title="English

Doing Lunch with the Real Jesus

Mark 2:13:23

When I worked in a university, at the end of the year we would have graduating students meet in their respective departments for celebration and reflection. Students would often reflect on the most memorable parts of their educational experiences. It was sometimes a bit hard for faculty members to accept that students often said their most life-shaping times on campus happened not so much in formal lectures but in dining hall and coffee shop encounters. But, I think that's often true for us in church too. There's something that happens to us when we eat together. Barriers come down. Hectic lives slow down. And, relationships often grow deep. My daughter Heather said, "That's why girls don't want to go to dinner on a first date!"

Jesus knew this and frequently, when he called people to follow him, he also invited himself over to their homes to have a meal with them. But, doing this sometimes got Jesus into trouble with the traditional authorities because Jesus ate with people that "respectable people" usually wouldn't eat with. There were all sorts of rules about having meals among the people of Israel. There were good reasons for these rules that God had established in the Old Testament. God knows that he created us in a way that we become bound with and changed by those we dine with. So, God had set up a number regulations about whom we should or should not eat with as he was keeping the people of Israel distinct from the rest of the world – a people through whom a savior would come. But, by the time we get to Mark 2, Jesus, the long-expected Messiah has come (see Mark 1:1). And, in the text we come to today, he eats with people that the Old Testament said the people of Israel shouldn't be eating with. Note this: The group Jesus eats with wasn't a group of people some said were OK while others said they were not OK. No, this group was clearly ruled out by everyone. So, what Jesus does in Mark 2:13ff. shocks everyone who witnesses it.

That's what we're going to look at today. We'll see how people get a place at the table with Jesus. Then we'll consider the shocking (and beautiful) message of who all has a place around Jesus' family table. Finally, we'll think about the intimate lasting relationship he offers to all who join him at the table. I know that this issue of dietary laws may seem irrelevant to us in our day -- but I hope we will see how meaningful this passage of Scripture still is to all who long for table fellowship with Jesus.

#1: How to get a seat at the table? – Respond to a call from Jesus (2:13-14)

Similar to the four fishermen in Mark 1:16-20, we meet a man named Levi who is called by Jesus and who obeys immediately. It seems that Levi simply lets Jesus take over his life as he gets up and leaves his profession when jesus beckons. This made me think of a group of physicians who became good friends back in the mid-80s. When I would have a meal with one of them, I never knew if we would make it through a meal when they were “on call” because their old “ pagers (remember those?) would go off and they would have to drop everything and care for their patients. When they were not on call, they had some control of their time. When they were on call, they voluntarily surrendered control of their lives.

According to the NT, every follower of Jesus is "on call" in just that way by Jesus. This is the nature of our faith. We do not seek God – God seeks us. Jesus is the one who made the sacrifice to enter into a world and he is also the one who chooses to break into our lives and call us. We love Romans 8:28 but we forget it’s last phrase, “God works good… for those called according to his purpose.” All who love God are called -- just as Levi was called. What this means is that the one who joins Jesus at the family table of God is a person who has sensed the call of Jesus to follow, has said yes, and has surrendered his or her life to Jesus.

I hope it’s clear: When the Son of God calls us and we follow him, he is the one who must be Lord. We can no longer be in control when we have said we will be "on call" by Jesus. Levi here is called away from his tax booth. The fishermen in Mk 1 were able to return at times to their careers – but not Levi. Each of us is called in different ways so don’t insist that your call will be the same as others.

But some things are the same about Jesus' calls upon our lives. So, you may have gone to church all your life and even have believed that Jesus is who he says he is and you may never have surrendered your life to his call. How do you know if you have?

• You begin to see that your relationship to Jesus must be the central thing.
• You begin to want to live in a way that pleases him.
• You begin to pray about in your daily decisions about what you should do – with the outcome being that you what you intentionally choose what Jesus would have you do. Everything else becomes the second concern.

When those things happen, you are on call. You are ready for the "spiritual pager" to go off. You learn to practice the presence of God in your life seeking to follow God's leading both in small and major matters.

