I passed out "As Is" Tags before worship and asked everyone to wear them through worship. Then after the sermon I asked everyone to take their tag out with them and give it to someone else this week and explain that Jesus will take you "As Is".
As you all know by now Trista and I like to buy deals. As a matter of fact there have been several things that I really wanted that I didn’t get because I couldn’t get a deal and several things I didn’t want that I bought because it was such a great deal.
In certain stores that I frequent there is a little section of merchandise that is usually a great deal. The prices are usually several dollars less that the exact same item would be in another part of the store. The tip off is a usual two-word phrase that you see on the tags, or on a sign hanging somewhere in the area: As is.
Sometimes they are called slightly irregular, sometimes they are called seconds but whatever you call then this is another way of saying, these are damaged goods. The store has given you fair warning: This is the department of something’s gone wrong. You are going to find a flaw, a stain that won’t come out, a hole, a zipper that wont zip a seam that’s not straight – there will be a problem. These items are not normal.
We are not going to tell you where that flaw is. You are going to have to look for that, but we know that it’s there. So when you find it, and you will find it, don’t come whining to us. Because there is a fundamental rule in this corner of the store: No returns, No Refunds, and No exchanges.
If you were looking for perfect you have walked down the wrong isle. You have received fair warning. If you truly want this item you must take it, As Is.
If you have ever dealt with another human being in your life you will notice that you have come to the “As Is” section of the universe. Think for a moment about someone in your life. Maybe the person that you know best and love the most. If you were honest you would have to admit that that person was slightly irregular. In dealing with perfection if you walked down the people isle you are in the wrong place.
Sometime ago a magazine article caught my eye. “Totally Normal Women Who Stalk Their Ex-Boyfriends” It was the normal part that struck me. What would a normal woman look like? What would a normal man look like? And if the obsessive stalking of an ex-love was not just normal but totally normal what would you have to do to be a little strange?
We all want to be normal, but the writers of the scripture insist that no one is normal, at least not as God describes normal. “All we like sheep have gone astray.”
I like what John Haddington said, "I have been comforted for more than 20 years by the thought that Jesus welcomes, not only sensible sinners, but stupid ones as well."
That is what I want us to see today. Jesus came into the world & saw sin as it really is - with all of its heartache & filthiness. He died because of the sin but He always had great love & compassion for those who sinned.
Now I don’t believe that Christ was a soft, weak, sentimentalist who never condemned sin. Time & time again Jesus stood before the sinner & said, "Go & sin no more!" But He was never so blinded by their sin that He did not see the good in them - qualities that were worth saving & redeeming.
In our text today we read the question is asked, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors & `sinners’?" When Jesus heard that, He said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Jesus was the great community builder. He understood what it was to see people with their “as is” tag and accept them anyway. And in His acceptance He made us what we want to be. So today I want you to see Jesus - His attitude toward sin, & then His attitude toward the sinners. And in order to do that, let’s look at three people & their encounter with Jesus.
I. The Woman At The Well - John 4:1-42
The first is a Samaritan woman found in John 4.
Jesus going against tradition went through Samaria. When noon came He sat down by the well near the Samaritan town of Sychar while the apostles went on into town to purchase food. As Jesus sat there, a woman came out of the city - a woman who was tired of being the butt of gossip, tired of being abused & the object of jokes by the respectable ladies of the town. Her “As Is” tag was big enough for everyone to see and she was surely the topic of discussion.
So to get away from that, she had come to the well at noon - expecting no one else to be there. But to her surprise, she found someone, & a Jew, of all people. She looked at Jesus, but didn’t say a word. Quickly, she went about her business - lowering the bucket down into the well, & drawing up the cool, clear water. She filled her water pot - took a drink herself - & then started to leave.
As she did, Jesus asked, "Will you give me a drink?" Now, at first, the woman was irate at the request. She turned to him & with sarcasm and said, "You are a Jew & I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"
Now, when you reread that account, realize how skillfully Jesus tore down all the barriers. Gradually, He worked around to the real problem in her life, & soon He was saying to her, "Go, get your husband & come back." Jesus was not afraid to approach the subject of her tag.
When she heard that, she said to Him, "I have no husband." & Jesus responded, "You are right, in fact you have had five husbands, & the man you are living with now is not your husband."
If you or I had said that to a woman, I would imagine that we would soon find ourselves in serious trouble. But there was something about the tone of His voice & the look of His eyes & His whole manner that caused her to realize that Jesus wasn’t trying to tear her down. Rather, He saw something good within her. He saw something there that was worth saving, & gradually He led her to see it herself.
Now understand, Jesus probably endangered His own reputation. Here He was, not only talking to a woman, but to a Samaritan woman of poor reputation. I imagine that when the apostles came back & saw Jesus talking to this woman - that not even those Galilean fishermen were ready for this kind of scene. Probably they were greatly disturbed by what they saw.
But I want you to see it for what it really is. Here is heaven’s holiest being - Here is Jesus, the Son of God - God in the flesh, talking to a woman - the object of jokes - of poor reputation - known by all to be immoral. But Christ sees something in her beautiful & worthwhile.
