Jesus: A Friend Of Sinners

Main Idea:

Jesus is a friend of sinners who invites all who are spiritually sick and desperate to find life in him.

Introduction:

I don’t think it’d surprise us this morning to hear that we live in a very divided culture. No longer are our divisions just over the fact that you may be republican or democrat, liberal or conservative. We’re now divided on just about every social issue from race, to gender, to climate change, to capitalism, to faith and belief, and right to life. It’s the 1% vs. the 99%. It’s rural vs. urban. Rich vs. the poor, the haves vs. the have nots.

As one news paper wrote a few years ago, “The American melting pot seems to be boiling over.”

Now, this isn’t a sermon on addressing cultural issues or making political statements. What I want to do though is address the obvious. We live in a very divided culture where now if you disagree with someone they are automatically seen as an enemy that needs to be mocked, belittled, put down and destroyed rather than a friend, a fellow human being to have a conversation with and this mindset has not necessarily escaped the culture of the church.

If we’re honest with ourselves we’d rather just spend our time with other people who look like us, think like us, dress like us, and act like us. Interacting with people who think differently, look differently, believe differently tends to make us uncomfortable, and I’ll admit to that. And it may not be that we necessarily see them as our enemy, but I know in my heart I’m often not driven to really get to know them either or pursue them. I’m fine sticking within my own tribe where we speak a common language, share similar interests and beliefs and understand one another. It’s comfortable there. It’s safe.

But if we are true followers of Jesus then we need to take a deep look into the life of Christ and then examine our own lives to see if we are truly following in his footsteps.

Remember that a true Christian isn’t just someone who believes the right things, the right doctrines: that’s certainly important and absolutely foundational, what we believe matters but if those beliefs don’t change us, if they don’t transform us then all we’ve gained is more information or knowledge without transformation.

Jesus here in verse 14 says to Levi, “follow me.” He doesn’t tell Levi “understand facts about me.” He says, “Follow me.” “Go where I go, do what I do, say what I say, love how I love.”

Jesus was the only person to live on this earth who was truly sinless and yet, who did he spend his time with? Where was he often found? With sinners, with the spiritually sick, with the morally detestable people of that day. Jesus truly was a friend of sinners. Could that be said of you, of me? Are you following Jesus in this way? Do you spend time with people who do not know Jesus, whose lives may be offensive to you or make you uncomfortable? Who maybe don’t fit within our circle of friends or whose lives are maybe even scandalous in how they live?

John MacArthur has referred to this section of Mark’s gospel as “the scandal of grace.” Why? Because Jesus shouldn’t be spending time with the morally bankrupt people of his day, he needs to be in church, at Bible study, he needs to be around people who look like him, act like him. That’s typically our heart’s first reaction.

This passage when read can bring about conviction in our hearts because to be honest, most Christians really don’t spend much time with people who don’t know Jesus.

Though our modern culture for sure has made sharing Jesus more difficult, still most people in the world today are open to having conversations about faith and belief.

Dave Early in his book, “Evangelism is...” makes a pretty shocking statement. He says,

“While the culture of modern society can discourage Christians from sharing their faith, it is often the church culture that inflicts the most harm. The church’s preoccupation with maintaining the status quo and making sure members are happy is contrary to the Great Commission of Christ to ‘go’ and ‘be my witnesses.’ Therefore, without a mammoth change in the culture of the contemporary church that prioritizes [following Jesus], Christ-centered discipleship, and biblical truth over personal comfort and individual preferences, the Church will continue to decline, and Christianity will lose its influence and identity.”

Now, we may not like to hear those words, but we can’t escape their truthfulness. The church is losing its influence and identity in the culture today.

We need to look to the life of Christ, learn from him and what it means to truly follow him, and ask ourselves, “Am I truly loving and serving sinners as Jesus did?”

So, let’s look at two things from the text that characterize Jesus’ engagement with the lost and hurting in the world. How do we see him as a friend of sinners?

Number one.

Jesus calls the morally detestable to follow him.

In verses 13-14, we see Jesus call Levi, a tax collector to follow him. Levi, was also known as Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples.

Now, what’s remarkable about this encounter is Jesus calls someone to follow him, to fellowship with him who is absolutely despised by the Jewish people. Now, why is that. Well he was a tax collector.

For many of us, that’s enough. “Yep, get that, I now understand why he wasn’t liked.” But this is deeper than just our dislike of having to pay taxes, or thinking taxes are unfair or too high. Levi was a thief. He would have been labeled by the Jewish people as a traitor and abuser.

Tax collectors served Rome which to the Jewish people, Rome was this oppressive, occupying force that had taken over. Rome would set an amount for a tax over the people and then contract the work out to tax collectors to collect the money. However, tax collectors made their money, not by being paid by Rome but by overcharging the people, because the people wouldn’t know what the actual tax was. They just had to pay whatever the tax collector demanded. Tax collectors would then keep the excess for themselves which made them very rich. And Rome did nothing about this abuse.

So, any tax collector was hated, but a Jewish tax collector was removed from the Jewish community. If you were a Jew, you were to have no interaction with tax collectors whatsover.

