Invited - Week 3

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Will you bow your heads? Let's pray. [00:00:02] Speaker B: Dear Father, we open up your word [00:00:05] Speaker A: in pursuit of you. [00:00:08] Speaker B: We open up your word so that [00:00:09] Speaker A: our hearts can be rooted in what is true. [00:00:14] Speaker B: I pray today, Father, that you would. [00:00:17] Speaker A: That you would lead us into what you want to expose and to reveal for us today. I pray that we. That we walk out of here with an understanding that Jesus is a good savior, that Jesus is a faithful savior. And I pray that we would find hope in that reality. I pray that we would find hope in that precious truth that Jesus saves. And there is grace that is available for us today, a grace that penetrates the soul, a grace that causes us to leave and become different. So, Lord, let us see and receive your grace. Bless us, I pray. Help us, I pray. Strengthen us, I pray. Send your son's perfect and holy and wonderful name is who I pray. [00:01:18] Speaker B: Amen. [00:01:19] Speaker A: Amen and amen. [00:01:21] Speaker B: Well, good morning again, Christ Church. How we feeling this morning? As Sierra said, we have a big, big, big Sunday next week, Fall Fest. Make sure you are there. And kiddos, if you have kiddos, heck, even if you adults want to wear your best and favorite costumes. All right, I'm going to be dressing up as Buzz Lightyear. I've been preparing you all week for that. [00:01:45] Speaker A: So. [00:01:45] Speaker B: So Buzz Lightyear is what I'm gonna be coming up. Call me Pastor Buzz. It's. It's gonna be a great, great Sunday. I cannot wait to hang out with you guys for that weekend. Lots going on. [00:01:56] Speaker A: So make sure that you are there for the Fall Fest we have going on. [00:02:01] Speaker B: But today we are continuing in our sermon series. We're in week three, weeks three of a sermon series titled Invited. And what we've been discussing discovering throughout this series more and more is that Jesus, he goes to individuals and he invites them. Right. One thing that Jesus tells us is that God doesn't force you to follow him, but rather he comes to you [00:02:30] Speaker A: and he invites you into something you radically need. Right? [00:02:36] Speaker B: And through these invitations that we have been discovering that we've been reading throughout the Gospel, through these invitations, we are. We are getting to know who is Jesus. [00:02:46] Speaker A: Right? [00:02:47] Speaker B: Right. Who is Jesus? But also through these invitations, we're discovering who we are as well. [00:02:54] Speaker A: Right. But also we're learning what Jesus is inviting us into through these invitations. [00:03:03] Speaker B: So that's what we've been discovering. That's what we've been walking through through each and every one of these weeks. [00:03:09] Speaker A: Understanding more and more, what do these invitations mean? [00:03:14] Speaker B: Before I break down Luke 5 and before we jump into this wonderful passage. Long ago, when I was employed at a former employer, I was a part of the hiring process for a potential employee, and my job was to call their references. Obviously, you guys know when you apply for a job, they ask for references and, you know, you're supposed to follow up those references. So that was a part of my job. So I had the responsibility of calling them. And normally when someone gives you references, you expect that the people that you call are going to give some amazing type of details about the individual. [00:03:59] Speaker A: Not in this situation, [00:04:03] Speaker B: I kid you not. Now, remember, this is my first time ever doing this. Now, I've been through, you know, processes where I've given references, and, you know, my mindset is, let me make sure I put down my wife. Let me make sure I put down this person and that person and whoever else. Every person I called gave me a poor review. They were saying, hey, don't hire this person. And I was like, okay, we're talking about this person, right? They were like, yeah, they're unreliable, right? They have that. They have character issues, character flaws, all of this. Every single reference pointed out red flags. And eventually I just remember going to the employer and saying, yeah, I don't think this is going to work. Right? I don't think this is going to pan out. And. And if you think about that, when deciding if someone belongs or whether they fit in or whether they deserve an opportunity, right. Normally, what we do, what do we do? We look at their record, right? We look at their background, we look at their history. We go out and we ask others who are familiar with them, tell us a little bit about this particular person. Soon as we hear things that don't line up, soon as we hear things that are red flags to us, we will eventually land at a place where [00:05:34] Speaker A: we say, you're disqualified. [00:05:37] Speaker