Come And Join Us!

Scripture: Mark 2:13-17; Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 10:14-15

Theme: Evangelism

Title: Come and Join Us!

This sermon deals with the call of Levi a most unusual man that was called to follow Jesus and how that call informs our outreach today.

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Have you ever been to an event and suddenly you see someone that you would rather not be around. A person that you usually do your best to avoid.

Sometimes it happens at school events, at the park, at a restaurant or at some type of social event. We see someone or a group of people and we would just rather not have to spend some time with them.

We see the same thing happening in our Gospel passage this morning. It’s a passage that if we allow it can help us better understand who Jesus is and what He is calling us to do as a person and as a group of people.

It all revolves around a person named Levi. Let’s look at what is going on with this man this morning.

I. The Man Levi

Plenty of remarkable people have been named Levi throughout history. Perhaps the most notable one that all of us would recognize was a man named Levi (Loeb) Strauss. Levi Strauss was a Jewish immigrant who founded the Levi Strauss & Company in California that has been making denim blue jeans since 1853.

The name Levi is an old name. Its roots go all the way back to the time of Jacob and Leah.

If you remember the story, Jacob had two wives. Two wives that were sisters: Leah and Rachel. These two women spent most of their adult lives competing with one another for Jacob’s love and attention.

The Bible tells us that between the two, Rachel was the love of Jacob’s life while Leah was considered as an add on wife. Leah was a wife that Jacob had not sought to marry. A wife that he had been tricked into marrying.

It was Leah, however, that would bear Jacob the most children. In that day it was thought that the woman who could bear the most children would also be the woman that would be the most loved. In Leah’s case that was not what happened.

Levi was Leah’s third child. She named him Levi because the name means “joined” or “adhered”. Levi’s name was to remind Jacob that he needed to be loyal to Leah. He needed to understand that she was more than just a breeder mom. She was his first wife. She was the woman who was bringing his children into the world. She was to be honored above Rachel who at that time was childless.

In time, the tribe that was started through Levi became very important. You may remember that Aaron, Miriam, and Moses were from the tribe of Levi. You may also remember that the Levites became the tribe of priests for the Children of Israel.

The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY gave them that honor because above all the other tribes, the tribe of Levi became known for their intense love for God and for God’s teachings. Later, it was the Levites who took care of the Tabernacle and the Temple and taught the other tribes about the Lord God Almighty.

To bear the name Levi was to bear a proud name. A name that spoke about God, about faithfulness and service. A name that was given to a person whom the parents had high hopes would live up to that name. That they would live a life worthy of being called Levi – one that was loyal to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and to His commandments.

But as we begin to read our story this morning, this man named Levi was not serving in the Temple or even in a synagogue. He was instead working for Herod Antipas as a tax collector/toll collector.

When Jesus was born the people of Israel was under the leadership of a king named Herod the Great. After his death, his kingdom was split up between his three sons – Herod Antipas, Herod Philip and Herod Archelaus.

Each one of them would charge people each time they would go from one of their kingdoms to the next. If you wanted to go from the north to the south, you would have to go through the land ruled by Antipas and Archelaus. You may even have to go through a bit of the land ruled by Philip. Each time you would touch one of their lands there was a toll that had to be paid.

Anyone traveling across the USA understands what it means to pay a toll. There are still approx. 5,000 miles of highway that require a toll. Most of that mileage is in the northeast but there are still quite a few toll roads in places like Alabama, Georgia, and Texas.