Those of you with little kids, happy move up Sunday. I don't know if that's a happy move up Sunday. Anytime kids are transitioning up in classrooms, it's like, man, number one, more tears that drop off, but number two, maybe more tears for you. You're like, oh, my baby's not a baby anymore. Or you're starting to be like, I'm not young anymore. I don't know. There's a lot of things that can happen on move up Sunday. For me, personally, I'm like, at a really unique age and stage of life, specifically in the family world. You know, young thirties, I have little kids. So with my kids, I'm doing a lot of teaching and coaching and correcting and disciplining and helping them understand how to just stay alive most times. And then I have my mom, who, again, I'm in my young thirties. I'm starting to actually tell her that she was right about a few things. So if you have a teenager, just wait another 16 years, they'll come around. Okay. But by God's grace, I actually have a grandma who's still alive. She's 92 years old, and it is such a gift as a young 30 something to be able to talk with a young 90, something about adult things, right? A lot of people only have had maybe, like, this grandma child interaction, but to have adult conversations with my grandmother. This last Thanksgiving, we were talking about life and church, and she was just asking about Veritas. And I got to talk with her about her church and how things are going. And she said something that was pretty profound to me. She was like, you know, Jordan, I've been in the church for a long time, but just a few years ago, I started reading the Bible, doing a Bible in the year reading plan. So she's been doing this for the last few years. Again, 92, and she's reading her bible in a Bible in a year plan. And what she told me was, I've started to have a lot of questions. You know, I've started to talk with my pastor about things that I'm reading and questions I'm having. And I thought that was profound. You know, to be 92 years old, to be raised in the church, he's been taught a lot. She's been a faithful attender of a local church most of her life. And yet when she opens the scriptures and starts to read them for herself, she's like, huh, there's some stuff in here I have questions about. I think we all have something to learn from my grandma, right? To not just coast to not just take other people's word for it, but to actually open up the Bible and ask this question, what does it say? Right? Because there have been, there are currently, and there will continue to be a lot of people who want to tell you about who Jesus is, maybe what he's done or what it means to be a Christian. And the question I would ask you is, do you know what the Bible says? Less of what? Honestly, less of what I say or what we say or what the world says or culture says. The question is, do you know what the Bible says about Jesus? That's an important question for us to answer. In the late Tim Keller, when he wrote this book called Encounters with Jesus, it's in our resource center and also happens to be the name of our series. He appropriately wrote this because of this over familiarity with Christianity to say, man, maybe there are questions we ought to be asking that we aren't. On his website, there's an intro to this book. It says, one of the biggest obstacles for people to accept or believe in Christianity is that they think they know all about it already. After all, hasn't it been around for thousands of years? Doesn't everybody know what christians believe? But if we look at Jesus encounters with various men and women during his life, we will find some of our assumptions challenged. And I think that's our hope this summer. Yes, that we would see and savor Jesus this summer as we spend, you know, twelve weeks looking at various encounters that Jesus has with people. But I hope our assumptions can be challenged, and we're going to be in Luke five this morning in a very popular text. I'm sure you'll notice it once we get to read it together. But there are a few assumptions that are challenged in this text that I'd love for us to see together. So we're going to be in Luke five. If you're a note taker in the room, I have three questions that I would love for us to answer together. So the first is, who does Jesus call? Who does Jesus call? Second question is, what does Jesus call them to? And the third is, why does Jesus call them? Who does Jesus call? What does Jesus call them to? Why does Jesus call them? You guys ready to roll? All right, Luke five. We're gonna be in verse 27. That's where we're gonna start catching you up a little bit. Last week we talked about Jesus calling Peter the fisherman, right, to be a fisher of men, kind of in between Peter's call and Jesus calls Levi is what your heading might say. We get two miraculous healings of Jesus. He touches and cleanses a leper, and then he heals a man that was paralyzed. His friends, like, drop him through the roof and he says his sins are forgiven. And then to verify that he can forgive sins, he's like, oh, yeah, pick up your mat and walk. And the guy walks out, okay. The religious elite, very uncomfy right now with Jesus. And here's what the word of God says in verse 27. After this, he, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi. Your Bible might say Matthew, same person, Levi, Matthew 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 the 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. Now, in this text, you see really two different camps that are stark contrast of each other. The first is the tax collectors, namely Levi. And if you knew anything about tax collectors in this day and age, you would know that they are sinners, right? They were seen as the most visible jewish traitors in society, that they turned their back on their own people. They sided with the roman government, and in the name of money, they would extort people, they would oppress people, and they would become rich. They would, like, take the leftovers off the top, right? These tax collectors were kicked out of the synagogues. They were viewed as a complete disgrace to their family. And I think in a church of our size, the reality is, any given Sunday, there are people that walk in these doors and you feel like the tax collector. You know, you're the