#2: Who else is at the table? – Other sinners (2:15-17)

It was shocking enough that Jesus even spoke to the tax collector in vv. 13-14. But, with v. 15, the truly shocking part begins. Jesus calls Levi the tax collector into his innermost band and then Jesus goes over to Levi’s house to have a meal with Levi and his friends. The problem with this was twofold:

1. Sharing a meal had serious implications for Jewish people. They knew that when you ate with a person, you identified that person as a family member or a close friend. And, they believed those you ate with not only demonstrated your own values but also was a huge formative part of every person's life. (I believe this was true and still is true!) As I mentioned before, God had given strict dietary rules to his people as a significant part of the way to keep Israel distinct from other people groups. So, for the Jewish people, it was very important to keep these laws.
2. Jesus went and ate with the wrong kind of people – the worst imaginable kind of people. Note the threefold “tax collectors and sinners” description in vv. 15-17. Tax collectors were not like IRS agents. I think they're more like drug dealers or pimps -- using their influence to keep people in bondage. I sometimes think of the wonderful mothers I met when I did children's work in Chicago’s projects. They wanted to give their kids a better future. And, they knew that for that to happen, they had to keep their kids from drugs and gangs. But, there were men, who came into the projects, who would recruit their kids into a life of drugs and gangs. The Moms said, “These evil men pretend to be one of us but all they do is keep the awful systems going that destroy our kids.” That’s how the Jewish people thought about Levi and friends.

So, of course, it was a scandal for Jesus to go over to a tax collector's home and have a meal. He was flaunting all their most cherished standards. It's no surprise that doing so brought Jesus into conflict with groups like the Pharisees. The Pharisees were committed to keeping people uncontaminated by the world so Messiah could be born. They deeply believed people would be spiritually contaminated by being in proximatelyto people like Levi. In our day, physically, we believe that when we come into close contact with germs and viruses, the unhealthy carriers of disease will make the healthy unhealthy. Contact leads to contamination. The Pharisees believed that was also true of morals.

So, here’s Jesus coming into contact with people who were destroying their lives and the lives of their children. And, they had a point. We’re so individualistic in American society that we’re often unaware of how those we spend time with shape our lives. We underestimate the power of community for character formation.

Again, meals are perhaps the most important events for our lives to shape one another. Meals are personal. Barriers come down when we eat together. We usually become like those we eat with the most.

So, laws like the dietary laws and Sabbath laws had kept the people of Israel distinct for centuries. They were important so that the Messiah could come through them. But, here we see Jesus who coming and openly disobeying the laws. The Pharisees said, “Jesus can’t be a prophet. He eats with sinners. He’s unclean and contaminated himself.” To that Jesus gives us v. 17.

This verse sounds wonderful to many people today. However, think about what it is saying: A physician who heals has to call us to change things in our lives. He has to cut something out, make us eat differently or get us to exercise. The malignancy that is a part of the sickness has to come out – the bad patterns have to change. So, Jesus comes and we do no longer do sinners contaminate him. No, he comes in and makes anyone who repents and believes in him. This is what offered hope for people like Levi. And, it is our hope as well. This is the gospel – anyone who is touched by Jesus can be clean: whatever your record, whatever you’ve done, no matter how ashamed you are, and no matter what’s been done to you. Nothing can make Jesus unclean. He says, “This is why I’ve come – to make you clean when you invite me in.”

Think of what Jesus did. He went to a man’s home and spent time with him. Going there harmed Jesus’ reputation. But, Jesus completely changed Levi's identity. Jesus dignified Levi. Levi and all who follow Jesus become, as Jesus said to another tax collector named Zacchaeus, children of Abraham. And, Jesus, the holy one, is willing to do the same for you and me – to come into our lives and make us clean and have us belong to God's family.

A table of God's mercy and grace:

So, we see that those who are in the family are all who admit that they need a physician. The Pharisees needed spiritual healing too but they wouldn't own up to it. We must learn that everyone who is at God's table is there by God's grace.

