Jesus called Matthew the tax collector (Levi) to be his disciple.
In Mark 2:13-17 (NIV) we come to the calling of Levi, the tax collector. "Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 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.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. 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.' "
This text is very appropriate for our purposes this morning. Like Peter, James, and John,who were commercial fishermen, Levi had a prosperous job. It wasn’t particularly a dream job. I am not making a joke,but we saw a vivid illustration this week in Texas of how unpopular tax collectors are.With anger toward the IRS,a man bulldozed his home, then flew an aircraft into the IRS offices. People like Levi didn’t just levy taxes, they levied injustice upon injustice. They were Roman collaborators, and many were corrupt.
But Jesus tells Levi, "Follow me." Notice that this wasn’t a question, it was actually a command. This is how it is with Jesus. He is Lord, Savior, the King of kings, and Lord of the universe. With authority he calls us."Follow me." It’s our choice, and it's achoice with great consequences-- whether we follow Jesus or rebel against the King’s authority.
If we obey Christ’s call and follow Jesus, it becomes quite an adventure indeed. Levi was an ordinary man— just the sort of person our Savior calls and uses. He had irreligious friends, presumably becaisehis life was oriented around his sins. But Jesus had a purpose for Levi, and he has a purpose for you too. "Follow me."
Jesus ate with Matthew's friends, who were sinners.
We’re going to deal with the questions the Pharisees pose to Jesus inMark 2:15 next week. The basic issue is that Jesus was eating alongside a rag-tag bunch of scoundrels, including tax collectors and sinners. He was taking an interest in the fringe of society instead of hanging out with priests, Pharisees, and teachers of the law.
In Mark 2:17 (NIV) we discover why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
What we see in this passage is Jesus calling people away from one kind of lifestyle,a sinful, self-centered, self-seeking lifestyle. Jesus is calling usto embrace a new kind of lifestyle,one of righteousness, spiritual health, and beauty. A lifestyle that is decidedly Christ-centered. "Follow me."
Jesus was drawing a line in the sand for Levi. Do you want the life you have now, or do you want the kind of life God wants to give you? This morning I am keep things short and simple. Our elders and ministry staff have put a lot of thought into defining the kind of life Jesus is calling our church to. It’s up to us whether to follow.
Our vision at Lakeside consists offour biblical purposes.
Believing in Jesus for everlasting life.
Here is what God wants to do at Lakeside.Imagine ordinary people— factory workers, hurried professionals, fathers and mothers, farmers, business owners, and students— who are keenly aware of Jesus’ presence within them. They are laying hold of his power in constant prayer, considering no price too great to know Jesus and follow him in everyday life. This is a group of people who courageously welcome the grace and candor of Jesus’ life-giving words, and who embrace Christ’s very life and lifestyle as their only hope for redemption, both now and for eternity. This is agroup ofpeople who don’t just worship in a church sanctuary, but who see their whole lives as a sanctuary in which Christ is glorified twenty-four hours a day. This is a group ofpeople whose love for Jesus stands in stark contrast, and offers a compelling alternative, to the empty boasts, false claims, and hollow way of the world.
Becoming fully like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Here is what God wants to do at Lakeside.Lakeside will consist of ordinary people, people who have been unchanged by years of rules, religion, legalisms, and willpower, who are seeking the power of God’s Holy Spirit as a means of transformation instead of relying on their own strength. These arepeople who pursue holiness by daily inviting God’s Holy Spirit to make their hearts sensitive to all that pleases and offends God. This is a group of people who joyfully practice the spiritual disciplines (prayer, confession, study, fasting, reflection, simplicity, sacrifice, andservice) not out of guilt, shame, or a misguided sense of duty, but in order to maximize the activity of the Holy Spirit and bring all their heart, mind, body, soul, and relationships into conformity with Christ’s likeness.
Finding a sense of belonging and purpose among God’s people.
Imagine ordinary people— fallible as individuals and flawed as families— bound together by Christ’s love, demonstrating a stubborn, "never say never" commitment to one another’s wellbeing. Lakeside has people who draw strength from being together, speaking the truth in love, practicing reconciliation and forgiveness, and loving one-another just as Christ loved the Church. They sacrificially using their gifts, abilities, and resources to serve one another. This is a group ofpeople who exemplify God’s covenant love in their marriages and families, who actively shepherd their families toward spiritual wholeness without abdicating responsibility to the church, public schools, or another institution. This isa group ofpeople who are not served by "a minister" or select few individuals, but who see every member of the church as a minister ordained by Christ to serve one another in love.
Being sent.
We are being sent into God’s world to invite our friends and enemies to be part of Christ’s kingdom. Imagine ordinary people— once compromised, inactive, and silenced— spontaneously showing Christ’s compassion and kindness to both neighbors and enemies far from God, promoting Christ’s very works and words as their mission in the world. This is a group ofpeople loving Christ by serving him in all persons, rolling up their sleeves and putting their faith into action by caring for the sick, poor, downtrodden, homeless, widowed, and infirm. Lakeside is a group of people who make Christ famous by loving the alien, stranger, and enemy, holding out the words of life to a watching world. They aremultiplying new life in Christ throughout their circle of influence through evangelism, discipleship, church planting, and missions. These people are believing in Jesus for everlasting life. Imagine a group of people becoming like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Belonging in Christ-centered, God-honoring relationships. Being sent into God’s world to call people away from the old to the new.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NIV) says,"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."