B: You don't make the cut. Which is good practice, right. In many ways, especially with your jobs and whatnot. [00:05:45] Speaker A: Right? [00:05:46] Speaker B: Right. Because. [00:05:47] Speaker A: Because if you have a past, right. [00:05:50] Speaker B: If you have some things in your [00:05:53] Speaker A: former life and it shows up in [00:05:56] Speaker B: the present life, well, it's easy to [00:05:59] Speaker A: allow that to be a place where people would cut you off, right? [00:06:05] Speaker B: Now, let's take that spiritually for some [00:06:09] Speaker A: of us, if not all of us, [00:06:12] Speaker B: have a past, [00:06:15] Speaker A: right. A reputation, right. [00:06:19] Speaker B: Some things that we hope to keep [00:06:23] Speaker A: secret, whatever it may be. Right? [00:06:27] Speaker B: And a lot of us know that there are just some things about us [00:06:32] Speaker A: that automatically should disqualify us. [00:06:37] Speaker B: But what we're going to see today in our passage, where we're going to understand in our reading today where we're going to see in the invitation of Jesus that the gospel message is radically different, that the gospel message with Jesus invitation. See, the gospel message is for those who don't, just who don't have a spotless background, not for those who have a clean reputation. What we are going to see and what we're going to understand in this particular text is that the gospel is Jesus rescuing people who are going in [00:07:19] Speaker A: the wrong direction, [00:07:22] Speaker B: that the gospel is Jesus rescuing people who are heading towards [00:07:28] Speaker A: the wrong direction in their lives who need new direction. And the invitation of Jesus is for peoples whose lives need new direction, that the invitation of Christ for each and every one of us is for the people who need new direction today. [00:07:58] Speaker B: And that's what we're going to discover as we land and as we continue in this particular series and as we look at Jesus interacting with certain people. And today we're looking at this guy by the name of Levi. Now, if you're unfamiliar with the Bible, Levi is Matthew, one of the gospel writers, the first book in the New Testament. If you're in ancient Jerusalem or Jews, they would have been. They would have. It would have been known for them to have many different names. And so he's known as Matthew. But. But Luke, another gospel writer, addresses him as Levi. [00:08:34] Speaker A: Addresses him as Levi. [00:08:36] Speaker B: And we're gonna see in this particular [00:08:38] Speaker A: story, what does it look like for God to call people who others would automatically cancel? Don't we live in a cancel culture, y'? All? [00:08:53] Speaker B: As soon as, like, I remember reading about a certain celebrity who posted something years ago on Twitter, years ago, when they were calling at Twitter years and years and years ago, and somehow it pops up 15 years later. [00:09:08] Speaker A: And now they're trying to cancel this person, right? [00:09:11] Speaker B: Because of what they said, because of what they did, because of their thoughts, because of their beliefs, whatever it may be. [00:09:18] Speaker A: But we're gonna look at how does Jesus handle someone whom others would cancel them? It's a beautiful story. It's a beautiful story that we find in the Gospel of Luke. As a matter of fact, it's recorded in many and several of the gospels. [00:09:38] Speaker B: So let's go ahead and pick it back up. We find ourselves in Luke, chapter five throughout Jesus ministry. And here we go again. It begins in verse 27. It says this after this particular events took place. So Luke is continuing a story or continuing his narrative after this, Jesus went out and he saw a tax collector. Now, this detail is important. Whenever you read the Bible, ask yourself, why are you telling Us, this person's job. Why are you telling us what this person did? [00:10:16] Speaker A: Why are you giving us their names? Right? [00:10:19] Speaker B: Remember, these writers are like you and I, they're thinkers, right? We believe that they're inspired by the Holy Spirit and that spirit is guiding [00:10:28] Speaker A: them as they write this down. But you gotta ask, why? Tell us about Levi's job. Why does that matter? [00:10:36] Speaker B: Well, if you're unfamiliar with the scriptures, tax collectors, they were nothing but employers. Those who worked for the Roman government, but they didn't just work for the Roman government, they were tax collectors. [00:10:49] Speaker A: Right? [00:10:50] Speaker B: Right. [00:10:50] Speaker A: I hate it when they call me right. [00:10:53] Speaker B: But they weren't just any other tax collectors. They worked for the Roman government. And these tax collectors, it was a job that was very dirty. It was a job that you went to other people and you collected taxes from them, but you did it in a very corrupt way, right? You