A Welcome For Sinners

I wasn't here at the very beginning of the announcements, and so I don't know why I'm thinking that Larry wouldn't cover it, but next week is an evening service, okay? Reformation Sunday is in the evening next week. Sharon asked me earlier, can I put in the bulletin who our historical figure is? And I said, well, I'm not quite sure if I'm going to go with this, but I am. so if you want to start making ready for the competition next week here it is we're going to be looking at an old bishop the bishop of Myra from the 4th century his name was Saint Nicholas you might want to wait until after the sermon before you start concocting your ideas take your bibles now and turn to the book of luke i want you to look with me at luke chapter five before we look at this text let's pray and ask God to make this a profitable time for us.

God of heaven, we are privileged by your grace and only by your grace to call you Father. You sent your Son to rescue us. We forget about that gift of the Gospel, Lord God. we forget that we were once sinners that needed to be rescued, and that Jesus sought us out and conquered our hearts so that we willingly, in repentance, looked only to Him to save us.

Father we forget that you are holy and righteous that you cannot overlook sin and yet out of great mercy and love you sent Jesus to rescue us pray Father today you would teach us that clearly Thank you for the gospel that brings such wonderful things to us. Help us to worship you this week because of what we find there today. We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen. What is the greatest gift of the gospel? We have been looking at the gifts of the gospel all this summer up to this point. What is the greatest one? I dare say that we'd be tempted to say the greatest gift of the gospel is the life that we have. That we have this wonderful life where we love one another.

And whenever we get together, we enjoy each other's company. And we have a refuge from the world. And we get to worship together. and we just love that. And that is a gift of the gospel. But sometimes that gets in the way of the greatest gift. The greatest gift that we find here in Luke chapter 5, verses 27 through 32.

Here we find a great gift. God welcomes sinners. You follow along as I read this. After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, Follow me. And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

And Levi made him a great feast in his house. And there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, many people would talk about Jesus as a wonderful man, as some kind of harbinger of peace, as an affirming presence in their lives. but most today would not think of Jesus' arrival in Bethlehem or even today as a rescue mission intended to change people In fact I would say that if you been a Christian long enough you tend to forget that You tend to forget that that why Jesus came It'd be hard to think that because when Jesus said that he came to rescue sinners, it was a hard pill to swallow. But let's look at that today.

Let's consider this gospel gift. do you really believe that Jesus came to rescue sinners do you really believe that let's look at our verses after this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth he said to him follow me and Levi and leaving everything he rose and followed him and Levi made him a great feast in his house and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them and the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Why do you do that? Why do you do that?

Now, this is the story of Levi's conversion. We know him better as Matthew. Matthew tells his own story in his account in Matthew chapter 9. And so this Levi, that's the tax collector, is actually one of the 12, one of the gospel writer Matthew. you. And Jesus calls him and he leaves everything, his security, his job, his friends in order to follow Jesus.

Now understand something here. Let's get, let's understand something. Jesus was not this mesmerizing wonder worker who when he said, follow me, people just kind of said, okay. Jesus is using the words of discipleship here. Follow me is the word of discipleship. come and be my disciple is what he was saying to Levi. When a rabbi would gather around him disciples, typically they would say to him, one would come to a rabbi and say, can I follow you?

Which is to say, can I live with you and study with you so that I too can become a teacher? And so it was not unusual. Jesus wasn't the only one with a band of disciples. He didn't look any different than any other rabbi with a band of disciples. The difference is this. Jesus said to them you follow me instead of them asking him And so Jesus is saying to Levi come and be my disciple Come and learn from me Come and learn from me Well, this is so, this is so incredible to Levi that he gives a huge reception for Jesus.

He gets all this, he actually has this reception for Jesus to show his appreciation and to introduce Jesus to his friends. And this was a major event. This was a great banquet with a large crowd. But the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees and their scribes, bring a complaint against Jesus through his disciples. See, these are the watchdogs of Judaism.

