Sinner at a Booth
Series: One on One with the Master
February 14, 2010
READ Luke 5:27-39 (NIV)
Well, so far we’ve talked about a Nic at Night, a woman at a well and last week a man on a mat…all people who had a one on one encounter with Jesus that changed their lives for eternity! This morning we’re going to look at the last one- on-one meeting with the Master…a sinner at a booth. More than any other meeting… this one really underlines the differences between us and Jesus. In fact, as we go through this passage this morning I want you to see 4 distinct comparisons the Bible makes between us and Jesus….
The 1st one is that fact that...
1. He is the SAVIOR…we are the SINNERS
Marks gospel refers to him as “Levi, the son of Alphaeus”… but you might know him as simply… MATTHEW. Like we said last week, 3 of the gospels (Mt., Mk, & Luke) all record the story of the paralytic and the forgiveness and healing he received… but they ALSO tell us that right after this came the conversion and calling of Matthew. Luke 5:27 says that, “Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax-collection booth.” Levi (or Matthew) didn’t know it yet, but eventually he would not only become one of the 12 disciples, but would have the privilege of writing one of the books of the bible! A book named after him! I think this underscores (as least for me) that you can’t predict how God’s going to use you, once you allow Him to take control of your life!
Remember this!!! Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future! But, I’m getting ahead of myself! Matt definitely had a past, because before all of this, He was one of the most hated, despicable men in all of Galilee! If anyone was ever considered to be a “sinner”… this guy certainly fit the bill!
As a tax collector (or publican as they called him) Matthew was a willing tool of the Roman government. The Romans collected their taxes through a system called “tax farming.” In otherwords, they would assess a district a for a certain amount of taxes, and then they’d sell the rights to collect those taxes to the highest bidder. The buyer had to pay the Roman Government the assessed figure at the end of the year, BUT… they were allowed to keep anything they could squeeze out of peope above and beyond that amount! Do you smell a skunk here?
It was a system that guaranteed corruption! In fact the Roman Government looked the other way while these guys made themselves rich by skinning people alive! There were all kinds of taxes…there was a tax for travelling on roads, a tax to cross bridges, a tax to enter a market place or a harbor… there was a tax on pack animals, a tax on the amount of wheels or axles on a cart… a tax-collector was even allowed to open private letters to see if business was being conducted. If it was…he could tax that too! (Kind of sounds like our tax system, huh?) To make things even worse… there were no limits to the amounts He could charge!
Now as if that wasn’t bad enough… by buying into the Roman system, Matthew became a traitor to Israel. He’d essentially hired on to the very people who were oppressing his own people! So you can begin to understand why a guy like Matthew was so hated. In fact, Tax collectors were so despised that they weren’t allowed to serve as witnesses in court and were excommunicated from the synagogues. I was thinking as I was studying about this…how did a person end up in a profession like this? And then I thought… how do ANY of us end up where we are?
* I would imagine in Matthew’s case it might have been greed. You start out getting into a business to survive, and before long you realize you can make more money than you ever thought possible if you cut a few corners, maybe tell a few white lies…compromise a few morals, cross a few lines. And before long you’re in over your head, but you don’t want to give up the income.
* Maybe we start out in highschool hanging out with the only people who seem to accept us. The next thing we know we’re going to parties…drinking, drugging. It seems like a lot of fun at first, but while our friends grow out of it, (go onto college and get a degree)… we keep drinking or abusing drugs and before long we’re hooked into a lifestyle we can’t seem to escape.
* I was thinking about some of these young girls who end up being used as prostitutes. Dad and Mom are having problems… they get a divorce. Her real dad abandons her and her step-dad abuses her. She ends up running away from home. It doesn’t take long before her “Prince Charming” comes along, offers her love, a place to stay, nice clothes...but there’s a price to pay. The beatings start and she’s forced to “turn tricks” to keep from being thrown out into the streets again.