collected from them more than what was actually expected. Right? Because you made a revenue off it, and you have to actually help Rome make a certain revenue off it as well. [00:11:27] Speaker A: So automatically, Luke tells us, Levi had a crooked life. He lived a crooked life. He lied to people to receive more. He was corrupt and he knew what he was doing and he knew that it was wrong. And not only that, Levi is Jewish and Levi works for the Romans. The Romans don't like the Jews and the Jews don't like the Romans. But the problem is the Romans happened to be the superpower at the time. Luke automatically tells us this guy lived a very shaky life. [00:12:10] Speaker B: Right off the bat, he was a tax collector. If you were a Jew reading this in its original form, in original time, you would have been like a tax collector. [00:12:20] Speaker A: But notice what happens next. [00:12:24] Speaker B: It says as this, Jesus went out and he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Right? [00:12:32] Speaker B: That this would have been the place where probably where Jesus was. Where Jesus was at, he's probably was sitting. [00:12:39] Speaker A: I'm sorry, Levi was sitting at a [00:12:41] Speaker B: place where, as people were passing by, [00:12:43] Speaker A: he would collect taxes from them. Right. [00:12:45] Speaker B: Probably were fishermen or other labor workers, whatever it may be. [00:12:49] Speaker A: Right? [00:12:50] Speaker B: So he would literally sit in the middle, right? Or sit at a place as people pass by. [00:12:54] Speaker A: He's like, you owe me this, you [00:12:56] Speaker B: owe me that, you owe me this, you owe me that. [00:13:00] Speaker A: And the Bible says that Jesus saw him sitting at the textbook. And what does Jesus say? Follow me. That's interesting. Jesus says, follow me in verse 28. Look what it says. Levi got up and left everything and followed him. [00:13:24] Speaker B: The reason why this story has so much power is because we have to understand Jesus and Levi. Jesus, holy God, Levi. Living a very, very questionable lifestyle. Living a very questionable lifestyle. And yet Jesus, when he sees him, he doesn't say, hey, you fool, go and get your life together. He didn't say, hey, man, you're getting life wrong, right? Do better. [00:14:02] Speaker A: No. What does Jesus say to the one who has been living a questionable lifestyle? What does Jesus say to the one who has been heading in the wrong direction? What does Jesus say to the one who's been getting it wrong? What does Jesus say? What does he say? Follow me, Follow me. [00:14:22] Speaker B: Now, on paper, if you look at Levi's life, it doesn't appear to be falling apart. He has a job, he has resources. And we keep reading in the text, we see that he has friends, he's got a home, right? Nothing in his life seemed to indicate that his life was in shambles or things weren't going well, right? But here's what he truly lacked, because there were some of those things that he had. There was something that all those things [00:14:57] Speaker A: could never give him, and that is life with God. What does this passage remind us of? Listen to me. You can build a successful life and still be lost without God. You see that text? Nothing indicates Levi. He was struggling. It doesn't say it. [00:15:23] Speaker B: Nothing says, like Levi, man. He was crying and he was, you know, he was so anxious and worried and nothing. Levi was just doing his own thing. His life was working. You could build a functional life. You can build a life that works. But at the end of the day, there is something deep within the human soul that still needs to connect with [00:15:51] Speaker A: God, that still needs to connect with God. My sons, not too long ago, during [00:15:57] Speaker B: the summer, the flowers, these tools. [00:16:00] Speaker A: Can I tell you what these fools did? They went across the street to the neighbor's yard and picked their flowers that they worked so hard for. [00:16:08] Speaker B: I said, those are their mother's kids right there, man. [00:16:11] Speaker A: These kids, they went over there, they [00:16:13] Speaker B: got all these flowers. I'm like, boys, what are you doing? They said, we got flowers for Mommy. And I said, aw, but still, like, you just. Anyway, I see what you're doing. Well, anyway, my wife was at work. They fell asleep. They weren't able to give it to her. They left the flowers outside. Few days go by, and then they remember that they got Mommy flowers, right? And then they went to the get. They were. They. They found the flowers. And as soon as they found them, [00:16:41] Speaker A: they found the flowers withered. [00:16:44] Speaker B: They said, dad, what happened? [00:16:46] Speaker A: I said, well, son, when it was connected to the root, it had its beauty. But as soon as you disconnected it, as soon as you tore it from its original root, separation began to reveal itself. Separation