Welcoming Sinners
Introduction
The Call of Matthew or Levi as the Gospel of Mark 2:13-17 and Luke 5: 27-32 refer to him. The call happen in the city of Capernaum. Which is called Jesus’ own city. It can rightly thought of as headquarters for Christ. It is more than likely that the soon to be disciple has seen Jesus performing miracles of healing and forgiving sins.
GOD IS THE CALLER AND JUDGE, WHO CALLS THE SINNER BY HIS WORD AND SPIRIT, WE ARE ONLY AN INSTRUMENT IN THAT CALL.
Context
The bible is not known for its chronological order, but the order is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Within the Gospel of Matthew Mark and Luke, the call of Matthew/ Levi is placed in the midst of events that shows Jesus’s power to heal and authority to forgive sin. Matthew Mark and Luke all place the call right after the healing of the Paralytic. Where we read these words:
MT 9: 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home.
The call of Matthew or Levi is specially placed to highlight the power and authority of Christ. It tells us why Christ came and how we can be imitators of Christ.
Read Text;
There are 3 points I will highlight form the text in front of us today. 1. The Call 2. Why Christ came. 3. So What does it mean for us
1. The Call
Within this passage, we see the two types of calls from God. 1. We see the effectual call of the disciple Matthew. Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit whereby, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel. 2. we see the Gospel Call, also referred as the General Call, and the External Calling- in which the Gospel is preached, in any way or means, to anyone, and is not effective, endless God effectually calls the person.
1.1 Effectual Calling
Jesus says “Follow me and disciple follows him. This is a sign of the irresistible and irrefutable grace of God. This grace is shown by the effectual calling of the apostle. As stated early it highly probable that Matthew saw Jesus performing miracles. But it was not until to uses the words of
Westminster CH. 10.1 “All those whom God hath predestined unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in HIS appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit”
because of the length of this paragraph and chapter of the COF we will just use the first 2 and half lines of the first paragraph on effectual calling found in COF ch. 10.
Now, just hang on to “God’s appointed and accepted time, by the Word” we will revisit it throughout the sermon.
Who does God call
Why do Mark and Luke call him Levi. Levi was his tribal name, like our last name.
Most famously Matthew is known as the tax collector. And one thing that has not changed in the 2000 years since Christ walked on the earth, no body really likes the tax collector. It may just be their job, but that can be hard to see in the fog of the distress. In the days of Jesus the tax collect was not just unlike but hated by all, shunned by his family, and consider one of worst types of sinners. Grouped together with murders and thieves.
The job of tax collect was not given because of a good resume. It was a bind job. In which the people paid for a slot and hope to be chosen by the roman officials. The Jewish community so this as a betrayal to their family and to God.
But how did Jesus see the tax collect? Jesus saw Matthew the Apostle, a man in need of His saving grace, as a means in which Christ would use to spread his saving Gospel across the street and around the world. As the Lord said to Isaiah and to Paul,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Calvin says, “It was the intention of Christ to choose simple and ignorant persons to that rank, in order to cast down the wisdom of the world, (1 Cor. 2:6.)
The wisdom of the world is humanity thinking we have any wisdom without God.
But is not just Matthew that the Pharisees called out. No the text say tax collectors and sinners.
We know that Jesus was reclining and eating and with the amount of people it can be logical assumed it was a banquet or dinner party. Which leads to or sub point, who do we invite to our home.
1.2 The Gospel Call
All throughout the Scriptures we see warning and commands about the friends we keep. One of the most memorable is the book of Job. What does his friends and even his own wife tell him to do? His friends mock him and his wife says:
“Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:9–10, ESV)
“A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.” (Proverbs 16:27–29, ESV)
We can look all over the Scriptures and find warning of following sinners. But here is Matthew, Mark and Luke we see the Christ, the 2nd person of the Trinity at a dinner party with tax collectors and sinners.
Since it is Matthew/ Levi’s house, which we know thanks to the Gospel of Luke, we can assume that the tax collects and sinners are known and invited by the owner of the house.
Why invite tax collectors and sinner to recline with Christ.
Psalm 5:4 “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.”
Here we see Jesus extending the general call of the Gospel. He is not following in the path of the wicked. Christ is sharing the Good New, which is Himself, with the tax collectors and sinners.
Well I would like to think that all of us, if we met Christ would invite all of our friends to come meet Him. Or we might want someone to meet him to make sure we are not going crazy.
My call to the ministry took a similar path, I felt the love and grace of God over flowing in me that I must share God with others. As things progressed there are were a few times i thought I might be crazy.
Either way that is what the called disciple did, he invited people to come and recline with Jesus the Christ.
Matthew being a tax collector was hated by everyone. His own family would not have came to his house for a dinner party. The only friends a tax collector would have is other tax collectors and sinners that were shunned by their community. Other tax collectors and sinners would be the only people willing to come to the disciple’s house. Here in lies the problem.
The religious separate themselves form the sinners.
The same is true today. Through our secular culture limits the separation between believer and non-believer. We work, shop, and eat around and with non-believers all the time.
I want everyone to stop and think for a monument. A well known non-religious person is trying to invite you to dinner. What would you do? Do we answer the phone to begin with to hear the invite? If seen in public do we walk around to avoid? How about they walk in to this very Church, How do we as believers in Christ treat the outcast?
