WHICH IMAGE FITS BETTER: Black tuxedo or orange jumpsuit?
- Mark 15:27.
- Here we have the stark image of Jesus hanging between two criminals. These are orange jumpsuit kind of people.
- On the other hand, we have the respectable crowd, perhaps wearing a black tuxedo to show their classiness.
- Which image fits better?
- Of course, for most, we’d rather be identified with the black tie crowd. They’re polite company. And yet we have Jesus in the company of two criminals, Himself condemned as a criminal.
JUST THIS ONCE? Jesus was a “friend of sinners.”
- Luke 4:18-19; Luke 5:30-32; Luke 7:33-34; Luke 7:36-50; Luke 15:2; Luke 19:7; Luke 23:43.
- This was a common theme throughout His ministry. Just consider these references in Luke:
a. Mission statement at Nazareth.
- Luke 4:18-19.
b. “Came to call sinners.”
- Luke 5:30-32.
c. “Friend of sinners.”
- Luke 7:33-34.
d. Anointed by a sinful woman.
- Luke 7:36-50 (especially 39, 44-47).
e. “This man welcomes sinners.”
- Luke 15:2.
f. Hanging out with Zacchaeus.
- Luke 19:7.
g. “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
- Luke 23:43.
- All this adds up to a consistent pattern of reaching out to those away from God.
- Do Christians today do a good job with this? Not usually.
- We tend to be uncomfortable around those who are away from God. We tend to retreat to our comfortable relationships with fellow Christians. We tend to ignore those whose lives are a mess.
- We are not friends of sinners the way that Jesus was.
- How can we do better at this? Let’s look at a few first steps forward.
HOW CAN WE DO BETTER AT THAT?
1. It’s exhausting to be a deserving prince; it’s exhilarating to be a forgiven pauper.
- Luke 7:36-50.
- Let’s talk about two attitudes we can have about our connection to God.
- The first is that of the Pharisees. We see ourselves as a good church member. We see ourselves as a good person. We see ourselves as respectable. Because of all that, we have a reputation to uphold. We often get to where we feel as though we’re better than those around us still stuck in sin.
- The second is that of a forgiven beggar. We know that we bring nothing to table. We discover that grace and mercy are available and we revel in it. We don’t deserve it and are overflowing with joy that God was willing to embrace us. We love telling others about what He did for us.
- One path is exhausting – it’s about keeping up an image. The other path is exhilarating – it’s about receiving a gift we didn’t deserve.
- The story here in Luke 7 highlights this very thing. We have a Pharisee named Simon who is all respectability and pride. He invites Jesus in but is cool in dealing with Him. On the other hand, we have the sinful woman, who is open and overflowing in her love toward Christ. There’s no embarrassment there – she’s grateful for Jesus receiving someone like her.
- The parable that Jesus tells about two people who each had a debt points out why the woman is responding the way she is. She had more to be forgiven of. What’s surprising is the point Jesus draws out of the parable. He rejoices how much affection she has shown toward Him and declares that the one forgiven of much loves much and the one forgiven of little loves little.
- How does this relate to our subject for this morning? When we see ourselves as a deserving prince, we are not going to have much relationship with those around us who are still stuck in their sins. When we see ourselves as forgiven paupers, we know that we have much in common with those who are still stuck in their sins.
2. Be willing to admit when you fall short.
- 1 John 1:8-9.
- Because our churches are full of people who act like they are deserving princes, everybody at church ends up with the feeling that they better pretend too that they have it all together. They all show up on Sunday morning and act like their lives are perfect. They don’t show any signs of struggles or difficulty in their lives. They think that people will be repelled from Christ if they know we make mistakes.
- That’s the wrong path.
- People aren’t repelled because we make mistakes. They know that we’re human and not perfect. What really repels people is when we act like we have everything together when we in fact have struggles just like everyone else.
- It doesn’t make us hypocrites to have sin in our lives. It makes us hypocrites to have sin in our lives but pretend like we’re perfect.
- When we acknowledge that we fall short but also that we are striving to become more like Christ, our shortcomings become less of a liability. People see in us people like themselves – fellow strugglers, imperfect people reaching for more.
- 1 John 1 reminds us that all of us sin. In fact, saying that we are without sin makes us out to be liars.
- Now we certainly don’t want to be people who consistently fall short and are content with that. We want to have a desire for Christlikeness in our hearts.
- When people who are away from God see that we are not a different species, but deal with struggles just like them, it will help us to point them to Christ. When we admit that we struggle too, it will help us to point them to Christ as the forgiver of sins.
3. It’s not your job to tell them how bad they are.
- John 3:17.
- Christians can be really good at pointing out everything that’s wrong in someone’s life. Christians can be really good at pointing out everything that’s wrong in the world. Certainly we are not to excuse sin, but we must stay focused on our present mission. What is that mission?
- The Bible says in John 3:17 that Jesus did not come into the world to judge the world but to save it. That doesn’t mean that judgment will never happen, but it does mean that it’s not our present focus. We are part of a rescue mission.
- It’s so easy to drift over to what people are doing wrong. But that’s off-track for us right now.
- We think that people need to hear us say what’s wrong in their lives. In almost every case, they already deeply know what’s wrong in their lives. They have felt acute pain from sin. Even when they are still unwilling to give up their sin, they know that they are not in the right.
- But, you may counter, what about those whose conscience is sufficiently dull that they don’t know the extent of their sin. Well, that is certainly the case in some situations, but even then, it’s doubtful that leading with judgment and condemnation is going to get us very far.
4. It’s ok to love them while they’re still mired in sin.
- Romans 5:8.
- We like people to be cleaned up before they come to church. It’s messy to have them here with all kinds of junk still happening in their lives.
- We like people to get their act together before we develop friendships with them. It brings a mess into our lives to have to deal with their dysfunction.
- And we worry about our actions being taken as condoning their sin. Don’t I need to wait until they get out of their sin under control before stepping in?
- No, that’s not the way it works.
- Romans 5 reminds us that Jesus loved us and died for us while we were still sinners. Not only is that the way He chose, but it’s also the only way possible. The Bible makes it clear that our sinfulness makes it impossible for us to clean ourselves up on our own. In fact, if we could do that we wouldn’t need what Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
- We have to keep this in mind as we engage with those away from Christ. It’s not condoning sin to love someone while they’re still in their sin. In fact, it is a powerful witness to our love for them.
- So why don’t we do this more? One reason is that we think that we might be condoning sin.
- Another reason is that we don’t want to complicate our lives. Loving messy people is messy. It requires time and attention. It requires sacrifice on our parts. It’s frustrating and perplexing. So we keep our distance.
- You know that your co-worker is struggling in her marriage, but you make it a point to stay away from that subject.
- You know that parent at the ballgame has a reputation as a hot mess so you avoid conversation with her.
- You know that student at your school is clueless, so you sit on the other side of the room.
- The striking thing about this is what a golden opportunity that we are missing. What is it? Simply that people are usually the most open to God when their struggle is the greatest.
- We rarely turn toward God when life is good. It’s when we go through defeats and dejection that we start thinking of Him. To quote the old proverb, it’s when we’re lying flat on our back that we look up. But we are not there to seize those opportunities because we are keeping our distance. Loving people while they’re in their mess is a giant open door, but only if we are willing to engage them then.