began to reveal itself. And here's what the one thing that I've noticed. You can have money, you can have relationships, you can have the right career, you can have the right looks, but you still need Jesus. Because truth of the matter is his friends. Humanity was never created to flourish apart from God. We were never meant to flourish apart from God. Levi had a life that worked, but spiritually he was lost. He had a life that looked good, right? He had a life, that man, that seemed to be going fine. But there was something he desperately needed because humanity's deepest need. Listen to me, this is going to challenge you. Our deepest need is not for a better life. Our deepest need is not for an easier life. Our deepest need is not for a life that's a little bit more simple. You know what our need is, friends? Our deepest need is God. Our deepest need is God, is a life with him. It's a life that's connected to him, that knows him. Because the great illusion to life is if I build a life that's working, I'm fine. It's the great illusion to life if I build a life where that's working and things are great and my credit score's in the green and I got a good salary and I come home to a nice home and I pay off my mortgage and, you know, I take care of my body, but then all is fine. You know, the Scriptures tells us at the end of the day, you still need God. You still need God. And that's the reality that lives within every single one of us. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter if you're Levi, no matter if you're whatever, we all need God. We all need this connection with God. And so Jesus walks up to this man. Jesus is walking and Levi, Matthew, if I call him Matthew, you know who I mean. [00:19:19] Speaker B: But Levi is sitting at the tax booth doing his own thing, and Jesus says, hey, you. Hey. Follow me, right? Follow, follow me. Come after me. Notice we see a theme again. We talked about it last week when Jesus was with the disciples on the shore in Galilee. And when he went up to the fishermen, they weren't looking for Jesus. They weren't. They were casting their nets, doing their own business, right? But Jesus comes to them. And the same thing that we see here in this text as well, Levi isn't looking for Jesus. He isn't chatgpt For Jesus, he isn't doing anything. He isn't doing any of that, right? [00:20:05] Speaker A: And here's what's amazing about this text, because how we understand who Jesus is. Levi lived a crooked life, and Jesus knew it. He knew all that Levi had done has done. He knew it. He wasn't surprised by it. He knew what kind of life. He knew what kind of work that he was a part of. He knew what kind of this kind of man that he was. And guess what? He still issues the invitation. How wonderful is that? Think about that, friends. Jesus knows exactly what kind of man he is and still says, follow me. And I believe this call was intentional. Why? Because this call reminds us and reveals to us that the invitation of Jesus is a call of grace. A call of grace. You know what Jesus doesn't do? He doesn't run a background check on you. He doesn't do a credit check on you. He sees you and he calls you. He sees you and he calls you and he calls you by grace. And here's what grace is simply, friends. Grace is realizing that Jesus knows everything about you that should disqualify you, but yet he accepts and he calls you into the life he has for you. See, here's the thing, friends. I don't know if you know this. Jesus isn't shocked by your struggles. He isn't shocked by the things that are. That are. How could I say that are out of order in your life. [00:22:02] Speaker B: He knows them. [00:22:03] Speaker A: He sees them. [00:22:04] Speaker B: And guess what he says to each individual. [00:22:08] Speaker A: Follow me. Follow me. [00:22:11] Speaker B: This is why grace is so amazing. See, when you hear that, you're kind of like, okay, cool, like, all right, I'm a broken person. [00:22:20] Speaker A: All right? [00:22:21] Speaker B: I got some things in my life and God accepts me. And all right, that's cool. But like, why should I follow Jesus? [00:22:28] Speaker A: Because here's the truth, friends. [00:22:30] Speaker B: See grace. [00:22:31] Speaker A: What makes grace so wonderful? What makes grace so amazing? It isn't just that God accepts me. It's that a holy God welcomes someone undeserving like me. See, the truth of the matter is [00:22:46] Speaker B: the reason why this text stands out [00:22:47] Speaker A: so much and the reason why it has so much weight and so much beauty. Because here's the truth, friends. I am undeserving. [00:22:53] Speaker B: See, I think one of my biggest problems in life is that I think too highly of myself. I say to myself, I'm not that bad of a person. I mean, sure, I have some issues and sure, I get things wrong, but I mean, I opened the door for that nice lady at the mall, you know, I gave a few bucks to that guy who was in the line