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Big Idea: Jesus meets + calls sinners to discipleship [=mission + repentance]

Jesus transforms sinners into disciples

Jesus calls sinners to discipleship

Jesus

Big Idea: Jesus meets + calls sinners to discipleship [=mission + repentance]

Intro

Big Applications:

(1 non-C) we're all sick + need Jesus

(2 Christian) Jesus calls us to repentance [leaving, turning]

(2 Christian) Jesus calls us to repentance

(3 Christian) Jesus call us to join his mission

(3 Christian) Jesus' mission means mixing with the sick (like us)

(3a Christian) Jesus' mission means mixing with the sick (like us)

Outline

0:00 Introduce me

If I asked you to think of moments that changed your life forever, I wonder what you’d come up with? Go on - have a think just now. What moments are you conscious of that have changed your life forever? PAUSE

For me, I think having kids is one. So we started with twins. “Double the blessing,” as one of our friends who already had kids told us - with a slightly terrified face.

For those of you who don’t yet have kids, those of you who are kids, there’s not really any point in me trying to get over to you just how massively it changes your life. I think God has put a sort of total information barrier in place so it’s actually impossible for you to grasp this. To ensure the survival of the human race. Because if you could actually get your heads around how much having kids will mess up your life you’d probably not bother!

1:15 America; big time off; Road trip plans; R parents’ response.

Sometimes just a moment can change your whole life.

Context

2:30 Working our way through Luke’s telling of the life of Jesus, Luke’s gospel.

leper cleansed + restored; paralytic surprised + forgiven

Jesus is on a mission to restore, to save - what does today’s story add?

Words up on screen; in these blue bibles page xxxxx; ch 5 v 27; chapters are the big numbers.

4:00 READING:

5:00 Jesus doesn’t just save + wave (“go home” v24), leaving us to get on with our own life “now all that spiritual stuff is sorted”; Jesus saves + calls - like he does to Levi here (v27b “follow me”) - and it’s a call that will change our whole life.

But what is this call to?

Call to what?

5:45 a new way of life

Consider Levi’s first move: v28b he “left everything” (begins the phrase in the original language). Now, to keep us from taking this too literally, notice Levi still has a house in v29. So what does it mean? Well, right then and there, he walked off the job - that much is clear. We’re invited to picture him getting up from his little tax booth, I can’t help but imagine he’s a little plump. He adjusts his robes, and to the astonishment of everyone around him, he just walks away from it, following after Jesus. And as far as we know, he never went back.

But before you think I’m suggesting a Christianity totally incompatible with real life, it’s not the case that when Jesus calls to each one of us “follow me”, he means for all of us to walk off of our jobs. The apostle Paul, one of Jesus’ first followers is completely clear about that in his letter to the Thessalonian church. We’re to work so we can provide for ourselves and have something to share with those in need.

The reason Levi walks away from his job isn’t because real followers of Jesus don’t do jobs - he’s not a literal pattern for us in that way. He walks away from his job because Jesus has called him to follow Jesus into a totally new way of life - one radically different from the way he’s lived up to now. And that, that’s a picture for us. “Leaving everything” is being ready to enter into a radically different way of life — no matter what the cost.

So what is this new way of life? What can we learn about that here?

not stuff (see v29) but way of life

tax collectors notorious for wrong conduct?

7:15 a new purpose for life

Next step: throw a huge party for Jesus (v29 “he held a great banquet”). emphatic language - the only one that takes place in the NT outside of a story. What’s that got to do with following Jesus? Following Jesus and sharing the good news about him are inexorably connected. If you’re following Jesus, you’re following him in what he’s up to - and like he told us a few pages back, what he’s up to is announcing the good news of the Kingdom of God, that it’s coming, and it’s coming in Jesus himself. So if you’re following Jesus, you’re sharing Jesus.

I want to show you three things about

This party’s all about sharing Jesus - and if you’re following Jesus and you want to share Jesus, let me quickly show you three things it teaches about how we can be a part of doing that:

Sharing Jesus by investing his resources (v29 “a great banquet at his house”)

8:00 This is a big party, right? A huge one. And just like the language for the party is emphatic, so’s the language for the guest list. A “large crowd” are going to be there. This isn’t a quiet night in for two - or even twelve. This sounds more like a hundred people. If you’ve had the chance to show hospitality to others in any significant number you’ll start to have a sense for the work involved here!

This isn’t the sort of thing you could just pull together at a moment’s notice - or even overnight - particularly back then. It must have taken some serious preparation. It must have taken a bunch of time and thought from Levi to pull it off.

And you know what, it must have had some pretty serious costs, too. The words used for the feast make it sound like it’s going to be pretty fancy - not just a TV dinner. But it’s not just the food, it’s the drink too. And getting all the invites out. And finding enough tables and plates and cups and people to cook and to serve… and a million other things.

Levi shows sharing Jesus is something which is going to demand some of our resources; our money, yes, but also our time, our energy, our creativity - perhaps even a lot of our resources. Levi is footing a pretty serious bill for this party - and he seems to be delighted to do that as a part of following his new master, as a part of sharing Jesus and his good news with others.

So, first thing Levi teaches us about sharing Jesus is that it’s something to invest our resources in.

And it’s right for us to stop and examine ourselves as we see these things: Let me ask you: what’s the most you’ve ever thrown into planning and running an event for others? Much more to the point if you’re following Jesus: what’s the most you’ve ever thrown into trying help other people meet him? Don’t just think money; think time, energy, creativity - all of your resources, whether they’re many or few; whether you’re young or old. All of us have resoureces. All of us have opportunities. Levi’s setting a high bar here.