This is what John Calvin says about this verse in regards to how we should take it.
“Now, if we feel disgust at being associated by Baptism and the Lord’s Supper with vile men, and regard our connection with them as a sort of stain upon us, we ought immediately to descend into ourselves, and to search without flattery our own evils.”
I am thankful and blessed to be born after the death and resurrection of Christ, and the publication of the Scriptures. My initial reaction would be the same as the Pharisees. If this the Lord almighty why are you eating in a slum with sinners. You should be in the greatest hall with the blameless. But that is the wisdom of man at work. In order to know why Christ came we must to to God’s Word contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to see why God tells us He came to earth.
Point 2. Why Christ Came.
We come to the point where the Pharisees walk by and they question the disciples because Christ eats with tax collectors and sinners.
Even through the Pharisees did not question Jesus directly. He answers them by way of reproof and say in
verse 12: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. “
Here Christ is not talking of a illness of the body, but spiritual health. As we know and the Pharisees and Scribes knew the Word of God is our spiritual medicine. But, the pharisees mistook themselves as the judge and the caller, not an instrument.
The irony in this passage is the fact that the very people who think they are spiritually healthily because they follows the traditions and are keeper of the Law are in fact the sick.
Thanks to the context we have read up to this point in the Gospels. We have read of Jesus healing diseases and forgiving sins.
One of the many names ascribe to our Lord is that of “The Great Physician.”
Code Blue
In the hospitals there are codes. Code blue is for when a patients is on the verge of death and everyone is called to try and save the patient. All the doctors and people trained to saves lives rushes to save a life.
Jesus, the Great Physician is in the operating room per say, at that dinner party and the sinners are His patients. For those who do not know Christ, they are in a constant code blue. For all who do not have faith in Christ are dead, and when final judgement comes they will be cast into the Hell for all eternity.
The tax collectors and sinners are the exact reason for Christ being at the dinner party. He is the great physician who is calling His children.
Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not Sacrifice.
Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, and tell the scribes and pharisees, teaching of the Word of God, to go learn what it means.
During the time of the prophet Hosea the people were forsaking God and transgressing His covenant.
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.” (Hosea 6:6–7, ESV)
The people have broken the law of good and are not faithful to Him. But form the text we gather that they are still following the traditions and making sacrifices to the Lord.
But God desire mercy and the Knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. As the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 3:20 “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
Jesus reclining at the table, and being the Word of God, is always teaching something to us. So by Jesus reclining and teaching tax collectors and sinners He is showing mercy to them. The tax collectors and sinners are learning the Knowledge of God by being with the God-man.
As the Pharisees and scribes did not understand. Jesus clarifies just who the Son of God has come to call to be a child of the living God.
“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”” (Matthew 9:13, ESV)
Not to call the righteous, but the sinners.
To call” in this passage is speaking of both the doctrine of effectual calling and that of general call to the gospel. The effectual call is from God and is irresistible and irrefutable grace of God. The general call, is the call that goes out to all even through not all have the ability to answer.
It is God who calls the sinners and gives the sinner the ability to have faith in Christ. For nothing we have or will ever do, but by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone we are saved.
It is not always who we think will or should be called that is called. So we must never think we know who will be be called by God. Our duty is to have eyes open to all individuals to share the Gospel with them regardless of their life. Every single person on this earth, that we will ever know, meet, or hear about, is a person, to us, that can and may be called by God by His Word and Spirit.
GOD IS THE CALLER AND JUDGE, WHO CALLS THE SINNER BY HIS WORD AND SPIRIT, WE ARE ONLY AN INSTRUMENT IN THAT CALL.
God calls all who he has predestination unto eternal life by the Word and the Spirit. God has given us, His Children, His Word, and made us an instruments, that He uses to call sinners to himself by His Word and Spirit.
So What
As this is apart of doctrine of Christ, as all of the Scripture formulate the doctrines of Christ. It reveals who God is and how we are to live out our lives as those called by God.
Revelation of Who God is
We see that God is irresistible and irrefutable grace. Like the apostles when someone is called by the Lord the follow him. In verse 9
We see that only those, God is please to call are called. For nothing they did, or will do. And they are likely not to be the person we think is going to be called.
We see the sinner called at God’s appointed and accepted time. Remember form the introduction it is very likely that Matthew would have seen the Christ and the miracles he performed. But, Matthew did not follow Christ until God chosen time.
How we are to live.
Jesus reproofs our pride, just because we know of God and experience His general grace there is no advantage for us. There most be acknowledgement of sins, and humility when approaching the LORD.
The Lord is calling us to repentance, for form the knowledge of God comes conscious of sins. Which is to lead all who believe unto repentance.
As knowers of the Word of God, we are the means in which God heals others by His Word. Which means we must be like the physician and go after sick, to take the medicine to them. As we can tell by the Pharisees and Scribes there are many who do not even realize they are sick, and this goes for in and out the church. Only God choose who will be called, our eyes must be open to the chance
This is a call for us to open our doors to sinners to eat with them and recliner with them that we may share with them the good news of Jesus Christ. Not to share in there ways or to let them lead us down the wicked path. But to develop a relationship with them with the end goal of discipleship.
GOD IS THE CALLER AND JUDGE, WHO CALLS THE SINNER BY HIS WORD AND SPIRIT, WE ARE ONLY AN INSTRUMENT IN THAT CALL.