Seeing the Beauty of Jesus in Everyone

Introduction (5m)

The problem of #thedress

2015 - went viral. White and gold/black and blue? TSA in S. Africa picked up on it and produced this advert to highlight domestic abuse. So what colour? What do you want to say to those who say different? We prefer people to see the world as we do, and get frustrated when we don’t. The way I see things is “right”, which means if you don’t see it that way, you’re “wrong”.

We are self-centred

Have you ever walked in somewhere - at home/here - and just got on without saying hello to whoever else is there? Have you ever talked about your boss or someone in authority as if they are subhuman? Do you treat some people as if they are not in charge of their own freedom to make choices? Do you simply expect them to see you are right? Do you feel threatened when someone disagrees with you?

Like me, you might be both a crack pot and a Pharisee!

See them in action in today’s passage.

Explanation (5m)

Tax collectors were hated

Levi - tax collector, like today’s “loan sharks”. 2 categories of tax: Stated tax: 1. Poll tax - men 14-65, women 12-65 paid simply for being alive. 2. Ground tax - 1/10 grain, 1/5 wine and oil produced. 3. Income tax - 1pc of all income. Not much room for extortion. But other duties open to abuse: - Taxes for using roads, docking in harbours. - Sales tax on certain items. - Import/export duties. - Cart tax - in fact, each wheel was taxed! Tax collectors could stop anyone on road, make them unpack bundles and charge just about what they liked. If could not pay, TC might offer loan at exorbitant rates. Levi also collaborator - usually worked for hated Romans or equally hated Herod. Usually, greedy, dishonest, immoral. Ceremonially unclean, because mixed with non-Jewish people. TC easily most hated people in Jewish society.

Jesus saw the beauty of a tax collector

So Jesus’s dealing with Levi is so remarkable. Lowest of low. J doesn’t shout / swear / grumble. He does something unexpected. Instead of rejecting him, he sees his beauty and invites him to follow me. Wow! That’s grace! A tax collector. The most despised class of people in society. The lowest of the low. A sinner if ever there was one. But for the first time in ages, L is treated as a human being rather than a piece of dirt. Jesus wants him as his disciple. Jesus chooses to go and eat with him.

The religious leaders did not get this

Religious leaders just don’t get it. All they see his they are right and L is obviously wrong. And J is wrong for socialising with him and his kind. They simply do not see the world as the Pharisees do. It is clear. L is sick. And J is sick for wanting to spend time with them.

Jesus didn't judge he loved

But J reply goes right to the heart of the matter: Mark 2:17

Mark 2:17 NLT

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

J does more than heal L. He loves him. He befriends him. He spends quality time with him. He listens to him. He pays attention to him.

Application (5m)

Be prayerfully present to people

Be his hands and his feet to this family of God’s people and to the community around us - our friends, families, neighbours and co-workers. He asks us to be prayerfully present with people. He wants us to accept people as if they were J himself. He needs us to enter other people’s worlds.

Listen and pay attention

One of the best ways to do this - hard for me - is to listen and pay attention to people. To put our agenda on hold. To be still and silent before the other person. To allow the other person to speak until he or she has completed their thought. To show your understanding of what’s been said to you, by reflecting it back to the other person - “What I heard you say is ...”. When the person seems finished, check there’s no more to say. I am still learning this. Maybe you are too. But there are some of you here this morning who are great listeners. Teach strugglers like me how to do it! And if you struggle like me, learn from our listeners. If there is one thing we do well at Basingstoke - and we do lots of things well - it’s eat and drink! Hardly an event goes by that doesn’t include eating or drinking! But we’re only following J’s example!! He knew there was hardly anything more intimate and relational than eating with someone. That’s why his treatment of L is so much more remarkable. So let’s eat and drink together. It gives us more time and space to listen and pay attention. Practice presence and just love.

We can reveal someone's beauty to them

Maybe like me you need to pledge again this morning to Practice presence and just love. Maybe you can do more to reveal someone’s beauty to them. Maybe you can do more to listen and pay attention to someone who really needs it. As we do this, we will become more like J. We will be drawn even closer together. God will make us one.

Next Steps

Song: Make Us One - Twila Paris

Video: Make Us One - Twila Paris | 3:00

Make us one, make us one; make us one, undivided body. Make us one, make us one. For the sake of Your name, make us one. Make us love, make us love; make us love so the world will know we love You. Make us love, make us love. For the sake of Your name, make us love. Make us pure, make us pure; make us pure and righteous, make us holy. Make us pure, make us pure. For the sake of Your name, make us pure. For the sake of Your name, ’til You come, for the sake of Your name, make us one.

Will you pray that with me? As you do so, invite you to come forward and to light a candle. At end of song, we’ll light the large candle and extinguish all the others, as a sign that we are one. That we will Practice presence and just love each other and those around us.