Calling All Sinners

Well good morning. Good morning balcony. Hey wasn't that cool that last hymn that I thought the worship team really brought us to church that was awesome. Loved it. By the way my name is Mark one of the pastors here I want to welcome all of you. We got people here we got people next door and venue. Some people joining us on Facebook live. I want to welcome all of you even those of you that are gonna watch us sometime online in the future. However you join us today we are glad you're here.

I want to extend greetings from René. I talked to him yesterday he's in Israel right now and he's there because in large part he there he's putting together materials for our fall series on the life of David. He's been shooting videos he's been shooting videos right on location that will be used for our small groups in the fall and all sorts of stuff that's gonna be in the book that he's writing and so I just invite you to keep him and the rest of team in prayer. We look forward to all the good things that God brings out of that.

But back here at the ranch we are in a series called 77 not because that's the magic number or anything like that it's because we started this series exactly 77 days before Easter so that's how creative we are as a staff. I came up with that title and truth be told what we're trying to do is follow the life and ministry of Jesus up until Easter so that we might gain a better appreciation of how someone known for his goodness and his love would end up being crucified on a cross.

And today we're gonna see how the tension begins to mount between Jesus and a group of religious leaders some of whom will eventually call for his death. But before we get to that I put a theme verse at the top of your notes it's also going to be on screen. This is a verse from 2 Corinthians 5:16 and I chose this because I think it's an interpretive key to the main passage that we're gonna see today in Luke's gospel. Not only that it gives us the big idea gives us really I think the main application as well and Paul says this he says and in fact I want you to read this out loud with me let me hear you read this here we go.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view literally we regard no one according to the flesh says in the original. Now what does that mean? Well look around we've got national ethnic political religious identities cultural sexual gender identities your zip code your educational level your economic status your language your behavior your beliefs all of these things form our identities it's how we define ourselves and others how we answer the question are you part of my tribe or not. We all do this but Jesus looks beyond all of us.

Jesus looks at the person. Jesus looks at a precious priceless soul. One of the best bits of advice I ever received when I was starting out as a pastor one of the other pastors here on staff that had more experience than me pulled me aside one day and he said Mark always remember everybody's got a story everybody's got a story. I was reminded of that in large part this last week I was in the grocery store and I came up to the checkout aisle and there was a woman in front of me and the checker who I've gotten to know over the last couple years she's talking to this woman and she says to her she says man it has just been one of those days and then she glances over at me and says oh and now he showed up.

I know exactly how to take that I just laughed and I said well it's so great to see you too and glad that I could add to this this day of yours and she says no no no no why didn't mean that. She says it's just that today especially these last couple days it's all just been there's been so much spiritual weirdness and now look here's you. So again she knows what I do knows I'm a professional Christian and I never really thought I never really thought of that entailing you know spreading spiritual weirdness but hey I guess in her mind that's what it is.

Now actually she didn't mean that either this woman in front of us now sensing that perhaps a spiritual discussion may ensue she kind of fast-tracks it to the exit and this checker she leans into me and she says under her breath well you know my son died I told you this didn't I tell you this before I said oh no I'm so sorry I never knew that I said what happened and she begins to tell me just a little bit of her story a story of how she tragically lost her teenage son and even though it happened many years ago the anniversary of that loss landed in this week and so it was all very there it just bubbling up inside her soul and drawing on my own experience I said the heart has a way of keeping track of the calendar she says yeah it sure does.

Again I expressed my sympathies to her I wished her well and then I walked out. I'm driving home and I'm praying for her and her family especially during this week and that's when the verse you see on screen exploded into my brain because I believe the Holy Spirit was reminding me that so often that's exactly what I do I see people just the way the world does by their appearance by what they do by their accomplishments or lack thereof whatever I was reminded of that by the story of this woman and so how how often you know I'm in the store I don't even know what her story if it involves Jesus if it doesn't involve Jesus my point is I didn't really even know her story I didn't really think of her having a story I'm just most of the time thinking about which line I can get through the quickest you know what I'm saying.

Jesus calls us to see people differently not like the world does but to see them as a precious person that he's created and not only that but at the foot of the cross whatever differences we may think we have at the foot of the cross we're all the same we're all broken we're all needy we're all sinners in need of a Savior and so I'm here today to remind you that Jesus is calling all sinners and that is really good news because do we have any sinners here today yeah that's all we have all right it's all we have and so I'm gonna invite you as I invite myself to open yourself up to God's Word today and see how Jesus may be calling you even today.

