“Breaking Barriers”
Mark 2:13-17
One verse in here that really stands out to me is verse 15.
It says: “And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him.”
There were many “tax collectors and sinners” who followed Jesus.
Why do you suppose that is?
What was it about Jesus that caused so many people who didn’t fit into the religious systems of the day, so many people who would never have been allowed to dine in “polite company” to follow Him?
We often think of Jesus as just traveling with the 12 disciples, but in all truth, there were hundreds and sometimes thousands of people who were following Jesus.
And by all accounts, these crowds included quite a few shady characters.
Jesus was not very particular about who He hung out with, who He was seen with, Who He was associated with.
As many of you know, Jim Fry has gone back to college.
I ran into him the other day and we got talking about his classes and the students he goes to school with.
Jim is having a good time and doing well, but he admits it is sometimes a bit “eye-opening” and strange to attend classes with kids in their teens and early 20’s.
He was telling me about being in a small group with some kids in one of his classes when the conversation turned toward being embarrassed to be seen with certain people.
One of the girls said that when she is in a grocery store and spots someone she is embarrassed to be seen speaking with, she will skip that aisle and go down another.
This kind of talk just about drives Jim nuts.
Most of us remember that kind of stuff from our younger days—whether we were the ones afraid to be seen with others or the ones others were afraid to be seen with.
(pause)
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning Jesus is walking along when He spots Levi sitting at his tax booth.
This was probably one of the despised toll booths set up along one of the main highways and at bridges.
Levi would have been a “turn-coat” Jew since he worked for the Roman Government and ripped off his own people.
He would also have been considered “unclean” by the religious establishment since he dealt with Gentiles and Gentile money.
We are told that Jesus saw “Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.”
I wonder how long it had been since someone called Levi by his full name instead of just calling him a name?
Levi was more likely to be called “Liar,” “Thief,” “Traitor” than anything else.
Among his people, Levi would have been considered outside the grace of God.
Levi was a horrible, horrible sinner.
Soon he would be called “Disciple.”
(pause)
Bob Homer’s family lived on “the other side of the tracks” as they used to call it.
They weren’t the most “upstanding” and “respectable” family in town.
They didn’t go to church.
Bob’s dad was boisterous and a bit of a trouble-maker.
And Bob was already getting into a bit of trouble himself.
But, Bob also had a job.
He was a newspaper boy.
And one of the people he delivered the newspaper to was the local Methodist Minister.
One day when Bob was collecting money from his clients the Methodist Minister got talking to him.
He asked Bob if he and his family went to church.
Bob said “no.”
Bob didn’t really even know what people did in a church—he’d never been in one.
Then the Methodist Minister said to Bob, “You do a real good job delivering my newspaper.
I bet you would also be good at handing out bulletins on Sunday morning.
We don’t have anyone to hand out bulletins.
Will you come and hand out bulletins for us this Sunday?”
Bob told the pastor he would have to ask his father for permission.
His dad was hesitant, but since he didn’t think it would last, he allowed Bob to do it.
That invitation to hand out bulletins in the local Methodist Church changed Bob’s life.
He went on to become a Methodist Minister himself.
He was my pastor when I was growing up.
And he was one of the most Christ-like people I have ever known.
Everyone loved him because he loved everyone.
The day before I left for college, Bob showed up on my doorstep.
He had to have known that I was a bit of a rebel and wasn’t the most stable kid around.
Anyway, Bob handed me a Bible.
And it turned out to be the first Bible I really read.
That Bible was instrumental in changing my life.
(pause)
When Jesus came upon Levi son of Alphaeus that day, so long ago, Jesus didn’t see someone who was outside the grace of God.
Jesus saw someone who simply needed a physician—a bit of loving, some direction.
Jesus saw a perfect candidate for faithful discipleship.
Next thing we know Jesus is sitting in Levi’s house, along with many other tax collectors and sinners who follow Jesus as well.
Jesus is hanging with the outcastes, the marginalized, the people with low self-esteem, the screw-ups, the “unclean.”
And they are having a dinner party.
And when the Scribes and Pharisees—the Law abiding religious authorities of Jesus’ day—saw what was going on they were astonished and disgusted: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” they asked.
Jesus’ answer in verse 17 is basically this: “They are sinners on the road to discipleship.”
And isn’t this the description of every single one of us who seek to follow Jesus Christ?
Jesus says: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
The Scribes and Pharisees didn’t consider themselves to be sinners, but thought themselves to be “righteous.”
Of course, by opposing Jesus they prove that they are sinners themselves, into whose very hands the Son of God will ultimately be betrayed and put to death.
As a kid in high school and then college, Bob Homer, my former pastor would periodically invite me to lunch and tell me that I ought to go into the ministry.
While I appreciated him very much, I thought to myself: “This guy must be terribly naïve to think I would make a good candidate for the ministry.”
Truth be told, no one is a good candidate if a person has to be “perfect” or “righteous” before they become a Pastor or even a follower of Christ.
Jesus didn’t just come to call the prostitutes, tax collectors, and overt sinners of this world.
He came to call the “self-righteous” and “self-satisfied” as well.
The problem was that the “self-righteous” failed to see their need for Jesus.
This Wednesday we will celebrate the beginning of Lent—with an Ash Wednesday Service.
Lent is the 40 days before Easter, not counting Sundays.
Wednesday night, if you come, I will put palm ashes on your forehead while saying these words: “From dust you came. To dust you shall return.”
We’re all in the same boat on that one aren’t we?
Ash Wednesday, with the imposition of ashes is a powerful symbol of our human sinfulness and our need for a Savior.
A few weeks ago, I was at a preaching workshop.
One of the presenters said to me, in front of the class, “Ken, just imagine putting ashes on the forehead of that lovely young daughter of yours.
Imagine doing that, and saying: ‘From dust you came and to dust you shall return’, and that’s it.
That’s all there is!!!
No Resurrection.
No hope.
Just dust and ashes?”
Tears started streaming down my face as he said it.
I can’t imagine a life lived with no hope of Resurrection for my daughter or for anyone.
In Jesus’ day, and in our day as well, certain people are considered to be beyond hope, beyond grace—ritually unclean, human garbage.
But in our Gospel Lesson for today we see that for Jesus there are no boundaries between insiders and outsiders.
Jesus has come not only to forgive sin, He also goes so far as to identify Himself with sinners and hand picks the most rotten of the lot—those who get rich at the expense of their fellow Jews in the service of the Roman occupation.
No one is beyond the reach and love of God.
Jesus has come to die and give life and salvation for everyone—tax collectors, scribes, self-aware sinners and self-presumed saints.
He is The God of tax collectors, and scribes, prostitutes and Pharisees alike.
He is our only hope.
And He calls all of us by our full name.
Saying: “Follow me.”
Have YOU gotten up and followed Him?
If not, will you?
