Those Whom Jesus Calls - Water and Work Week

Good Evening, my name is Jared Callison. Pastor Phil asked me to speak this week because he felt like you all needed one more Callison telling you what to do. So I’m sorry for that. I know my family probably isn’t making your life easy this week.

But I am so glad that you are here. I grew up at this camp. I worked every summer and pretty much every week I could here. But if I were honest I always rolled my eyes when I heard people talking about how good it was to work here.

How important it was for your work ethic to come to a place like IRBC to be trained on how to work. I never really believed the hype.

Until I got older. Until I began working with people who never worked at a place like IRBC. Until I saw the difference between teens who had worked at camp and those who stayed home all summer.

I actually just worked with several teens this past week doing some landscaping at the church and I left and I thought to myself they need to work at camp! These kids don’t know how to work.

So you are in the right place. It is good to learn how to work and to work hard. Give it your all this week. Listen to those who are telling you what to do. Unless it’s my sister you can ignore her…. You just might not get that many weeks…

This evening we are going to be in Mark 2:13-17 but before we go though I’d like to spend some time laying some ground work and look at Mark 1:14-15 you can turn there if you have a bible. In Mark 1:14-15, we find something interesting. We see the very first words that Jesus spoke in Mark’s gospel.

It says, “14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus was proclaiming the gospel of God. He was calling people to repent and believe in the gospel. That word repent means to reverse course or to turn away from something.

Have you ever been walking somewhere and realized you are going in the wrong direction? It’s kind of awkward to just abruptly turn around and go the other way. Makes you look foolish. Kind of makes you look crazy. I like to pull out my phone and pretend to get a text or a call that has prompted me to make a 180 and turn the opposite direction.

It’s like, “Oh, I got some news. My plans have been changed. That’s why I’m turning around. Not because I’m crazy. Not because I’m foolish. I got some news that changed my plans. That’s what Jesus is saying. He says repent. Turn around. You’re going the wrong way.

Turn around and believe in the gospel. That word gospel means good news. In Greek, the word is Euangelion, which combines the word angelos, which means announcing news, and the prefix eu- which means joyful. ( I got that from a commentary, in case you thought I was smart…) But that word gospel means news that brings joy.

This word, Euangelion, gospel, wasn’t a religious word in Mark’s day. It had cultural currency. It was used in the Roman and Greek cultures.

For example, as one commentator explains, there was actually a Roman inscription from about the same time as Jesus and Mark that starts by saying, “The beginning of the gospel of Caesar Augustus.” It’s the story of the birth and coronation of the Roman emperor.

A gospel was news of some event that changed things in a meaningful way. It could be an ascension to the throne, or it could be a victory. When Greece was invaded by Persia and the Greeks won the great battles of Marathon, they sent heralds (or evangelists) who proclaimed the good news to the cities: They shouted to the cities, “We have fought for you, we have won, and now you’re no longer slaves; you’re free[1]

So, that word gospel means that Jesus is making an announcement of something that has happened in history. Something that has been done that changes your status or your future forever.

Why does this matter for today’s text? Because right at the start of Mark we see how Christianity is different from any other religion.

All other religion is essentially advice. Here’s how to live. Here’s how to connect to God. Here’s how to ensure your future. This is what you need to do to reach nirvana or heaven or become a god someday. Every other religion is advice on how to live.

Most people think Christianity is the same. Most people think Christianity is just a bunch of rules that you have to follow. Some people think they are good rules, so they follow them to the letter. Some people think they are foolish or outdated, so they reject them and mock them.

But Christianity is not advice. Christianity is news. Jesus was proclaiming the good news of God. The gospel of God. And the gospel of God is not what you can do for God. It’s what God has done for you.

Jesus said to repent, turn, and believe in the good news. The news that brings joy. The news that can change your life forever if only you would believe. The news that the battle has been fought for you and won for you. You have been set free from the slavery of death and sin. Now be free.

How do you feel when someone has given you advice? Anybody been given some advice this week????

Now how you take the advice depends on the person giving the advice. Sometimes, you may be annoyed. Sometimes, you may feel enlightened. The advice has given you clarity. Sometimes, you may even be inspired to live differently. Motivated to get your life on track.

But even in the best-case scenario. Someone has given you advice. It’s both clarified and motivated you, but at the end of the day, it’s still advice.

