Supper in the Sick Ward
Subject: Forgiveness/Repentance
Theme: Healing from Sin
Portion: Luke 5:27-32
Process: Inductive
Intro: Is there anything so intimate as time spent over a meal? Through every known culture we discover that more happens at a meal than simply eating. At a meal conversation takes place and relationships develop. Indeed the supper table is a place that is central in almost every culture. The invitation to supper is a sign that you have been accepted. Normally we only invite strangers to our table whom we desire to know. There are few things as sacred in life than being invited to dine at someone’s table, and so it is an honour to receive such an invitation. Today more than ever, as people become more private, more ego-centric, the invitation to enter into the home and partake of a meal is an invitation to share their lives.
I. Why did Levi invite Jesus to his table?
Why did Jesus receive an invitation to dine at the table of Levi, the tax collector? What did Jesus give to Levi that he valued so much? What could he have offered him that he didn’t already possess? What was more valuable than everything he had amassed for himself?
Let’s consider the passage at hand: We pick up the narrative as Jesus is leaving a home that is in need of some serious roof renovation. Earlier that day four men had literally dug a hole through the roof in order to lower their paralyzed friend down to Jesus. Jesus had shocked everyone by overlooking the obvious physical needs of this man and dealing instead with the issue of sin in his life. “Your sins are forgiven,” Jesus said.
Now saying those words is not a difficult thing, but actually removing a persons sin, who can do that? This riled the religious folks who were there and so to prove that he had the power to expunge sin, Jesus expunged the man’s paralysis as well. Everyone was stunned, even the Pharisees. It is pretty hard to argue with a paraplegic who is dancing a jig.
While all this was happening Jesus slipped out. Down the street he went, right out to the city gate, to the place where a man named Levi was sitting by his tax booth. The area around the gate was quiet today… it wasn’t unusual whenever the tax collectors set up their booth. Most of the locals knew when to avoid certain areas when tax collectors were about.
Rome was the greatest and largest empire that had ever stood. Like a great machine it functioned, churning out good roads and beautiful cities and well fed armies. But machines need fuel and the fuel of Rome was taxes. If a region didn’t pay its taxes it would be sure to meet a few of those soldiers it was seeking to deprive of food.
Tax collecting was a job that the Roman’s considered below the level of a Roman citizen. Instead of collecting tax themselves they would make an assessment for the region and then sell the right to tax that area to the highest bidder – that person could do as he pleased so long as Rome received their required amount each year.
Taxes were severe in the Roman world: There was a poll tax applied to both men and women between the age of 12 and 65. This tax was basically assessed for the right to breathe Roman air, if you were alive, you had to pay. Then there was the ground tax; which required 1/10 of all grains grown and 1/5 of all wine and oil be submitted to Rome. On top of this was an Income Tax on anyone who received an income, this tax was only 1%. The tax collector would also charge a road tax for walking on Roman roads, if you didn’t walk on the roads… well, that’s your problem, they are there whether you walk on them or not. This road tax also included a tax on the use of any harbour and on the use of the marketplace… after all, the marketplace sits on the road system. Don’t forget the cart tax, that added an extra charge for the number of wheels on your cart and the number of animals pulling it. Then there was the purchase tax, a tax on all merchandise… but Canadians know all about that. Finally there was an import/export tax.
So there was good reason to avoid the tax collectors. You see, there was no way for Rome to inform the average citizen of how much he or she actually owed. The only one who could tell you was the tax collector himself. If you didn’t like his assessment, who would you appeal to? The governor? A magistrate? Or march all the way to Rome and ask Caesar?
Joe… stand up for a moment would you. That’s a nice suit of clothes that you’re wearing this morning. They look new, so I’ll have to charge you 15% on the purchase price. Now a man with clothes like that must make a tidy income, so let’s add your income tax. Is that your silver coloured cart out in the parking area? That’s pretty slick looking, with four wheels at $15.00 a wheel that’s $80.00… are you saying my calculations are wrong, I forgot that it’s double if your wheels have a covering on them… that’s $220.00. Now animals get a sur-charge on roads just like humans, so it’s $10 for yourself and how many animals to move that iron chariot? Owner’s manual says 110… whoowhee, that’ll add up in a hurry. Don’t forget the $1200 poll tax for the year… yep, it’s up to $80 a month now… new air-quality program. You’ve been to the grocery store this week? That’ll be $10, multiplied by 52 months will bring it to an even $550. That should all add up, I have to add a taxation tax to cover my own expenses and ensure I can maintain this high level of service, so 10% is my standard rate, but this being Sunday you are in luck, I’m only charging 8%, but I’ll have to charge you an additional 3% for processing taxes on a discount day. So according to my calculations your annual tax burden is $3000 plus my taxation tax and discount tax brings the total to $3360. I’m afraid you’ll have to pay immediately, no cheques, cash or Roman Express? You can’t pay… don’t worry, I understand how tight times are these days, I will take what you have now and write you a load for the rest. Only 38% interest, a discount from the regular 40%, and then the 3% discount tax. Just to put your mind at ease, if you can’t pay in 12 months I’ve written a lien against your cart and we can just sell that and make up the difference. Thanks very much.