Do you think any of these people planned it that way? No! So how do we get where we don’t want to be? Stubbornness. Pride. Greed. Hurt. Following our own survival instincts.
Luke 5:27 tells us that Matthew is “sitting at his tax-collection booth” in Capernaum. Now Capernaum was located on the Sea of Galilee and a major highway called the “Via Maris”… and so Matthew was perfectly positioned at the crossroads of those two places, so he could intercept and tax traffic from all directions whether by land or by sea. It was also near the house where Jesus had just healed the paralytic, so he probably heard about it. Now, the fact that Matthew was personally sitting at the tax table tells us a lot about him. See, most tax collectors were concerned about their reputations, so they’d stay out of the public eye by hiring others to collect taxes for them. But the really brash ones—the hardened ones, the ones who didn’t care a “rats behind” what people thought of them—actually sat at the table themselves! So that’s where Matthew was…
And then one day, out of nowhere, Jesus walks by and changes everything! The bible says that “he saw a tax collector named Levi…” That word “saw” in the greek talks about more than just a passing glance. It was “a calm, continuous contemplation...” It’s the kind of “look” that would make a person nervous! Jesus was standing there, staring right at Matthew! You know how somehow you can always tell when someone is staring at you…even if it’s from across the room? Well, Levi looked up from his duties and notices Jesus staring at him. I’m sure he’s anxiously thinking… “What does Jesus want from me?”
But what Jesus sees in us, isn’t what we see in ourselves. We see a person stained by shame and hurt, bad experiences and even worse mistakes…but Jesus sees something completely different. Jesus didn’t see a hard-nosed tax-collector, too hopeless to even mess with…Jesus “saw” a future recorder of the gospel, an evangelist, a powerful rescuer of souls. When are we going to begin to see people the way Jesus sees them? Huh? I mean, instead of seeing them as they are…and judging them as “too far gone”, “too hard”, “too rude”, “too whatever”… when are we going to begin see them as God created them to be?
One of the reasons we’re supporting the building of a “Courage House” for young victims of sex-trafficking is because we believe that these girls lives can be different. I want to show you a music video this morning, it’s called “Believe in Me”. And that’s what God is asking us to do for these young girls. To believe that life can be different for them. (WARNING!!! Implied sex images!) SHOW MUSIC VIDEO
I strongly believe that God wants us to do something to help change these girls’ lives! This falls under what I call Jesus’ ”Me-Them Principle!” from Mt.25. Like a shepherd separates sheep from goats at the end of the day, Jesus is going to separate the righteous from the unrighteous at the end of the age. And the only criteria He’ll use will be what we did or didn’t do with Jesus’ instructions. Jesus names off the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the poor, the sick and the imprisoned. You know… the “riff-raff”, the people that we usually try to ignore, and He says… “The way you treat them… is how you treat me!” It’s the “Me-Them Principle!” I seriously believe that we’re going to be held accountable as Christians for what we do (or don’t do) about this issue of sex slavery!! According to the religious tradition of the day, it was impossible for a person like Matthew to repent and change. There was no hope for him! But Jesus didn’t see it that way. He never does! Not with you… not with me! So You can imagine the gasps from the crowd when Jesus walks up to him and says…“Follow Me.”
Jesus spoke only two words to him: “Follow Me!” and in a moment Matthew’s life was radically changed. At that moment a switch inside him switche… and He did it! Instead of following his own desires or his own survival instincts… (the same ones that got him in this dead-end in the 1st place)…He sees His chance out, and follows Jesus! Now in Matthews too humble to tell us this in his account from Mt.9, but Luke tells us the whole story! He reports that when Matt decided to follow Jesus… (vs.28)…”he left everything behind”. He left his lucrative business, he left his money, he left his office and his employees…he left all the perks… he left it ALL to follow Christ! In fact, I believe he paid a higher price than all the other disciples. If you were a fisherman could always go back to fishing, if things didn’t work out with Jesus (in fact Peter did)… but the minute you left your government post…that was it! You say, “That’s crazy!” Yeh, it might be… but it was the 1st right decision he’d made in a very long time!