“Do you feel the way the listeners who heard those heralds felt when the victory was announced? Do you feel your burdens have fallen off? Do you feel as if something great has been done for you and you’re not a slave anymore?

Have any of you bowed to the ground and kissed the feet of the person giving you the advice this week.

Of course not. Advice weighs you down: This is how I have to live. It’s not a gospel. The gospel is that God connects to you not on the basis of what you’ve done (or haven’t done) but on the basis of what Jesus has done, in history, for you. And that makes it absolutely different from every other religion or philosophy.”[2]

Why does that matter for our text today? Because unless you understand that truth today’s text will make no sense. But for some of you here today. Dare I say many of you here today? You think Jesus was proclaiming good advice. You think Christianity is advice on how to live. No wonder you’re so tired. No wonder you are so drained. No wonder you considered giving up on Jesus this week.

Let’s read our text for tonight and let’s see how Christianity is so much more than advice.

Mark 2:13–17 (ESV)

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Here in this passage we find Jesus by the sea again teaching and as he was walking he passed by a man named Levi. In the gospel of Matthew he is called Matthew. It's likely that Levi and Matthew were the same people. People in this day often had more than one name that they went by. So I will be calling him either Matthew or Levi tonight.

So I want us to notice right off the bat what Jesus is able to do for Levi/Matthew. Jesus finds Matthew at a tax booth but Jesus turns Matthew into an apostle and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Matthew writes the Gospel of Matthew which has been read by billions of people for 2000 years.

There's no telling what Jesus can do for you if you give him control of your life. There's no telling how Jesus can change your life if only you'd let him. I want you to see that right off the bat. I want to give you a glimmer of hope. Jesus can dramatically change your life if only you’d let him.

But I want you to notice this morning where Levi was sitting when Jesus found him. It says he was sitting at his tax booth. We know that Matthew was a tax collector. We know that tax collectors were hated in this day.

Tax collectors were used by the Roman government to impose a tax on the Jewish people. We also know that many tax collectors would often take more than they were required in order to pad their own pockets.

But I learned something new in my study of this passage. Apparently these tax booths or the position of tax collector had to be purchased from the Roman government. The Romans didn’t force people against their will to become tax collectors. Jewish men had to go out of their way to purchase the right to oppress their own people.

They had to make the conscience decision to save up enough money to purchase the right to take from their neighbors. You can see why they were so hated in their day. What they were doing was evil.

But I don’t want us to get the wrong idea about these tax collectors. They weren’t that much different than we are today. I don’t think the average tax collector became a tax collector because they wanted to oppress his neighbors.

I don’t think they hated their neighbors. I don’t think they wanted to be hated by their neighbors.

That’s not typically the way sin works in our lives. Sin doesn’t make us hate God. Sin rarely makes us hate each other. Sin makes us forget about God. Sin makes us so consumed with our own issues that we are blinded to the way our actions affect others.

There are times when I get angry and I knowingly try to hurt someone with my words or actions. But typically when I hurt someone it’s because I didn’t think about them at all. It’s because I failed to take the two seconds to think through how my actions affected them. The opposite of love is not hate but selfishness.

I don’t think Matthew hated his neighbor. I think he was selfish. I think he was consumed with his own problems. I think he was dissatisfied with life and wanted more. I think he hoped money would solve his problems.

It’s amazing where the sin of selfishness will take us isn’t it. The selfish desire for more money led Matthew to oppress the people he grew up with.

Who knows maybe he was bullied growing up and becoming a tax collector was a way to have power over those who were cruel to him.

We don’t know and it’s important to not read into the text what’s not there. But this is my point. No one grows up wanting to be evil. None of you grew up wanting to hurt those who are closest to you. No one wants to be hated.

But as the old quote goes “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

Sin had taken Matthew to a place of greed and oppression. A place that I am confident was not a place Matthew ever intended to go. And sin has taken many of you to places you could never have imagined.

Sin has taken you to rock bottom and somehow found a way to take you even deeper. Sin made you unrecognizable. Oh sure you put on a good face when you come to camp but you know the real you and there are days when you can’t even recognize what you’ve become.

Have you ever had a burst of anger and said something that not only do you regret but you don’t recognize. You can’t believe what came out of your mouth. “Who am I,” you wonder.

