling of Levi. After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. Follow me, Jesus said, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples. Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered them. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, would you reveal yourself to us? You are alive in the power that rose you from the dead, that made you come alive, that very power is the Holy Spirit, and that same Holy Spirit lives within each of us who call upon your name. We need that kind of power to live for you. We need that kind of power to understand your word, because our hearts are hard, and we're slow to understand. So we come before you asking, we don't have what it takes to follow you. Would you supply everything that we need, even now? I'm in. When I was at RTS in Jackson, Mississippi, reformed theological seminary, it was about my second or third year we had to take preaching class. Now nothing scared me more than the thought of preaching to a bunch of wannabe preachers and seminary professors. And anywhere men are, you know there's going to be some sort of ego, testicle, competitive, spirit. Well, seminaries know exception. I was afraid that I'd be torn to pieces by these lions and tigers. So I thought, you know, maybe I just want to get an M.A. Maybe I don't want to go for the whole M.D.V. thing, because I was really that afraid of preaching. It's kind of strange. You go to seminary and you're afraid of preaching? Yes. I'm a strange person. But through a lot of prayer and humility, I finally made my way up to the pulpit the first time, and it's a tall pulpit there in Jackson. It takes a long time to get up to the top, which is that much scarier. And then I got up to the pulpit and there's a little plaque there, and it's a verse from John 12, and it says, Sir, we would like to see Jesus. From John 12 verse 21, when the Greeks approach Philip and asked to see Jesus, and just looking at that verse, it filled me with such peace, such assurance, because it's there to remind preachers that preaching is not about you. It's about showing people Jesus Christ. Well, this summer, I felt some of the same anxiety that I felt in seminary. I didn't want to quit, maybe across my mind, but I was the same fear, but that verse, they crossed my mind again. Sir, we would like to see Jesus. Because Richie Sessions is underwhelming, I can assure you. I don't have anything to offer you personally, and the reason you're here this morning, whether you can articulate it or not, is because you want to see Jesus Christ, and maybe someone dragged you here, and you don't even know this about yourself, but you need to see Jesus. That's what Christianity is, loving Jesus Christ, knowing Him, talking to Him, worshiping Him, being a friend with Him. So what you need from me is to see Jesus. How might we do that? Maybe think of yourself. Richie, I know Jesus, let's go on to something more advanced. I've done that. I've sprayed the prayer, but let me challenge you. You don't ever get to the end of knowing Jesus Christ. It's a dynamic relationship. See as Lewis said that knowing God is like going into a great mansion, and for all eternity opening up new doors to His character, and never getting to the end of those doors. Well that's what it's like to know Jesus. Jesus is not an idea that you grasp, or a concept that you understand and move on to something else. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. How might I show you Jesus? Well the first place we're going to go to, this fall, is through the meals of Jesus. One fifth of the synopses in the Gospel of Luke, meals play a very important role. The table was a main stage of the culture in Jesus' day. It's where the most deeply held prejudices were. It's where the great, deep conversations were. It's where you really found out what people were like, is by sharing this meal. To have a meal with someone was a social statement. It's kind of like who you ate with at lunch in junior high and senior high, you know all the tables. And if you crossed tables, you were making a social statement. Jesus makes statements by who he ate with. So we're going to spend some time this fall going through these meals, and this morning we're going to look at his meal with Levi, or Matthew, same person, two names, like Peter the rock, Simon, like Saul and Paul, Levi, Matthew, and very simple thing I want us to look at today at this meal, Jesus love for sinners. What does it look like? What does it mean? How do we learn about Jesus' love for sinners in this passage? Well first we learn that it's a love that pursues sinners. It goes after because he loves them. And secondly, it's a love that celebrates here at the table. He celebrates this meal. He celebrates with sinners, Jesus love does. And then finally, it's a love that offends. If you pursue sinners the way Jesus did, and you celebrate with them the way he did, you will be offensive in a good kind of way. So let's look at the first. It's a love that pursues, verse 27, keep your bibles open please. After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth, a tax collector we find out about Levi. Now you may be familiar with tax collectors and know that they were bad bunch of dudes but they're probably worse than you think they were. They really were bad. Tax collectors were among the most despised people, class of people in Jesus' day. They were hired out by the Roman government and they were native to the people they were taxing because they spoke the language and knew the customs so that they wouldn't be tricked. So Levi is a Jewish tax collector in Galilee. This language, he knows all the tricks, Cicero and Emperor around the time of Jesus and after Jesus who was a Roman, said about tax collectors, people that he employed, they are the most despised people in all the world and that's what Levi is. Jews saw them as doubly off limits because not only were they despised in general because they were crooks but also they were ceremonial and unclean because they always came in contact with other Gentiles and their grimy hands touched dirty things and they were unclean so a Jew, a good law abiding, Jew could even come close to a tax collector or be with a tax collector. One of the