So first thing, Levi teaches us about sharing Jesus is that it’s something to invest our resources in.

PAUSE

Sharing Jesus by connecting his friends (v29 “a large crowd of tax collectors and others”)

10:00 What’s the second thing to learn about sharing Jesus here? Levi sets out to share Jesus by connecting with his friends.

Remember we started with those moments which change your whole life? Well Levi has had one of those moments as Jesus calls him to “follow me”. It’s going to change his whole life - and we saw this begin suddenly in v28 when Levi “left everything” -- meaning leaving behind his old way of life.

Now Levi was a tax collector. Don’t know quite what you think of tax collectors today? Probably depends somewhat on your political tribe: More Robin Hood? Or more parking warden? Back then there really wasn’t much disagreement: tax collection was a thoroughly disreputable profession; Roman and Greek literature puts it in lists alongside beggars, thieves and robbers; Jews put tax collectors in the same category as murderers! It truly was a despised trade.

You might imagine if you’d been involved in a disreputable profession and you’d suddenly seen the light and walked away from it, that it would make most sense to cut as many ties as possible as quick as possible with your old world. To get out and stay out, right? But even as Levi leaves his whole way of life behind, he doesn’t leave his friends. He doesn’t forget them. Quite the opposite, in fact: he pursues them.

You see, even as he leaves his whole way of life behind, doesn’t leave his friends. He doesn’t forget them. Quite the opposite, in fact: he pursues them - because he wants them to meet his new friend, Jesus.

Why? Because he wants them to meet his new friend, Jesus. I think Levi really loved his friends, really cared about them. And I think we see that love and care played out in the way he was willing to spend his resources, spend his reputation, in inviting his old friends to come, meet Jesus.

Now, here’s another thing leaving everything certainly doesn’t mean: leaving your friends. Levi, even as he leaves his whole way of life behind, doesn’t leave his friends. He doesn’t forget them. Quite the opposite, in fact: he pursues them - because he wants them to meet his new friend, Jesus.

If you’re trying to follow Jesus, trying to share him, I think one of the most challenging groups to share him with is right where Levi starts: our friends. The relationships are precious to us, often built up over years or through facing difficult challenges together. The cost, the potential cost, of reaching out to them and being rejected, seeing them turn away just feels so large.

And so often that’s where we stop: just counting the cost. Perhaps even quietly letting those relationships wither, thinking that’s the right way to “leave everything” as we join a new family. But we should look at Levi and be challenged instead to try and connect our friends with Jesus - even if it means reconnecting with them.

Is there a friend, someone God is putting on your heart right now? Take a moment to think. PAUSE. If there’s someone, make a note, make a plan, and do something! So often we’re thinking there’ll be another opportunity, another time, a more obvious moment, a more wide open conversational door. But Levi just got on with it. Get on with it!

So often we’re thinking there’ll be another opportunity, another time, a more obvious moment, a more wide open conversational door. But

So, sharing Jesus through investing our resources; sharing Jesus through connecting our friends.

(not leaving them behind even as he leaves his old way of life behind)?

Sharing Jesus by working in a team (v29 “with them”)

13:00 Final thing to learn about sharing Jesus? Levi is working in a team. Let me show you that.

Who’s at this party from Levi’s team? Well, v29 for starters tells us there’s Levi and Jesus. And that is an absolute essential if anyone is thinking about reaching out with Jesus, reaching out for Jesus. Jesus himself makes it pretty plain: “apart from me you can do nothing,” he’ll tell the disciples over in John’s gospel and of course he’s right. But Jesus isn’t with us physically in the same way any more; he’s ascended to the Father. So, handy though it would be to introduce our friends to Jesus through sharing a meal with him, that’s not on the cards just now.

But I wanted to show you something else. Take a look with me at what these grumbling Pharisees and teachers of the law have to say: Notice in v30 they’re busy complaining to disciples about the sort of company they keep: “why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Now Jesus is right there, and in fact he’s the one who answers - but the Pharisee’s question is not just directed at him, it’s pointed to all of the disciples. And in the original language the you that’s eating and drinking is plural; “why do y’all eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Let me show you that. Who’s at this party? Who’s on Levi’s team? Well, there’s Levi and Jesus. And that is an absolute essential if anyone it thinking about reaching out with Jesus, reaching out for Jesus. Jesus himself makes it pretty plain: “apart from me you can do nothing,” he’ll tell the disciples in .

for us as we think and all these tax collectors and others. Anybody else? As it turns out, yes.

What’s my point? All the disciples are there with Levi, at the party. Levi is wanting to introduce his friends to Jesus - but he doesn’t have to do that alone. He won’t have to do all the talking or listening or asking or answering. All the disciples are there with him, wanting his friends to meet Jesus too. Able to bring their own perspective and insights and backgrounds and personalities into play.

Take a look with me at what these grumbling Pharisees and teachers of the law have to say - I want to show you something we can see from what they’re miffed about. In v30 it sounds like they’re busy complaining to disciples about the sort of company Jesus keeps: “why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners” - but actually it’s not just Jesus; notice

So, my final thing for us to learn from Levi: sharing Jesus is something we can pursue as a team. If you’re a Christian here today have you ever had that wonderful moment where you’re floundering and someone else picks up the ball? [expand] That’s the joy of working as a team as we hope to share Jesus with others.

15:00 investing our resource; connecting our friends; working in a team

Why does Jesus call?

The sick need a doctor (v31)

We need a doctor

It’s not just going to get better by itself

It’s not just going to get better by itself

Amazingly, he’s not afraid to come near

(and neither should we be)?

He’s restoring the world (v32 “call … to repentance”)

Turning things back to the way they were meant to be

One person at a time