Don't Write off Anyone
Don’t Write off Anyone
Yesterday, we took my sister around for sight-seeing in Washington DC since this was her first time visiting from Nigeria. In front of the White House was another scene of its own. Two ladies (“lovers”) were passionately holding and embracing each other and this was not a normal embrace. My first reaction was of disgust and a conclusion that there was no more shame left in our society. On hindsight, there could have been other responses from me. Is there hope of deliverance and salvation for such people that are displaying their lifestyle of sin in public? What about other sinners and sins? These questions tend to imply that we ourselves are not sinners or have crossed some threshold. Is that really the case? In this week’s study, let’s see how Jesus handled such people so we can gain the right attitude toward them. We would also reflect on how Jesus handled us so we can gain the proper understanding of what we are – sinners saved by grace.
Luke 5: 27-32
27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, 28and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
31Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
From the above passage, let’s make the following observations in addition to the ones you may have.
1. Jesus ventured to call a “tax collector” – Levi, also known as Matthew, to follow Him as a disciple. Who is a tax collector? Why would this not be our first choice in our own human reasoning while building up a team of evangelists? “Jewish tax collectors were regarded as outcasts. They could not serve as witnesses or as judges and were expelled from the synagogue. In the eyes of the Jewish community their disgrace extended to their families”. In a nutshell, these guys were extortioners who collected taxes for the Romans and used it to enrich themselves. Same thing is happening today. Many would not venture come to our Churches today because of fear of condemnation. Jesus says, “I have not condemned you” and we should not condemn any. Let’s open up our circle and include others that are not like us. Will you?
2. Levi left everything and followed Jesus. This would have been a very radical move by Levi. He left his money table and may have left behind at the same site other tax collectors.
3. My guess is that Levi threw a party to honor Jesus who was different from everyone else who rejected and despised him as a tax collector. In addition, due to the haste of leaving everything to follow Jesus, he called his fellow tax collectors to the party to say the proper good bye and introduce them to Jesus. Levi did not want to be a closet Christian and likewise us.
4. Notice who is objecting to this banquet. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law. These are the self righteous who think that obeying the law makes them righteous. But were they really obeying all the law? They were hypocrites because no one including them obeyed all the laws. So in the eyes of God, they were not righteous. There is bit of Phariseeism in each of us. We tend to judge others by their actions and only judge ourselves by our intentions.
5. The accusation against Jesus was that he was eating with tax collectors and “sinners”. Notice what the text said. “A large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them”. But when the Pharisees described people at the banquette, they were characterized as follows, “tax collectors and ‘sinners’. Basically, it says if you are hanging out with the tax collectors, you must equally be sinners. Now look who is talking? Of course this is untrue. Being with ‘sinners’ does not necessarily make you a sinner. Jesus is the proof because he was never a sinner. We have all sinned and no one is exempt. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God the Bible says.
6. Thank God for this great assurance by Jesus - “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. Of course Jesus came for all but what He is saying here is that only those who recognize themselves as sinners come to Him, repent and are saved. I thank God for His mercy and grace that allowed me to come to this realization so that I do not have to be alienated from God as a result of my sins. What are about you? Have you come to this realization or are you still in the Pharisee’s camp of self righteousness and delusion? The worst sin is the refusal to recognize and acknowledge that we have sinned and are sinners. It amounts to calling God a liar.
Jesus hung out with sinners. So what’s the point? I thank God He did; otherwise I would still be carrying my heavy load of guilt from sin. If Jesus is living in us through His Holy Spirit, why then would we not allow Him to continue to hang out with other sinners who are yet to realize their sins? I believe the reason we act so self-righteous is because of what others (the Pharisees) would say. They will say, “You are hanging out with so and so. You better watch out.” We are all protecting our self interest and self image. We are being challenged today to get a new attitude. Yes, I should be disgusted with the lesbian act that I had observed but not with the two ladies themselves. I noticed how calloused my heart was. Instead of having compassion and asking God to have mercy on them; I was full of condemnation in my heart. I have repented. Lord, I pray that you will have mercy on these two ladies and open their eyes to see the foolishness of their gay life style. Amen.
