People, like pennies
Luke 5:27-32
I watched a hidden camera show some time back. The director had taken two rolls of pennies and dropped them randomly but obviously along a half a city block. Then he filmed people’s reactions.
People noticed, but they did not stoop to pick up the pennies. Some looked around to see if they were being noticed but then walked on. Some stood and looked at the pennies for a moment to see if it was worth their effort. It wasn’t apparently.
Finally a boy that looked like he might have been 10 or 12 years old came along and pounced on them. He walked along the block picking up every penny he could find. After he collected them all, he turned right into a candy store.
Wealth in our lives is measured in many ways. Pennies are a small measure of money, but Benjamin Franklin would have told you that a penny saved is a penny earned.
Friends in our lives are another kind of wealth that we may not value highly enough, All friends. We may tend toward our Christian friends too much, if we are not occasionally pulling away from them to share the gospel with those who don’t know.
27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, 28and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ’sinners’?"
31Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Luke 5:27-32 (NIV)
Tax collectors in the NT
In NT times, anyone could become a tax collector. The Romans would make the job opening known, and people submitted bids of what they would pay to do the job. The Romans would buy someone’s bid and that person would collect taxes and pass them on to Rome. He would also levy a surcharge, and any extra he got was his. A citizen had no choice but to pay and was subject to punishment for refusing, because the tax collector was a representative of Caesar.
So, if a person charged too high a surcharge, he might be considered an extortioner, but the worse accusation was collusion with the Romans. People saw tax collectors as the enemy.
It was made even worse when it was one of their own. Levi, Matthew’s other name, is a very Jewish name. He would have been quite despised because people would have perceived him as a traitor. The Pharisees would have considered him unclean, because he was in constant contact with Gentiles.
To that culture, tax collectors were in the same class as prostitutes and thieves. They were not allowed in the synagogue. Luke says the banquet that Matthew held was full of tax collectors and "other people." The Pharisees insisted on referring to them as "sinners," but this was more an insult than a description.
It would be wrong of us to label Levi in such a shallow way. He was likely very educated, needing to deal with people in at least four languages. He also needed an ability to do advanced math. The fact that he wrote one of the gospels is an indicator of his education. Some early church leaders say the gospel was originally written in Hebrew and only later translated into Greek. He may have been a sinner, but he was a white collar sinner.
But there is no proof he was a "sinner" in the way that he was assumed to be since he was a tax collector.
• He hung out with tax collectors
• But he had been banned from the synagogue, who else was he going to hang with?
• He was in cahoots with the Romans
• He was in business, and may have even been an honest businessman for all anyone knows
How do people get "categorized?"
In the long run, we don’t know a lot of details about Matthew’s life. We may categorize him as a person of dishonest habits, but not according to the Scripture; only by the judgement of the Pharisees.
Take a moment and speak with the people around you. In small groups of 3 to 6, at least one person should try to recall a time when he or she, or someone they know was misjudged based on circumstances or appearance.
People are misjudged all the time:
• because of prejudice
• because of association
• because of ethnicity
• because of cash flow
• because of circumstances
• because of past experience
• because of fear
Christians can be the worse perpetrators of this problem. We are leery of anyone who is not like us. Even Christians of other denominations are suspect. People outside the church are automatically bad, though some are worse than others.
The problem is that it does not matter. Everyone needs Jesus. We may think that the guy with multiple peircings and pants down around his hips and tattoos up his arms is in more need of Christ than a clerk who is sensitive to people’s perceptions of class, but that makes no difference at all. The clerk needs Jesus just as much as the grunge guy. And without getting to know him we may find that the grunge guy is very sensitive and polite, compared to our clerk who could be a drunk neglecting his family. We just don’t know when we make calls based on association.
The Pharisees’ assignment of guilt by association shows up in this passage. The story is told in Mark, Matthew, and Luke. The Pharisees asked their question in two different senses.
• Where Matthew and Mark tell us they asked, "Why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
• In Luke they ask, "Why do you" (disciples) do so?
The difference is in the attack on various people’s sensitivity to the perceptions of others.
• The Pharisees were trying to see how sensitive Jesus was to their judgement
• They also wanted to know how sensitive Peter, James and John were to that same judgement
Psalm 1:1 is clear:
How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers! (NET)
The Pharisees were trying to separate themselves from the world and not pollute themselves with the ways of the wicked ... from their own point of view.
In my minds eye, I see the disciples flustered by the Pharisee’s question. They aren’t sure what to say, but Jesus knows the answer and comes through.
Who needs a doctor more, the well or the sick?
Imagine a guy who goes to med school. He studies for years to become a doctor. He reads and studies all night and he struggles for his As and Bs.
He comes to the end of his schooling and is told that he must begin his internship. He speaks to the Dean to inform him that there is a medical convention in town and that it would be very helpful for him to go to that convention. The Dean agrees and lets him go.
While the student is at the convention, he finds a famous doctor who needs an assistant who knows medical terminology. He has just written an important book and he is on the convention circuit, so the young man presents himself and is hired for the job.
For two years, the kid goes throughout the world attending convention after convention. His position makes it possible for him to meet some of the greatest minds in medicine. He has the opportunity to hear the talks of doctors on the cutting edge. He becomes conversant in all the best techniques and technology.