You are the result of sin taking you farther than you want to go, keeping you longer than you want to stay, and costing you more than you ever wanted to pay. That’s who you are.

But look at the text. Look at where Jesus found Levi. ‘And as Jesus passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth.”

Jesus found Levi sitting at his place of sin. Jesus found Matthew sitting at the place where Matthew would oppress God’s people. Jesus found Matthew sitting at the place where Matthew would oppress the people Jesus came to save.

Matthew had not repented of his sin. He had not left his tax booth behind to listen to Jesus. Oh I’m sure he had heard about Jesus everyone had at that point. But Matthew had stayed put.

Matthew had not attempted to clean himself up. He had not attempted to get his act together. He was sitting as his place of sin when Jesus showed up. Matthew was sitting comfortably at rock bottom when Jesus passed by.

And Jesus said to Matthew follow me.

Who does Jesus call? He calls sinners and He doesn’t give sinners good advice. He gives them good news. News that frees them of the bondage of their sin.

Here’s what I want you to understand tonight. There is no such thing as too far gone. There is no such thing as too broken. It doesn’t matter how far your sin has taken you. It doesn’t matter how long your sin has kept you captive. It doesn’t matter how unrecognizable your sin has made you. Jesus will meet you at your lowest moment.

There isn’t a rock bottom he can’t reach. There isn’t a bondage he can’t free you of. There isn’t a burden he can’t carry.

Jesus meet Matthew at his place of sin and said. Come and follow me.

But look at Matthew’s response. The text says, “and he rose and followed him.”

Notice what it doesn’t say. Matthew doesn’t say, “wait Jesus hold up let me clean myself up first before I come.” “Jesus give me a second I have to take care of some things before I can follow you.” Jesus does not expect you to clean yourself off before coming to Him. That’s His job.

So if you are here this week and you feel overwhelmed by your sin. If you feel run down by your sin. Stop trying to fix it yourself and hear the words of Jesus. Follow me.

He’s talking to you. He’s asking you to follow Him. To repent of your sins and believe in the good news of what He has done for you on the cross. Would you do that tonight?

Let’s keep reading in the text. It says, “And as he(Jesus) reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.”

Look who follows Jesus. Look who is attracted to Jesus. It says that many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus for there were many who followed him.

It’s interesting who Jesus is popular with. Jesus is popular with the tax collectors. The tax collectors were rich but they were ostracized by the community. But it also says that many sinners were there as well. What does Mark mean when he calls them sinners?

This is how one commentator explained it, “The reference is not to immoral or irreligious persons but to those who because of the necessity of spending all their time earning a bare subsistence were not able to keep the law, especially the oral law, as the scribes thought they should. As a result the scribes despised them. Perhaps a better translation would be “outcasts” (GNB).[3]

These sinners were the poorest of the poor. They were so destitute that they spent all of their time working trying to scrape enough together to survive. As a result they weren’t able to follow the law in the way the scribes thought they should.

They weren’t able to follow the good advice the law prescribed to them. The good advice the law and the scribes gave to them was overwhelming. But then this guy named Jesus started proclaiming good news.

And it attracted them. You see these sinners knew they couldn’t measure up. They knew they couldn’t fulfill the law. They knew any advice given to them however good intended as it might be would just be another burden they couldn’t carry.

But then Jesus came proclaiming news. News of something that had been done for them. News of a burden that was light and a yoke that was kind.

And they fell in love with it and they followed him. Do you know what population groups saw the fastest growth of Christianity. Historians tells us that Christianity exploded in two specific population groups in early church history. Woman and slaves.

Why? because both woman and slaves were considered less than. They were second class citizens. They were destitute.

But the gospel of God that Jesus proclaimed was for the destitute. It was for the second class citizens. It was for the beat up and the broken. That’s who Jesus came to call.

But look where Jesus finds himself in these verses. He was reclining at the house of Matthew the tax collector.

In this society table fellowship was one of the most intimate expressions of friendship. It’s why the scribes and the pharisees were so confused. How could Jesus be friends with these outcasts. But I want you to notice something about how Jesus works.

Turn back a page to Mark 1:40–41 it says, “40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”

Jesus could have simply spoken and healed this man of leprosy instead Jesus made the conscious decision to touch the man. To reach out His hand and touch the man who probably hadn’t been touched in years. To touch the man who was covered in a horrifying sickness that was thought to be extremely contagious.