This is why people hated the tax collectors. They were collaborators with Rome but more than that, they were thieves and cheats. Most people if they had to pass by would do whatever they could to avoid any sort of contact, but not Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus SAW Levi.
What did Jesus see when he saw him? Most saw only a scoundrel and a thief. People looked at Levi and saw the reason they were poor; or the reason they were still renting; the reason they had only one ox when they used to have two; the reason their sick child couldn’t se a doctor. When people saw Levi they didn’t see him, the saw the tax-collector and they hated him.
But when Jesus saw him, it is evident that he loved him. He didn’t see a man bent on extortion, he saw a man suffering from a terrible disease with no known cure.
When Jesus steps forward with the offer to ‘Follow me.’ Levi is ready in a heart-beat. Immediately he gets up and leaves all that he has and follows Jesus.
Levi’s sacrifice is greater than that of Peter or John. They were fishermen who left their nets and boats, but their nets and boats would be waiting if they should ever return. To abandon the taxes would guarantee that Levi would never be employed by Rome again.
Whatever it was that Jesus offered to Levi when he called him to follow, Levi valued it more than all the money and power he had amassed.
It is a myth that money can’t buy happiness. Money can buy happiness, it buys happiness in many various forms, but that happiness often comes with unexpected costs that money can’t cover. Sin can offer power, prestige and popularity, but the bill is beyond what anyone can imagine.
Money cannot bury guilt. Popularity cannot assuage self-loathing. No one is powerful enough to silence the voices and thoughts that come in the night of insomnia to remind you of the price you have paid for all you have gained. Perhaps you, like Levi, sit alone in a little booth, devastated by guilt and hungry for peace. Jesus comes to you as he came to Levi, to offer something that can not be bought for any price.
II. Why did Levi invite his friends to be there?
And so it is that we find ourselves looking over Levi’s table. What a spread, every imaginable delicacy has been cooked to perfection. The faces are lit by many flickering lights. If we could see them it would be like flipping through a photo-album of friends. The faces are smiling and laughing, gone are the walls they reserve for strangers, this is a gathering of friends, man in his most comfortable environment.
Tax collectors from all over the region pack into the roomy home of Levi – now advertised as being For Sale. The furniture in every other room is packed up, ready for the auctioneer, fine pottery and art is stacked on the front step with a hand written sign, ‘Take me home, I’m free’. (So far none of the locals has dared venture onto the porch, afraid that it might be some new sort of trap that would allow this famous tax collector to charge them more money… but a few of Levi’s friends pause to look over the collection.
As they stand there they chat back and forth about what’s going on with Levi.
“So what’s the deal with Levi? Why the big party? Why the big give away?”
“Haven’t you heard? This is Levi’s going away party, he’s quitting the business and going on the road with this guy Jesus!”
“Why? What is he getting out of the deal?”
“I don’t know, seems a little foolish to me, a guys gotta think about retirement, no one lives forever.”
“Who is this Jesus character anyway?”
“Ha, that’s the question of the hour, everyone is asking that question, but one thing is sure, he’s a tax collectors nightmare, doesn’t have two denarii to rub together… hahaha. He doesn’t have a home or land or even a beast of burden, just two feet and a heart beat… hahaha.”
“But Levi seems happy, but the way he’s getting rid of all this stuff, there’s no way he’ll ever get it back at the prices he’s selling for. He’ll be hard pressed to live for more than a year on the income from this stuff.”
“Ha, he’s not even keeping the money, he’s selling his own property to pay off the Roman Assessment for the year. When he’s done with this he’ll have nothing.”
“But look at him, something’s different… but what… he seems to laugh a lot?”
“Levi’s always been quick to laugh though.”
“Well he is relaxed… really relaxed.”
“I’d say he’s always been a little relaxed, but I see what you’re saying. I think it must be something different though. It’s like he has some sort of peace, as if he knows something that makes life make more sense. Whatever it is, he seems more real and genuine than anyone I’ve known before.”
“Well… I think I’d trade what I have for whatever he has too… Oh, look, it’s time to eat.”
III. Why did Jesus accept the invitation?
As sit in to eat Levi welcomes them, and then turning to Jesus begins to introduce him as the most remarkable man he’s ever met. Just at that moment there is a scuffle and sound of raised voices in the street.
