This is an excerpt from a message “Encounters With Jesus: The Wrong Crowd”, the main text for this message is Luke 5:27-32:
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Why does Jesus call sinners to repentance? Here's the reality, church: Jesus desires for the gospel to spread through us, not stop with us. I think this is a giant assumption that just needs to be challenged today: the good news of the gospel is not primarily about you. It's not about you. It's not about me. Hear me - Jesus loves you. “For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son.” Jesus loves you so much he laid his life down for you. But here's what God is ultimately about - His glory expanding to the ends of the earth. God is about his glory. And the gospel coming to you is not primarily about you.
A pastor and author by the name of Robby Gallaty says it this way. “The gospel came to you because it was going to someone else.” It's amazing. The gospel came to you because it was going to somebody else. You are not the end of the story. Your salvation, your repentance - is really the beginning of a gospel legacy that's meant to carry on through you.
And I think we need to be protected from this Pharisee mindset. You see the Pharisees in Luke 5, they're okay with this quarantined religion, remaining separate from the lost of the world, staying in their holy huddle. I think sometimes we just need someone to tell us that God is about more than our comfortable Christian community and our morning devotionals with him. He's not less than that. Hear me when I say he wants that for us. But he saved you for so much greater a purpose than to remain comfortable and separate.
What does Levi do? What does the tax collector do when he encounters Jesus? Yes, he leaves everything. But then in verse 29, it says, “Levi made him a great feast in his house. And then there was a large company of tax collectors and others who came to eat with them.” What does he do? He invites all of his former coworkers over. “He says, hey, you need to come meet Jesus!” It's almost as if Jesus called Levi or Matthew here, knowing that Levi would do this so that more and more sinners and tax collectors would come to worship him the way he deserves to be worshiped. Almost as if that's true…
I think what's challenging, though, as you just look at studies, is that evangelism is strongest in the first two years after a Christian's conversion. A lot of that is because of your social circle. And I would say I understand that. Levi, here, is one step removed from his past life. All of his friends are former tax collectors, right with him. And he's like, “Man, these are my friends. I'm just going to go talk to them about Jesus.” In the realm of two years, a lot changes. Your community becomes primarily, if not solely, Christian and your evangelism starts to plummet.
But I think what I also worry about is that maybe if we follow Jesus for more than two years, we've just let pride creep in, and we've just lost sight of who we were before Jesus. We've lost the passion and the zeal that comes from, here's who I was, and here's who I am. I was blind. Now I see. I was dead. Now I'm alive. We've lost it. We've lost that passion. And so I think the challenge for us who have followed Jesus for more than two years is remember who you were before Jesus. Remember you're only who you are today because he came to you. And, yes, intentionally move towards the lost. Do not just become so comfortable staying in a holy huddle. Understand that you are still in the game. You're on mission. This is for you.
But I think there's a word of warning here, too, to the new Christian, who is really zealous. And trust me, I've been there before. To look at how Levi engages in ministry here is just worth noting. Okay, so as a brand new Christian, I think there's a lot of times that people just get really zealous, overconfident, and then what do they do? They run back to their same social circles who are doing the same things. And then what ends up happening? They fall right back into the sin that they were doing before. How does Levi correct that? How does he engage with sinners, but not engage with or entertain their sin? What does he do? He cooks them a meal. He has them over. He creates common ground. Levi doesn't go back to the tax booth to do ministry. He says, “Hey, come over to my house.” Who's gonna turn down a free meal in here? Come on. Create common ground. Don't be so full of yourself to think that you can go back to dangerous environments and win against your sin. As a two day old Christian, it probably will not happen. Create common ground.
What's worth noting is Levi doesn't do this alone. Who does he have with him? I mean, first and foremost, Jesus. That's helpful. But the fact is, in verse 30, “the Pharisees and the scribes are grumbling at the disciples, asking, “why do you eat and drink with sinners and tax collectors?”” Levi knew that by inviting Jesus and his disciples over, there's a protective force of Christian community who he could be on mission with. He wasn't on mission solo. He was on mission with Jesus and his disciples, moving towards his friends with the good news of Christ. It's amazing.
This theme and thread of, Jesus saving you for somebody else is again littered throughout the New Testament. In fact, littered throughout the Old Testament. Go read Genesis 12, Abram. “I will make your name great. I will bless you. So that you will be a blessing.” Peter in 1 Peter 2, you know, calls Christians “chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, people for his own possession.” We're like, yes, okay. Why? “That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” That's why: that you would proclaim Him. And why would Jesus choose to come to like broken, jacked-up people like us? Because once we recognize that God can save us, we believe that he can save anybody. Once you see that God can save you, you are just propelled on mission to proclaim his excellencies.
Paul outlines this to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:15-16, my paraphrase, “I'm the worst sinner I know, and I believe Jesus came to me and saved me so that I could be an example to anybody else who thinks that God can't save them. Because if he can save me, he can save you.” That's what Paul is saying. And God saved you so that you could be an example to those who were to believe, those who will come to faith. You can step in front of them and say, “Hey, listen, if God can save me, he can save anybody. I'm the worst sinner I know, but I've seen his power and his grace on display.”
So here's what we need to know. Veritas. Jesus calls sinners to repentance for the spread of the gospel.
A few clear action steps for us coming out of this text.
See Your Need For Healing
The first is to see your need for healing. And the reality is I can't do that for you, but the Spirit of God will do that for you. If you say, “God, show me my sin. Show me how I've fallen short of your glory. Show me that you are a sufficient savior. Jesus”, he will answer that prayer. He will prove himself to be the great physician, and he will provide healing for your soul. See your need for healing.
Start Repenting
Secondly, start repenting. I hope this is something that most of us have been doing and will continue to do. But if not, my ask is for you to start. Start being a repenter. Not a hider, not a talker, not a fixer, a repenter. To be honest about your sin, to get specific and to get serious, to help bring other people in to say, “Hey, I want to wage war on my sin because it is waging war on me.” I feel like we've said that several times over the last few months. Be killing sin or sin will be killing you. Let's be serious about repentance.
Share The Gospel
Lastly, share the gospel. One thing I love about summer is I can actually cook something because I have a grill. It's amazing. One of my pastors from my hometown church called it cheeseburger evangelism. I love it. Okay, that's what Levi's doing here in Luke 5, a little cheeseburger evangelism. They probably weren't eating cheeseburgers, but I think the question I would put in front of you is, who are you going to make a meal for this summer and tell about Jesus? Who are you going to do that with? Because this is what you're made for. Like so many of us look for purpose in this life and so many other ways. Here's the greatest purpose you could ever serve. To bring glory to our great God by sharing the gospel, telling other people about the good news of Jesus Christ, his perfect life, his substitutionary death, his victorious resurrection, who has changed you and can change them. Amen?
We just wrapped up our creed series, talking about God being the prize. I think Levi shows us what it looks like for God to be the prize. To not just say it in a catchy statement on a Sunday but to live it. To leave everything behind for the sake of Jesus, to hate our sin because we so love Christ, and to not keep this good news to ourselves, throwing a feast and inviting everybody that he can over to say, “Come meet my great God. His name is Jesus.” And as Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:17, “To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God. Be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”