tax collector. You're like, man, if I look back on my life, let alone this last week, I understand a few things are true. I'm a mess. I've made a lot of mistakes. And what's probably true is you feel shame. You're asking the question, why am I here? I know I don't belong. I'm not like them. You feel like damaged goods, out of place, unwanted. And then there's this other camp. In this text, the Pharisees and their scribes, they're seen as the exact opposite. They're the religious elite, right? The hyper religious. The word Pharisee itself means separated I mean, these people were known to memorize the Torah by the time they were teenagers. Like, how many of us can memorize, like, two Bible verses? Come on. These guys memorized the Torah. And on top of that, they were very religious. They were strict in their adherence to the law. They would follow the written law. They added their own, like, religious rules on top of that to protect them from what they believed to be sin. Following over 600 rules to a t. And I think there's some of us in this room. That maybe better associate with the Pharisees and the scribes. You know, when I talked about the tax collector, you're like, yeah, I'm not that. I'm not one of those people. Right? I'm pretty good. In fact, maybe you came in and you're like, this makes a lot of sense to me. Of course I'm a Christian. Of course God would choose me. I'm pretty good. I come from a pretty good family. I have a pretty good past. And I think the question we're asking, at least first, is when you look at these two camps, the tax collector and the Pharisee, who does Jesus call? He calls the sinner, not the self righteous. Right? Jesus and his disciples are sitting and dining amongst these sinners. And the Pharisees are all up in arms. They're like, why would you guys hang out with those people? They're filthy. They're unclean. And Jesus says to them, verses 31 and 32. Those who are well have no need of a physician. But those who are sick. You have to believe he's picking up on these last two miracles. He's worked, right? Touching the leper, healing the paralytic. He's showing like, hey, guess what? I'm the great physician. And you know who I came for? People that are sick. Into the Pharisee mindset in the room, who maybe has come in. Pride has just crept into your life. And you started to say, yeah, it makes a lot of sense that God would choose me. I'm pretty good. I want you to know that what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees here. Is not that they actually are well. And that they have no need for a savior. He's speaking with an ironic undertone, saying, you don't even understand your need. But these sinners, they do. They see their need for a physician, and they're coming to me. And I think maybe we just need to recapture this reality that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us, right in our creed series, people are sinners. Jake said it this way, we are only human. None of us are perfect, right? In the church in Rome, there was a lot of back and forth between the Jews and the Gentiles and how they relate to the gospel and the law and grace and all of this. And Paul as a jew writes to this church and he says, what then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. We have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. As it is written, none is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside and together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. That is true of every single one of us apart from Christ. We are not righteous. We do not do good. We do not seek after God. And you might be thinking, well, I am a pretty good person. I've done good things. Let me remind you of what James said, right? Our James series wrapped up not too long ago. I know we're quick to forget, but James 210 for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of it all. That's the verdict, right? When it comes to self righteousness, the Bible is here to squash you and say, there's no room for self righteousness. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Oh, you've been perfect. Oh, wait, no. There was that one time. I know you've been wrong that one time. Guess what? Now you're guilty of it all. And the call for all of us is to actually see our need for a doctor. I've been amazed. I mean, looking at my own life, but also a lot of men that I do life alongside of. There's this adult male syndrome that it's like you get a cold and you're on your deathbed. But then the second you tear your rotator cuff, you don't need to go to a doctor. You know what I'm talking about. Okay, I'm afraid to say this is how so many of us act with our sin. This like you have a severe sickness called sin. And yet, for whatever reason, your pride has gotten to your head and you've said, it'll get better on its own, or I'm just going to fix it myself. And I'm here to tell you, you won't fix your sin yourself, and it will not magically go away or get better. But the best news is that you don't have to take care of it yourself. That's exactly why Jesus came, right? To be the good physician, to be the doctor that you can say, I need help. I am a sinner. I need a savior. And that you can storm into the throne room and God would say, healing grace. This is for you, Pharisees. We need to be crushed. But to the tax collector in the room, I'm telling you, if you have brought your shame into this place and you have said, man, I just don't belong here, you're downright wrong. You absolutely belong here. In fact, you are the perfect candidate to be in the room this morning. You're exactly who Jesus came for, the sinner who sees their need for a savior. And I would simply ask you, would you stop sitting in your shame? Would you look at the perfect life of Jesus Christ of Nazareth? Would you look at his gruesome death, his substitutionary death, in your place, and say, my sin and my shame were nailed to the cross so I don't have to carry it anymore? And would you trust that he really did rise from the dead to offer you newness of life and forgiveness and grace and mercy? Sinner, Jesus came for you. It's amazing news. But the question is now, okay, you see, you're a sinner. What does Jesus call you to? One word that we need to really point out in verse 32. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. To repentance, not license. Jesus calls sinners to repentance, not license. And if you don't know what that word license means in this term, it's essentially this mindset that says, hey, Jesus forgives me for all my sins, so I can go do whatever I want. That's not what Jesus is calling us to. And I'm afraid that's how a lot of this text has been used before, is to just permit sin and let people go do what they want and say, well, Jesus came for sinners and tax collectors, and so I'm gonna cut loose. No. Again, Paul was talking to the church in Rome on this very topic, grace in the law. How does this relate? He expects this counterargument in romans six. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin? That grace may abound with an exclamation mark? By no means. By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? And he talks about how we're brought into this relationship with Jesus, how baptism is a picture. The old us is dead. The new us is risen, just like Jesus died and rose from the grave. That's what happens when you become a Christian. You're called to repentance. Repentance newness of life. The word literally means a change of mind. A change of mind that there is not room for the person who comes as a sinner to just say, I'm going to come as I am, and I'm going to stay as I am. That makes no sense. And by the way, why would we want to? Sin is out to kill us. It makes life miserable. It separates us from the God who loves us. Why would we want to stay in sin? Right? The good news of the gospel is that we can come to Jesus as we are, and he loves us too much to leave us there. He calls us to repentance. What a gift. And this is a theme and thread throughout the entire scriptures. This is not just a New Testament concept. Right? When Israel, running from God, turned their back, you know, all in idol worship, they're taken away into babylonian captivity, and Ezekiel serves as a priest and prophet to them. Here's what he says. Ezekiel 18. If a wicked person turns right, this is repentance in action. Turns turning away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes, begins to obey God, does what is just and right. He shall surely live. He shall not die. Right? Ezekiel understood repentance. When Jesus steps on the scene to begin to actually preach and do ministry, mark one, what does he say? Repent and believe in the gospel. That's his call. Repent and believe in the gospel. Jesus ascends into heaven. He commissions his disciples, and Peter is preaching at Pentecost, preaches an incredible sermon. Thousands of people are cut to the heart, and they say, what must we do to be saved? What does Peter say? Repent and be baptized. Every single one of you. This call to repentance. And as you look at Levi's life in Luke five, it's very evident that he understood this, right? Jesus said to him, follow me. And in verse 28, it says, and leaving everything, he rose and followed him. Leaving everything, he rose and followed Jesus. Super interesting. As you study this text, you come to see that man. Was it a big deal for Peter to leave behind his fishing business last week? Yeah, it was. But you know what's true of fishermen? When they leave their job, they can always come back to it, right? And if you keep reading the gospel of John, you'll figure out Peter does go back to it. He denies Jesus three times. He's into shame. What's he doing? He's back in the boat. What Levi does here is nothing short of amazing. He leaves the tax, practice a job he would never get back. He would never be welcomed back to that career. He leaves his wealth, his opportunity to advance behind, because here's what he says. Jesus is better. He sees that Jesus is better, and he leaves everything behind. That's what repentance looks like turning. And I love the way that John Calvin has said. Repentance is not merely the start of the christian life, it is the christian life. What he's getting at is repentance is not this one time thing we do at church camp to start a relationship with Jesus. It's something we do every single day, an ongoing practice of turning from our sin and turning towards Jesus. And so the question I have to ask is, how's it going? How's repentance going? It's part of the christian life. But I think most of us don't really understand what repentance means or what it really looks like. And so I'd love to put a tool on the screen for you. This is not developed by me. It's been used throughout our network of churches for quite some time. It's called the repenter quadrant. For those of you that just graduated high school, I promise you, I'm not going math on you, okay? You see axis and you're freaking out, okay? Vertical axis is what we do with our mouth, okay? Confessing or concealing. The horizontal axis is what we're doing with our actions, our lives. And I want to start in the bottom left here. The bottom left of this quadrant is the hider. And I would argue if you are in the bottom left quadrant when it comes to your sin, you are not a Christian. That's hard news. But first, John three makes abundantly clear. If the spirit of God dwells within you, here's what you cannot do. Just keep living on in sin like nothing's happening. That's impossible for someone who has the spirit of God dwelling within you. You cannot be the hider. But there are hiders in this room, and the call is, stop hiding. But I trust most of us in this room are not there. But we miss in one of these two ditches. The first is the talker. The talker. This is the person who is pretty quick to talk about their sin. They see sin in their life, they know it for what it is, and they're confessing to God, maybe even confessing to other people. Right? Imagine with me you've struggled with discontentment before, hypothetically, not that you ever have, but you've struggled with discontentment. You have an overspending or an overeating problem, and you've come before God. And you've said, God, I am discontent. I know I should be satisfied in you, but I'm not. Please forgive me. You've gone to your connection group and you've said, hey, guys, I've really struggled with discontentment lately. Will you please pray for me? But that's all that happens. You say, will you please forgive me and will you please pray for me? But there's no change