reasons they were so despised is that the way a tax collector made his money, his profit, his take home pay was by extortion. The way the Roman tax was $20, he would ask for 40 and the extra 20 was his money and they set the price, whatever they needed that day. They were known crooks, they were off limits, they were culturally, religiously, socially at the lowest rank and here Levi is in Capernaum that's where his tax booth was and Capernaum is at the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee. This is a sweet location if you're a tax collector because you get all of the ship traffic on the Sea of Galilee that you can tax but you also get all the road traffic too and sometimes tax collectors were known to tax all four wheels on a cart but what's really amazing about this story is that Jesus goes finding, looking for this man, Levi. He knows that he's a pariah. You can just imagine what it would have been like to be a Jew in Jesus' day. Every time you saw a tax collector down the road, can't you imagine just the feeling you had in your stomach, you knew you were about to get stolen from by one of your people. It would be like a foreign government conquering Memphis and the people that taxed us were mintyens. Can you imagine the feeling that you had, the hatred that you had for these people? That's what's so shocking about Jesus Christ in verse 27 it says that he saw a man named Levi. Now, most of the time we think this means that he just sort of happened upon Levi or just sort of tripped over and said, oh, your tax collector, come follow me. That's the way I've kind of seen the story because it sounds like that in our English translations but that's not what the word Saul means. The real word means he was looking for and looking at him. He was studying him intently. He was looking at Levi. He went to Capernaum looking for this man and instead of avoiding him which would have been the normal thing that a rabbi like Jesus should do, he went toward him because the love of Jesus pursues sinners. There's Jesus Christ, the Son of God going to where the lost people are, not waiting for them to come to him. He pursues them but he pursues them with power. Jesus Christ goes up to this lifelong Levi. Lifelong tax collector and he says to him, leave everything and follow me.
But how bold is that? Stop what you're doing and follow me. You're literally saying be my disciple, be one of my followers, associate yourself now with me. Now let's be honest for a second, can we? Do we really think that Jesus can still do this? Do we think that people like Levi, lifelong hated criminals around a bunch of losers and criminals that the gospel is powerful enough, that Jesus is powerful enough to change their hearts that they would leave everything because that's exactly what happened and follow Christ. It's the power of Jesus and I think we've forgotten the power of Jesus Christ. We think it all rests in our power for people to be converted and it's so messy and difficult. Jesus went to where people were and met them in that place and he said, come follow me. This is a miracle, it's a miracle. And this man who was in our minds disqualified for Christianity, right? He's not a good guy because only good guys become Christians, right? He's a mean, industrious, no, no one is disqualified for the gospel. It's the power of, we need to believe in the power of Jesus as he pursues sinners through us. It kind of reminds me of going to Basin and Lewis a couple of years ago. When I first came here we went to go meet John down there and work on some houses. We brought some pretty strong, tough dudes and you know who you are. I'm not one of them. I was in charge of bringing water, but we were doing work on the roof and we were bringing these stacks of shingles up a ladder and I did one and I was like, oh, going up each step and I feel like I was going to fall and die, but I watched another guy and he'll remain nameless because he would want to worship him if you saw what he did. One guy put a stack on each shoulder and he walked up the ladder like whistling because he was powerful. And Jesus Christ goes to this person, this tax collector, where he was, meets him where he was, and he says, look how powerful I am, follow him. And here's what's amazing, Levi, Luke tells us, left everything and followed him, folks, we need to believe in that kind of power. Because it's only if we believe in that kind of power, when we actually share the gospel, when we actually go to places where people are, when we actually go and meet people like Levi, when we actually go to people that we think, oh, they're totally disqualified. I'll talk to some nice people that are kind of like me, they're closer to the kingdom. Going to people and say, follow Jesus Christ and folks, watch what Jesus does. If we don't believe in that kind of power, I don't really know what we're doing here because the real Jesus pursues, and he pursues with people where they are. That's not all he does, he also celebrates. He celebrates with Levi. Look at verse 29, Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house and had a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. Other sinners. Now this is wonderful. This is rich, and it's a story that many of us are so familiar with that we just kind of run past it. Levi throws a banquet, and this is the kind of banquet known for its lavish food and wine. This is the good stuff. This guy had bank, he had a lot of money. For his great property right there at Copernum, he had a lot of money, he had a large house. He was able to throw a party like this, a banquet for Jesus. Does that not strike you as odd? Now think about this loser, this outcast. How do we feel about him throwing a party for Jesus? And get this, inviting his cohorts of the underworld to this party. How does that sit with you? He throws, it's almost like the religious Protestant, Southern, nice boy that I am. I want to go like, Jesus, let me tell you a little bit about Levi. He's a great guy, I know he's converted, I know you're a big fan. But look, that's going to be a really salty bunch of folks. They're going to say some bad things that are going to offend you, and they're not going to have good manners. And it's going to be, you