Worth Everything

        Last week I started with a video of the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man after He had forgiven his sins. The verses focused on Jesus using the title "The Son of Man". They demonstrated how Jesus had both the authority to forgive the man's sins and the power to heal him.

This week, I'd like to share a clip of the event that followed right after this miraculous account partnered with another story from the Gospel of Luke. The events in this video are recorded in Luke chapter 5:27-32 and chapter 18:9-14. If you want to 'bookmark' those passages for reference we'll be coming back to those a few times this morning. So let's look at that video and you can follow along in your Bibles starting in Luke 5:27...

***Video 1 - "Friend of Sinners"

***Video 2 - "Friend of Sinners"

As I said, those are from two separate accounts, but they fit together quite well. Jesus' parable perhaps explains the insight behind the calling of 'Levi', more commonly known to us as 'Matthew'. And I want to focus on these passages as we see this theme of Jesus as a...

I. Friend of sinners

The first story recounts Jesus calling Matthew to follow, and his willingness to get up and leave everything. We then see Matthew's response to Jesus' grace by throwing Him a banquet. And we also see the Pharisees' response in their complaints. And then, we jump all the way ahead to find this separate account in Luke 18. And here this story is told as a parable, but it does sort of parallel the circumstances of Matthew's calling.

And I'm sure that Jesus didn't think afterwards, "Hey, I didn't notice the similarities in those events!" Jesus certainly would have thought back to the attitudes of gratitude and criticism that He received regarding Matthew's banquet.

And there are several things I want to note about the first passage, from Luke chapter 5. When Jesus called Matthew, Levi - it's recorded that he got up and left everything. He evidently didn't care about anything compared to Jesus. He walked away from his job, everything - just left it and followed Jesus. And from our perspective we can certainly see - he made the right choice. Whether it cost him a lot of money or not, following Jesus paid off in eternal dividends.

And another thing that's important in this passage is that Jesus said He did not come to call the righteous, but His was a...

A. Call to sinners

Or I suppose you could perhaps even say, the 'self-righteous'? Let's look at that passage again...

Luke 5:30-32 (NIV)

But 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'?" (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."

Jesus didn't come for those who thought they had it all figured out; for those who thought they somehow deserved Heaven. Jesus came for sinners, to seek and save the lost. He had a very specific purpose for coming into the world that we can't forget. Everyone knows John 3:16, but we can't forget John 3:17 (NIV)...

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

You've probably talked to people who don't feel comfortable coming to a Church service on a Sunday, because they say something like, "If I ever set foot in that place the roof will fall down!" - To those who mistakenly believe something like that - I want to assure them the roof won't cave in, in fact - Jesus specifically established His Church, Jesus built His Church exactly for people like that! Jesus built the Church FOR us sinners!

And in the passages we read, Jesus wasn't trying to keep the Pharisees out - Jesus came for everyone. But sometimes 'religious folk' have a tendency to forget, that...

B. All have sinned

In our story, the Pharisees made a clear distinction between themselves and the 'sinners'. And Jesus was reminding them, 'That's fine - you can make that separation in your own mind, but I came for sinners.' And that's why the religious leaders didn't recognize their own Messiah - because of pride.

And before we get too upset at those 'awful Pharisees' - it's certainly easy to make similar mistakes. When many in the world reject God's Word, when they hold very different values than us, when they live very differently - it's easy for us to lose sight of why we are trying to live differently. It's not because we're better - it's because we're forgiven.

Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Becoming a Christian isn't about being better than others, but having the humility to admit that you ARE a sinner. And genuine humility is a rather rare quality these days. Many see 'humility' as a weakness or a lack of 'self confidence' rather than being held up as a virtue. But it's that humility before God, that willingness to admit that you are far from perfect - that's what allows Jesus to touch our hearts and make us whole.

Luke 18:13-14 (NIV)

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' (14) I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Our identity or self worth can't come from our own perception of how good we are, but from the perfection of the One to whom we belong. We were worth the God of the universe coming down to give His life for us. That's not a statement of my goodness, but of His deep love for me - despite my sin.

But in the story of Jesus calling Matthew away from his life of sin, to following Jesus - there is the reality of...

II. The risk of grace

Jesus was giving Matthew a second chance ...but in reality, it's far greater than that. The beauty of it is - the grace of Jesus doesn't just stop at second chances. We see this in Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV)...

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" (22) Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

And if Jesus expects us imperfect people to be that forgiving with each other - how much more will our perfect Heavenly Father be with us? God, through Jesus, is so much more willing to forgive our sins than even we are.

Many are tempted to think that they don't deserve God's forgiveness - and they're right! They don't deserve it. We don't deserve it. I don't deserve it! But because of God's incredible love - God provided a way, in the person of Jesus, to express His immense love so that we could be forgiven for every single sin we've committed and every sin we will commit.

