THE CHURCH AS A HOSPITAL
Mark 2:13-17
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Giving to God
1. The Junior Sunday School Teacher asked her eight eager 10 year-olds if they would give a $1,000,000 to the missionaries. “Yes!” they all screamed!
2. “Would you give $1,000?” Again, they shouted “YES!”
How about $100?” “Oh, yes we would!” they all agreed!
3. “Would you just give a dollar to the missionaries?” she asked. The boys exclaimed, “Yes!” just as before, except for Johnny.
4. “Johnnie,” the teacher said as she noticed the boy clutching his pocket, “Why didn’t you say ‘yes’ this time?”
“Well,” the boy stammered, “I have a dollar!”
B. TEXT
1. 13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mk. 2:13-17
And Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but [only] those who are sick. I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness].” -Luke 5:31(AMP)
C. THESIS
1. Jesus was different than the other religious leaders of his day. The N.T. says things like, “And the common people heard him gladly” Mk. 12:37. Non-religious people were attracted to Jesus (Luke 15:1). Numerous times Jesus is called the “Friend of Sinners” (Mt. 11:19; Lk. 7:34).
2. Why did they like Jesus? I believe it was because He didn’t come off as stiff and religious, but as a real person. Also, I think it was because He loved people of all kinds and tried hard NOT to be condemning or judgmental.
3. I believe these characteristics are sorely needed in the church and Christians today, if we would reach a generation that is away from God (and wary of judgmentalism).
4. So this morning we’re looking at the problem of human brokenness, Jesus’ attitude toward lost people, and His reasons for overlooking their guilt.
5. The title of this message is “The Church as a Hospital.”
I. THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH
A. WHEN YOU NEED HELP
1. If you travel around very much you’ll see a blue sign with a white "H" on it. If we’re in trouble, sick or whatever, this sign lets us know that a hospital is near & we can get help.
2. Today when I see a church with a cross on it or a church sign on the side of the road I am quickly reminded that this is a place I can get help also.
3. But you know, not every church you see is a place where we can get help. Sometimes churches are no more than museums or Country-Clubs, unable to help those in need. But God has called the Church to be a Ministry of Reconciliation.
4. Jesus died on the cross so that man could be reconciled back to God. Humans were created to love God, to have a relationship with God.
B. PROBLEM: HUMANS ARE BROKEN
1. But humans are broken. Wouldn’t it be nice if, like Wal-Mart, there was a great big service desk that you could take people & say, “Here! They don’t work, they are broke, they don’t fit in, here take them back, FIX THEM!!” We work in cooperation with the Lord to fix them. The question is, “Are we open for business?”
2. I’m praying for God to send us broken people, hurting people, lost people, people that others just throw away. Will you be Christ’s ambassadors to them?
3. God doesn’t look at the size of a church; He looks at the AVAILABILITY of the church, the WILLINGNESS of the church. Are you willing to be God’s hands extended?
C. DO WE HAVE THE WRONG APPROACH?
1. “The church should be seen as a hospital; a rehab clinic; a place of refuge. The church is NOT a country club. Stop treating it like one. The person smoking outside the church doors; the woman in “inappropriate clothing”; the man with whisky on his breath – these are children of God, not excuses to pass judgmental glances at. Ask them their story. Buy them coffee. REALLY listen to them. That, is the Gospel…not telling them that they “need to get their act together” in order to attend a church.” Spiritualinspiration.tumblr.com
2. As church leader Jorge Bergoglio says, “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.”
II. SEE CHRIST’S ATTITUDE TOWARD SINNERS
We can see how we should react to worldly people by looking at how Jesus responded to them. Instead of being like the Pharisees, and avoiding them, Jesus was known as One who befriended them, despite their wicked lives.
A. THINK OF ZACCHAEUS
1. What if Jesus had passed Zacchaeus by without taking any notice of him – he would have remained a robber and sinner forever. If He’d just rebuked Zacchaeus for His greed, Zacchaeus would have hardened his heart.
2. But because Jesus spoke a kind word to him, and recognized Zacchaeus as a person valuable to God, the hard heart of the offender was opened to divine grace, and he received Jesus as his guest, repented, and became His disciple.
B. WHEN JESUS MET LEVI
1. Levi would never have thought Jesus would take any notice of him; but He did, and said to him, “Follow Me.”
2. That was all Jesus said, but there was a volume of meaning in those two words. Jesus showed personal concern; He didn’t look just on the outward appearance of Levi as others did, but He looked on the heart!