These are the ones who make sure that everyone is lining up with proper religious observance. And they're tracking Jesus like the hounds that they are. And they don't like what they see. This is behavior unbecoming of a Messiah. You don't do this, Jesus. You haven't come for this.

If you're the Messiah, why are you hanging around with the worst kind of people? Now you may say, what's the big deal? So he's eating with some people. What's the big deal? Because these are people of the worst reputation. Now, when you look at verse 27, you think, well, here's Levi, a nice government bureaucrat who's got this nice middle class life going for him.

Why are the Pharisees so upset? Because that's not what tax collectors were. They were greatly feared, but more than that, they were held in the greatest contempt because they were traitors against their own people. When the Romans came and they conquered a country, they needed their taxes to be paid. And so what they would do is they would get people from those conquered people to collect the taxes for them.

How would you like to be under the authority of a foreign government and then your neighbor starts working for them? What would you think of them? The first thing you would say is, traitor! How can you do that? How can you line up with the people who have just conquered our nation and made us the subject peoples? How can you do that?

Right? How can you do that? We all know, and maybe it's not so familiar now, but growing up there was a term that was used oftentimes, right? That guy's a quizling. What's a quizling? Someone who's really good at quizzes?

No. A Quisling is a trader. Quisling was a Norwegian who collaborated with the Germans after they conquered Norway. And so the terms became common. You're a Quisling, which means you are a trader. You've turned against your own people.

That's what tax collectors were. Not only that, but the Romans would say, OK, we need this much money. All right. From your region that we've assigned you, we need so much money. And what the tax collectors would do then was then they would say, OK, they need one hundred thousand dollars. I will collect one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Right. So not only will I get the salary from the Romans, but I'll get an extra fifty thousand dollars. All right. So not only were they they were feared and they were held in the greatest contempt, they were collaborators. They took advantage of their position to extort money from their own people. Now, because of that reputation, what kind of friends do you think they had?

They were social outcasts. Once you become a tax collector, all your social relations are done, except for people who don't have social relations with the good folks. Who are they? The prostitutes, the drunks, those kind of people. The sinners who were outcasts. and so tax collectors were classified with prostitutes the irreligious the immoral the unclean and defiled the riffraff and that is why the pharisees mention sinners here they don't have our that they're not using it the way we do they're using it in this sense they are hanging out with the worst kind of people we don't want to be associated with those kind of people we and and of course we all know we're supposed to do we all know we're supposed to say pharisees you're bad people don't you do that but don't we do that do we do that you know as the lord has opened up opportunity for us to to minister to folks who are or were addicts you know one of the common go to church You know why Because they have found that when they do go to church and people find out who or what they were they start getting their distance from them They even start saying to their pastors why are these people here Right And before we start saying we not that way you look at your own heart Have there been times when people have... and you know them and their reputation and you've kind of backed off?

They're going to ruin our comfortable life here. We're going here, right? We've got a good thing going here. We enjoy one another's company and And when you start introducing people like that, that means more work, and it means we're not going to be able to have as much fun, part of your heart. But you know what? There's too much Pharisee in all of us.

And we've got to understand that, and we've got to get over it. No, we've got to do more than get over it. We've got to repent of it. and welcome with open arms those who are not considered good. This Messiah, this one sent from God. Jesus had already recruited four fishermen. That wasn't bad enough.

Now he goes out and recruits a tax collector. Lord Jesus, what are you doing here? I mean, first you get fishermen. They're not exactly high on the social scale. They're not known for their education. I mean, they're okay, but they're not educated or refined.

And you might think that at this point, Jesus would find a more noteworthy, respected disciple. I mean, wouldn't it be better at this point if it would make for better Bill Benjamin, the mayor of Jerusalem, as opposed to Levi, the local extortioner, right? I mean, this just doesn't make any kind of marketing sense at all. What are you trying to do here?