We're gonna be in Luke chapter 5 we were in the beginning of Luke 5 last week Doug Valenzuela shared a great message on the calling of Simon Peter and if you reflect on that story I think most of us we're not all that shocked that Jesus would call someone like Peter Peter's kind of like the everyman he's had the average working guy he's not perfect he's got rough edges by his own admission he's a sinner but you know Jesus had to call somebody so why not Peter and after all Jesus needed his boat from time to time so it's like you're perfect you're in follow me Peter does.

But a little bit later in this chapter Jesus is going to call someone who no one would ever have suspected in fact it wasn't just surprising it was scandalous that Jesus would call this particular disciple we're gonna pick up his story again Luke chapter 5 we're at verse 27 his story begins and it says after this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at the tax booth follow me Jesus said to him and Levi got up left everything and followed him.

Now let's just hit the pause button there for just a moment because in piecing together the various stories in the gospels where Jesus calls people to follow especially the original 12 by my reckoning this is the seventh person that Jesus has called seventh person on the planet called to be a disciple of Jesus and we know a little bit about Levi obviously he's his occupation is given to us but also he's called Matthew elsewhere in fact in Mark's get Matthew's gospel he it's the same guy but it's called Matthew and he's believed to be the person who wrote Matthew's gospel.

And if we're church people we just kind of accept all this but let me remind you again what he did for a living he was a tax collector. Now how many of you enjoy paying taxes every service someone raises their hand what a what a citizen amazing I don't care how much you despise it it's really hard for us to get inside of the minds of the people of this day the day of Jesus how much they absolutely loathe the tax collectors. Here's why let me give you a little bit of background the Romans outsourced the collection of taxes to whoever the highest bidder was so if you got the winning bid that's what you were obligated to turn over to Rome anything above and beyond that you got to pocket.

So now imagine Levi he's a Jew he's collecting taxes from his own countrymen ripping them off in the way of profits giving the money to the pagan oppressors. I mean this guy could not be any lower on the social strata and so when people they looked at Levi and by the way there's this kind of vicious cycle in this because the more he taxes people the more they hate him the more he what taxes them he's got nothing to lose you don't like me you know pay up.

Mark's gospel tells us that Levi's tax booth is right by the same lake where Peter James John have their boats in other words they all live in the same town Levi has been taxing Peter and the other guys you imagine they come in with their catch of fish and there's Levi just wait to take his cats they hate this guy and now Jesus is calling him to join their band of merry men are you serious Jesus I mean I'm gonna be his roommate no way guy has ripped me off and by the way it's an aside any bit any amount that the disciples like Peter felt special when they were called I mean it just dissipated in this moment when Jesus looks at Levi the scoundrel and says follow me.

And just like that gets up leaves behind his tax booth forever and again this was so radical I mean talk about cutting the cord because you know for Peter and the other fishermen if the soul following Jesus thing doesn't work out they can go back to their previous occupation in fact that's exactly what they did when Jesus was crucified they go back and they should start fishing again okay we lost a couple years but at least we landed on our feet there is no way Levi can ever go back to the tax office there's no way the Romans would ever take him back so this is just an absolute departure from his old life he has cut off all future source of income as far as he can tell.

And so what do you do when you find yourself in that kind of situation? Well if you're Levi you throw a party and not just a little one it says picking up the story at verse 29 then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house in a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belong to their sect complained to his disciples that word complained in the original it's a it's a great word it's the word go good so.

Go good so say that out loud go good so you know say it three times fast go good so go good so go good so yeah it sounds like what it means okay so the Pharisees they're off to the side this part they're got good doing to each other grumbling and they say to the disciples why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners and that the word you there it's plural so it's like why do all y'all eat with tax collectors and sinners that is not done and I imagine Peter he just kind of shrugs his shoulders and points to Jesus and says well because that's what he does.

Now I don't know what kind of church you grew up in maybe it was a little button down a little stuffy I'd even call it a little legalistic this has got to make you squirm just a little bit to imagine Jesus sitting with these tax collectors Luke calls them and others who are they well the only people that will hang out with tax collectors fellow members of this is the bottom of society and you're like Jesus don't you know what good church people are gonna think about this I mean come on I have to imagine you know the number one prayer request in all the Bible studies and small groups in in this area of Judea that week were oh pray for Jesus he has really fallen in with the wrong people and amen do you know what he's doing tax collectors and sinners.