probably don't need to go to that. I just want to tell you, I think we'd say that to him. But Jesus goes to this party with all of these people, and he's making a social statement. Jews were not permitted to eat with these kind of people. Even in the Roman world, these kind of banquets, this was a formal affair with an invitation, this banquet, it was a formal affair. These kind of banquets actually had seating charts. That is, the biggest dog got the best seat. And the littlest dog, the littlest person, the most insignificant person, got the worst seat. That's in the Roman world, and they were intimate affair. These kind of parties were up close and personal. Let me tell you, I love to study about food, because I like to eat, and I love to study about the food of the first century and the way they ate. This was a double dipping situation, folks. It was. This wasn't once some sort of nice little need. I've got my own plate, and fork, don't make eye contact with me, and we'll get through this dinner together. Like we have, they would recline at a table on their left arm, and then they would take a piece of bread or something like that, and they would dip it in the same bowl that everyone else was dipping at it. This is not a sanitized place. This is earthy. What does that tell us about Jesus Christ? Is he some sanitized, stoic, moralistic, goody, goody-touchies? He's not. He shouldn't be at this party, shouldy. He shouldn't be that close to sinners, reclining with them, and making the social statement, these are my friends. When you ate with someone, when you went under their roof, you were saying, these are my friends. I'm in the company of friends. Jesus comes near and celebrates. He goes where they are and breaks bread with them. I'm not very excited about a sanitized, clean, mean Jesus Christ. I don't even want to tell people about him, but a Jesus Christ that comes and meets you where you are, no matter who you are, and has a party with you. Now I'll tell the world about him, and that's the Jesus that Luke's telling us about. And what else is fascinating about this celebration is that Levi, get this. Levi knew that Jesus wouldn't look down his nose at his friends. Isn't that amazing? Let's go back to that culture. In that day, rabbis didn't even look at people like this. But Levi asked this rabbi to come and have a party at his house. What does that tell us about Jesus' character? The Jesus that Levi saw, that Matthew saw, was so different than the Jesus I believe in sometimes. This Jesus was one to say, you've got to meet this person Jesus. He's a rabbi, but he's not like any rabbi you've ever met before. This person is not like anyone you've ever met before. I know you think he's going to look down at his nose at you, he's not. He said he's going to come to this party I'm throwing for him. You will not believe it, you have to, you have to just promise me, for me would you come just to meet Jesus? And sit at the table and be shocked about how wonderful he is. J.C. Ryle, great commentator, minister, said the reason Levi invited all his friends is because he couldn't think of going to heaven alone. Now that's evangelism. And Levi hadn't been a Christian that long, folks. In fact, he paid for the meal with ministry money? No, with dirty money. Something happened to me when I became a minister. People began to apologize to me for their friends and their family. It's the strangest thing that ever happened to me, because I just sort of backed into ministry. It became like the next thing I know I'm wearing this robe and I'm like a freak. And people will do this. You know, Ritchie, look, we're going to see my brother, but look, I'm really sorry. I don't know what he's going to say. Or at a wedding? Look, can I talk to you for a second, come here. My dad's going to be here and he might embarrass me and you and he may say some bad words and he may say do some bad things. And I guess my response is going to be, well, good, I'm glad you told me that. I will avoid him. But you, what's underneath that, what's deep underneath that? Because I understand it. We think the church is for good people. We think the church is for people who have their lives together. Is there anyone that has their life together? I sure like to meet you. We think you think someone like me is for someone who's clean, but if I want to be a minister like Jesus Christ, I'm going to get down and dirty right with you, where you are. Folks, the way we begin to celebrate, really celebrate Jesus, the kind of Jesus that the world needs, the Jesus who pursues, the Jesus who eats with sinners and who loves sinners, the way we can begin to celebrate it, if we begin to see ourselves as people around the table with Levi, not as people who have arrived, not as people who don't have sins. The way we enjoy the forgiveness of God as if we remember it every day, the more he shows us our sin, the more we come to him and believe the gospels for us. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners. If you're a sinner and you know it, you're in great company, great company, because Jesus wants to eat supper with you and he celebrates with you. Now, I'll tell the world about that, Jesus, but he not only pursues, he not only celebrates in his love, but he also offends. If you're doing the first two, you will do the third. If you've read the gospels, you know that's what happened. Jesus upset the establishment, verse 30, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belong to their sect complained to his disciples. Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Do you know what he's saying? You know what the Pharisees are saying? They're coming to his disciples, which I think is interesting. They're not confronting Jesus yet. They come around their disciples and this house is where we'll open in that part of the world. They still are. Areid, worn, kind of climate, and this party would kind of float in and out. You could, people could literally walk up to almost like gardens kind of setting and see this meal happening. And they're just looking and going, what's he think he's doing? And so he pulls, they pull some of the disciples away and say, what do you guys, what's going on? You know we don't do this. And he's calling himself a teacher and he's talking about the kingdom of God. Why are you eating with people like this? You're breaking all kinds of rules. The Pharisees, like I said, the Pharisees were the good guys, the teachers of the law. The Pharisee was the man that you would want to go over and have lunch at his house. You would want to drop a Pharisee's name to impress people. You're like, well I was talking to Gamali the other day and we have our friends, it's no big deal. The reason is, is because these guys had power and respect. And the reason they had power and they had respect is because they had rules and they could convince you they were following those rules. They were very religious. They were keeping the flame of Israel alive. They were separating themselves for the great kingdom and they were adding rule upon rule to keep themselves holy and that's what God wanted. God does not eat with sinners in their world. There was no box for that. It was totally outside the box. It was unthinkable. I don't know what Bible they were reading. Jesus gives his mission statement to them. He tells them in verse 31, it's not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
That's what I asked the question, Jesus, why are you behaving this way? Why are you doing this? It's very offensive because I'm a physician, I'm a doctor. And who do you expect to see with a doctor? People that are well? No. Doctors are around sick people. What Jesus is saying here, there reminds me of growing up around ERs. My dad has been an ER doctor for years and as a child we would go and visit him occasionally and I remember walking through the waiting room to go to the lounge and see my dad and I wanted to get through there really quick because people there were falling apart, had blood and children and babies were crying and coughing and they were miserable but who do I expect to see my dad with around people who are falling apart? When sick and you're falling apart, the only person who can help you is a doctor and so you go to a doctor, that's what Jesus is saying, I'm around people who are falling apart. I didn't come for people who don't think they're sick, the healthy don't need a doctor, the self-righteous don't need me, they're saving themselves, they think. But for those who have fallen and failed and are discouraged and are worn out by who they are, I ain't supper with them because they find forgiveness, they find healing. Jesus is here for the broken people and if you're here today, I want you to hear this. Stop trying to clean yourself up for Jesus Christ. Stop trying to wait until you're better for Jesus. Do you see the message here? Jesus comes to you where you are and just like those people in the waiting room, in the ER, they can't fix themselves and you can't fix yourself either. Jesus came to fix you. Jesus came to heal you because he loves you. It means that he's going to offend because we want to stroll past the waiting room, like the Pharisees. We want to stroll past the waiting room and get the special treatment, right? We don't want to sit with all the other poor, broken people whose lives are falling apart. We don't want to be like one of those people. I don't want to associate with those people. They're in the waiting room. The reason the Pharisees hated the idea of Jesus saying he was the physician is because they deserved special treatment because they had earned it. Do you see why they killed him? Because he says, no, you're just like everybody else. And when Jesus says I've come to call the sinners to repentance, you know what he's saying there? To repentance? That word is better translated to transformation, to newness, to a new story. Jesus came to give you a new story. To transform everything about you, to take you home, I know you're discouraged. And Satan condemns you. He's the accuser. He tells you that you're not worthy of this love. Listen, when he tells you that, here's what you tell him. I know I'm not worthy of this love, but Jesus loves sinners. He pursues them. He celebrates them. Folks, if we start doing that, if we begin as a church to pursue sinners where they are, because I want to, I want to be the first in line to pursue sinners where they are, then we will celebrate with them, but we'll also be offensive to some people. Get ready for it. And let me close with this challenge, this charge. I don't think there is a church that parties better than I PC. I mean, I think we can really check into this idea of meals. I've eaten better than I ever have in my life since being a minister of this church. I have to run now to not get over fat. But how might a story like this change the way we party? Who are we inviting to our celebrations? I think our gift of celebrating is a spiritual gift, but how might we laugh and enjoy Christ in a way that people on the outside would be attracted to Christ? And here's the real test for us. It's not that we just start having the Levi's and the outsiders to our parties and start inviting them over to our house because that's the vehicle for our social, our customs here. That's where people really meet too. We stop just inviting each other. We start inviting people on the outside. Here's the real test is if the people on the outside world, the nonbelievers are converted and they start throwing parties for us because that's what happened to Jesus. Wouldn't it be great to be like, you know what? There's a member of independent Presbyterian church and I know how you think most about church people. I know they're kind of, you know, weird. This guy is not. He'll come eat with you. He'll tell you about Jesus. And the reason he's like this is because that's what Jesus is like. I'm going to have a party in his honor, in her honor because these people know true freedom and true hope. What a great God we have. Lord Jesus, bless us to be your vessels of grace. Let us pursue and celebrate knowing that we will offend and if we're offensive to this world and to other religious people because we pursue and celebrate, then we take that persecution with honor. But let us not be offensive because we're mean. Let us not be offensive because we're cold. Let us be offensive because we are so joyful that we might sing your praises. Lord Jesus, I'm in.