The Certain Gospel: Eat, Drink, Talk | Luke 5:27-32

The first sermon I can remember on Jesus eating and drinking with sinners was at the first church-planter’s conference I attended. In March 2013, I attended the Nineveh Project, which was the  4C’s (our denomination’s) church planting conference. It was in Revere Massachusetts and I went because Monica and I had taken a class on church planting the previous summer.

I met the Conference Minister Ron Hamilton there and he told me he heard Monica and I studied Westford in our church-planting class. He thought that was very interesting because he had been praying for a new ministry to take on Westford Bible Church’s building to start a new church plant. This church-planting conference took place 3 months before I got hired at Immanuel and 9 months before Westford Bible Church approached Immanuel to take their building.

One of the speakers at this conference was a Pastor named Matt Kruse. Some of you may remember Pastor Paul McPheeters who lead us through the Quest Church-Plant Training before we launched Cornerstone. Matt Kruse planted a church called Seven Mile Road out of Paul’s McPheeters church. When Matt got up to speak, he talked about Jesus’ bold act of eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners, and how as Jesus’ disciples today we’re to do the same. He shared how that’s what they were doing as a church plant.

That sermon really convicted my heart, and got my excited about church planting. I walked away wanting to eat and drink with people who don’t know Jesus. We got the chance to start Cornerstone in October 2015 and now as I look out on all of you I do sense it’s our desire to eat and drink with people who don’t know Jesus. I believe we have a desire to do this, but I don’t know if we are doing this. Maybe this is because I don’t see your daily lives and only know what you tell me, or maybe it’s because we’re not doing it.

So I hope today’s sermon does two things. If you are spending time with non-Christians, I hope today’s message acts as a confirmation that you’re doing the right thing, and as an encouragement to keep going (Gal 6:9). But if you can’t remember the last time you ate a meal with a non-Christian or went out to drinks with them, I hope this sermon will convict your heart, lead you to repentance, and motivate you to intentionally spend time with people that need Jesus. (let’s pray)

Jesus has begun his ministry. He grew up in Nazareth, was baptized by John in the Jordan river, and successfully resisted the temptations of Satan in the wilderness. He returned to his hometown of Nazareth where he explained his ministry is to the poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed, but his hometown doesn’t like that he won’t play favorites with them and tries to kill him. He escapes and goes to preach in other parts of Galilee as he casts out demons and performs miracles to prove that he is the Messiah.

In Luke 9-19 we’ll see Jesus make his way down to Jerusalem for his crucifixion and resurrection, but in Luke 4-5 he is doing ministry near Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. In fact, at the Sea of Galilee in Luke 5 Jesus calls his first disciple Peter shortly before he calls another disciple named Levi. In these we learn…

Jesus calls sinners to become disciples. (Luke 5:27-28)

Luke 5:27-28 After 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, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. (NIV^®)

One of the first sinners Jesus came to rescue is a man named Levi. Levi has two names. If you read the parallel account in Matthew you find out Levi’s name was also Matthew. Levi Matthew is the same tax collector who eventually wrote the gospel of Matthew.

Jesus is walking along the sea of Galilee and spots Levi sitting in his tax-collector’s booth. If you read Mark’s account, you learn the tax booth was by the lake (Mark 2:13-17). This is the same lake Jesus was just at when he called Peter to become his disciple in Luke 5:1-11. Peter and his partners  were out fishing all night and didn’t catch anything; but Jesus tells them to go back out and cast out their nets again. When they do, they catch so many fish they begin to sink. Peter recognizes who Jesus is.

Luke 5:8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (NIV^®)

Peter is a sinner. He recognizes that he is a selfish, prideful, sinful man. Outwardly, those around him might accept him and think highly of him, but when he encounters the Lord of the universe, he sees his own sin. Levi is also a sinner, but everyone knows it. At this time in history, at around 30 AD, the Romans ruled the nation of Israel. So if you were a Jewish tax collector, you were actually an agent of a foreign government, a traitor. Imagine if the British won the Revolutionary War and were still imposing taxes on us. You would dislike the IRS even more. They hated them so much they were barred from the synagogue and temple.

