Jesus Invites You

I mean, right?? Here recently in my life, Mal & I are in a season where we’ve recieved several wedding save the dates & invitations that follow. It’s exciting. Most of them have already happened (Everyone’s happily married, btw).

After the wedding weekend, the couple is married and everyone moves on. While that is true, the invitation sill remains on the kitchen counter, refrigerator. Because it hasn’t moved or flopped off the refrigerator, I go back to it from time to time. When I do, I revisit the joy I had when I first opened it. And I was so happy the couple thought of us to share their day with. You know..part of it is because of the thought of being thought of or chosen by them. They invited me. Good stuff.

I share that illustration with you, because as we dive into our passage this morning, we see Jesus extend an invitation. This invitation will show us this truth:

TRUTH: THE LOVE OF JESUS IN YOUR LIFE CHANGES THINGS.

BOOK

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.”

I. Jesus Extends the Invitation

Mark 2:13–14 ESV

Q- Who was Matthew?

Levi (Matthew) - tax collector - culturally and religiously unrighteous.

Tax collectors were traitors to Jews by over taxing God’s people as employees of Rome. Tax collectors would lie and up the price of taxes to pocket the extra - Lying for personal gain.

In the eyes of the Jews, tax collectors were sinners.

What’s interesting about this scene is we see Levi at the tax booth and Jesus passed by. Jesus stopped and looked at him. Jesus extended the invitation to be embraced by Him.

If you are here today or watching online, you must understand something crucially important about your life : JESUS SEES YOU. He sees all of you.

Q - What did Levi do? He rose up and followed Jesus.

But! Here we have a situation. At this point in the story, this is the last person Jesus was expected to embrace and associate himself with, according to the religious leaders. Why? Levi fell short - tax collector, greedy, cheat, liar, a sinner.

But...Can you imagine the moment, the moment Levi saw Jesus stop and look at him?

When Jesus extended the invitation for Levi to follow him, it did not come without the love of God displayed in Christ. Levi saw the love of God as He looked at Christ on that day when everything changed.

But…the religious leaders did not think Levi deserved it.

TRUTH: THE LOVE OF JESUS IN OUR LIFE CHANGES THINGS.

II. We Do Not Deserve the Invitation

Mark 2:15–17 ESV

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.”

Different Types of People in Mark 2

Tax collectors & Sinners

Those who don’t do the right things according to God.

Those who do not measure up.

Self-righteous

Those who do the right things according to God.

Those who do measure up.

The Pharisees were confused. Jesus had just claimed to have the authority to forgiven sin and heal. Now, he invites sinners to associate with Him!?

Jesus explained to the religious leaders scanning the situation that His relationship with Levi and other “sinners” was based on grace: His grace. They were upset because Jesus was functioning with the wrong scale. To the religious leaders, the scale was backwards - Religion then relationship, right? In their eyes, that’s how God’s favor was measured.

With the calling of Levi, Jesus flipped the scales and declared: Relationship then religion. In other words - our relationship with Jesus fuels what we do.

Mark 2:15 ESV

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.

After Levi accepts the invite to follow Jesus, Levi hosts a banquet get together at his house with Jesus as the honored guest. Not only that, but others made the decision to follow Jesus after Levi did and they were present. Levi threw a party because his new reality as a follower of Christ.

Mark 2:16 ESV

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?”

Q - Why does He eat with sinners? “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

They didn’t know the whole story. They assumed that Jesus associated himself with sinners. Jesus was the honored guest at the home of someone who had been transformed by the love of Jesus. Levi wanted to everyone to know that he was not the same after encountering Jesus! The religious leaders did not know that Jesus was spending time with someone who had repented from his previous lifestyle as a cheat, liar, and fraud to pursue a new one after Jesus.

TRUTH: THE LOVE OF JESUS IN OUR LIFE CHANGES THINGS.

III. THE LOVE OF JESUS TRANSFORMS

I think of the biggest hurdles to climb over in the Christian life is accepting what it means to be a Christian; what it means to be a Christ follower. Levi followed AFTER Jesus extended the invitation. Levi sat/reclined with Jesus AFTER Jesus extended the invitation.

The things we do for Jesus is an overflow of our relationship with Jesus.

Rewind to the tax booth where Levi was. When Jesus stopped and called Levi, Levi knew the magnitude of it - all of who he was was seen. He was aware of who he was and what others thought of him. Part of me thinks that he already accepted his label. Then on the day, the day when Jesus stopped and zoned in on Levi, the love of Christ transformed Levi’s life.

The good news of the gospel is this: YOU CAN COME JUST AS YOU ARE. WHEN YOU DO, YOU WILL FIND THE LOVE OF JESUS. THIS LOVE DOES NOT LEAVE YOU AS YOU ARE, BUT TRANSFORMS. THE LOVE OF JESUS TRANSFORMS.

I think this is where the religious leaders were tripped up. All their life they were taught to be holy on their own accord by uploading the law of God. BUT, they were so immersed in the religiousness that they did not see the compassion of God in the person of Christ right in front of them. If they saw Him, they would have realized their depravity, just like Levi did.

Mark 2:17 ESV

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.”

Q - Who did Jesus come for? A - those who are sick.

Isaiah 57:15–17 ESV

15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. 16 For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. 17 Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.

Matthew 5:3 ESV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Be “poor in spirit? What? No! We must be rich in spirit and have it all together before the eyes of God.” The Pharisees did not know they were sick. Levi did. Those that followed Jesus in Levi’s circle did. Some of us might be here today in desperate need of Jesus’ love because we finally see our depravity. Some of us might be here today in desperate need of Jesus’ love to break down the walls of self-righteousness/performance so that you can finally see the love of Christ in your own life and how His love fuels everything else.

It’s through the invitation where we experience Jesus. It was through the invitation from Jesus to Levi where Levi saw grace. It was through the invitation from Jesus to Levi where Levi saw truth. This moment changed things for Levi. I believe gospel truths like these need to be rediscovered in our day.

Self-righteous people in the room? If we’re honest, we’ve all been there. When I do things for God, I feel good about our relationship. But sometimes we can get caught up in doing things Christians do that we miss Jesus.

Here’s where the plane lands this morning:

>> Levi knew he was sick and in need of a remedy.

>> Religious leaders did not know they were sick.

The difference between the two? Levi accepted the invitation and the love of Jesus changed everything for him. So much so that he invited Jesus into his world.

LOOK

This passage perfectly displays one phrase that we must all get: the love of Christ. This love from Christ is for two people:

Sinners - those that think they don’t deserve love

Self righteous - those who think that they do

Both parties fall short and are in desperate need.

Some of us need to revisit the initial invitation.

Illustration: wedding invitation

When we do, we will remember that day when we recieved the invitation from Jesus. When Jesus stopped, looked at you, and invited you to follow Him.

Levi reclined with Jesus at his house, not because of what Levi had done, but all because of what Jesus had done for Levi. And as a result - Levi was obsessed with Jesus.

TRUTH: THE LOVE OF JESUS IN YOUR LIFE CHANGES THINGS.

INVITATION/RESPONSE

ACCEPT THE INVITATION

GO BACK TO THE INVITATION

WORSHIP JESUS

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