3. Touched that God cared about him, Levi “arose, and followed Him,” and Matthew the tax-collector became Matthew the apostle and Matthew the evangelist.
C. THE SINFUL WOMAN
1. A woman came into a Pharisee’s house and “stood at His feet behind Him weeping, and began to wash His feet with tears, wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment” Lk. 7:38.
2. Simon, the Pharisee, found fault with Christ for allowing the sinful woman to touch Him. She had touched many unclean things, but such is the holiness of Jesus that His holiness was stronger than any uncleaness. He wasn’t defiled by her, but she was purified by Him! Don’t be afraid to touch Jesus!
3. To the woman, Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven . . . Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
D. THE THIEF ON THE CROSS
1. When Jesus was about to return to heaven, it wasn’t right that He should go back alone. Who should accompany the Savior into His glory?
2. Should it be some martyr, who, in a fiery chariot, would mount to heaven with his Redeemer? Should it be some devout disciple or deacon, like Stephen?
3. No, but there was a dying thief on the cross next to Jesus. Jesus had agreed to be “numbered with the transgressors” and die surrounded by sinners just as He had lived among them.
4. The thief prayed, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” and Jesus answered, “Today you shall be with Me in paradise.” Jesus the Friend of Sinners!
E. PAUL, THE CHIEFEST OF SINNERS
1. Later when Jesus needed an apostle to the Gentiles, He didn’t send Peter, the Jew -- he was far too bigoted. Who would Jesus pick to send to the pagans? The LEAST LIKELY INDIVIDUAL – one “breathing out threatenings and slaughter” against the church.
2. Paul told the Ephesians, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
3. Paul wrote Timothy, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” 1 Tim. 1:15.
4. Paul had a wonderful revelation of the Grace of God, because he himself had been one of its greatest recipients! So we too should recognize that’s it’s not by any goodness of our own that we’re saved, but by grace.
5. And we should be patient and gracious to others trying to live for God, just like God has been patient and gracious to us!
III. WHY IS JESUS SO RECEPTIVE TO “SINNERS?”
Don’t think that Jesus is receptive to them because He’s not sensitive to their guilt. Jesus Christ perceives every thought, every attitude, He knows their nature and knows all of our past poor choices. Sin is hateful and loathsome to Him. So why does He desire the company of sinners?
A. BECAUSE OF HIS DEEP AFFECTION FOR SINNERS
1. Imagine there was a husband who caught the Ebola Virus. The nurse on duty might say, “I’m sorry but I’m not staying around this sickness for all the money in the world. If I contract it, it might spread to my children at home.”
2. But the wife would remain with her husband— even if she herself become infected, ill, and died, because “He’s my husband and it’s my duty.” Love triumphs over fear.
3. Some people have fallen so far into sin that even the most sympathetic move away and won’t come near. But not the Lord Jesus. He goes down into the cesspool with the sinner, picks them up and carries them out!
4. What grace! What love! For the Light to descend into the dark; for the Holy One to become sin; for the Life of God to sacrifice itself to save those in Death!
5. Jesus loves us so much that He’d rather die than be separated from us!
B. HE SEES THE PURCHASE OF HIS BLOOD IN THEM
1. When Jesus looks at the person in terrible sin, He sees one whom He purchased at great price – with tears, agony, blood and death. If He went through all that for them, do you think He’d let a little sin stand in His way now?
2. “I bought her,” He says, “with My heart’s blood; do you think that I will lose her after that?” “But, Lord, she blasphemes You.” “Yes, but I have bought her with My blood.” “But, Lord, she sells herself to do evil.”
3. “Yes,” says Jesus, “But I have loved her with an everlasting love and drawn her with lovingkindness! I WILL have her as My own!”
4. Jesus never forgets the price He paid for the redemption of even one soul. He says, “By My agony, My bloody sweat, by My cross and passion, by My death and burial, I have bought you with a price and I won’t allow My sufferings to be in vain!”
C. HE SEES THEIR SAVED FUTURE POTENTIAL
1. When Jesus sees the person in sin, He can see past the present to what that person would be like if they were saved and sold-out.
2. He can see the good qualities in them and what would happen if they surrendered all to Him. Like the sinful woman, “Those who are forgiven much, love much.”
