There s the story of a young woman who applied to a university college in USA

Transcription

1 Follow Me - Mark 2:13-17 Cafe Church 17 th April 2016 Intro Are you a leader or a follower? There s the story of a young woman who applied to a university college in USA As she filled in the application form One of the questions was are you a leader? Being honest and conscientious she wrote NO she was not a leader and returned her application expecting that she wouldn t get into uni To her surprise she got a reply back Dear applicant, a study of our application forms for this year reveals that our college will have 1,452 new leaders this year, so we are accepting your application because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower The Call of a man whom all hated Thankfully Jesus is not a leader like those 1,452 leaders he is a real leader and someone definitely worth following And we pick up the story where He is walking beside the lake and attracted a big crowd who d come to hear Him teach. See verse 13. It s quite normal for Rabbi s to walk along in open air and as disciples gathered around him he would talk and they would listen. Jesus was doing what any Rabbi would do Galilee was a great road centre of the ancient world. There was a saying at the time that: Judea is on the road to nowhere and Galilee is on the way to everywhere Page 1 of 8

2 Palestine was seen as the great land bridge between Africa and Europe. The Great road of the sea led through Damascus in Syria, through Galilee, through Carpernaum, down past Carmel, along the plain of Sharon, through Gaza and down to Egypt. [Powerpoint 1 Map] Palestine at this time was partitioned up. Judea was a Roman province under a Roman procurator Galilee was ruled by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great To the east was another territory ruled by another of Herod s sons Philip Now on the way from Philip s territory to Herod s territory Page 2 of 8

3 The first town was Capernaum [Powerpoint 2] Capernaum was by its nature a frontier town and because of that it was a customs centre where import and export taxes were collected Jesus meets Levi That is where Jesus comes across Levi (aka Matthew) Levi wasn t working for the Romans like Zacchaeus but more likely working for Herod Nevertheless this passage tells us a few things about Levi/Matthew and about Jesus [Powerpoint 3 heading] Page 3 of 8

4 1. Levi was well hated. Tax collectors are never popular even today. But in Jesus time they were hated. People never knew how much they had to pay them: the tax collectors collected whatever they could possible get out of people and lined their pockets as much as they could [Powerpoint 2a] But Jesus wanted the man that no-one else wanted But isn t that what Jesus is like He grabs the people who are down and out The people who the rest of society reject 2. Being an outcast, Levi even though he might have heard Jesus message from a distant on other occasions, Levi couldn t go to the so-called orthodox good people of the day to them he was unclean and unacceptable [Powerpoint 2b] Illustration of a woman who had a baby to a Chinese man and she had a baby to him who was half-caste. She went to a women s meeting at a church bringing her baby after a few visits the vicar asked her to stop coming because none of the other women will come to the meeting if you keep coming. The woman asked isn t there anywhere a sinner can go? Fortunately, the Salvation Army welcomed her and she became a Christian. But that s what Levi was up against Until he met Jesus the one who came to seek and save the lost 3. We learn that Jesus even as he walked and taught along the lakeside he was still on the lookout for opportunities. Jesus was never off duty. If He could find one lost sheep He would. [Powerpoint 2c] Page 4 of 8

5 What a harvest we would gather in if we looked for people like Jesus did as he walked 4. Of all the disciples Levi gave up the most. He literally left ALL to follow Jesus. Peter, Andrew, James and John could go back to their boats. There was always fish to catch and always their old trade to return to. But Levi had burned his bridges. With one swift action, Levi, left it all behind. He had put himself out of a job forever. He could never get his tax collectors job back. [Powerpoint 2d] There s the story of man who used to take long country walks. When he came to a river that was rather too deep to cross comfortably, he would always throw his coat over to the other side first. There was to be no turning back. Levi placed his life and well-being in the hands of Jesus That s what true followers of Jesus do! 5. From his decision, Levi got at least three things a. He got clean hands from now on he could look the world in the face and say I m clean of corruption. He might be poorer and life might be tougher and some luxuries would be lost, but from now on his hands were clean and his mind was at rest. Isn t that the relief we feel when we had our lives over to Jesus and repent and say sorry b. He lost one job and got a bigger and better one He became a Gospel worker. We get that job too c. Levi/Matthew s perceived reckless decision to follow Jesus, got him something unexpected. Something he wasn t looking for. It brought him immortal and worldwide fame. As a Gospel writer He still had his pen and his legacy of writing about Jesus is left for us all to read and digest Page 5 of 8

6 God uses the weak, the lowly, the unpopular, the outcasts transforms them and uses them to achieve His great purposes! Jesus eats with Levi Not surprisingly Levi wants to share Jesus with his friends. And his friends not surprise are also tax collectors and sinners (other outcasts) and so Levi shares a meal with his mates and with Jesus. How are we at sharing Jesus with our friends? (pause) [Powerpoint 4 Heading] By Jesus going to Levi s house he was breaking every social convention of the day. These people that the Pharisees were saying were sinners Were people who either broke the moral law or the scribal law Someone who committed adultery and someone who ate pork were both sinners Someone who was guilty of stealing or murder and someone who did not wash their hands the required number of times in the required way before eating were both sinners! [Powerpoint 4a loved] But Jesus didn t care what type of sinners they were he came to seek and find them and mix with them and eat with them and teach them and love them back to God Are we prepared to do that? Or are we too afraid? Too proud? (pause) Page 6 of 8

7 When challenged about his terrible behaviour in v16 Jesus response is to liken himself to a doctor who doesn t look after healthy people but sick people. [Powerpoint 4b] In the same way, Jesus was saying I have come to those who have sick souls they are the ones that need me most. V17 is a very interesting verses because it seems on first reading that Jesus had no use for good people. But the point is that the one person for whom Jesus can do nothing is the person who thinks himself/herself so good that they don t need anything [Powerpoint 4c] Whereas the one point person that Jesus can do everything for is the person who is a sinner and failure and who knows it and who longs in their heart for a cure! [Powerpoint 4d] To have no sense of needing Jesus is to have erected a wall between ourselves and Jesus and is to be proud and arrogant and to be unteachable The problem with the Pharisees and Scribes was two things: Firstly their contempt they despised the sinner. Whereas Jesus loved the sinner but not the sin. They looked down on the sinner whereas Jesus came and sat beside them and by sitting beside them, lifted them up and restored them. Who will we be like the Pharisees or Jesus? Page 7 of 8

8 Secondly their fear they were afraid that they would be infected by the sinner. Like a doctor being afraid to treat a patient who is infectious they thought if they helped the sinner they would be a sinner too. Whereas Jesus was the one who forgot about himself in his great desire to save others. Who will we be like the Pharisees or Jesus? [Powerpoint 4e] With contempt and fear in our hearts, we can never be fishers of men! (pause) Conclusion [Powerpoint 5 quote] The Great Missionary C.T. Studd had this favourite quote: Some want to live within the sound of the church or chapel bell I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell! When Jesus says follow me the word in Greek means to join him as a disciple and as we ve said in weeks gone by to be a disciple means we do everything that Jesus does Which in the case of Levi is hang with people who are outcast, build them up, restore them, share Jesus with them and lead them to be disciples of Jesus and so being a follower strange as it sounds means being a leader leading people to Jesus Let s pray Page 8 of 8