THE CALL TO FOLLOW (2)
Follow The Leader – 2
Mark 2:13-17
INTRODUCTION:
This morning we will be continuing our series tracing the topic of following Jesus throughout the Gospel of Mark. Last week we looked at the calling of Peter and Andrew, James and John to be disciples of Christ. This week we will be looking at a much more surprising calling. We will be studying the call of Levi who is better known to us by the name of Matthew and who is also the author of the Gospel by that name.
Last week we learned what kind of people Jesus is looking for. This week I want to use the calling of Levi as a case study in how we as Christians should be following Jesus example of reaching out to others with the message of the good news.
The first thing that I see here is that…
1. JESUS GOT AROUND OTHER PEOPLE.
Mark 2:13, “Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him and he began to teach them.”
Jesus didn’t just sit around the synagogue all day. Jesus didn’t just hang around the temple courtyard all the time. Instead Jesus went out where the people were. He didn’t isolate himself alone on a mountain top. Although he certainly did retreat there from time to time for prayer and refreshment. No. Jesus got out among the common people.
As I see it he probably did this partly from necessity and partly from practicality. Jesus did go to the synagogues to teach those who were gathered there, but the self-righteous people who controlled the synagogues didn’t like his message and so they kept throwing him out. Jesus found it necessary to teach on the hillsides and lakeshores because the traditional avenues were closed to him.
This reminds me a lot of the ministry of John Wesley. John Wesley was in many ways a traditional churchman, but the powers that be in the Church of England in his day didn’t appreciate his radical message of repentance from sin and faith in Christ alone for salvation. As a result he was thrown out of church after church after church until at last he had no places left he could go to preach.
John Wesley didn’t allow that to stop him. Being shut out of the churches he turned to the streets and pastures and began to preach there. And in those places crowds numbering in the multiplied thousands gathered to hear him proclaim the gospel. Far more people heard John Wesley’s sermons in the highways and byways than would have ever heard him if he had been confined to the sanctuaries of England.
Not only did far larger crowds hear him, but also far different crowds heard him than if he were to preach only in the churches. He would go to the mines and mills and preach to the workers as they were coming and going from their shifts. People who never would have darkened the door of the church flocked to hear him in these unusual locations.
And that leads me to the practical side of why Jesus went out to the lakeside to preach and teach. There he could preach to far more people than would ever be able to crowd into a local synagogue. And there he would find an audience to teach that he would never be able to reach in the temple courts simply because they never went there.
Jesus is setting an example for us that makes us very uncomfortable. He is showing us that we as Christians must do more than simply open the doors on Sunday morning and put out a sign that says, “Everyone Welcome.” The reason being that if we only reach out to people who show up on Sunday morning then we will miss the vast majority of our community.
I will grant you that we are living in far different times than those of Jesus or even those of John Wesley. Today if we were to go to the factory and start preaching in the parking lot my guess is the police would be called in and we would be hauled off before we could get much preaching done.
So while we may need to find a different practice the principle nonetheless remains the same. We must find a way to move beyond the walls of the sanctuary in order to reach out. Someone once quipped that “Christians are no longer fishers of men, but keepers of the aquarium.” For far too long the churches approach as been to build a building and open the doors and tell the world you must come to us. But the practice that Jesus models for us is exactly the opposite approach. His approach was to get up and go to where the people were. And the fact is that this is the commission he gave to his disciples and by extension to us. Mark 16:15, “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” He didn’t say sit back and wait for the world to come to you. He said you get up and go to the world. Radical. Uncomfortable. Intimidating. Necessary.
A little girl asked her father why firemen stayed in the firehouse all day and polished their engines and other equipment. He explained that they did this to pass the time while waiting for fire calls. Many Christians likewise stay close to the familiar surroundings of the church community, applying another coat of worship or getting a theological tune-up, while all the time waiting for some sinner to request a gospel presentation. The problem with this approach to evangelism is that the world is already ablaze, and the fire call went out two thousand years ago! “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
1. JESUS GOT AROUND OTHER PEOPLE.
2. JESUS APPROACHED A PUBLICAN (TAX COLLECTOR).
Mark 2:14, “As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”
Jesus taught the multitudes, but then he singled out an individual for special attention. This man was Levi and he was a tax collector or as the old King James says he was a publican. Alexander Maclaren once said, "It is better for most of us to fish with the rod than with the net. To angle for single souls rather than to try and enclose a multitude at once. Preaching to a congregation has its own place and value; but private and personal talk honestly and wisely done will effect more than the most eloquent preaching.”