The word translated “followed” literally means – “he began to follow… and continued following.” In otherwords, Matthew followed Jesus that day and he never turned back! It was a lifetime commitment. I don’t understand people who ‘try’ Jesus for awhile and if they don’t get what they want, move onto something or someone else. That’s not a true conversion! Church history tells us that after Jesus was gone, Matthew stuck around Capernaum and preached for 15 years to the very Jews who’d rejected him, before going out to foreign nations. Eventually he ended up in Ethiopia where he was martyred for preaching about Jesus.
If you decide to follow Jesus today… there’s no half-hearted half-commitment. Just like Matthew got up from that tax booth and left it all behind, Jesus asks you and me to leave behind anything and everything we’ve been sold out to. Everything we depend on for security, peace, & fulfillment, apart from Him. See, Jesus isn’t looking for nice people who will sit in their pews and behave… NO! He’s looking for people who will sell out on everything and change the world! Are you that person? Eventually, (we don’t know when) but Jesus gave Levi a new name… Matthew. In the Greek it means…”gift of God”. Can you imagine? From greedy, despised tax collector… to gift of God! That’s what happens when sinners turn to the Savior. He turns our life into a gift to Him!
It wasn’t long after that (according to vs. 29) that Matthew throws a party in his home to celebrate his new life, and guess who was the guest of honor? Jesus! Guess who else he invites to his party? The religious Leaders? the Pharisees? No!…he invites his old cronies! He invites his fellow tax collectors and other assorted ‘sinners’. Why? Because He wants to share his new life with them! He had money, he owned nice big home, and he had the resources to put on a feast… and he uses it all to introduce people to Jesus. That’s one of the ways you can tell if a person has really become a follower of Jesus or not…whatever they used to use to promote and advance themselves…(material possessions, money, gifts and talents, etc.)… now they use to promote and advance the kingdom of God!
Now when the religious leaders saw him eating with this “riff-raff”, they’re appalled! “Jesus! How dare you eat with these “low lives”! Aren’t you concerned about your reputation?” See, in Jewish culture, to “eat” with someone was the same as agreeing and identifying with that person. As we’re both eating off the same loaf of bread, we digest it and it becomes a part of both of our bodies…so now we’re ONE with each other. That sounds strange to us, but that’s the way they saw it! Jesus looks at them and responds… “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough.” –Luke 5:31,32
The 2nd distinction Jesus makes between us and Him is…
2. He is the Doctor… we are the patients
According to Jesus, there are no “good people” and “bad people” – only people who know they’re bad or those who don’t know they’re bad. In otherwords, we’re all sinners…there are just some of us who admit it, and some of us don’t! Listen, the minute you start thinking that you’re morally superior to someone else, comparing your sins to theirs… “Well, at least I don’t do what they do”… you’ve fallen into the same religious trap as the Pharasees!
Someone once said that “The world is made up of 2 kinds of people… sinners who think they’re saints…and saints who know they’re sinners!”
The scribes and Pharisees saw themselves as “righteous” and Levi and his friends as condemned “sinners,”. Jesus saw them differently… He saw them as spiritually sick “patients” who needed the help of a physician. The 1st step toward healing the “sin sickness” in our lives is to admit we have a disease that we can’t heal ourselves. If you think you’re “spiritually superior and healthy”… that you don’t need Jesus’ help… you won’t get it. The problem is…in the end, you’ll die in your sins. Only the people who are willing to ADMIT they have a “sin disease” will be healed of their sins. Jesus was telling the Pharisees, that at least these so called ‘sinners’, He was associating with didn’t suffer from the delusion that they were without spiritual needs. Jesus has come to call those who acknowledge that they’re “sinners”… not those who think they have no sin. Which category do you put yourself in?
