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READ: Mark 2:13
CHALLENGE: Follow Jesus
Clearly Christ calls sinners to follow Him and anyone can. And this will create meaningful changes in our lives. Does it get better than following Jesus? That powerful and positive change in your life is astounding.
- CHANGE STARTS WITH THE TRUTH
I can’t see anything changing if we’re not teaching core truths. Here’s our message! We want all people to experience a great life in Christ (John 10:10) and we believe that happens as we love, serve, and grow. I’m very interested in a ministry pointing people to Christ, strengthening individuals and families, and serving others.
V13 – Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.
He’s teaching out beside the lake. I can hardly imagine how beautiful this would be. I remember working on a huge crop farm near the Finger Lakes and you would look across fields of gold leading down to the deep blue water of the lake. It was striking and I never will forget it. I learned how to drive tractors in a place of stellar beauty.
Here is Jesus in this beautiful setting and people are flocking to him and he’s beginning to teach them. Why do so many come to him? He had the words that made a difference and He was helping them.
It’s especially amazing when you remember there is no social media, no newspapers, no photos; just the power of word of mouth. A large crowd came to him and He taught them! A large crowd comes to church and what are we supposed to do? Teach them the truth about God. We don’t exist to push the political, but rather what’s theological and moral. Afterall, the teachings of God predate any political party and will certainly outlive all political parties.
If someone is teaching you, that means there’s something for you to learn that you don’t already know. I enjoy listening to people who are a lot smarter than I am. Especially podcasts that hit on news and culture. Jesus taught them things they needed to know.
What is Jesus teaching about? We know that he straightens out poor teaching that excused bad behaviors. They had gone soft on divorce, allowed for lying depending on what you swore by, hated people in their hearts, and lusted after women. He taught them about prayer and the importance of building their lives on a good foundation. He made it simple with teaching like, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no”. He called people to repentance which would mean lining up with his teaching.
The point of all truth is directing people back to their Maker. This is your most important relationship! His teaching would be God centered and factor in eternity.
1 Corinthians 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
All our efforts should bring glory to God! How we talk. How we serve. How we act. How we work. We’re not living for our own glory, we’re striving for something higher. I want my life to please God and to honor Him, not just myself. All our trophies stay here, what we’ve done for God pays dividends into eternity.
Here’s how Jesus taught us to pray – Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name! It’s about you! Here’s why not to worry, God knows every hair on your head and He’ll take care of you.
The first verse in the Bible is that God has created the heavens and the earth. The first verse in the Bible is not – “Hey, be good to yourself and make yourself happy”! The top commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The first commandment in the 10 Commandments is to have no other gods.
Romans 12:1-2 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
What’s important is God’s will and how I can please Him. His good, pleasing, and perfect will. We’re constantly seeking what God wants for our lives.
Jesus died to bring you to God and eternity is about being with God. In fact, we have peace with God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. If truth isn’t more deeply connecting us back our Heavenly Father, what’s the point? Are we man centered or God centered?
We see here what revival looks like. People are seeking the truth of God’s word! If this is what revival looks like, then we’re certainly in a time of revival right now.
The next part of the story and the amazing thing that happened started with the truth. It started with teaching which led to change.
- CHANGE MEANS THAT WE FOLLOW JESUS
V14 – 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.
He sees Levi sitting at the tax collector’s booth. Follow me. And Levi did. No way. Not a tax collector! Anything with the word “tax” can’t be popular. Levi was a tax agent working for the Roman Empire. The occupiers. The ones who took your hard-earned money and gave it to the enemy. These people were hated because they took more than was required and they got rich by fleecing the common folk. Others saw them as caving into the evil powers. No one liked them and they were religious outcasts. But even the worst of the worst can still see the light and follow Jesus.
So here is a man who would be shunned by the religious types because they had given up hope for these unworthy heathens. Yet, this tax collector was a person who Jesus Christ loved and Jesus knew His potential to do great things.
- Jesus Calls Sinners to Follow Him
Jesus invites this sinner on an amazing journey. Follow me. Jesus didn’t just say, “Believe in me”. He said to “follow me”. Too often Christianity is boiled down to mere belief and I get that to a point. There are lots of passages that say to believe in Jesus for eternal life. The problem is that we can sit stagnant in our “so called” faith and do nothing to change. We can just say that we “believe”.
Change starts with faith, but must lead to following Christ. What does that mean? It means to become a disciple! To follow Jesus, is be like Jesus and to demonstrate the love of Christ to the rest of the world.
Sam Holley and I hiked my property to work on a CAUV permit. Our one cat, “Little Buddy” followed us a half a mile back into the woods and all around. And wherever we went, he was right there with us. To follow Jesus is to live like Jesus and love like Jesus. It’s to do right. It’s to tell the truth. It’s certainly to serve. It’s to turn the other cheek at times. It’s to forgive. I appreciated Erika Kirk saying that she forgives the shooter. That’s a hard thing to do. However, it’s about following Jesus.
If I follow anyone, I’m surrendering my will because I’m going by their lead and not my own. It takes humility to say, “Not my will, but thine be done”.
Following Christ requires dedication and sacrifice. You’ll be carrying your cross. Luke 9:23-24 – Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.
Follow me. Now, at the outset of this invitation, Levi cannot possibly understand everything that it means to follow. What does that look like exactly? How many hours, miles, years? Where does it end up? He didn’t have to have every answer or to know everything before accepting the invitation. He just needed to know that he was allowing Jesus to call shots and he’d figure it out as he went. What does it totally mean to follow Jesus? We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it but at least give Him the chance to call the shots.