And so it was that Jesus saw Levi sitting in his tax collector’s booth that had been set up to collect taxes that were owed by incoming ships. All tax collectors were looked down on and despised. They were Jews who had sold their souls to the Romans in order to make a profit at the expense of their fellow Jews. They made their real money by over taxing the Jews, sending what was owed to the Romans and pocketing the difference for themselves. The Jews hated them because they betrayed their own people. And the Romans looked down on them because they didn’t admire turncoats either. No one liked them.
Why would someone willingly go into such an unpopular occupation? One would do so only for the love of money and the lust for wealth. We know that Levi must have been consumed with a desire for money and the opportunity to indulge himself in the things of the world. He wanted money and all that it could buy and he was willing to turn traitor on his own people and endure a lifetime of hatred and hostility in order to achieve it.
However, I think that it is evident from how quickly he followed Christ that he had come to the conclusion that the price he paid for his wealth had been too much. It hadn’t been worth it and deep inside his heart he ached for a second change – for forgiveness and acceptance. And I believe that is what Jesus saw in Levi’s eyes when he passed by his tax booth that day. And that is why Jesus approached him in particular.
The principle that Jesus models for us here is that while we preach the gospel to the masses we have to keep our eyes open for those who are responsive. We have to be on the lookout for those who are sensitive and we have to give them special attention. It also shows us that Jesus wasn’t afraid to associate with the down and out of society. It shows us that he wasn’t afraid of rubbing elbows with outcasts. In fact, I think the truth of the matter is that those people are far more receptive to the gospel than those who are comfortable and think they have all their proverbial ducks in a row.
The results in Levi’s life were immediate and drastic. The Bible tells us that Levi got up and followed Jesus. Sounds simple enough, but the consequences were huge. Levi was immediately giving up everything he had worked for in order to follow Jesus. He was, in fact, giving up far more that Peter and Andrew, James and John had to give up to follow him. For them the family fishing business would be waiting for them should they decide to return. This is not mere speculation because later in the gospel story we see that after Christ’s crucifixion they initially returned to fishing until Christ came to them.
However, for Levi his booth would not be waiting. The Romans wouldn’t be so willing to welcome him back. Rather they would replace him as quickly as possible with someone who was eager to make an easy profit. Levi was walking away and there would be no turning back. It is as Jesus said in Luke 14:33, “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
Levi was willing to give up everything in order to follow the Lord and so he qualified to be a disciple of the Lord.
1. JESUS GOT AROUND OTHER PEOPLE.
2. JESUS APPROACHED A PUBLICAN.
3. JESUS ASSOCIATED WITH LEVI’S PARTNERS.
Mark 2:15, “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.”
Immediately after his decision to follow Christ, Levi invites all of his friends together for a dinner party. You say, “What friends? I thought he was an outcast?” He was. Take note of the kind of people he invited – tax collectors and sinners. Those were the only kind of people that would come to a party thrown by someone like Levi except, of course, for Jesus Christ.
Levi had discovered a wonderful, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, but he didn’t immediately forget about his old friends. His first act as a follower of Christ is one of concern for his friends and colleagues. He planned a feast and invited them to come so that they could meet Jesus for themselves.
Studies seem to show that the people who are the most effective witnesses are those who have been recently converted. Why? It is because they are excited about what Christ has done for them and they want others to know about it. And it is because they already have lots of connections with lost people. The longer someone is saved they often times lose touch with old friendships and find themselves associating primarily with other Christians only. If that is the case it makes it much more difficult if you want to witness to someone.
A survey of 10,000 people revealed that, of those who answered the question, "What was responsible for your coming to church," 79 percent answered, "A friend or relative invited me."
Notice also that Jesus didn’t have any qualms about accepting an invitation to dine with these outcasts and sinners. He didn’t demand that they change their ways and straighten up before he came. Now to be sure Jesus didn’t meet with them in order to condone their sinful behaviors. He wasn’t meeting with them to make a statement that they were okay as they were. Rather he was meeting with them in order that they might come to have the same life-changing experience that Levi had. Jesus socialized with sinners to lead them to salvation.
Note also that the Bible says “there were many who followed him.” Why would so many hardened sinners be willing to follow a homeless, itinerant preacher? It was because these sinners whom society had rejected saw that Jesus was interested in them. They sensed that he genuinely cared for them and had compassion for them. The saw that Jesus didn’t act as if he was too good for them. And I think they also saw that although he was willing to socialize with them he never compromised his message or his morals in order to do so and they respected him for it.
Think how uncomfortable these outcasts would have felt coming to the local synagogue. Think how many people even today would feel very uncomfortable setting foot in a church like ours. Think about how uncomfortable we would be if we did what Jesus did and met them on their territory. And yet that is exactly what we are called to do if we are to follow the example of Christ.