That’s what makes this scene so remarkable. Jesus, not only engages with Levi, but purposefully makes his way over to him and calls on him to leave what he is doing behind and follow him. Two weeks ago we saw Jesus break down social barriers and customs by healing a leper and touching him, which was not allowed. Now, he’s tearing down social customs again by calling the most despised person in town to follow him.

Why would Levi leave everything behind to follow Jesus? His wealth, his possessions, his career which gave him his riches? Why would Jesus call a despised and detestable tax collector to follow him? Because Levi saw in Jesus a greater treasure to be found. A treasure which outlasts this world. And Jesus saw in Levi, a sinner who needed to be redeemed. Jesus saw who Levi would become through his grace. A disciple, an apostle, a gospel writer. Jesus didn’t fixate on who Levi was, he saw who he would become. That’s the scandal of grace.

This is what Jesus does in our lives. He sees who we’ll become because of his life, his power, his death, his resurrection; all of which restores us back to life as God intended. He saves and redeems us. And it’s because he is a friend of sinners.

Gospel proclamation.

Notice secondly what happens in the story. How else do we see Jesus as a friend of sinners?

Jesus calls the social outcasts to fellowship with him.

Look at verse 15.

Mark 2:15, “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.”

Jesus is in Levi’s house now having a dinner party and a good time.

Here’s what’s happening. Levi has just come to faith. He’s found the greatest treasure there is, Jesus and now he’s invited Jesus into his home and has brought all of his friends, who just happen to be fellow tax collectors and other morally detestable people to meet him.

Notice how Jesus never once stands at a distance and says, you know what, I probably shouldn’t be seen associating with them. I don’t want other people to get the wrong impression. I don’t want it to come across like I’m supportive of their actions.

No, Jesus walks right into his home and has dinner with the morally bankrupt people of that town. You see, these were people who were hurting and knew they needed God’s grace and forgiveness.

Notice how Mark said in verse 15 that many of theses “tax collectors and sinners” were following Jesus. I don’t think he’s saying that they were believers in Jesus at that point and following him, but rather they were hurting, they were broken, and they were looking for healing for their souls. And so, wherever Jesus was, that’s where they were.

Let me ask you this.

The pastors were asking this question to ourselves this past week as we were talking through this passage. Where would we find the hurting and broken in Bloomington/Normal?

Should they not be found within the church? If we are truly followers of Jesus, reflecting his compassion, his grace, his love, his warmth and friendliness toward the broken and hurting, should not our homes be filled with sinners in need of grace, just as we were once broken sinners who received God’s grace?

I think one of the areas we need to guard against, an area I really need to guard against is creating in my life a sort of Christian commune. Here’s what I mean. I think all of us can quickly fall into this pattern of life where we only interact and deeply engage with other Christians. Those who think and believe just like us.

Now, I believe relationships in our lives should look somewhat like concentric circles. Within that closest ring, it’s your relationship with Jesus. From there, if you’re married, your next deepest relationship is with your family (husbands, wives, children). From there, it’s your church family. These are brothers and sisters in Christ that we are engaging with, growing in grace with.

But oftentimes, that’s where it ends. But we see with Jesus an engagement with the lost and hurting in the world. He was in their homes. He was invited there. When was the last time you were invited by an unbeliever into their home? When was the last time you invited an unbeliever into yours?

Where should we find the hurting and the broken in our city? Should they not be found within the church community as we reflect the grace and love of Christ?

Do we see those we disagree with as enemies to be defeated or souls to be redeemed?

Jesus called the spiritually sick to find healing in him.

Verse 17.

Mark 2:17, “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’ve often used the term “hospital” to describe the nature of the church. This is the text that I draw that from.

Let’s say, and God forbid, that a building collapsed here in Bloomington/Normal. We know there’s lots of injuries, lots of pain, lots of hurting people. Where would we find all those people? The hospital, the ER. They’d be rushed there. Families would head there without a second thought. And it’s because, that’s where the physically hurting people go. The hospital has its clear purpose.

Well, what about the spiritually sick? What about the spiritually broken? Why aren’t they being found within the church, within our homes? I’m going to say this. The church is not growing in Bloomington/Normal. The church is not growing in America. In the era of the mega church, the church is shrinking.

We’ve gotten good at just swapping members between different churches but not calling the broken and sinful to new life in Christ. And so, I have to ask, has the church forgotten its purpose?

Jesus said, “follow me.” Jesus said, “Go make disciples.” And I think over the years the church has slipped into complacency, focusing more internally on making life comfortable for those within rather than living sacrificially, dying to themselves and their needs and pursuing the lost and the hurting.

Church, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life settling for comfort and ease. I want us all to live on mission, to sacrifice, to care for and love the lost and hurting, to invite them into the white-hot enjoyment of knowing Jesus!

And the only way the world will see that Jesus is better is if the church is showing it with their lives. He’s better than comfort, he’s better than riches, he’s better than career, he’s better than life itself.

And so I want to push us to engage with the hurting and lost around us and those in need of grace.

Gospel Conversations Initiative.