• In the end, he leaves school behind, never does his internship, and he never becomes a doctor
• He has many of the qualifications of a doctor and more knowledge than many
• But he does not practice medicine
• He goes to conventions
That is what many of today’s disciples look like. We’ve read the Bible many times. We know it better than any other book. After 20 years in the faith we’ve heard perhaps as many as 1000 live sermons (not to mention Sunday School). Some people have heard even more, because they went to churches that had evening services. We pray daily and perhaps practice other disciplines of the faith. We listen to radio and TV ministers who gives us even more perspectives.
The people who know us, know us as religious people, and if you ask them why they think we are religious, the first thing out of their mouth will be that we go to church. Like the student, we go to the conventions.
Jesus mingled with the "Sinners"
It was a normal thing in Jesus day for important people to attend big dinners. They would recline on the floor and eat large meals and stay late into the evening after dinner with the host’s entertainment. Many times, that entertainment revolved around lively discussion. The host would introduce a topic and the guests would jump in and debate or discuss it.
This is what Matthew had started and Jesus was attending.
• He was in the home of a person socially despised
• He was in attendance with other people who were outcast
• Judgmental gate crashers came in and tried to look down their noses at the people present
Jesus, though, having just started a friendship with this man Matthew, made sure He was understood.
• I didn’t come for people who think they are so good they don’t need me,
• I came for people aware of their spiritual needs
• I came to clarify what their need is and to meet it
• I came to call the spiritually sick to repentance
It is important that we follow Jesus’ lead. He went out of His way to introduce Himself to people who needed a Savior.
In our wish to make sure we have the best influences in our lives and those of our families, we have the tendency to isolate ourselves like that medical student among the well and other doctors.
We seldom make an effort to step into the world of those who need treatment.
We must take several steps to overcome this tendency
We must examine our lives to see who we know that needs Jesus
It could be anyone. It may be a person we work with or attend classes with. It may be a person we regularly see in a store or in the hall of the apartment where we live. It may be a neighbor or a service person like a mail carrier. It may be our children’s friends. It may be a customer or a vendor at work.
Chances are, you see someone on a regular basis who needs Jesus, you need to figure out who they are.
We must take the next step of getting closer to that person
Maybe you don’t even know their name. Then it is time to introduce yourself.
Maybe you know her name ... maybe it’s Joan ... but don’t know any details about her. Then it is time to have a casual conversation.
Maybe you know some of the bare details of Joan’s life, her marital status and what she does for a living. Then it is time to have coffee or pie together to learn something more.
Wherever we are in our friendship, we must for the sake of the gospel take it to the next level.
We must be open about our faith
Maybe you and Joan have coffee several times a week and you know enough about her to say you are friends.
Maybe you already get together on a regular basis. Then it is time to explore Joan’s philosophy and her outlook on life.
Once you have gotten to this place, you will have natural opportunities to honestly and sensitively share your own world view and what makes you spiritually tick.
Sometimes an outright invitation to discuss the Bible together or attend church together is in order. Sometimes more conversation and trust is needed. You may find yourself too afraid or ill equipped to continue the process. When that is true, you should team up with someone. Invite Joan along with another person ... say, Lydia ... you feel is more equipped to guide a discussion toward spiritual things.
Don’t expect magic. Conversations have their own life. The topic may not be naturally guided where you want it to go. You and Lydia should not force it. Chalk the visit up to the introduction of another spiritual resource into Joan’s life. This may be the beginning of something bigger. Sometime soon talk to Joan and Lydia separately to gain impressions:
Lydia, what did you think of Joan? Did you sense that we may be able to get together again to see where the Holy Spirit leads?
Joan, what did you think of Lydia? I’ve known her for a long time and we are pretty good friends. Actually, she’s helped me out of a jam or two. We were thinking of going shopping together Saturday, want to come?
If you are listening closely, you will hear this in the process I am describing to you. The process is the same as making and cultivating a friendship. Jesus calls us to love our neighbor, and you are doing things that indicate that:
• chatting
• doing activities together
• eating a meal together occasionally
• introducing different friends to each other
If love is the cornerstone of reaching out, then we must exercise love before we will be successful at evangelism.
We too often equate loving our neighbor with something huge and demanding, it is not. In fact, we don’t get the huge and demanding stage until trust and confidence is established. That may be a long time down the road. In fact, you may have given Joan the gospel before you ever get to that point.
It starts with simple friendliness, and having personable conversation. It continues with getting to know each other and opening yourself up so that they can know who you are. If you are honest with them, and Jesus is important to you, that will become an obvious and natural part of the process.
Jesus in your life is not necessarily the telling of His story. It is in telling your own.
• What you have in common or different with your family
• How you grew up
• How you have changed over the years
• What you do with your time
• What you enjoy reading and watching and why
Jesus should be a part of all these facets of your life in one way or another. If He is not, you should be asking yourself what kind of disciple you are.
Use the bookmark in your bulletin to help you work it out.
Our friends and family are like pennies
• Some are new and some are old
• Some are pitted and some are shiny
• Some are dirty and some are clean
• They are from different places and have different histories
• Some have been used and abused
• Others have been sitting in storage, waiting for something to happen
• But they are all equally valuable
• They are all worth more handled than stashed
• They are all part of a bigger value picture
• And they are all worth more melted down than taken at face value
Our wealth of friends, like our money has a special purpose in our lives. They keep us from being isolated. They enrich us and help us attempt our goals. Just like our money, God wants us to give our friends to Him. After all, dirty or shiny, He can do much more with them than we can.
