Friends in Low Places
Notes
Transcript
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 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?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Introduction
Introduction
In our last account, Jesus forgave the sins of the lame man. Now he is going to focus again on sinners.
You are a Sinner
You are a Sinner
Opposition to sin
Shouldn’t we focus on the positive?
Calling someone a sinner seems so judgmental
How dare you tell me what’s right and wrong for me?
Sickness as a replacement for sin
What is sin?
Acts and attitudes opposed to God’s requirements.
We are sinners by choice, but we are also sinners by nature
3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
The Bad News About Being a Sinner
The Bad News About Being a Sinner
It means there is something deeply wrong with you
“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
Sin radically corrupts you to your very core
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Sin makes you less than what you were made to be
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The result of your sin is God’s judgment
Our passage today presents Jesus dealing with sinners like you and me. Jesus makes two invitations to sinners
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 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?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus Invites Sinners to Discipleship
Jesus Invites Sinners to Discipleship
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Tax-collector
Defining Discipleship
Defining Discipleship
Following Jesus
Here
Simon Peter at the beginning of the chapter
Leaving other loyalties
Here
Simon peter at the beginning of the chapter
Father, Mother, and Life
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Being with Jesus
14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach
Learning from Jesus
29 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.
The Make-up of a Disciple
The Make-up of a Disciple
A disciple of Jesus doesn’t have it all together, they just leave their mess behind and follow him.
Disciples aren’t perfect even when they follow
Peter denies Christ
Peter compromises with the Judaizers
But a disciple keeps on following
Jesus Invites Sinners to Repentance
Jesus Invites Sinners to Repentance
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 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?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus comes to sinners and calls them to be disciples, but he doesn’t expect them to stay in their sin
Story
Story
Jesus eats with the sinner Levi’s sinner friends.
The sinners is undefined but these are characters whose sin is scandalous enough to be their primary identifier.
We are in the midst of several conflict passages, we will focus on this aspect next time we are in Luke
Jesus confirms that he is coming to sinners, but he has a purpose in coming to sinners
Purpose: To Call Sinners to Repentance
Purpose: To Call Sinners to Repentance
Jesus clarifies his message with an illustration
Sick people need doctors not well people
START: 30-2-Can Do
In the same way as a doctor helping sick people Jesus came to (for the purpose of) call sinners to repentance
This is at the heart of his mission – “he came to call sinners to repentance”
The irony of this story is that the pharisees are sinners too, they are just too proud to realize it
Sin won’t stop you from coming to Jesus, but it does stop you from walking with Jesus.
The call to discipleship is a call to leave behind your sin.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Good News About Being a Sinner
The Good News About Being a Sinner
Sin has a solution
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