Make no mistake Jesus was making an intimate gesture towards the man. Jesus was showing this man love on an intimate level. Because Jesus wasn’t intimidated by the man’s sickness.

Then in these verses we see Jesus continue in his intimate love of sinners. He does what was considered to be in society one of the most intimate expressions of friendships and he sits down at Matthew’s table with him. Jesus loved Matthew on an intimate level. He was not intimated by Matthew’s sin and He was not intimated by being associated with sinners and tax collectors.

You see, and I want you to hear me right now, whatever darkness is inside of you, whatever wickedness you have committed, whatever pain you have caused, whatever still haunts you from the past, whatever fear you may have that you will never change, know this: your sin does not intimidate Jesus.

It is at the point when we feel the most disgusted with ourselves, the most fed up with ourselves, the most helpless and hopeless that we find Jesus the most tender and compassionate.

But this kind of intimate love for sinners infuriated the Pharisees because all love for sinners frustrates the self-righteous. But let’s cut the pharisees a little slack this evening.

Bad company corrupts good morals after all. The apostle Paul tells us that. Solomon tells us in Proverbs 13:20 “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Wasn’t Jesus being a companion with fools?

Furthermore listen to what Haggai 2:12–14 says,

12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’ ” The priests answered and said, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean.

What’s the point of this passage? If something clean touches something dirty the dirty thing does not become clean. The clean thing become dirty. This is obvious.

When Lena is sick and she sneezes in my face she is not healed I become sick.

The Pharisees assumed Jesus worked in this way. They assumed that someone who claimed to be God would need to separate himself from sinners and tax collectors in order to remain holy in order to remain clean.

They assumed the dirty person must first clean himself up by following the law before they could be around Jesus.

But God’s holiness does not work like that.

When Jesus touched the leper the leper was healed Jesus did not get sick.

When Jesus entered Matthew’s home Matthew was changed Jesus was not.

God’s holiness is not affected by your sin. This is why Jesus is not intimidated by your sin. This is why Jesus doesn’t shy away from you when you are at your lowest.

Some of you here tonight are afraid of opening yourself up to others or being honest with others because you don’t think they can handle who you really are. You don’t think people can handle the burden of your honesty so you hide.

Let me just tell you something tonight. Jesus can handle your honesty. There’s no burden too heavy for Jesus.

Go to him like the leper plead with him to heal you of your sin. He will. If only you’d go.

Now this leads us to what I think is the main verse of the passage.

Mark 2:17 says,

17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I love the way Jesus explains what he is doing in Matthew’s home. He makes it seem so obvious. Jesus is the great healer after all. He came to heal the spiritually sick to raise the spiritually dead. What good could he do for those who are already alive and well?

But of course it’s obvious that Jesus is being sarcastic here. Scripture tells us that no one is righteous that no one seeks after God. That all men are sinners.

Jesus is not literally calling the scribes righteous. He’s being ironic. He calling them self-righteous.

They think they are alive. They think they are spiritually healthy but in fact they are as dead as a door nail.

But this leads us to our second point tonight.

Whom did Jesus come to call?

Jesus came to call sinners.

So if Jesus calls sinners than admit you’re a sinner.

It’s really that simple. The Pharisee’s looked down on the tax collectors and sinners because they thought they were better than them. But look who is in the house with Jesus and who is outside? It’s the sinners who are having fellowship with Jesus the self-righteous are on the outside.

In the parable of the prodigal son who was left outside?

It wasn’t the prodigal son. The Father welcomed him back home. Even after all that the son had done. Even after all the ways he had sinned against the Father. The Father welcomed the prodigal son into the home.

It was the self-righteous older brother that remained outside the home. The older brother was angry that the Father would let this sinner of a younger brother come in.

Look what is says Luke 15:28–29 (ESV)

28 But he(the older brother) was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command,

That’s how the parable ends. The self-righteous older brother outside the home while the Father celebrates the return of the prodigal son inside the home.

The same is true in heaven. There won’t be a single self-righteous soul in heaven.

Because Jesus did not come to call the righteous but the sinner.

But I want you to notice something. Jesus would gladly save the pharisees. He took time out of his day to meet with Nicodemus a pharisee. The Father in the parable came out to plead with the self-righteous older brother to come into the home.