That's like everything else that's associated with Jesus. That's just the way, that's the way God has always worked. That's the way God has always worked. And this is especially true of anything associated with Jesus. I mean, think about it. He was born to a lowly peasant girl, right?

In a dirty stable, with way shepherds were lower than fishermen. They were almost to tax collector scale. All right. He grew up in a backwater town in a family with no. That doesn't make any sense to send a Messiah that way, does it? But it reminds us again that as the Apostle Paul wrote God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are.

This is the way that God operates. And we need to get that into our heads. how many times do we see this super athlete right and we say wow if only God got a hold of him boy wouldn't couldn't he do great things too bad no one told Jesus about that right he goes out and gets the worst doesn't he he goes out and gets four fishermen and his next recruit is um it's a tax collector. How far are you going to get with that, Jesus?

You know what? Many in Jesus' day grumbled because he kept bad company. He wasn't kosher. He wasn't the Messiah they expected. This cannot be the Messiah. Surely the Messiah would not come and hang around these kind of people. well we need to understand then we need to know the purpose of jesus coming and he does very well clarifying that for us doesn't he in verses 31 and 32 and jesus answered them those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick i have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance jesus responds with a statement that clearly expresses his whole purpose in coming.

It clearly expresses his whole purpose in coming. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Jesus actually says that his whole ministry is a ministry to sinners. Take away that and you take away Jesus' whole purpose in coming. This is the greatest gift to the gospel folks. You take away the fact that Jesus came for sinners and you might as well have Jesus not coming at all.

The Pharisees could not grasp that because they saw hanging around with sinners as an approval of their lifestyle or maybe even camaraderie with them right Birds of a feather flock together That must be what Jesus is then He didn't seek out religious people or authorities. Do you ever notice that? Do you ever notice that Jesus did not seek out the people who thought they had their act together?

Evidently, to all appearances, he was at home with these kind of people. Surely you would gravitate to those with whom you have something in common. I mean, a criminal is not likely to go to the policeman's ball, is he? It was guilt by association. But Jesus clarifies his mission. He compares his mission to the work of a doctor.

Why does a doctor spend time with sick people? Because he loves being around sickness and disease? because he loves to be around people who cough and wheeze and do all kinds of awful things? Do you think, is that why he does it? Is that why doctors do what they do? Do you know of anybody who went into the medical profession because he says, I love being around sick people?

You know, when they're just coming in and, you know, they're like in my office and, you know, and they come in and they open up that Band-Aid and you look at what's coming out of their hand, right? I love looking at it. That's not why they do it, right? There is something within the heart of that man or that woman that says, I want to help people who need help.

They don't do it because they love it. Why did Jesus associate with sinners? Why did he find common ground with them? Why was he at home with them? In order to be just like them? No.

No. But that's what everybody thought. But that's not. He says, no, you've got it wrong. It's not that. It's that they need a doctor.

That's why I came. In fact, Hebrews chapter 7, verse 26, says this about Jesus. Such a high priest meets our need. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. This one, who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens, is the one who meets sinners' needs. That's the one who meets sinners'. needs, but that's the one who came.

Jesus was never like these sinners, but he was there to fulfill a mission. Where would you expect to find a doctor? At a hospital or at the health spot? Where would you expect to find a doctor? Jesus is the great physician of sinners. He came to bring healing to those who needed it.

That's why he was found with sinners. And he was never embarrassed by that, and he never apologized for that. Now look, folks, this is something that I think we really need to understand. Growing up the way I did, and even with some members of our extended family, this is a big argument. This is a big argument. Oh, no.

No, no, no. We never go into a bar. Never. Why not? Because people might think. And I say, if you have friends in there, and you can go in there and open up your Bible, then go in there.

What do people think? Jesus didn't care. Did he? Let me ask you this. how many homosexual friends do you have? How many friends do you have that are addicts? How many friends do you have that are known as sinners?