the other day. I'm not that bad of a person. But at the end of the day, the reason why grace is powerful and beautiful, the reason why we have songs behind grace, the reason why we talk about it and sing about it, and it's on our hearts and our minds all the time. Because we come to a point that a holy God, a God who was perfect, a God who was righteous, a God who has no need, a God who is sufficient, looks at people who are crooked, looks at people who get it wrong, looks at people who are undeserving, and still says, still says, follow me. If God wanted to, he could have left me in the direction that I was going on. But because of grace, he enters the picture and says, I know where you [00:23:56] Speaker A: have been and I know what you have done, but my grace is sufficient for you. My grace is made perfect for someone like you. That's what makes this story amazing. Levi was an undeserving man, and I'm an undeserving man. But still, God gives me grace, gives me grace. [00:24:26] Speaker B: And I love this passage. I love what this passage tells us. Because throughout the story, it says that Jesus comes to Levi and he says, follow me. And look at verse 29. Pick up verse 29 for them. Levi got up and he left everything. Notice how Luke gives us this detail. Why is Luke telling us this detail? Why not just say, hey, he began to follow him. No, he doing this extra little detail where he says he got up and he left. [00:25:00] Speaker A: Listen to this. Everything, and he followed him. He left everything and he followed him. Because here's the one thing about grace. This story shows us the power of grace. Levi doesn't just receive grace. [00:25:20] Speaker B: He responds to grace. He doesn't just receive grace. He doesn't just receive. He doesn't say, okay, I'm accepted by God. Let me just keep doing what I've been doing. No, grace changed something about him. Grace, he realized. I like to think that Levi maybe said to himself, does the life that I've been living, and this man still [00:25:43] Speaker A: calls me, I want to change everything about my life. [00:25:48] Speaker B: I want to change everything. And I believe Levi responded not out of fear, but I believe that Levi responded because he was just compelled by the grace and the love that is in Christ, Christ Jesus. That Jesus would look at such a person like myself, who was holy, who was perfect, but call someone who is imperfect, who is broken, who is sinful, [00:26:13] Speaker A: and yet, because he calls me, something about me wants to be different, because this tells us. This passage tells us that the Christian life, it begins by grace and it continually responds to grace. The Christian life. Hey, I'm assuming majority of you are Christians today, right? For those who are Christians in the room, can I tell you something? You didn't become a Christian on your own. You didn't find Jesus. You didn't fill out some type of [00:26:57] Speaker B: paper to qualify you to Jesus. [00:27:00] Speaker A: No. Jesus found you. Christ found you. Christ came to you. [00:27:08] Speaker B: You didn't find Christ. Christ found you in grace. Listen, Christianity, it begins with grace, and it continually responds to grace time and time again. And Levi left everything. He says, I'm leaving this life behind, this life that I once lived, and I'm leaving it behind. I'm not returning. I'm not coming back. [00:27:37] Speaker A: Because grace compelled him to put the old life down. The other day, my boys, when it was nice out, we were out for. We wanted to go for a walk. And, you know, I have two boys, and, you know, they like when I go ahead of them and whatnot. And then it's usually me. And then my oldest and then my youngest. [00:28:00] Speaker B: Well, my youngest, who was so wise and intelligent, decided the best thing for [00:28:06] Speaker A: this walk is to bring all his toys with him. [00:28:11] Speaker B: So he's got. I forgot, what toys? Oh, yeah, he got the Ninja Turtles. He's got Superman. He's got all the action figures. Captain America. That's his favorite, Captain America. And he's holding them in his hands, right? But he keeps dropping them. But he's trying to follow me, right? But the further we go, the more he begins to lag behind because he's so worried about holding onto these toys. He's trying to follow me, but he keeps dropping these toys, and he keeps trying to hold onto. And I'm like, hey, fool, put the toys down and just follow me. And he's like, no, Dad, I got it. I got it, Dad. I got it, dad. [00:29:01] Speaker A: Right? [00:29:02] Speaker B: And the more he tried to hold [00:29:03] Speaker A: onto those toys, the further and further and further he became to me. And I think this passage reminds us of this great truth that, yes, a lot of us maybe. Speaking for myself, I love God, but there are some things that are keeping me from being close to God. [00:29:27] Speaker B: God, [00:29:30] Speaker A: there are just some things in my