Prayer of the Day: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, You desire not the death of a sinner, but rather that we turn from our evil ways and live. Graciously spare us those punishments which we by our sins have deserved, and grant us always to serve You in holiness and pureness of living; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Dear fellow sinners, who have been made saints through Jesus Christ our Lord,

It is interesting the things that come across a pastor’s desk. Usually there is a lot of junk mail and junk email, like “how to have a successful fundraiser,” or someone who can fill our cleaning supplies needs at church, or that widow from Nigeria who has millions of dollars she wants to donate to our congregation, she just needs my bank account number and PIN…

But every so often, there are unsolicited emails that I receive which address things that some of our members are wondering about. For instance, the mass email I received recently asked whether a Christian should attend a gay wedding. Then there was the podcast that asked whether our congregations are ready to welcome repentant transgenders who have seen the errors of their choices.

How do those two situations strike you? Are we ready to welcome those whose bodies have been physically mutilated because of the lies of the transgender movement? Should we attend a gay wedding of a family member or friend? Do these seem to be the same basic question? Are they different? If so, how are they different?

Today we will hear of Jesus associating Himself with different types of people and how the religious people of the day reacted. As we consider this portion of God’s Word, see if it answers the questions we’ve just asked. And listen to how Jesus’ association with them sickened the self-righteous but comforted those sickened by their sin. Our text is Mark, chapter two, verses 13 through 17, reading today from the New King James Version:

Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (NKJV)

So far the word of God.

SICKENED THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS

For the ancient people of the Middle East, and especially for Jews, hospitality was a big deal. When Abraham saw three strangers walking by his tent one day, he invited them to rest in the shade and had Sarah prepare a feast for them. When Lot hosted two strangers in his home, he refused to hand them over to the mob outside his door in Sodom and Gomorrah, offering his daughters to them instead. Now one certainly could question his parenting choices, but no one can question his loyalty as a host.

For a Jew to open their home to someone was an act of great kindness and hospitality. When you shared a meal with someone it was a symbol of friendship. Knowing this may help us understand the shock of the scribes and the Pharisees as they see Jesus dining with tax collectors and sinners.

Tax collectors have never had an easy time making friends. We make a face when we hear that someone works for the IRS—a “service” that collects portions of our paychecks and gives it to the government. At the time of Jesus, it was even less glorious. Tax collectors, such as Levi mentioned in our text, were Jewish men who were working for the Roman government. The Romans were an oppressive occupier, heathen idol worshipers who ruled over God’s chosen people in the Promised Land of Canaan. Furthermore, tax collectors were notorious for cheating and asking citizens for more than was required and keeping the extra money for themselves.

For these reasons, tax collectors were outcasts of society. Tax collectors could not be used as witnesses in court trials because they were considered unreliable. Tax collectors were excluded from the church because they were considered traitors to the Jewish people who worked for the heathen enemy. So why would Jesus ever want to call one as His follower and then dine with him?

And it wasn’t just tax collectors Jesus was dining with, it was also “sinners.” These would have been people whose sins were known in the community. Maybe it was a sexual sin, whose guilt was made known by a pregnancy outside of marriage. Maybe it was someone who stole a loaf of bread from the market. Maybe it was someone who did work on the Sabbath. Whatever their sin was, it was publicly known, and they bore the label “sinner.”

The Scribes and Pharisees are sickened at the company Jesus is keeping. They would never be caught reclining to eat with such filthy sinners. “How could Jesus do such a thing?!?” they asked His disciples. “What kind of teacher are you following?!?”

The Scribes and Pharisees prided themselves on their righteous living. Jesus captures their attitude in His parable of a Pharisee who went to the temple to pray. What was the Pharisee’s prayer? “God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” (Luke 18:11-12) The Scribes and Pharisees viewed themselves as being right with God because of the good works they had done. They thought they were “well” spiritually and had no need of a spiritual physician.