I mean if you're a Pharisee you are offended by this if you're a Pharisee you know you see the wrong kind of people you turn the other way you cross the street you know you don't even want to get what they got on you but Jesus he rushes right in to this crowd of outcasts and sinners and he's eating and drinking with them why would he do that because he loves them just like he loves you and he loves me like I said you have any sinners here today it's all reminds me of a great story I heard like 20 years ago you may have heard it as well there's a guy named Tony Campolo he was like the rock star of Christian conference speakers 20 years ago in 80s 90s I guess that's like 30 years ago but anyway he was invited to speak at this conference in Honolulu and being from the East Coast he gets there his eternal clock is six hours ahead so the first night he wakes up at like 2 in the morning he wants breakfast and so he gets dressed he goes down in downtown Honolulu looking for a restaurant that's open and the only place that he can find is just this dive this little diner goes inside sits down the guy across the counter is this big guy named Harry and Tony orders a cup of coffee and a greasy donut from him.

And about 3:30 eight nine women dressed very much like ladies of the night come busting through the door they're kind of loud and boisterous and it's a small little diner which is kind of the counter and the little stools and so they sit on either side of him they're talking and he's thinking to himself that this would look great for all the people at the conferences now see their keynote speaker here tonight right now and then he overhears one of them say tomorrow's my birthday gotta be 39 and immediately one of the other one says so what what do you want me to do you know throw you a party make you cakes and you a song it's like no just thinking about just just saying.

Well after they leave Tony turns to Harry and says those ladies do they come in here every night oh yeah come here every night about the same time Harry says and the one with the birthday tomorrow her - oh Agnes yeah yeah she comes every night he looks at him kind of suspiciously what do you want to know can't pull this as well I was I was thinking we could throw a birthday party Harry loves this idea in fact he volunteers he insists on making the cake and and then he tells his wife about it she somehow gets word to all of Agnes's friends that there's gonna be a surprise party for her next morning campola arrives early to decorate the diner with all sorts of birthday stuff 3:30 Agnes comes through the door and everyone else erupts surprise happy birthday Agnes can polo says he has never seen a more stunned look on a person's face in his entire life she's literally shaking they help her to one of the stools where they begin to sing happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Agnes and then Harry proudly puts the cake in front of her with all the candles lit okay Agnes blow out the candles she's just staring at finally she blows out the candles and he hands her a knife and says okay cut the cake Agnes cut the cake everybody wants a piece of cake come on boy cut.

Agnes says well would it be okay if I just kind of kept it like this for a little while that'd be okay sure Agnes I mean it's your cake yeah take it home whatever it's yours she looks at campola and says yeah I just live a couple doors down I won't be long and then he says she picks up the cake like it's the holy Grail and she walks out of the diner leaving the rest of them in stunned silence.

Well after a couple awkward moments Tony Campola says he just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind he says what do you say we pray and so he leads them in prayer right then and there he prays for Agnes prays that she would know the love of Jesus in her life says amen when he opens his eyes there's Harry glaring at him across the counter you never said you were no preacher what kind of church do you belong to anyway and Campolo says in a moment when just the right words came to him that he answered I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning that great.

Yeah Harry says no no you don't there ain't no church like that if there was a church like that I'd join it I'd join it and wouldn't we all what it was sad thing what a tragedy when churches when Christians take their cues more from the Pharisees than from Jesus who ate and drank with sinners of every stripe.

Now to be clear look you want to take the story and run with it and and call actual sin outreach then you're not reading it right but at the same time if all you ever do is surround yourself with people just like you you know fellow Christians they believe the same thing they talk the same way they view the world the same way if that's all you ever do if somehow without even trying your life has been reduced to this this Christian bubble then this text this is a reminder to you and to me that Jesus came to call all sinners to reach out to them to build genuine friendships with them not to shout at them I doubt you're shouting at them but not to ignore them either not to write them off because he's loving them and he calls us to follow his lead.