Conversation at the table falls silent as the sound of an argument are carried through the window. The voices are those of the Scribes and Pharisees, a group of very religious people, likely on their way home from Torah study or some such thing. They have encountered a couple of Jesus disciples hanging around Levi’s house. After a bit of small talk about the day and the weather they asked where Jesus was, and the answer precipitated the explosion:
“What’s he doing in that den of thieves?”
No answer from the disciples… they are new at this, and maybe wondering the same thing. In fact, if we were there, we might have been wondering that as well.
Can you imagine the words of the Pharisees? Carefully chosen to ensure that no one can argue with them, delivered in a lofty superficial tone that says, you and I know that you are not nearly as holy or righteous as I am.
“I know we don’t see eye to eye on certain things, Peter, but we would still consider Jesus to be a righteous man, he’s a good teacher. Doesn’t he realize that he is going to lose all his credibility with the religious community in Palestine? He might as well start talking to Samaritan divorcees if he’s going to keep this up.”
The disciples mumble something about Jesus wanting to give people a chance to change… or something like that, they don’t sound entirely convinced themselves. But the conversation raises another notch on that note.
“Sure, we understand that Jesus wants people to repent… but NOT THESE PEOPLE! Even if they could repent, what would that mean? Would God suspend judgment on their sin? These people deserve what they get. It’s not like you can argue that they accidentally ripped off every person they’ve ever taxed. They are no better than thieves and murderers. Then we could add treason for collaborating with the Romans.”
The voices begin to sneer now, intentionally sending their words towards the open window of Levi,
“You know, if these people wanted religion they knew where to find it, but they’ve never wanted religion, they’ve chosen their course, now Jesus should just let them have it, they’ll get theirs in the end.”
Inside the home of Levi there is an uncomfortable silence. Eyes are turned down, no one is talking. Everyone jumps when they hear a chair scrape abruptly backwards, then there eyes watch as Jesus walks to the window.
Were the Pharisees surprised to hear him respond? I don’t know, but they weren’t talking to him, they were talking to the disciples.
Jesus words are simple, just a question. “Who calls a doctor, a healthy man or a sick one?”
The answer is redundant.
Jesus continues, “I haven’t come to call the righteous but to call sinners to repentance.”
Jesus teaches us something. The place we often think of as a garbage dump of human refuse, becomes in God’s eyes, a sick ward. People aren’t sick and depraved because of the wrong they do, they do what is wrong, because they are sick. Jesus is the cure!
Conclusion: What are the symptoms of sin? At first there is the sense of shame, an embarrassment to have done such a thing. The victim’s shoulders slump a little, disappointment registers in the mind, “How could I have made such a mistake.”
But sin is more addictive than cigarettes. Soon the initial shame disappears, it is only the fear of what others might think, but that too wanes over time. Somewhere deep down the guilt lingers, it usually comes in the middle of the night, accompanied with sleep denying insomnia. The sense of hopelessness, of being trapped, or of sadness takes hold.
Gone, seemingly forever is the happiness of innocence, in its place a poor substitute for pleasure. Empty possessions, empty dreams and empty hearts. These are the symptoms of sin.
Sin is fatal. It carries the final consequence of death, but it hides its final sting well, most manage to deny their own mortality until it is too late. A person might claim that they are not so bad, that they have little sin; but you might as well claim to have a touch of the Ebola virus; or a little case of AIDS. Strangely it isn’t the quantity of sin that is fatal, it is any at all.
What medicine will you try to cure guilt? What remedy can expunge shame? What mental exercise or relaxation technique can reverse the real consequences of selfishness, anger, pride, jealousy, or lies?
Every religion in the world will tell you that you can be forgiven for the wrong you do, all you have to do is behave rightly and raise yourself up to the requisite standard, then forgiveness will be automatic… but what is the required standard? The God of the Bible calls for perfection. The Christ of the Bible offers perfection, not to those who deserve it, but to whosoever will receive it… you see, it’s his righteousness.
Everyone of us can find ourselves in this story. Of course there is only and has only ever been one Jesus, he is the eternal one, he is the healer, the cure for sin.
Maybe you are one of the disciples, a former sinner cured from your sin.
Maybe you are Levi, just now aware of your deadly illness and excited about the cure.
Maybe you are one of Levi’s friends, still sick with sin, wondering if you will ever find a cure, but sitting today at the table with the one who holds the cure.
Or maybe you are at the window, shaking your head at the evil people in the world, comparing them to yourself and rejecting them, never realizing that you have the same sickness, and it is just as deadly.
Won’t you come to Jesus? Won’t you take his cure? Won’t you repent and discover the richness of forgiveness? He calls to you, leave your life, and follow me.