When Jesus sees Levi, he doesn’t care what others think of him. He sees a disciple, and says, “Follow me.” Levi gets up, leaves everything behind, and follows him. He leaves his tax collector booth, leaves his career, leaves the good graces of the Roman government (he’s never getting that job back); but he finds so much more. He finds Jesus, and he follows him. Here are two applications we can apply to our lives:

1. You’re not too sinful for Jesus. Your sins don’t make you so gross that Jesus can’t love you. When kids play in the mud and get covered from head to toe in grime, their parents don’t say, “I don’t love you anymore!” Their parents say, “Here, let me clean you up.” Do you want our Heavenly Father to clean you up? He has a hose called the gospel just waiting to spray you down.
2. A disciple leaves everything to follow Jesus. Both Peter and Levi left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus calls you to leave your old sinful life behind to purse a life of holiness with Jesus. This doesn’t mean you have to quit your job or become a missionary (Luke 3:13-14), you may have to, but you do have to leave behind the old way of doing that job, doing it for yourself, doing it to get ahead. Now you do that job as an agent of God’s kingdom, as Christ’s representative.

Jesus calls sinners to become disciples. But not everyone accepts this call.

The “righteous” reject Jesus and his ministry. (Luke 5:29-30)

Luke 5:29-30 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 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?” (NIV^®)

Tax collectors and others join Jesus for dinner. The “others” were those despised by the religious elite, maybe even prostitutes (Luke 7:37). But the Pharisees and teachers of the law refuse to be a part of the meal. They believed eating a meal with someone was a sign of acceptance and fellowship. I think they’re right. Even in today’s culture, you eat a meal with someone to spend time with them and chat.

But the Pharisees were too good for tax collectors. They were separatists. When they saw sinners, they ran away. They were pure and expected everyone to be pure. They actually wanted to take the level of purity required for the priests and the temple and extend that to all people. But they were actually pretty powerless. They only had social power, which they go through politicking, recruiting, and social maneuvering.

The Pharisees actually remind me a little bit of the first pilgrims. The pilgrims separated from the Church of England so they could start their own church and government that honored God. They started a little movement called Congregationalism. So I think our DNA is a little similar to that of the Pharisees.

When Jesus shows up, he challenges their beliefs. He challenges their belief that separation can create purity. It can’t. He challenges their believe that sin only runs through “bad people.” It also runs through “good people” (Luke 18:9-14). He challenges their belief that obeying the OT law and its values makes them better than others. They’re not. He challenges their belief that power will win the day, not the powerless.

The Pharisees believe themselves to be better than others. They perceive that they are good and the others are bad. They would never eat and drink with sinners like Jesus. Today, Pharisees aren’t much different:

• • You may be a Pharisee if you won’t spend time with their foul-mouthed coworkers because you’re afraid they might make you look bad.
  • You may be a Pharisee if you have put yourself in the category of “good” and when you look at others you put them in the category of “bad.”
  • You may be a Pharisee if you try to get others to obey God’s commandments before you share the message of Jesus Christ with them.
  • You may be a Pharisee if you want to have power over others.

Pharisees don’t need Jesus because they’re good enough. The “righteous” reject Jesus and his ministry.

Jesus rejects the “righteous.” (Luke 5:31-32)

Luke 5:31-32 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (NIV^®)

This illustration isn’t original to me, but I want you to think about that for a second. Why do you go to the doctor? Because you have a head-cold, or a fever, or you pulled a muscle from doing too much CrossFit. Would you ever go to the doctor if there was nothing wrong with you? Your doctor would look at you and ask, “What hurts?” And you would say, “Nothing.” Then he would ask, “Why are you here?” And you’d say, “Because I just wanted to see you.” And then you’d have to find a new doctor.

Jesus hasn’t come to save people who think they are well. Jesus hasn’t come to save people who think nothing is wrong with them. Jesus has come to save people who know something is wrong with them, who will admit they’re sick. Do you know you’re sick? I know I’m sick with sin and will die in that sin unless Jesus saves me. If you won’t admit you need saving, Jesus will respect your decision so much he won’t save you. Jesus rejects those who think they’re “righteous” without him.