Unphased, the Pharisees’ begin to complain about the lack of seriousness Jesus’ disciples exhibited. They pointed out that they were “feasting” when they should have been “fasting”. In vs.33 they ask, “John the Baptist’s disciples always fast and pray,” they declared, “and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are yours always feasting?”
In response Jesus tries to explain to them the difference between being His follower and being a religious person…
3. He is the Groom…we are the groomsmen
By the time Jesus came on the scene, the Pharisees had decreed that if you wanted to be considered a godly person, you had to fast twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays to be exact). For them fasting was synonymous with mourning. If you wanted to attract the attention of God, you had to deny the flesh, feel the pain! In their minds it was impossible to be spiritual unless you were uncomfortable. To the “average Joe” religion was seen as a solemn, joyless, gloomy thing. If you wanted to be “spiritual” you had to do things you hated doing, and not do the things you loved to do! That’s the way some people STILL see the church! And the fact that a lot of Christians walk around looking like they’ve been sucking on lemons doesn’t help!
The truth of the matter is… RELIGION IS A BORING, DULL, & MONOTONOUS THING!!! It is!!! But religion and true Christianity aren’t the same! In fact, they’re totally different. Religion is trying to work to be good enough, while being a follower of Christ is based on a living, relationship with the most dynamic, fascinating person in the universe! Jewish weddings back then lasted for a week and they were times of great joy and celebration. Jesus is saying, “I came to make life a wedding feast, not a funeral! If you know the Bridegroom, then you can share His joy.” Predicting His own death He said one day He’d be “taken away,” but in the meantime, it’s time to celebrate because sinners like Matthew were coming to life!
So are you a part of the party, or the funeral? Are you religious? Or are you a Jesus follower? Are you enjoying life with Him, or are you just “enduring” it? See, religion will kill your joy…but a relationship with Christ will increase it. If you don’t have any joy in your Christian life it’s because at some point you stopped following Jesus and started following religious rules!
In the book, “The Kingdom of God is a Party” Tony Campolo tells the story of how, when he arrived in Honolulu, he got lost and somehow ended up in the seedy part of town for a snack at about 3:30 in the morning. A few minutes after sitting down at the bar, he was suddenly surrounded by 8 or 9 prostitutes who had just gotten off work. As he sat there, He overheard the prostitute beside him saying to her girlfriend, “Tomorrow is my birthday.” Her friend replied, “So what do you want me to do about it? You want me to get you a cake and sing, ’Happy Birthday or something?“ The birthday girl protested, “Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you, that’s all. You don’t have to put me down for it, it’s just that I’ve never had a birthday party my whole life!” When the prostitutes left, Campolo decided to come back the next night to decorate the place, and give the “birthday prostitute” a surprise party she’d never forget. The bartender, agreed that it was a great idea, and happily chipped in the cake. The next night, as the prostitute walked into the bar. she was greeted with everyone shouting …”Surprise! Happy Birthday!”. She could hardly believe her eyes! All the sudden, the whole bar began to sing a birthday song to her. At first she refused to cut the cake, wondering if she could keep it a little longer. And then, for some unknown reason, overwhelmed, she rushed out the door crying, promising to return later.
Campolo offered to say a prayer for the woman before the stunned crowd. After the prayer, the bartender remarked, “Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?” Campolo replied, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning!” The bartender sneered, “No you don’t. There’s no church like that. If there was…I’d join it!” Folks, I want us to be a church like that! The kind of church where anyone is accepted and where joy is spontaneous and real!