Levi also doesn’t overthink it because it’s Jesus and He trusts in Him. I started plenty of things where you couldn’t know all that might occur, but you have to start the journey somewhere even when you don’t have every answer yet.
I think of that day that Jesus carried his cross and what that meant. We follow in His steps. The concerns that Christ has for others, we’ll have for others. The love that Christ had on the way to the cross, we will have. The forgiveness that Jesus had for others, we will have. The drive to save the world, will be our drive as well. This should be a concern for the believer, right?
And so, Levi follows Jesus Christ. He leaves what he knows. He leaves what’s lucrative because there is something better. That which is better is Jesus Christ.
- Jesus’ Love for Sinners Leads to Them Following Him
V15 – 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.
The mission of Jesus is to call sinner to repentance. Jesus’ mission was to seek and save the lost and this is what it looked like.
What is the cultural significance is here? You ate with equals who could reciprocate. Not Jesus. He doesn’t care if you’re considered beneath polite society. Jesus doesn’t divide the world into us and them. He’s not looking at sinners as if they are his personal enemies. And that’s something we’re losing in this country.
If you don’t believe like me, you’re no good. You’re not worthy of a conversation. Unfriend. And perhaps we unfriend so many that the only people we have left to talk to are people who think exactly like we do. That’s not gaining ground. That’s a dog chasing its own tail.
I fear that there is too much “us” and the generic “them”. Whoever they are that just embody everything you can’t stand. And yes, there are things I cannot stand for and completely disagree with. I will never cozy up and embrace ideas in rebellion to God. However, we don’t hate people.
Jesus would not cozy up to ripping people off by over collecting. John the Baptist did not cozy up to soldiers – he told them to stop extorting people. There were certain behaviors that he freely and openly challenged. However, Jesus cared about people before they followed in the right way.
I spoke with a person on the way left recently and I reminded them that we are not enemies and we’re never going to be. You’re allowed to hold your thoughts and I mine. How are we ever going to impact people when we treat them like the enemy? God died for the left and the right.
How is there common ground between us and an unbelieving world? There is plenty of common ground. The guy is a tax collector and Jesus would not say that was OK. The friends were sinners and Jesus would not say that was OK. But they all enjoyed food. They agree on that. They probably agreed that they preferred freedom. They probably loved their family and took care of their parents and all of that.
In America, the left and right works together, does business together, struggles to watch the Browns together, battles inflation together, watches our children play sports together, goes to the same restaurants together, all pay property taxes together, etc. etc. etc. Jesus didn’t polarize people unnecessarily. He saw sheep without a shepherd and wanted to guide them.
You didn’t have to be perfect for Jesus to love you. Jesus had sympathy for these outcasts and he spent time with them. He was a friend of sinners, that’s how they saw him, he was a friend. As a result, Levi is not the only tax collector that is reached through Christ’s seeking him out. There were many tax farmers. There were many sinners and they’re all there interacting with Jesus. Why? He loved them and they started following him. His love led to them to changing their lives.
Now let’s think about this. Jesus is willing to have dinner with a bunch of people who don’t think like him. We need to go to and talk to people where they are. If I just hang with people who think like me, what good is that? If I just have facebook friends who think exactly like me, what good is that. I’ll only be reaching the reached and in our world, that’s exactly what it feels like.
We cannot completely insulate ourselves so let’s be intentional about this call to get others to follow us as we follow Jesus. Let’s invite others on the journey. Work will often take care of that. The gym. Sports. Hobbies. We need to be a light to others as well and to influence them to do the right thing.
I know it’s easier to be in places where we all think the same but we’re going to have a hard time changing the world because there’s no one to change. Look at the power of reaching that one lost sheep. They know lots of others.
- CHANGE REQUIRES REPENTANCE
Mark 2:16-17 – 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?” 17 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.”
The Pharisees ask why Jesus is with the sinner and there is a reason. It’s the sick who need the doctor, not the healthy. Jesus is giving the cure to the group that needs it the most whereas the religious kept the cure for only the healthy!
It would be like going to the doctor’s office and wonder, why aren’t there more healthy people here? If you’re a doctor, you’re going to see sick people. That’s what made me laugh during covid. The doctor doesn’t see sick people. What? He only sees healthy people. But that’s not the point of it.
I’ve been at the gym before and the out of shape people feel stupid. Why? This place is for you. You should be here and we want you to be here. We’re happy for anyone who takes a step in the right direction. Everyone would benefit by the gym, that’s for certain. If you don’t think out of shape people should be in the gym you’ve forgotten what the gym is for.
Luke 5:31 – Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Church is for people who don’t have it all together. Church is for those who have problems and brokenness. It’s for those who have taken some bad paths. It’s for all of us.
You’re welcome here. However, Jesus wasn’t just being friends, he was calling you to a better way of life. This is the church today. There’s a better way to live. There is purpose and meaning as we love God and love others.
We’re not here to just be your friend. We’re here to call you to elevate your life and to eliminate the things that are holding you back.
CONCLUSION: Who is Levi anyway? Isn’t his other name Matthew? The very person who wrote the gospel of Matthew? Why did Jesus eat with tax collector’s and sinners because you weren’t going to get a Matthew to testify of goodness without reaching him first.
Think about it. If a Pharisee followed Jesus it would not even be shocking. The man filled with a legion of demons is talking about Jesus? Now that’s really something, right?