in your life. That's not repentance. It's false repentance. It's talking. It's a form of confession with your lips, but it's not showing up in your life. That's one way we miss, but another way we miss is to become the fixer. And I know if I did a raise of hands, I'd get a lot of hands raised here, okay, the fixer, it's the opposite of the talker. You don't want to talk to people about your sin, but you know it's a problem. So you're going to go cancel the Amazon prime account. You know, you're going to put your cash in your envelopes and you're going to let someone else keep an eye on what you're spending. But you're not willing to talk to God and tell him that it's a contentment problem. You're not willing, when it comes around at Connection group and people say, hey, how's it going to say I've been sinning against God because I've been discontent? I've been chasing the idol of pleasure in my spending. You won't do it. You won't talk about it. But James 516 says, if we confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, we will be healed. It's an invitation to confess to one another. And that's what it looks like to be the repenter. To confess first and foremost to God. God, I have sinned against you, a holy God. Please change my heart, change my mind, help me to hate my sin and to love you, to go to your community and to say, guys, I am struggling. I am struggling with discontentment. And I need somebody to help keep an eye on my finances. I need someone to check in with me and talk to me about my spending habits and that they would actually fight for you and fight with you as you seek by the spirit of God to make changes for the sake of your holiness. That's what repentance looks like, and that's what we are swept up into as members of the family of God that Jesus calls sinners to repentance. But now the question is, why? 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. And I think this is a giant assumption that just needs challenge today, that the good news of the gospel is not primarily about you. It's not about you. It's not about me. You guys 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. One pastor and author by the name of Robbie Galdi 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 protected from this Pharisee mindset. Right? You see the Pharisees in Luke five, they're okay with this quarantined religion, remaining separate from the lost of the world, staying in their holy huddle. And 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. Right? What does Levi do? What does the tax collector do when he encounters Jesus? Yes, he leaves everything. But then in verse 29, what does he do? 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 worshipped. Almost as if that's true, right? Church man. 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. The first two years. Now, a lot of that is because of your social circle. And I would say I understand that. Right. Levi here, he's 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, again, pride has crept 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, like, really zealous. And trust me, I've been there before. Right. 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 in, engage with or entertain their sin? What does he do? He cooks them a meal. He has them over. Right? 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. It's like, create common ground. Don't be so, like, 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. But also, 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, right? 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 in inviting Jesus and his disciples over, there's like 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. And you guys, this theme and thread of, like, Jesus saving you for somebody else is again littered throughout the New Testament. In fact, littered throughout the Old Testament. Go read Genesis twelve, Abram. Right. I will make your name great. I will bless you. Why? So that you will be a blessing. Peter in one, Peter two, 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. Right? Paul outlines this to Timothy in one Timothy one. I'm going to paraphrase it for you, but one Timothy 116 17. Write it down. Here's what he's saying. 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. Jesus calls sinners through repentance for the spread of the gospel. A few clear action steps for us coming out of this text. 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. Secondly, start repenting again. 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, right? 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. And then 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 five, 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. And 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 ourself, right, 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 verse 17, to the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God. Be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray together. Yeah. Father, you are a good God. You are a pursuant God. You move towards Levi in Luke five. God. And you have moved towards us in the person and work of Christ Jesus. Thank you that you came to be the great physician for us sick sinners who could not heal ourselves and that your life was perfect, your death was sufficient and your resurrection is real. God ineffective thank you for calling us to newness of life, the gift of repentance that we no longer have to be enslaved to sin, but that by your spirit you can change our minds. Please change our minds about our sin. Provide us with brothers and sisters who can help us hate our sin more. Thank God. Please protect us from keeping the good news of the gospel to ourselves. Protect us from a Pharisee mindset that says this is all about our holy huddle and we cannot engage with those people out there. God, give us eyes to see people as you would see people like sheep without a shepherd to be stirred with compassion and to say, come to my dinner table, eat a meal and let me tell you about the bread of life who will satisfy yourself soul forever. God, put people on our hearts and minds, create gospel opportunities this summer and God would you be the one that gets all the glory? We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.