Think about it. For the first time since her childhood this woman was seeing kindness & gentleness & love in a man that was pure & wholesome. He was not someone who wanted to use her & misuse her, not someone who avoided her in self-righteousness because they saw her tag, but one who saw something beautiful in her & something worth saving.
So excited was she about this that she left behind her water pot - rushed all the way into town and ran up & down the streets, forgetting about the insults & jokes, and proclaimed to all the people that she had just met a man who told her everything that she had ever done &, "Could this be the Christ?"
She found a man who saw her tag, and accepted her “as is”
As they came running to see Jesus, Jesus turns to the apostles & points toward the people & says, "Open your eyes & look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."
What about the church today? How many of us are sinners, feeling beaten & defeated? Maybe we need to sit with Jesus by that well. Maybe we need to be lifted up to see ourselves, too, as someone really worth something in His eyes. Someone who will look at out tag and take us “as is”
II. The Woman At Simon’s House - Luke 7:36-50
The 2nd “As Is” tag we will look at today is found in Luke 7:36-50.
Simon, a very influential Pharisee, had invited Jesus to his home to eat. We don’t know why he had invited Him. Maybe it was because Jesus had gained some notoriety, & either Simon was curious, or he wanted to rub elbows with someone who was famous.
As they were eating, a woman of the street came into the home of Simon & fell at the feet of Jesus & anointed His feet first with her tears & then with perfume from a container that was around her neck. She had no napkin, no towel, so she used her own hair to dry His feet.
It could have been her clothes, the fact that she probably wasn’t wearing a veil, or maybe Simon had done business with her before. Whatever it was that gave her away it was there and everyone in the house, including the host saw her “As Is” Tag, and it brought different reactions.
Simon was disgusted, and he said to himself, "If this man were really a prophet He would know what kind of a woman she is."
But Simon was a lot like us and he missed it all. Jesus was a prophet, & He knew exactly what kind of woman she was. And I am sure that Jesus also saw her tag, but He saw something there that Simon could not see, Jesus accepted her remorse & repentance.
Simon saw a woman of the streets. Simon saw deep sin. And Simon saw a person who needed to be punished for her sin.
But Jesus saw a sinner who needed forgiveness, & whose life could be turned around. She had broken the law, but she wasn’t alone in that. They "all had sinned & fallen short of the glory of God." The law said that she ought to be put to death. But Jesus said that she needed forgiveness & help.
What about the church today? How many of us have fallen short of the glory of God and deserve to be put to death? Maybe we need to sit at the feet of Jesus. Maybe we need to look into His eyes and see someone who will look at out tag and take us “as is”
III. Zacchaeus - Luke 19:1-10
Our last example is today is found in Luke 19:1-10.
I love Zacchaeus. He was a wee little man, & Zacchaeus had a problem. He learned that Jesus was coming through his city, & Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. Evidently, he arrived a little bit late, as Jesus was making His way through the streets of Jericho. Zacchaeus was unable to see Him. He couldn’t see over the people because he was too short. He couldn’t see around them because the people were too close together. It was too dusty to see underneath them, so he couldn’t see anything at all.
So Zacchaeus, a man of great wealth & dignity - decided to do the very un-cool thing of climbing a tree so that he could catch a glimpse of Jesus.
I have always thought that that was one of the most ridiculous stories in Scripture. There is Zacchaeus - a grown man - climbing a tree - perched on a branch - so that he can see over a crowd of the people to see Jesus walk by. All that Zacchaeus wanted was a glimpse of the Savior.
But as Jesus walks by, He stops underneath the Sycamore tree & so does everybody else. Jesus looks up, & so does everybody else. And they all saw carefully concealed Zacchaeus, tag and all.
I can almost feel the blood as it rushes to Zacchaeus’ head. He must have turned all different shades of embarrassment. It’s one thing to have a tag, and we all do, but it is another thing entirely for us to put ourselves in a position where all eyes are on us. Have you ever done anything like that? Can you feel for this man?
Jesus then does the incredible. He says, "Zacchaeus, come down, for I am coming to your house today."
All Zacchaeus wanted was a glimpse of the Savior, but he received a personal invitation from Jesus to come down to walk with Him. And then the Lord invited Himself to his house. And before the day was over, Zacchaeus was so impressed by Jesus that he repented of all his sins - paid back all those he had defrauded through the years 4-fold - & became one of the bright shining lights in all of the N.T.
It’s amazing what happens in our heart when we know someone has seen our tag and accepts us “As Is.”
So here we are this morning. Everybody here has broken the law. Our tags are big and in plain view.
There is no way to hide them.
"All have sinned & all have fallen short of the glory of God." We’re all guilty. We deserve to die without any hope. We deserve to die in the misery of our sins, but Jesus stands before us & says, "What I want for you is not punishment, but forgiveness."
Jesus says I see your tag and I am willing to take you “as is”.
The most amazing thing is that once Christ has accepted us, He doesn’t leave us in that state but he restores us. To a new life, He takes all of the damaged goods out of our life and makes us brand new.
Once again He extends the loving arms of invitation to all sinners, regardless of the degree of our sin - or the number of our sins. He invites you to come.
* The illustration of the As is tag comes from a book everyone’s normal until you get to know them from John Ortberg. It s a great book and I wanted to give proper attention to it’s originator.