In other words he calls us as Christians at this church to be faithful to him and who he is to be faithful to his word faithful in our ethics and at the same time radical in our welcome bold in our outreach and you know if we do that right it will raise some eyebrows from time to time if we're doing it right but Jesus says to this to the Pharisees when they ask well why why do you do this he answers in verses 31 and 32 it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick I've not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Now there's a bit of irony in his answer there because truth be told there's no such thing as the righteous there's no such thing as a righteous person scriptures very clear all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God what there is is two kinds of sinners sinners who know and admit that they are sinners and sinners who don't you see if you you'll never have any use for the doctor's call until you realize just how sick you are.

So how about you how might Jesus be calling you today and if he is I just want to very quickly unpack three ways that I believe Jesus calls you Jesus calls me and if you're a note-taker here's your moment it's time to write some stuff down because first of all Jesus calls me to follow him now that's obvious from this story and elsewhere he calls me to follow him but what does that mean to become one of his disciples it means this it means that first of all Jesus loves you just the way you are just the way you are whether you carry the shame of some sin from your past from this week from this morning Jesus loves you just the way you are and don't miss this he loves you too much to leave you that way.

Like you heard me say before you let Jesus through the front door he's gonna take over the whole house okay that's why we call him Lord and so along the way he's going to begin to change my thinking about certain things whether it's behaviors attitudes outlooks he's going to start to change my mind in fact that's what repentance literally means it means to change your mind to begin to see things the way that Jesus sees them and that's what he's doing in all of us when we begin to follow him and he doesn't change our lives simply for pragmatic reasons sometimes we think that's the end-all be-all that I'll just you know make fewer stupid decisions or or fewer hurtful things for myself others that's all great that's a blessing but that's not really the end of it all it's it's that Jesus is glorified through his people.

Jesus is glorified when people see him in us and so he's changing us so that we resemble him all the more as time goes by this see this being a disciple thing this being a student of Jesus it's not just about information it's about transformation he's taking us somewhere.

The second thing is that as this begins to happen he we realize that he's calling us into friendship with him that Jesus actually calls us his friends and there's an intimacy there's a relationship that deepens over time as we feel this bond between us and him through the spirit that dwells inside of us and the amazing thing is that he's actually proud to call us his friends now you you may be ashamed of yourself he's not ashamed of you in fact just two chapters later in chapter 7 verse 34 Jesus is addressing basically the same complaint from another group of Pharisees and he says this to them he says the son of man came eating and drinking and you say here is a glutton and a drunkard a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

Now was Jesus actually a glutton and a drunkard no but he had friends that were he had friends that were tax collectors and sinners which is great news because it means he's he's not afraid to be my friend too you know he's like you guys you want it you will put that badge on me that's fine I love these people he calls me to follow him he calls us to a friendship and third he calls each one of us to forward his message to others to forward his message.

Ever been so excited about something you just couldn't keep a lid on it you know what I mean I was thinking this week about when Laura and I were on our honeymoon and even though we were over 3,000 miles away from here around people who had never met us it was amazing how many people came up to us during that time and congratulated us on our new marriage you know or looking at each other a certain way over dinner or the way we're walking holding hands people go newlyweds congratulations yeah how do they know that well when your heart is full it just spills out into everything you say everything you do and look at here's Levi he's so excited that Jesus has called him he throws this massive party why so that his friends will have an opportunity to meet Jesus too and you have to believe some of them ended up following Jesus because they were at that party.

And not only that but Levi Matthew goes on to write one of the four gospels talking about you know talk about forwarding the message we know things about Jesus and his message directly because Matthew wasn't willing to keep a lid on what Jesus had done in his life he just wanted to share it with others and my prayer for us Twin Lakes Church is that this week our hearts would be so full of love and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us the very things that we've been singing about this morning that it would just overflow into to offices and work sites and coffee houses and yes grocery store checkout aisles and people would sense I think I just met someone who's been called by Jesus because they see me differently.

What if that were to happen? Well it brings us to what I think is one of the most important questions that that we could ever ask ourselves in fact I think it's like the most important question you could ever ask no exaggeration there not for extra impact the most important question we can ever ask ourselves is this is have I answered his call if he's called you if he's calling you what do you do with that will you answer now many of us today might say yeah I answered his call to me I you know went forward or I prayed a prayer camp or something like that but how is he calling you today?