3. Usually those who are saved out of the deepest and darkest sin are more appreciative of their salvation and work harder for God than those who never had much to forgive.
4. So Jesus can see the sinful person’s future potential -- what they would be like if they got saved, filled, trained, and were serving God.
5. We too shouldn’t be hindered from reaching out to people because of their outward appearance, but should visualize what they’d be like if they got saved and dedicated to Christ. They might end up being our best friend!
6. As pastor of the same church for 20 years, I've seen people fall away and come back. I've seen them be on fire with faith, grow cold, then catch fire again. I've known them as rebellious teens and questioning adults. I've seen their lives collapse from sin but recover by God's grace. Any "snapshot" of their lives is a distortion. We have to wait for the movie. We are all in process, including the church. [Fr. Peter Daly]
D. SUMMARY
1. When justifying why He was eating and sitting with “sinners,” Jesus gave an interesting reason; “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness]” -Luke 5:31, Amplified Version.
2. According to this, Jesus’ whole mission on Earth was to find and heal the spiritually sick. Shouldn’t that be our mission as well?
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: The girl who finally discovered Grace
1. Timothy & his wife never dreamed that taking a child to Disney World could be so difficult. “Our middle daughter had been previously adopted by another family.
2. I’m sure this couple had the best of intentions, but they never quite integrated the adopted child into their family of biological children. After a couple of rough years, they dissolved the adoption, and we ended up welcoming an eight-year-old girl into our home.
3. Whenever our daughter’s previous family vacationed at Disney World, they took their biological children with them, but they left their adopted daughter with a family friend. She believed she’d done something wrong to miss the trip.
4. And so, by the time we adopted our daughter, she’d seen many pictures of Disney World and she’d heard about the rides and the characters and the parades. But when it came to passing through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, she’d always been the one left on the outside.
5. Once I found out about this history, I made plans to take her to Disney World. I knew from previous experiences big trips often turns children into squirming bundles of emotional instability. I didn’t expect the devilish behavior it would inspire in our newest daughter.
6. In the month leading up to our trip to the Magic Kingdom, she stole food when all she had to do was ask for it. She lied when it would’ve been easier to tell the truth. She whispered insults, carefully crafted, to hurt her older sister as deeply as possible. The closer to the trip, the more she did.
7. Timothy says, “A couple of days before we headed to Florida, I pulled her into my lap to talk through her latest escapade. “I know what you’re going to do,” she stated flatly. “You’re not going to take me to Disney World, are you?” The thought hadn’t actually crossed my mind, but her downward spiral suddenly started to make some sense. Luckily, I DIDN’T say, “If you don’t start behaving better, you’re right, we won’t take you!”
8. Instead, I asked her, “Is this trip something we’re doing as a family?” She nodded, brown eyes wide and tear-rimmed. “Are you part of this family?” She nodded again. “Then you’re going with us. Sure, there may be some consequences to help you remember what’s right and what’s wrong — but you’re part of our family, and we’re not leaving you behind.”
9. I’d like to say that her behaviors grew better, but they didn’t; she spiraled out of control all the way to Lake Buena Vista.
10. At the end of our first day at the Disney World, I prayed with her, held her, and asked, “So how was your first day at Disney World?” She closed her eyes and snuggled down into her stuffed unicorn.
11. After a few moments, she opened her eyes ever so slightly. “Daddy,” she said, “I finally got to go to Disney World. But it wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.” IT WASN’T BECAUSE I WAS GOOD, IT’S BECAUSE I AM YOURS! THAT’S THE MESSAGE OF OUTRAGEOUS GRACE!
[from storiesforpreaching.com]
B. THE CALL
1. How about You? YOU’RE GOING TO HEAVEN BECAUSE YOU’RE GOOD, BUT BECAUSE JESUS DIED FOR YOU! You need to ask Jesus to make that a reality in your life. How many want to ask Jesus to save them right now?
2. How many others would say you want to begin reaching out to the Lost more diligently – seeing them as people for whom Christ died?
3. Let’s pray that God will MAKE THIS CHURCH A HOSPITAL FOR THE SPIRITUALLY SICK! Prayer.
[Some of this message is an adaptation of Charles Spurgeon’s “Christ Receiving Sinners,” the blog “The Project Cross” 3/8/2016, and articles on the church as a hospital by Fr. Peter Daly and George Crumbly]