1. JESUS GOT AROUND OTHER PEOPLE.
2. JESUS APPROACHED A PUBLICAN.
3. JESUS ASSOCIATED WITH LEVI’S PARTNERS.
4. JESUS ANSWERED THE OBJECTIONS OF PHARISEES.
Mark 2:16-17, “When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
If there is one thing that I can guarantee you it is that if you do the things that Jesus did, you will be ridiculed and usually by the so-called religious people. I know this because that is exactly what happened in Jesus’ day and it is what is happening all too often in our day. The churches that are involved in their community and are reaching people for Christ are usually criticized harshly by the churches that aren’t.
One day a lady criticized D. L. Moody for his methods of evangelism in attempting to win people to the Lord. Moody’s reply was "I agree with you. I don’t like the way I do it either. Tell me, how do you do it?" The lady replied, "I don’t do it." Moody retorted, "Then I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it."
Too often respectable, religious people hold the outcasts of society – sinners – in as much contempt as the Pharisees did. They think they are better than them. They think that they are too good to associate with such people and they criticize and attack those who do.
The truth of the matter is that those people who are held in contempt by the religious may well be dirt, rotten sinners. However, there is great hope even for the worst of sinners – even for the worst of society. Remember that the apostle Paul described himself as the chief of sinners and yet look at what God did with him. They may be dirty, rotten, no-good, no-account sinners, but look what happens to them when the come to Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” There is great hope even for the worst of people because in Christ they can be re-created, they can become a new person. That is why Jesus associated with them and that is why we should too.
I imagine that the Pharisees as well as many well meaning religious people today avoid associating with sinners for a couple of reasons. First, there is the fear of being criticized by others. There is the fear of what others will think. However the Bible says in Matthew 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
The other reason religious people may shun sinners is because of the legitimate fear of being contaminated by their sin. The fear of being caught up in their sin and being led astray themselves. This is a legitimate concern because the Bible does say in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” We have to be careful not to put ourselves in spiritually dangerous situations, but that doesn’t mean that we never associate with unbelievers and sinners.
Jesus was able to answer the objections of the Pharisees because he had a very clear sense of his purpose and mission. He knew what he had come to do and he was not afraid to do it. His mission was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). And just as those who are healthy don’t need a doctor so those who are righteous don’t need a Savior.
Now of course the Pharisees really did need a Savior, but the problem was that they didn’t think they did and there is nothing that Jesus can do for someone who doesn’t think they need him. Christ is unable to help a person who is unable or unwilling to confess their need for his help. The self-righteous, the self-sufficient and the self-dependent cannot be saved so long as they truly believe that they don’t need saving. And that was the case with the Pharisees. They couldn’t see their own personal need. And that is true of the self-righteous yet today. The self-righteous don’t see their need to repent and, therefore, they do not hear or heed the call to follow Christ.
The good thing about sick people is that they know they are sick and they are willing to welcome the doctor’s intervention to help them get better. And those are the kinds of people who Jesus focused his ministry on. When Jesus told his disciples that the fields were white or ripe for the harvest these are the kinds of people he was talking about. People who know they are sin-sick – people who have hit the bottom of the barrel and come to the end of their rope. People who know that they need saving are the easiest to save. It is no wonder that Jesus had such a following. He went to people who knew they needed him. It is no wonder that Jesus had such a spiritual harvest. He went where the fields were ripe.
1. JESUS GOT AROUND OTHER PEOPLE.
2. JESUS APPROACHED A PUBLICAN.
3. JESUS ASSOCIATED WITH LEVI’S PARTNERS.
4. JESUS ANSWERED THE OBJECTIONS OF PHARISEES.
CONCLUSION:
In closing I want to tell you about a little girl who loved the Lord and longed to share the message of salvation with those who had never heard it. So she contributed a penny to a missionary to help with the work of evangelizing the people of Burma. That small coin was all she had, but it was given from her heart. The worker on the foreign field was deeply touched by the child’s earnestness and decided he would do the most he could with the money. After careful thought, he purchased a Gospel tract and personally gave it to a young chieftain. Apparently the Christian did not know that the tribal leader was not educated well enough to read it. God instilled within the ruler a burning desire to know the meaning of the leaflet, however, and he traveled 250 miles to find someone who could translate it for him. After he heard the Gospel message, it wasn’t long until the young chief was gloriously converted. Returning to his people, he told them what the Lord had done for his soul. Later he invited missionaries to come and preach to his entire village, and many tribesmen who heard the good news accepted the Savior. All this and probably more resulted from one dedicated penny given in Christ’s name by a little girl who wanted the lost to hear about Jesus! The moral of the story is you don’t have to wait until you can do "great things" to start working for the master. God can do wonders with dedicated little things. Little things like having a meal with sinners.