life. There are some Buzz Lightyears and some Captain Americas that I need to put down. Don't make that a T shirt, by the way. There are just some things that are keeping me from being close to Jesus, and I just need to learn how to put them down. But why Do I put them down? Listen, listen. Not because the pastor told me to. Not because if I don't do it, I'm going to hell. [00:30:02] Speaker B: Not because. Oh, man. You know, if I don't do it, [00:30:04] Speaker A: God won't help me get this. No, I want to put things down because grace has filled my heart. Grace wants me to be a lot different than I was before. [00:30:17] Speaker B: Grace has filled my heart. That the reason. And here's what's so beautiful that we [00:30:22] Speaker A: need to understand about this passage. [00:30:24] Speaker B: To follow Jesus means there are some [00:30:27] Speaker A: things I need to unfollow. [00:30:32] Speaker B: To follow Jesus means there are just some things in my life I need to unfollow. There are some things that I just need to let go of. But why do I let go of it? [00:30:43] Speaker A: Grace. [00:30:45] Speaker B: Grace and grace. It loosens our grip on things that once have gripped on, have gripped us, that have controlled us, that have had mastery over us. Grace reorders our desires. It changes what we love. It changes what we value. Because I am forgiven, because I am loved, because I have been found, because I have been redeemed. Because of that. I want to put off all. All that keeps me from being close to Jesus. It's grace, friends. It's grace. It's the same grace that found you. It's the same grace that will change you. The same grace that invited you is the same grace that is at work in you. And grace begins, producing in us a [00:31:36] Speaker A: desire to be changed. It's grace. It's grace. So many people think Christianity is like, man, like, let me do this so that God can be happy with me. [00:31:53] Speaker B: But the gospel speak a better, better message. No, I do this because I have [00:32:00] Speaker A: been accepted by God already. I have been loved by God already. [00:32:06] Speaker B: I want my life to look totally different now. Now, that doesn't mean I stop sinning. I need to help some of you today and give you a little bit of comfort, Right? Listen, receiving grace and living in grace [00:32:19] Speaker A: and dwelling in grace doesn't mean you stop sinning. [00:32:22] Speaker B: You will go on and you will struggle. [00:32:25] Speaker A: But grace, what it does, it changes your relationship with sin. You know what grace looks like? Here's what grace looks like. You fall into that thing you did not want to do, and you begin to mourn over that. You begin to say to yourself, I hate this part of myself. [00:32:48] Speaker B: I hate that I give in to this. I don't want this. I don't desire this. I know this isn't what God has called me to do. It's not good for my marriage. It's not good for my family. It's not good for my soul. It's not good for my peace. It's not good for any of those things. [00:33:04] Speaker A: See, friends, what that's called, that's called grace at work in you. That's the spirit of God at work in you. [00:33:14] Speaker B: Right? Listen, you don't stop sinning. I don't want you thinking like, ah, [00:33:18] Speaker A: I messed up again. I gotta go get re accepted by Jesus. No, the Bible says. The Bible tells us that if we may sin, we have an advocate who is with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. So when you sin, don't run from God. No, run to God and find grace and be changed by grace, be redeemed by grace. Then this way, the story continues. Levi throws a party. [00:33:47] Speaker B: Levi meets Jesus and he throws a party. I love this story. It goes on. It's in verse 29, he says, Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house and a large crowd of tax collectors. So other tax collectors, other people who are in the same business, same field as Levi, are hanging out with Jesus. Now, a large crowd of tax collectors was there along with others who were eating with them. But the Pharisees, verse 30, the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus. [00:34:17] Speaker A: Disciples, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Nothing like religious people ruining the party. Am I right? Who loves those overzealous religious people? Right? Just right. Pastor, doesn't the Bible say that he shouldn't do that? You know, doesn't the Bible say, shut up. No proverbs anyway. Right, Right. But I love this passage. The heart of this passage is real. And I want to close with this. The heart of this passage is real. Jesus sits with people who others would cancel. Now, I need to give more clarity on this. Jesus sitting with sinners. See, sitting is a formal way in Judaism. It's a formal way of saying that. Acceptance. Right? It's a formal way of acceptance. But I need to help you out a little bit. Accepting someone is different