It’s the kind of church that Jesus died to give birth to. It’s the kind of church that welcomes the “tax-collectors” and the rejected of this world…without thinking we’re better than them! The kind of church that reaches out to the hurting, the homeless, the victims of sex crimes, the poor, the misfits, the hopeless…single Moms…those who have given up on life! THAT is the kind of church that Jesus is building! A whole NEW kind of kingdom where the size of your pocketbook or the color of your skin, or whether you “have your act together” OR… are one of the “pretty people” doesn’t matter! He explains what He means in vs. 36-39… READ According to Jesus…
4. He is the Wine… we are the Wineskins
Any seamstresses here? What happens when you try and put a new patch on your husband’s old threadbare favorite shirt? Sure! It rips off doesn’t it? That’s because the old fabric isn’t strong enough to hold the patch onto it. In fact, if you try… the tear gets even worse than when you started. Sorry, I’m giving you ideas!
Any winemakers here? In Jesus’ day they didn’t use barrels to ferment wine…they used animal skins. When you put wine in a wineskin as it ferments, it expands. Old wineskins have already been stretched out so far that they can’t handle the expanding wine without bursting. So what’s the point Jesus is trying to make here? No…he’s not trying to improve on the textile and winemaking industry! He’s comparing the old religious system of the Pharasees, (with all it’s restricting it’s laws and traditions) to the worn out garments and stretched out old wineskins. While the new Kingdom He’s bringing, is the new wine and new patch! He’s saying, “Your old worn out traditions and ideas… can’t hold what I’m about to do!” My kingdom is made up of love and joy and the Holy Spirit. It’s so dynamic, so effervescent, so radical… you won’t be able to contain it or control it! That’s really what legalism is all about…control! Making sure that people live by the rules! Religions use rules to not only keep people in line, but keep them in the pews. “We’re the only true church, so you don’t have any choice but to stay here and do what we say!” I’ve been in churches where the old leaders thought it was their job to make sure they stayed in control! And believe me, they’ll do anything to make sure it stays that way! That’s what the Pharisees were trying to do! Keep control! But Jesus was upsetting their apple-carts!
In the new Kingdom Jesus is talking about, we can stop trying to control people, because that’s the Spirit of God’s job! We don’t have to go around saying, “You can’t do this, or you can’t do that! You can’t wear jewelry! You can’t smoke or drink!” We leave that up to God! You know over the years I’ve found that if I’ll be faithful to preach His Word… then His Spirit does a pretty good job at convicting people of their sin (on HIS schedule, not mine!) Instead of being a controlling church, we need to be a “permission giving” church. That means we allow people to do what God lays on their hearts to do! The leaders provide guidance and counsel, training etc.… but beyond that…we free people up to serve God! The minute you try and control people… you kill the Spirit! That’s what In II Cor. 3:6,7 is talking about when it says, “Our only power and success come from God. 6 He is the one who has enabled us to represent his new covenant. This is a covenant, not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old way ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives life.”
Do you want to know how you can tell if the Spirit of the Lord is in a church? Look for people being freed from legalism and control, and addictions, and sinful habits, and destructive patterns of behavior! See, God is into freedom and He’s incredibly creative. That means He’s always up to something new! Jesus is telling us that He didn’t come to patch up our old, worn out lives…and He’s not about to pour His new wine into old, crusty, shriveled up “wineskins”! He came to give us new abundant lives. Religion can’t contain the life of the Spirit!
How many of you would admit that you don’t like change? We all tend to like our comfort zones don’t we? If you don’t believe that, monitor your emotions the next time someone decides to sit in your seat at church! As a church we have to be compliant and flexible or we’ll stifle what the Spirit of God is trying to do through us. The 6 last words of the church are, “We’ve never done it like that!” But God is always up to something new…if we’re really going to be a Spirit-led church… that means we’re going to have to be a changing church! We’re going to have to be willing to do things different from the way we’ve always done it… if it’s more effective at reaching people for Christ.
1. His the Savior… we are the sinners. Have given up everything to follow Him?
2. He is the Doctor… I am the patient. Have you admitted to Him that you need Him?
3. He is the Groom…we are the wedding party. Are you bored with religion? Then be a part of a relationship.
4. He is the new wine… we are the new wineskins.
Are you open to what God wants to do in your life… in this church?