It’s not that Jesus doesn’t love the self-righteous or desire to see them saved. It’s that the self-righteous don’t see their need for saving. The self-righteous don’t want to come into the place filled with sinners. That’s why C.S. Lewis says hell Is locked from the inside.

Unless you are willing to admit your need for Jesus. Unless you are willing to admit you are hopeless without Jesus. Unless you come to Jesus for your healing than you too will be left outside of heaven. You too will lock yourself into hell.

Jesus calls sinners so admit you’re a sinner.

But maybe you are a Christian here tonight and you’ve already repented of your sins. How does this apply to you?

Well here’s what I’ve noticed. The average Christian goes through life starting by admitting they are a sinner and then spending the rest of their life acting like they aren’t

This reliance on God’s grace doesn’t end after salvation. The rest of your life as a Christian should be marked by a constant dependence on the grace of God. But we grow tired of needing God’s grace. We grow tired of admitting our failures.

But that is not the way of the Christian.

James 4:6 says,

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud (the self-righteoues) but gives grace to the humble.”

The Christian life is not one of exalting yourself but humbling yourself. When Jesus says that He is gentle and lowly in heart what he means by lowly is that he is accessible. That he has lowered himself to where we can access him. But here’s the problem in our self-righteousness we have tried to exalt ourself to a place where Jesus isn’t.

Jesus has lowered himself to the bottom. To the lowest of the lows. So if we want the grace that he provides it’s not by improving ourselves it’s by lowering ourselves in repentance of our sins and in dependance on his grace.

Those who are well have no need of a doctor. If you want God’s healing in your life than you have to continue to admit that you are sick. If that doesn’t sound like something you are interested in doing than Jesus isn’t for you.

Here’s something I’d like you to think about. Something to chew on for the rest of the week.

The reason many of you are so frustrated that you still struggle with that sin in your life. The reason why you so badly want to improve morally or become a better “Christian” whatever that means. Is not because you want to bring God glory with your life but rather because you are tired of relying on His grace.

You’d prefer to heal yourself so you don’t have to keep coming to Him for forgiveness. The reason you want to find victory over your sin is so you can have less of God not more. You’re tired of going to the great physician to be healed. You want to get better and stay better so you can stop going to the doctors office.

I’m not promoting continuing in sin so grace may abound. I just think we are confused by what spiritual maturity looks like.Spiritual maturity, I think, looks like the exact opposite of what physical maturity looks like.

For example my goal as a Father is to raise my girls in such a way that they no longer need me. They can grow up and move out of the house and live with zero dependence on me. I hope they still like me. I hope we still have a wonderful relationship. But at some point I want them to reach the stage in their life where they no longer need me.

I think some of us view spiritual maturity in the same way. We want to grow up because we are tired of needing God. We want to find victory over our sin because we are tired of needing God. Tired of needing his forgiveness. But in fact the more spiritually mature you are the more dependent on God you will be. The more you grow up spiritually the more needy for God’s grace you become.

I love the way Paul Tripp puts it in his devotional New Morning Mercies.

He says, “We don’t like to think of ourselves as still desperately in need of God’s rescuing grace. And we surely don’t want to face the fact that what we need to be rescued from is us! When you argue for your own righteousness, working hard to deny the empirical evidence of your sin, then you fail to seek the amazing grace that is your only hope.

Grace is only ever attractive to sinners.

The riches of God’s goodness are only ever sought by the poor.

The spiritual healing of the Great Physician is only ever esteemed by those who acknowledge that they still suffer from the spiritual disease of sin. Face the fact today that you’ll never outgrow your need for grace, no matter how much you learn and how much you mature. The way to celebrate God’s grace is by admitting you need it.”

Jesus calls sinners. Jesus only gives grace to the humble. If you want Jesus then humble yourself, admit you’re a sinner, and throw yourself on God’s grace.

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

We will never move on from needing God. We will never move on from needing His grace in our lives.

Jesus calls sinners

Jesus heals sinners

Jesus loves sinners

So admit you’re a sinner.

I still remember where I was when Pastor Phil preached on James 5:16 at Water and Work Week 15 plus years ago. The text says,  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

That was the moment I began to heal from my sins because that was the moment I began to admit my sin to others.

Talk to a full-timer tonight. Confess your sins. Let Jesus begin the healing process in your life.

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Let’s pray.