There is a freedom that some miss about Jesus' grace. When you are baptized into Jesus - His sacrifice covers ALL of your sin. We live under this 'umbrella of grace'. Jesus died for the sins in my past and for the sins I've yet to do. Everything needed to deal with sin was accomplished by Jesus' death and resurrection.

And as I've said - this brings an incredible freedom, freedom to serve God, a freedom to live without being weighed down by the guilt of our sin. But, along with this freedom comes this risk of grace. Because we are free, does this grace give us...

A. A license to sin?

If God is so eager to forgive our sin, if everything to pay the price for my sin was already done on the cross over two thousand years ago - if I have this freedom, through grace, ...why should I work so hard to avoid sin?

Romans 6:1-4 (NIV)

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? (2) By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (3) Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (4) We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Sometimes we tend to 'down play' grace for fear that people will take advantage of it, that they might continue to sin under the excuse of 'once saved always saved'. And I understand that. I don't ever want to feel like I'm encouraging people to take sin lightly. But God provided this grace so we wouldn't have to live under such an incredible burden - so that we could be free to live abundant, joyful lives despite the fact that we are sinners.

Jesus understood the risk of extending grace to you and me. He understood that we will still sometimes choose sin, despite the fact that we now know better. Jesus understood that, if we're called to forgive our brothers seventy times seven - we will need to take advantage of His grace over and over... Jesus understood the risk, but He still extended His grace - because you were worth it to Him.

We can't ever forget that we are sinners - we're just forgiven. But we also don't have to go around beating ourselves up because we're sinners. We are called to live a new life! You will only see this 'umbrella of grace' as a license to sin if you don't understand the cost of your sin. As Paul points out in this passage, Jesus, God in the flesh, died for our sin. We can never take that sacrifice for granted.

And we can't forget, that even though Jesus came for 'sinners' - He called Matthew, a sinner, to follow Him - and it was also...

B. A call to repentance

Matthew left behind everything, his job, his plans, his wealth - and sin had to be included in that list. Let's go back to that passage one more time in Luke 5:32 (NIV)...

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Repentance means to turn around; to turn away from your ways and to accept God's ways. ...If a person can't admit their sin - or takes pride in their sin - how can they repent from it? If there is something in our lives that God clearly calls sin - how can we repent if we deny that it even is sin?

Many modern Christians have made the argument that if Jesus showed up today He probably wouldn't be hanging around the Churches. Jesus would be out in the bars; He'd be hanging out with the 'low life's', the thieves, the drunkards, the LGTBQ crowd, the liars and the 'women of ill repute'. And they're probably right...

However, Jesus wouldn't be hanging out with them just to demonstrate His 'cool', progressive, non-judgmental, 'tolerant' side. - It is absolutely true that Jesus didn't come to condemn the world - but He does call people to repent; to leave their sin behind - to change.

Jesus is a friend of sinners, and I'm glad that He's willing to associate with me... But He doesn't expect me to stay in my sin... Jesus offers forgiveness freely to everyone - but if you reject His call to repentance; His call to change, to grow - you reject His authority and reject His grace...

We live in a society that denies most sin - a society that denies that God has a right to tell them how to live. And it's easy to get frustrated and defensive when Christian values are attacked. But don't forget the lesson of the Pharisees. We are all sinners. We all need to repent. And even those who live in such a way as to reject God - they are not our enemies, they are our mission. Matthew was a sinner bound for Hell - until He met Jesus. And Jesus was worth everything!

So What?

Jesus didn't call any of us because we were perfect. But when we respond to His call, when we are baptized into His death, His burial and His resurrection - when we accept His forgiveness and His grace - that's when God can do incredible things through us. Without Him - we can do nothing that really matters.

The Gospel of Matthew records the exact same story we read today from the book of Luke. And Matthew records his own calling in his writings. But there's an interesting omission in Matthew's account. In Luke's version, he wrote that Mathew left everything and followed. In Matthew's own version, he simply said that he followed. Matthew didn't bother to mention that he left everything. Scripture doesn't say, but I'm guessing Matthew left that part out simply because 'all he left' now meant so little to him.

Matthew was a sinner, despised by his own people - he was not considered a good guy. But when he left everything for Jesus - Jesus turned him into a man whom God used to write part of the Bible. And tradition tells us that Matthew died for the sake of the Gospel. Matthew started out as a petty man looking out only for himself - but because of his humility, Jesus used him to share the message of salvation to millions upon millions of people.

What is it that you need to 'let go of' for Jesus to be able to use you for something incredible? And don't take that question lightly. It's not really a rhetorical question. Matthew was just 'some guy' until he gave himself fully to Jesus. Do you think that Jesus doesn't have the power to do amazing things through you? Of course He does.

How do you need to humble yourself before Him and what do you need to leave behind? Where might you need to repent in your life? God wants to use you - the only thing possibly getting in your way may be you. Surrender to Him and see what He'll do with your new freedom!