Before coming to LAC, I spoke at a church back east that had recently experienced a church split. The issue that led to the division was the proposed building of a gym. Some saw it as a great vehicle for ministry to the community. Another large group in the church argued against it. They said, "A gym will bring in the wrong kind of people." I asked, "Who are the wrong kinds of people? Tax collectors? The poor? Those of different ethnicity? Those struggling to stay our of gangs?" Jesus came for the sick. He came to invite those who are often viewed as the wrong kind of people. In fact, the implication of v. 17 is that unless we recognize that we are among the wrong kind of people we will never come to him and know his salvation, The table of Jesus is filled with the wrong kind of people being made right by the life of Jesus.

Disciples being made sent to make disciples:

Here’s the amazing part: When we come to Jesus, the infection of sin in us begins to work in reverse. First, Jesus declares us right with him. He forgives our sins (as we saw last week in Mk 2:1-12) And then he begins a process in us to make us completely clean. We will soon see in Mark's gospel, that soon Jesus sends his disciples out to carry the good news to. They were able to eat with unhealthy people too and they all grew together. Listen carefully here: Jesus associated with sinners so that they could believe and become clean. He did not engage in the sins of the world. That is our calling too. We become clean in Christ so that we can go out not to live as the world lives but to love the world as Jesus does – and show a different way of living.

And this is what we must do. We are brought into a different kind of unexpected family and told to do life together. We are disciples in the making brought into a family of disciples being made and sent to make disciples. We can invite "whosoever will to come." The table is a table of God's grace for all who believe.

#3: What kind of inviter is this? – One who takes an oath of love to us (2:18-22)

Again and again, Jesus let us know in Mark’s Gospel that he has come to do life with us – to walk with us. In vv. 18-22, the people wondered about another eating problem: Why were Jesus' disciples not keeping the laws about fasting? Basically, Jesus says that those laws were important to preserve a people through whom the savior would come. But, that old wineskin, that old way of doing things, was no longer relevant once Jesus had come, In fact, the one to whom all these laws pointed – the one they all had been waiting for – was with them! What a claim! Jesus was asserting that, once he had come to earth, there was a new basis for being in God’s family – not by physical birth but through spiritual birth through faith in Jesus. There is a new people of God – made up of all who repent and acknowledge we are sinners and find health through faith in Jesus. We are made a part of family made up of all those who have said, “I need a rescuer. I will follow Jesus." And, Jesus boldly proclaimed that when he was present, it was not the time to fast – but to celebrate. Let me tell you that when Jesus returns, we will not fast. We will celebrate in what the Bible calls the marriage supper of the Lamb of God.

But what I want you to notice at the end of this sermon is how Jesus described himself when he said these things. Sometimes, the Bible says Jesus is like a shepherd to his sheep in God's family. At other times, Jesus is likened to a capstone in a building. Those are powerful images.

But, notice what Jesus says here. Jesus said he is like a bridegroom to his bride. This image is so permanent and so intimate. Jesus is declaring that he loves those who believe in him and that he will never leave or forsake us. I stand in awe of this teaching straight from the mouth of Jesus: When we follow Jesus, he won’t simply give us a set of dietary rules. He won’t just give us things to stay away from. He offers a life of joy in his presence – a life in which we can count on his love. He loves you and me with an everlasting love. And one characteristic of a life that has been touched by the love of Jesus is that we develop a deep desire to bring others to him to get well too. Is that true of you?

He forgives those who repent and believe in him. Then, Jesus calls us to his table and begins his renewing work in us. Being with Jesus and in the community of his people, we grow stronger in our faith. Then, he sends us out to touch the lives of others. These disciples were extremely slow in their growth in faith but they kept walking with Jesus and eventually they became strong. They failed often but, because Jesus was going to keep his vow to his "bride", he kept developing them. Soon, these same men -- men like this "tax collector and sinner: named Levi, were carrying the gospel to the world. And, he does not give up on us!

What the "take-home" for this sermon? Can you think of anything Jesus might be saying to you through his words?

* Are you living a life "on call" -- surrendered fully to Jesus?

* Are you inviting and welcoming people like Levi into your life -- or do you still think there are a lot of the wrong kind of people too far from God's grace ever to receive it?

* Are you involved in mentoring and being mentored by others in the church? We may need to have a lot more meals with people.

* Are you secure in the unrelenting, intimate, and unending love of the one who says he has come to heal your life and will never leave you until his work is done?

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor