Kick It With My Sinners

Levi’s Story

We don’t know a ton about Levi before this story, before Jesus walked into his life and changed it so radically. I imagine that Levi grew up never feeling like he had enough. His family lived in a tough area of town and his father didn’t really consistently have work so they didn’t always know where the next meal was coming from. As he grew up, Levi always felt like the world owed him something more than what he had. What was worse, when his family went to the temple all of the Pharisees and the scribes and the rich people looked down on them. He always hated that, knowing that they thought they were better than him. And then they would tell him that they were poor because of things that his parents had done wrong. He hated it so much! They were so judgmental and condescending and self-righteous there, as soon as he could get away with it, he stopped going for the most part. He was tired of not having enough and he was sick of being looked down on.

And one day the Romans came calling. Now Levi didn’t love the Romans by any stretch of the imagination, but he didn’t hate them any more than he hated anyone else. They didn’t look down on him any more than the looked down on anyone else who wasn’t Roman. They were looking for someone to collect taxes for them. Levi thought about it. He didn’t owe those self-righteous jerks at the temple anything, the society he lived in had always treated him like garbage, and say what you will about them - Roman tax collectors were never poor. So he started collecting taxes for the Roman conquerors. At first it was small time, just taking care of a few people in a small area. But Levi started to make friends with other tax collectors, he made business connections, a buddy named Zacheus even helped him figure out exactly how much extra he could charge for himself before people really started to complain. He always brought in what the Romans needed and then some. He got promoted a few times until he was the tax collector in charge of the tax office near the Sea of Galilee. Sure, all his neighbors hated him, but he had his friends and he definitely wasn’t poor anymore.

Then one day, some famous preacher walked by his office. Levi had heard of this guy, this guy had the audacity to tell the Pharisees off. Just the other day, he had told someone his sins were forgiven and, the way Levi heard it, when the Pharisees had pitched a fit had this paralyzed guy get up and walk out of the house. Levi could appreciate anyone who stuck it to those self-righteous jerks. So this guy walks by and turns to him and says “follow me.” Maybe it was respect for his audacity that got Levi out of his chair that day, maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was the smallest bit of home that this teacher would be different. Maybe Levi heard about the forgiveness this guy Jesus was giving out and thought maybe, just maybe, this guy has what I need.

And Levi spent the afternoon with Jesus, he was shocked. This guy, this incredible teacher who could stand toe-to-toe with the Pharisees, didn’t care that he worked for the Romans, didn’t care that he grew up poor, didn’t care what he had done. This guy genuinely cared about him, this guy told him that he was forgiven. He had to hear more, so he invited Jesus over to his house for dinner and he invited some of his tax collector friends, some of the shady people that had helped him get to where he was. And Jesus was willing to come, he sat down and he was hanging out with these sinners, these people that most other people hated. And when someone tried to call him out and fault him for eating with tax collectors and sinners, he said something really weird, he said “those who are well have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Our Takeaway

I mean, what a radical story! Jesus knows that the people He’s sitting with are broken, He knows their lives are a mess, He knows they’re bad people. He knows and He sits with them anyway! He wants the whole world to know that He still cares about them, that He still wants to connect with them. And when He’s questioned about it, He doesn’t try and back out, He doesn’t say “I didn’t know they were that bad, never mind,” He doesn’t try and pretend they aren’t sinners or they aren’t broken. He just says, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” He says, “healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do.” He says, “I sit with these people because they need my forgiveness and because I want to forgive them, because I want to love them.”

Invited Into The Story

And maybe you identify with Levi. Maybe your story sounds something like that. You grew up and church was always filled with stuffy people who flipped out if you didn’t look the right way or talk the right way. You felt like you couldn’t ask questions, and you definitely couldn’t bring your friends to church. So many of the people there could be self-righteous and condescending and judgmental.

As you grew up, you learned to play along, talk the right way, look the right way. But church doesn’t seem like you can be real there, the chaos of your life has to stop at the door, we’re all sinners but we would never admit that we’re struggling with an sort of specific sin. And a few Sundays a month, your friend reaches out and invites you to coffee on Sunday morning or for a family hike. And they’re not perfect either, so when you get together you can be real with each other. You can be honest about your life.

But that’s not what church is supposed to be, and to your credit, that’s not what I’ve seen at Edgewater. God came for sinners, church is here for sinners. Maybe the rest of the world thinks “that person is terrible, they can’t possibly be welcome in a church” or “that person doesn’t have their life together, what are they doing there.” But here, with these people, we know that God came for us while we were still broken, messy, chaotic, sinners.

Your clothes aren’t washed? So what? Come spend time with Jesus.

Your hair is a mess? So what? Come spend time with Jesus.

Your kids won’t sit still or be quiet? So what? Come spend time with Jesus.

You can’t shake that pet sin? So what? Come spend time with Jesus.

Your marriage is on shaky ground? So what? Come spend time with Jesus.

Your a jerk to all the people around you? So what? Come spend time with Jesus.

Your relationship with your kid or your parent sucks? So what? Come spend time with Jesus.

Jesus came for us, came for you - no matter what state you are in, no matter what chaos your life is in. And He calls His church, He calls us to be the same. We should never say “why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” No, we are sitting at the table, broken sinners ourselves, and when another sinner joins us - just pass them some food.

SEAN: I don’t know whether or not I should (or if there’s a place) to add something to the effect of Jesus doesn’t just leave us where He finds us. Like a doctor doesn’t spend time with a sick person without helping their condition.