And if we can say I don't have very many then maybe we're not doing the job we're supposed to be doing. Because Jesus had all kinds of those kinds of friends, didn't he? That simply amazes me. And when I get in these conversations with folks who say, oh, we've got to be, no, stay away from that. Oh, you know, I say, but Jesus did it. I mean, Jesus hung around those kind of people.

Now notice, he hung around as what? The physician. He didn't hang around so he could party with them. he hung around because he was a physician who'd come to heal the sick alright there a world of difference there isn there again Jesus makes the point clear He states it negatively first I have not come to call the righteous What does righteous mean? Righteous is the idea of lining up with a standard.

Conformity to a standard. Righteousness is perfect conformity to God's standards. Nothing lacking spiritually. No defects spiritually. No spiritual ailments. approved by God as perfect. That's the idea of righteous and righteousness.

And Jesus says, that's not the kind of people I came for. Now, is Jesus implying that there are people who are perfect? That there are people who don't need him? That there are people who perfectly conform to God's standards? No, that's not what he's saying. But many Pharisees and scribes thought that they had everything together, that they were spiritually all right.

If you want to see an example of this, turn over to the 18th chapter of this book. You'll see in a good example of this very familiar story, very familiar parable to us. Verse 9, Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. So Jesus is not saying that there are people who don't need him. He says there are people like this Pharisee who think they have their act together, who think, as he says, trust in themselves and their own righteousness.

To such people, Jesus is about as desirable and necessary as a doctor is to a man who can still run a four-minute mile. They don't need one. remember Jesus came as a doctor not as an aerobics instructor and frankly we think too often Jesus more as an aerobics instructor than a doctor We think he come to take pretty good material and make it a little bit better And that's what most people think about Jesus, don't they? Because they don't see themselves as sick, as unrighteous, as lost.

Jesus says, I didn't come for the healthy, I didn't come for the righteous. Instead, he says, I came to call sinners to repentance. His mission has to do with sinners. Those he came for all have this common deadly disease called sin. Sin is to miss the mark of God's standards at any point. A sinner falls short.

Either falls short of what God expects or goes short of what God says you shouldn't do. And we are all sinners. To say someone is a drunkard, right? To say someone is a drunk is not to say that he occasionally gets drunk, right? To say someone is a drunk is to say that it's a characteristic of his life. To say that you're a sinner is a characteristic of your life.

It's not just, ah, we don't have too much of a problem with that, just a little bit. This is the divine diagnosis. There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God, for all have turned away. They have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one.

Now that's the heavenly diagnosis. And this is the ugly reality that we have to face. And Jesus came to help sinners. 1 Timothy 1.15, here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus accepts sinners.

Can you go back here? Just go back to that day. It seems like Levi didn't have any problems getting people to this party. Why do you think that was? I think there was something disarming to these sinners and tax collector traitors in the presence of Christ. Their sins, open and outward, they had a public reputation.

Did they not? Their spiritual diseases were not like a hidden tumor. was bleeding wounds and grotesque deformities Everybody saw it They knew it It was readily observable to all around and impossible to hide And they heard the stinging peers They felt the cold, self-righteous stares of people who were better all around them. They knew what it meant to be shunned in the community and by everyone.

And yet, here is one who knows all about them and what? hangs with them. Eats with them. Remembering eating with someone is the highest act of social intercourse. It's the highest act of we're friends. Right? That's what eating meant back then.

And so it was that Jesus was eating with these people which signals to them, listen, I want you. I want to talk to you. I want to be friends with you. The glorious news is that Jesus came to save and receive sinners who are aware of their sin. Listen, again, I want to challenge us. I want to challenge us.

Are we this way? Are we this way with people that the rest of society hates? Are we this way with people who are different than us? I say to you, we've got to be like Jesus. In Sunday school today, we're talking about forms of evangelism. Do we invite people to church?