Jesus accepts repentant sinners as righteous. (Luke 5:32)

Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (NIV^®)

Repentance means to turn from sin and turn to God (Acts 3:19). I asked my CrossFit friend what she thinks repentance is and she said, “Repentance is buying flowers for your wife when you haven’t done the dirty dishes for a week.” I like that idea. Let me add to it. Repentance is saying “I’m sorry for what I did wrong” (like buying flowers when you make a mistake); but then repentance is also doing the right thing (washing the dishes). Repentance is not just buying flowers but not washing the dishes; but neither is repentance trying to be better by washing the dishes without confessing your sin. Repentance is turning away from sin and to God.

The gospel is the good news that people who are born in sin and classified as sinners, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, are now classified as righteous. We’re all born sinners, but through the righteousness of Christ, we become righteous ourselves. In this life, I will never truly leave everything and follow Jesus entirely. That’s why Jesus left everything to come for us. He left heaven and came into this world to share a table with broken sinners and make them into beautiful saints (Phil 2:5-11). Jesus took on our sin so that we could take on his righteousness. He died so that we can live.

Now Jesus calls us saints to do the same thing. Leave the heavens we’ve created and enter into the mess. Like Jesus, I hope they call you “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt 11:19). That’s what I call messy discipleship. Here are two applications:

1. Let’s eat and drink with those who don’t know Jesus (yet). What if you were to go out from here and begin to form intentional relationships with your neighbors and coworkers? What if you invite  a neighbor to get Starbucks or you sit with a coworker in the cafeteria during lunch time? When I worked for the Farm Credit Administration, back in my 20s, I stopped going to lunch with my coworkers because I wanted to go for noontime runs. The Lord gave me the opportunity to form a friendship with a running buddy, and we talked about faith, but part of me thinks I signaled to my coworkers that I didn’t like them very much. How can we do this as a church? I love how much we eat and fellowship as a church; it’s great. Did you know that on Friday, February 23rd, we’re doing a game-night at Cornerstone. Bring a snack or drink to share and invite your non-Christian friends so that we can do this as a church together. Let’s eat and drink and…
2. Let’s talk about grace and repentance with them. Let’s tell them about the Savior who came eating and drinking with outcasts and people who didn’t have it all together. Let’s also call them to repentance, which is the hardest part for me. Jesus wasn’t content to leave sinners as sinners, but called them to righteousness. You can invite your friends to church, and I’ll try to tell them about repentance and grace, but I bet if you have a conversation with them it will mean more. This is hard, so let’s pray for each other to trust the Holy Spirit and for him to open our mouths to speak. I recently received some really great advice on how to start a conversation about Jesus. Explain how important spirituality or your faith is to you and ask if they’d be comfortable letting you share a little bit. For example, “You know spirituality is a big part of my life. Would you feel comfortable talking with me more about this part of my life?” Then see where it goes. If you need more help and some accountability, sign up for our evangelism small group starting soon. Talk about repentance and grace with people who don’t know Jesus yet. 

To remember our two applications, remember the title of this sermon: Eat, Drink, Talk. We do this because Jesus accepts repentant sinners as righteous. I want to close with a question.

Are you righteous or repentant?

If you’re righteous, you’ll walk out of here saying, “I’m fine. I’m good enough.” By walking out this way, though you may perceive yourself as righteous, God won’t, and his opinion is what matters.

But if you’re repentant, would you pray this prayer of repentance silently with me as I close?

Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for the ways I perceive myself as better than others. I do this by the little judgments I make in my heart towards others. Father I confess this is sin. Would you help me change? Help me invite broken people who don’t know you into my life. Help me eat and drink with people who don’t know you just like your Son Jesus did, and help me talk with them about grace and repentance. Help us do this together as a church. Thank you for counting me as righteous despite my sin because Jesus lived a perfect life, died an innocent death, and was raised again so that I will live. Thank you for forgiving me and filling me with your Holy Spirit. I love you. We love you. Amen.

Pastor Jonathan Romig wrote and preached this message for the people of Cornerstone Congregational Church. Click here to listen to more sermons or click here to read our story.

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