To me, and as seen from Jesus’ action, we cannot write-off anybody as lacking redemption. There is hope for all. Remember Saul (persecuted the Church) who later became Apostle Paul. He described himself as the “chief of sinners”. Are there some you and I have written off even in our own families? I believe if we approached them with kindness there may be a turn around. It is the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance. Don’t write off anyone
Yesterday, we took my sister around for sight-seeing in Washington DC since this was her first time visiting from Nigeria. In front of the White House was another scene of its own. Two ladies (“lovers”) were passionately holding and embracing each other and this was not a normal embrace. My first reaction was of disgust and a conclusion that there was no more shame left in our society. On hindsight, there could have been other responses from me. Is there hope of deliverance and salvation for such people that are displaying their lifestyle of sin in public? What about other sinners and sins? These questions tend to imply that we ourselves are not sinners or have crossed some threshold. Is that really the case? In this week’s study, let’s see how Jesus handled such people so we can gain the right attitude toward them. We would also reflect on how Jesus handled us so we can gain the proper understanding of what we are – sinners saved by grace.
Luke 5: 27-32
27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, 28and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
31Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
From the above passage, let’s make the following observations in addition to the ones you may have.
1. Jesus ventured to call a “tax collector” – Levi, also known as Matthew, to follow Him as a disciple. Who is a tax collector? Why would this not be our first choice in our own human reasoning while building up a team of evangelists? “Jewish tax collectors were regarded as outcasts. They could not serve as witnesses or as judges and were expelled from the synagogue. In the eyes of the Jewish community their disgrace extended to their families”. In a nutshell, these guys were extortioners who collected taxes for the Romans and used it to enrich themselves. Same thing is happening today. Many would not venture come to our Churches today because of fear of condemnation. Jesus says, “I have not condemned you” and we should not condemn any. Let’s open up our circle and include others that are not like us. Will you?
2. Levi left everything and followed Jesus. This would have been a very radical move by Levi. He left his money table and may have left behind at the same site other tax collectors.
3. My guess is that Levi threw a party to honor Jesus who was different from everyone else who rejected and despised him as a tax collector. In addition, due to the haste of leaving everything to follow Jesus, he called his fellow tax collectors to the party to say the proper good bye and introduce them to Jesus. Levi did not want to be a closet Christian and likewise us.
4. Notice who is objecting to this banquet. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law. These are the self righteous who think that obeying the law makes them righteous. But were they really obeying all the law? They were hypocrites because no one including them obeyed all the laws. So in the eyes of God, they were not righteous. There is bit of Phariseeism in each of us. We tend to judge others by their actions and only judge ourselves by our intentions.
5. The accusation against Jesus was that he was eating with tax collectors and “sinners”. Notice what the text said. “A large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them”. But when the Pharisees described people at the banquette, they were characterized as follows, “tax collectors and ‘sinners’. Basically, it says if you are hanging out with the tax collectors, you must equally be sinners. Now look who is talking? Of course this is untrue. Being with ‘sinners’ does not necessarily make you a sinner. Jesus is the proof because he was never a sinner. We have all sinned and no one is exempt. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God the Bible says.
6. Thank God for this great assurance by Jesus - “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. Of course Jesus came for all but what He is saying here is that only those who recognize themselves as sinners come to Him, repent and are saved. I thank God for His mercy and grace that allowed me to come to this realization so that I do not have to be alienated from God as a result of my sins. What are about you? Have you come to this realization or are you still in the Pharisee’s camp of self righteousness and delusion? The worst sin is the refusal to recognize and acknowledge that we have sinned and are sinners. It amounts to calling God a liar.
Jesus hung out with sinners. So what’s the point? I thank God He did; otherwise I would still be carrying my heavy load of guilt from sin. If Jesus is living in us through His Holy Spirit, why then would we not allow Him to continue to hang out with other sinners who are yet to realize their sins? I believe the reason we act so self-righteous is because of what others (the Pharisees) would say. They will say, “You are hanging out with so and so. You better watch out.” We are all protecting our self interest and self image. We are being challenged today to get a new attitude. Yes, I should be disgusted with the lesbian act that I had observed but not with the two ladies themselves. I noticed how calloused my heart was. Instead of having compassion and asking God to have mercy on them; I was full of condemnation in my heart. I have repented. Lord, I pray that you will have mercy on these two ladies and open their eyes to see the foolishness of their gay life style. Amen.
To me, and as seen from Jesus’ action, we cannot write-off anybody as lacking redemption. There is hope for all. Remember Saul (persecuted the Church) who later became Apostle Paul. He described himself as the “chief of sinners”. Are there some you and I have written off even in our own families? I believe if we approached them with kindness there may be a turn around. It is the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance. Don’t write off anyone
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