Now, that's not the only way to evangelize, obviously. But, yeah, let's invite people to church. And you know why? Because here, if this church is the way it should be, if it reflects Jesus, it should be a place where people can walk in here and they can find others who will welcome them and who will love them. and regardless of their reputation will say you're a sinner, I'm a sinner we need Jesus I can love you then because I'm not different than you I may be a little more scrubbed up side, but I'm not different than you.

I'm not different. To what are sinners called here? Jesus calls them to repentance. This isn't merely an emotion or sorrow. It's a change of mind. It means to turn.

The idea of repentance is to turn. To turn from one direction and go in another direction. Formerly you're going in one direction, the paths of sin, the paths of unrighteousness, the paths of serving yourself. And Jesus calls you to turn and go the other way. Now, it doesn't mean you get your act turned up. It means you turn from your sin and you turn to Jesus, Him.

You want Jesus. And that also means that when Jesus says, I want you to obey me, you say, I'll do whatever you want. You're the only person I've got. You're the only one who will do whatever you say, but I want you. And so you turn away from that sin. You confess the awfulness of it and the righteousness of God and condemning it.

Repentance is going to say, you're right. The way I lived was wrong. It's sinful. It's wicked and it deserves your judgment. I agree with you, God. Right?

It's repentance is not. Yeah, I was in that all grew up. No, No, it's wicked and you're right in judging it, but I don't want you to judge me. I want you to save me You my only hope You my only hope You remember the story of a Canaanite woman who had a daughter that was demon And she came to Jesus and she wouldn leave him alone And the disciples finally said to him, Jesus, wait.

And Jesus looks at her, and I think to test her faith, and said this to her. Look, basically, you're a Gentile. I've come for these people, the Israelites. and feed the food that belonged to the children to dogs. It sounds really insensitive. I think he was testing her faith, and here's what she said. If I only get crumbs, the dogs...

You know what she was saying? I may only get crumbs, but you're my only hope. I'll take crumbs then. And that's what repentance is. It says, I see, God, that what you say is right. Because there's my only hope.

Where else am I going to go? There's no other place to go. That's it. And God accepts you in Jesus. He doesn't say, get your act together. He just says, just entrust yourself to Jesus.

There's pardon for your sin. Certainly repentance will then have fruit. There will be change. But God is not a fruit inspector when you come to Jesus. He just takes you. You trust in Jesus, you're mine.

Jesus did not come to associate with sinners and leave them as they are. Jesus did not fall down into the miry pit embrace them and climb out So don get the wrong impression here Jesus says I come to call sinners to repentance so that they will turn from their wicked ways and embrace me. And so Jesus comes to our level to rescue us. He comes to bring them glorious peace and the freedom of righteousness.

Here's what Jesus says. Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. That's what Jesus promises. he doesn't say come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and get your act together clean things up and then we'll talk he doesn't say that at all he just says come to me what's the greatest gift of the gospel God accepts sinners.

What's one of the greatest fruits of the gospel? We accept sinners. Not just to accept them, but to introduce them to the one who can rescue them from the misery of their sin and give them peace and joy and love See the greatest gift of the gospel is that God accepts sinners. Father, thank you for your word and the good news of the gospel. If it were not for that good news, we would be lost, for we are all undone.

Father, there are those here, I'm sure, who have never embraced Jesus. I pray that they have learned today that they don't need an aerobics instructor, they need a physician, that they are sick, that, Lord, they have a fatal disease called sin. But that Jesus has come to call them to repentance and to find life in Him. Father, help us who are yours to remember that you remain our only hope.

And help us, Lord, to be like Jesus and to realize that any kind of self-righteousness on our part, any kind of looking down on sinners, is a horrible sin in your eyes. save us from our self-righteousness, and help us, I pray, to be ambassadors for Christ, bringing the good news that God accepts sinners in Jesus. Help us to be those ambassadors, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.