How is he calling you? Perhaps right now speaking candidly this week I believe Jesus called me to repentance when I was driving in the car challenging me on how I see people sometimes under kind of a superficial way or put them into little boxes as opposed to remembering that they have a story and then I might have a chance to share Jesus with them that's one area that that I felt him calling me to repent of how about you how is he calling you how is he calling you to to trust him right now maybe you have a situation there are more questions than answers and so you find yourself kind of stuck like when I get more answers I'll be I'll be willing to kind of move from this point and Jesus goes come on we got places to go but in order to get there you may have to leave behind the things that will hold you back like Matthew did like the other disciples did whatever it was that was going to keep them from following they abandoned it they left it behind because the person that called them was far more wondrous than anything anything else.

Finally how is he calling you to forward his message is there someone in your life someone in your street someone in your on your job or at the gym and you know you have the same conversation every time and yet if you haven't already would you dare to pray this week that that God would give you an opportunity to learn their story to hear their story to be mindful that they have one would you dare to pray that that that would happen and that in the due course of time that you in response with sensitivity and humility would be able to share your story with them which includes what Jesus has done for you would you be willing to do that?

Because again my prayer is that that it would just go out through this town this needy community here in Santa Cruz that people that don't have the blessing that you and I have right now would have it because they would learn about the fact that Jesus is calling them to that Jesus loves them and you might be thinking well you know Mark I aspire towards that but my life is so messed up right now I can't imagine I could ever be a blessing to anyone else.

Well if that's the way you feel I just want to bring you to a scripture it's a prayer that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians Christians and by extension it applies to each of us he says this in 2 Thessalonians starting at verse 11 when he says this so we keep on praying for you asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call may he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live and you will be honored along with him.

Now don't miss this last line this is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ it's not about your power not about my power it never has been it's always about his power his grace that enables us to live out his call all we do is is say bring on Jesus I want to open myself up to that I want to surrender to that I want to answer the call that you have for me today.

And to show you how dramatic a difference that can make I just want to leave you with a final example it's about the man of the life of a man whose occupation was actually worse than Levi's by a long stretch because he's what we would call a human trafficker a slave trader many of you know his story a man named John Newton.

John Newton's life begins to take a radical turn when piloting his ship between Africa and England the ship gets caught in a terrible storm battered for days finally John Newton and avowed atheist cries out Lord have mercy on us and the Lord does and his ship makes it back to port but now John's life is turned upside down he will leave behind the slave trade he will eventually become a pastor in fact along the way he will also write a lot of hymns including one we call Amazing Grace the most popular song ever written in the English language ever.

Why? I believe because so many of us resonate with its story well in a movie entitled the same Amazing Grace there's a powerful scene where John Newton takes his story that he's written out and he's talking to his young apprentice William Wilberforce he's hoping that he will use that story to go against the evil of the African slave trade something that William Wilberforce actually did he led the charge that led to the abolition of slave trade in England and eventually it spilled over here into the States.

What a difference that started with one man's changed life watch the screen this is my confession you must use it names ships records ports people everything I remember is in here although my memory is fading I remember two things very clearly I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior you must publish it throw a hole in their boat with it damn them with it I wish I could remember all their names my 20,000 ghosts they all have name beautiful African names we call them with just grunts noises we were apes very well we're being I couldn't wait till I wrote this I once was blind but now I see did I write that - yes you did well now at last it's true now go with a cup with lots of work to do you and I well friends we have lots of work to do - you and I Jesus is calling all sinners and he's inviting us to include our story in his amazing story as he reaches out to a lost and broken world.

Let's pray heavenly father we thank you for this opportunity to come before you and place ourselves under your word and Lord I pray that your spirit would apply it to our hearts I pray Lord that there are those here today that they have heard your call for the very first time maybe they've been kind of around the periphery of this church kind of checking it out and and yet today very clearly your voice has reached them and they understand that while they are a sinner while they not only do they not live up to their own standards they certainly don't live up to yours but that Lord you reach out to them and you want to redeem them and you did that through your son Jesus taking their sin upon himself dying on a cross and rising from the dead defeating both sin and death in one fell swoop and they want to place themselves in your care they want to say Jesus I want to follow you to count me in.

If that's you you can just say that succinctly Jesus count me in I pray Lord that you give that person others in their life that could help them in that journey as they begin to follow you as you begin to absorb their life and transform their life in the most beautiful way and Lord I pray for the those of us who call you Lord we have maybe for years I pray that you would just light a fire in our hearts today give us a burden a loving burden for those around us who don't yet know you and just help us with sensitivity with wisdom with grace with integrity to represent you to further the message we pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and everybody said Amen.