than affirming someone. That's key, Right? Right, Right. Jesus accepted sinners, but he didn't affirm sin. There's a key difference there. Right? But there is something wonderful here. And passage. There is something key that I need you to understand is that Jesus sits with people who are totally off and broken. And this is the good news for us. And Levi opens up his home. He opens up his home. Levi threw a party for Jesus, y'. All. [00:36:03] Speaker B: He had enough money. He had enough money to have a bunch of people come over to eat, to drink, to party, to dance, whatever they did. And he invited everyone over. See, what I love about this passage [00:36:17] Speaker A: is that Levi doesn't just receive grace. He doesn't just respond to grace. He now becomes a witness of grace. You know, what Levi said, isn't that beautiful? [00:36:33] Speaker B: And, you know, some. [00:36:34] Speaker A: Some scholars like to think, or this commentary that I was reading, somebody said, or somebody wrote down, this is kind of a foreshadow to the early church, that the church gathers around Jesus. That broken, sinful, inconsistent people gather around the host Jesus. And we gather around him and we sit with him and we learn from him and we receive from Him. Nothing in this text says anything about man. Then came those who got life right. As a matter of fact, Jesus says, that's. That's not why I've come. Verse 31, Jesus says, Jesus answered, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners into repentance. See what this story shows us? The story reminds us that in our gathering, in our church, what we're doing right now, church isn't for people who get life right. It's not a museum of righteous people. It's a hospital for sick sinners. I'm one of the patients. Room 105. I'm one of the patients. The church isn't a place where we come together and we just talk about how much we got it right. No, we realize how undeserving we are, but how gracious Jesus Christ is. When I realized that, man, I'm such a man who is full of flaws and dirt. When I realized, and I come to that point in my life and I. I say I'm undeserving, I'm reminded that there is a grace awaiting me. And that grace doesn't just receive me. That grace. Listen to me, that grace is able to change me. I don't just receive grace. Grace begins to do something new in me now. [00:39:04] Speaker B: This is a process. Now, when we read the passage, you're like, levi left everything, so I need to leave everything. [00:39:10] Speaker A: I remember when I first came to Jesus, when I was a teenager, I threw away all my rap CDs, all of them. 50 Cent, Nelly, all of them. And then I was listening to them the next day, right? [00:39:25] Speaker B: It's a process. [00:39:26] Speaker A: It's a process. It's a process that you go through, right? But just know this grace. Grace. Grace is. It accepts you where you are, but grace never leaves you as you are. That's our sermon. Grace accepts you where you are, sitting at the tax booth, sitting in sin. But grace never leaves you as you are. So today I want to extend this invitation. Maybe you've been heading in the wrong direction. Maybe you've been heading in the wrong direction. I want you to hear the voice of the Lord. And when he says, follow me, come after me. Maybe for some of you, you've been on the fringe when it comes to this Christianity thing, and you're like, man, what is this? All Jesus says, It's not about figuring anything out. It's not about figuring it out. He says, follow me. Come to me and follow me. And that's our prayer for today. That's our response for today. The response of our. Of our lives or this moment, at this time is, am I following him? Let me pray. Dear Father, Humble us today. Humble us to come to this realization that life isn't life apart from you. Help us come to this realization that you were able to save a man like Levi, to restore this man, that you can do the same work in us today. I pray, Father, that we hear grace, we receive grace, and we walk in grace. And I pray that we will be reminded the same grace that saves us becomes the same grace that begins to be at work in us. And I pray for those who haven't accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord. Today, I pray that your spirit would touch their hearts and they would whisper, jesus, I don't have this thing figured out, but, man, I want to follow you. I still have a lot to grow. I still have a lot to understand. I still have my questions, but I want to follow you. And I pray for those who maybe [00:42:35] Speaker B: have allowed life to keep them from [00:42:38] Speaker A: sitting in the areas that are drawing further from you, drawing them further from you. I pray that you give them the spirit by your grace to leave it behind so they can be close to you, so they could be near you. You can be their shepherd and you can be their Lord. Bless us, I pray. Help us. I pray. It's in your son's perfect name. Amen.