Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus now goes out beside the Sea of Galilee to teach those who came to Him.

Many, many people were there and they seemed content to hear Him speak.

We hear of no healings or miracles, just that He made Himself available and people flocked to hear Him.

When I read this and other passages that talk about the crowds I wonder what became of them.

Where were they after His resurrection?

Were so few saved?

And Jesus indicated that is the case.

All these people actually heard Jesus speak and teach but how many actually followed through on what was said?

Of course, that is the question every preacher asks themselves.

It is one of the greatest concerns of preachers that what is said is practised including in one’s own life.

Even James talked of this in his letter:

Next Sunday I will have been here 6 months exactly.

For those who have been following in their bible readings this means that you are a sixth of the way through the Bible - and I would encourage again to keep reading or to start reading.

This is the very basic thing that we should be doing as Christians for it is within the Word of God we discover what God is like, what His plan is, what He says about us and what His will is among many other things.

Christians should be reading through it once a year but we are doing it in 3 years.

We can do it.

Some passages will not be easy but persevere.

The readings are on the bulletin every week.

Well, someone who did not appear to be there on the beach with Jesus was a man who was toiling away collecting taxes.

Oh boy! Who likes the tax man?

People have always hated paying tax.

The Romans, who were in charge of Israel in these days, levied taxes upon the people to send back to Rome but they employed locals to do it which in the eyes of the Jewish people was traitorous and evil.

It was a well-paid job for being the outcast of society but on top of this they added a certain percentage they skimmed off the top for themselves.

Tax collectors, if we remember, also went out to John the Baptist

First, notice that he does not say that tax collecting is wrong - that would have been surprising to those around but the call to believe is also a call to repentance, not to stop collecting money but for collecting more than they should - to stop skimming the money.

And here comes Jesus and in the topsy-turvy world of the Kingdom of God such people are welcome.

There was Levi, who is also known as Matthew, the writer of the Gospel, waiting for people to come in and pay their taxes.

And Jesus said to him ‘follow me’ and immediately he gets up, leaves everything behind and joins Him.

We have heard nothing of Matthew before this but he immediately followed Jesus.

Perhaps this is the first time anyone had taken any notice of him except to revile him and in Jesus he had found someone who accepted him despite who he is and what he had done.

People crave acceptance.

Don’t we? Who likes to rejected?

Matthew invited Jesus to dinner and he accepts and Matthew invites his friends who are none other than other tax collectors, of course.

Who else would have been friends with them?

They kept each others company in their own little clique.

The fact that Jesus went to eat with them surprised everyone especially the Jewish leaders.

It is hard to think of a situation these day in our country where we could surprise some religious people or Christians - perhaps it is like being invited to a gay bar by some in the LBGT crowd to eat and accepting.

Many today do things which we are not surprised about anymore such as working with the homeless or with alcoholics and so on.

Who are the ostracised of our society by the religious?

It is to these that Jesus would go.

Why?

Because it is these who need to be healed, to be forgiven, to be reached with the Good News.

Churches should be filled with people who have been broken and then restored.

Mercy needs to be shown to the marginalised.

And Jesus is the One pure example of doing this.

He was counter-cultural.

He was saying that the Jewish leaders were offering no hope.

If you are a sinner then that’s it, you will not hear any good news from them.

But Jesus offered hope when they didn’t.

They did not realise that it was they who had no hope without turning to Jesus.

Jesus said that I go to those who need healing and forgiveness.

Jesus went to those who would receive Him because despite what Jesus said His point was that the Jewish leaders think you are already well and spiritually healthy and have no need of forgiveness.

Pride had blinded them.

Everyone is in need of healing and forgiveness but it seems that just those on the edges of society seem to realise it.

It is very much the same today.

Most people here in the West do not consider their situation - they have no care or concern for God for everything seems well with them for they have everything they need, at least, materially.

Jesus was saying you think you don’t need me so I’ll go to those who realise they do.

It often takes a crisis to realise that whatever this world offers it is not enough.

It often takes something drastic to happen to someone religious to realise that their good deeds will not help them.

Jesus saw Himself as the doctor come to heal spiritually sick patients.

After Jesus’ answer about the calling of the unrighteous to repentance they took a different tack and saw that Jesus, His disciples and the tax collectors were having a feast and enjoying themselves and so asked a question about fasting!

Religious people always want to maintain an air of spirituality which they think means you can have no fun.

We are always fasting but your disciples don’t.

Why?

Oh come on!

I get frustrated with these kinds of questions which arise out of some sort of vindictiveness.

I feel like this when politicians are asked questions by journalists and then they ask another question which reveals the journalist’s own opinion.

There is no answer that can be given that would satisfy the bloodlust.

And this is how it was for Jesus.

And we should not expect anything different from the world or from individuals.

Whatever you say can be twisted.

So, how to answer these blind Jewish leaders?

Jesus said, would you fast at a wedding?

They are celebrating that I am with them but there will come a time when I am not, then they will see that that is the appropriate time to fast.

Jesus was alluding for the first time when He was going to be crucified.

Yes, fasting is a spiritual discipline but there is a time for it and a time not for it.

Fasting is one of those disciplines that is very infrequent among Christians.

Obviously if there are health issues then you should certainly listen to the doctor’s advice.

But there are times we should fast especially when making important decisions or needing certain answers from God or in a spiritual battle but also as a practice in which we draw near to God for a time.

Fasting is not commanded of Christians in the New Testament however Jesus assumed we would fast:

Fasting is found in the early church for special occasions such as in:

Prayer and fasting go together.

Consider fasting along with prayer and the of the reading Scriptures.

And on occasions we should do this together as a Church.

Jesus goes on to talk in a parable about clothes then wineskins.

First it would be strange to take a new piece of clothing to fix an old one.

Two years ago you bought a jumper from Marks and Sparks and, unfortunately, it developed this hole in it, so, this week, you went back to M&S to buy the same jumper, it’s still in stock! - miracles happen - it is absolutely identical.

I know, you say, I’ll fix the old one with the new one I just bought; after all it is my favourite jumper.

Well, the idea is plainly stupid.

For starters the shade of the old jumper would have faded a little and so the colours will not exactly match even if you have used colour-fast washing powder - and then you are going to ruin the new for the old and in the process you will ruin both irrevocably.

Then there is the new wine into old wineskins.

New wineskins have some elasticity because the fermentation process produces a gas that expands the wineskin but after fermentation the wineskin has stretched as far as it can go so to put more new wine afterwards means that when it ferments it will split the wineskin.

The point of this parable is simply that repentance is necessary to become a child of the Kingdom of God.

You put new life into the old life and the two are incompatible.

All you’ll do it ruin your life and it will be worse than before.

We find in Luke that those who have lived the old life are not immediately drawn to like the new.

Old wine is far better than new wine until you become accustomed to the taste.

This is quite an understandable thing.

This is true in the Church.

The old way of doing things are considered to be better.