When is the last time you were sickened by sinners? Maybe it was someone who cheated on his or her spouse, had an abortion, someone imprisoned for crimes against children or the elderly. Maybe it is someone whose body has been mutilated by the lies of the transgender movement. What if such a person was in church today, confessing their sins right along with you and then asked to become a communicant member? Would you rejoice with the angels in heaven at their repentance, or snarl at them in disgust at the sins they had committed, refusing to mingle with them in the entryway. Brothers and sisters, beware of the self-righteous pride of the Scribes and Pharisees that is sickened that Jesus would dine with sinners.

A COMFORT TO THOSE SICKENED BY SIN

Back to our text: what is Jesus doing dining with these people? Why does He call Levi, whom you probably know better as His disciple Matthew, to follow Him? Why does He eat at Levi’s house with other traitor tax collectors? Why does He break bread with those who had committed public sins?

Why? You know why. Jesus says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Jesus was surrounded by those who knew they were sick—spiritually sick. They had a sin problem that they could not deny and could not fix. Jesus had come to save them.

The very reason Jesus was born was to save sinners. When Mary was pregnant with Jesus, the angel told Joseph, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) Paul writes, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” (1 Timothy 1:15)

How committed was Jesus to saving sinners? Not only did Jesus dine with them, He also died for them. Christ Jesus, the Almighty Son of God, who had the power to walk on water and calm storms, willingly lays down His life on the cross to save sinners. On the cross, Jesus becomes their sins— their sins of cheating, betrayal, adultery, lying, and coveting—God makes His Son to be those sins, so that Jesus could die to free sinners from the punishment they deserved.

Jesus who was willing to die for sinners, was also willing to dine with them. He calls them “sick” and in need of a physician. Levi knew he was a lost sinner. The others that followed Jesus knew they were lost. The Law of God and their own heart convicted them of their fatal condition. Sickened by their sin, they were comforted to dine with Jesus their Savior from sin.

So, back to our opening questions. Should a Christian go to a gay wedding? Should the church be affirming and inclusive to those of the LGTBQ+ community? Is the church ready to receive those who have been harmed emotionally and physically by the lies of the transgender movement?

Some point to our text and say, “See! These are the kind of people Jesus hangs out with. Followers of Christ should be inclusive and affirming of those we encounter today.” We see that on church signs all around us. What are we to do? What would Jesus do?

Well, pay special attention to what’s going on in our text. When Jesus calls Levi to follow Him, Levi left behind that life of a tax collector to be a follower of Jesus.

Notice also what Jesus says about His mission and His ministry. Verse 17: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners TO REPENTANCE.” Jesus’ call to sinners is a call of REPENTANCE. Repentance is the 180- degree turn that the Holy Spirit works in someone’s heart. The Spirit, working through God’s Word, turns the sinner from a life of open, unrepentant sin to faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

NEVER do we find Jesus “affirming” the sinful choices of someone, but He always calls on sinners to TURN from their sinful ways and look to Him for forgiveness. When He speaks to the woman caught in adultery, He did not affirm her breaking of the 6^th Commandment, but forgives her and says, “go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) He calls on her to leave her life of adultery and rejoice in His forgiveness.

Never are we called as followers of Jesus Christ to affirm someone whose lifestyle is directly opposed to God’s Word. Never are we called on to join in celebrating those things which God has condemned in His Word. To affirm and celebrate sin is not loving, for it only encourages sinners to continue on the unrepentant road to hell.

We are, however, called to follow our Savior by speaking the truth in love for that soul and preaching repentance and remission of sins in His name to all nations. (Luke 24:47) To those sickened by their sins, to those hurting because of the sinful choices they have made; to those beating their chest saying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” to such repentant sinners we have the privilege of telling them that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We have the joy of pointing them to the cross and telling them that Jesus died to save them and assuring them that God forgives them because of what Jesus did. We have the honor of sharing this text with them and comforting them, saying, “Look at how Jesus dines with sinners!”

God forgive us for the times we have self-righteously been sickened by other sinners we see in God’s House. The church is a hospital for sinners, where those sickened by their sin are comforted by dining with Jesus in His Word and Sacraments. Rejoice that Jesus dines with sinners—including sinners just like you. Amen.

—Pastor Nathan Pfeiffer

Berea Ev. Lutheran Church
Inver Grove Heights, MN

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.