Dinner with Scumbags

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The House

“Dinner with Scumbags”                       Mk 2:13-17                        4/27/08

 

Introduction: In the late 80’s the televangelist scandals hit the press.  The most notable was Jim and Tammy Baaker’s PTL ministry – PTL - standing for Praise The Lord -followed by the fall of Jimmy Swaggart.  Baaker had an affair with a church secretary, paid her $265,000 hush money.  As he was forced to stepped down from PTL in disgrace he would be investigate, audited and eventually arrested and then sentenced to jail time for defraud supporters of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  He was sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $500,000.

When the scandal broke, Baaker’s Christian friends quickly deserted him.  He was an outcast in the Christian world and not long after being imprisoned; Tammy Faye left him and then divorced him.

Six months into his sentence, Baaker was surprised one afternoon when warden called him into his office.  Baaker had a visitor: Billy Graham.  When Graham came in, Baaker asked him why he had come to visit – because he knew that any association with Baaker would tarnish Graham’s reputation.  Billy Graham said that Jim Baaker was his friend in good and in bad times – and now when things were bad, he would stand by his side.  And Billy Graham was true to his word.

Baaker’s sentence was eventually reduced and when he came out of prison on parole, he had nowhere to stay so the Grahams invited him to stay with them.  On the Sunday following Baaker’s release, Ruth Graham took him to church with her.  Disregarding what people would think about her, she stood up in church and introduced Jim Baaker to the congregation as her friend Jim Baaker.

 

Transition: The Grahams showed the love and acceptance to a real life scumbag just like Jesus showed to a guy in the scripture.  In the same way Jim Baaker was an outcast in the Christian community in the late 80’s and early 90’s, so Levi the tax collector would have been an outcast in the eyes of the Jewish community, but Jesus had other plans…such as dinner with scumbags.

 

Open with prayer

 

Body: “Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth” (Mk 2:13-14a).  The tax office was literally a toll booth, probably in Capernaum and on the road leading from Damascus to the Mediterranean Sea.  Toll (or tax) collectors were some of the most hated people in Jewish society.  In order to be a tax collector, a person had to purchase the rights for the job from the Roman Empire who was the occupying power in country [ILL: People who work for the US Military in Iraq].   Not only did tax collectors sell out their country, but they also overcharged their own people so that they could line their own pockets with the excess.  They were considered traitors and extortionists.  They couldn’t be witnesses or judges in court because their testimony was considered untrustworthy.  They were excommunicated from the local Jewish synagogue. 

 

What’s great about this opening scene is that when Jesus comes walking up to Levi he see’s what everyone else doesn’t see.  He sees a man in need of God’s grace.  Everyone else saw a scumbag.  They saw a person who was basically a lost cause.  There’s no hope for him.  He’s beyond the reach of Almighty God.  God couldn’t change this guy’s life if he came down and looked him right in the face and spoke to him.  Do we do this?  You bet we do. 

 

We’re too quick to see the color of someone’s skin color, the clothes on the body, their profession, the dirt under their fingernails, the smoothness of their hands, the length of the hair (or lack thereof), the quantity of tattoos or piercings, and even we see the car they drive.  We see race, color, class, and creed, but that’s not how God sees us.  “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7b).

 

Even though this guy was referred to as a sinner and a tax collector and was hated by many people, Jesus saw him as he truly was…a guy who needed to believe in and follow something bigger than the almighty dollar so Jesus proceeds to call him to follow him.  “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him” (Mk 2:14b).

 

Following Christ doesn’t mean that he got up and they went off wandering around the countryside picking flowers while Jesus quoted poetry.  Being a follower meant using your influence and skills for Christ.  What kind of influence did a scumbag like Levi have?  Not much with ordinary people, but amongst others scumbags he might certainly have some pull.  So what’s he do.  He throws a party.  “Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)” (Mk 2:15).  Levi leaves the tax table and invites people to the dinner table.  Isn’t that a great image of the church? 

 ILL: boy explain the faith, It was up to Jesus to die for sin & up to us to be sinners 

What I love about this passage is the following: “There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.”  It leads me to ask the question.  What kind?  Disreputable sinners.   In the original language of NT, which is Greek the word for sinners is a generic term meaning people who were ritually impure and made no attempt to follow the religious laws of the day.  Tax collectors and sinners is phrase used to lump all sorts of scumbags together.  It’s akin to saying, “hookers and winos” or “pimps and drug dealers.”  If you’ll think the dregs of society then you’ve pretty much got the idea.  The interesting fact is there were many people like this who followed Jesus.  

 

Quote: “The problem with churches that aren’t growing (and that’s most) is they don’t have enough sinners.  Sinners always have a way of attaching themselves closely to Jesus.”  If a church isn’t growing maybe the sinners who come don’t find Jesus there.  Question: When people come to The Highlands do they find Jesus or do they find religion?  I hope they find Jesus because they’ll hanging out longer if they do and I want people to attach themselves to Christ.

 

So Matthew chooses to follow and use his influence by calling all his other scumbag friends together so they can meet this fellow who’s changed his life.  [Describe mealtime in Ancient Israel: Act of reconciliation, shows forgiveness, acceptance.]  To eat in someone’s home showed acceptance of them, their character, their lifestyle, etc.  This is why the religious leaders get their shorts in a bunch when Jesus keeps going to the home of sinful people.  He’s basically saying, “Not only do I like and accept you, but I approve of who you are.”

 

So here’s Jesus hanging around all these disreputable sinners and now he’s eating with and accepting them. 

 

I don’t know if you’ve ever read the Gospel of Mark, but one of the interesting things about Mark is he constant emphasizes the tension and conflict Jesus has with the religious leaders.  It’s almost like Mark is saying, “He’s not what you think he is and here’s another example of how he ticked off the religious people.”  If the story ended here it’d be nice, but it doesn’t.  It’s about to get tense and Mark is about to thicken the plot.

 

“But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, (Mk 2:16a).   Every denomination has them and every church has them: people who love to uphold the tradition and raise their eyebrows and voices and even fire off an angry email or two when someone dares to do that which we’ve never done before or break the sacred tradition. [ILL: Jones Memorial carpet]

 

The religious leaders in Jesus day are O-ffended when they find him having dinner with scumbags ands breaking their traditions.  He should know better.  Doesn’t he know who these people are?  So what do they do?   “…they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum” (Mk 2:16b).  Why don’t they just come out and ask Jesus himself?  Who knows?!  They could be gutless cowards OR…maybe they come to his disciples hoping to discredit him or trying to confuse his followers. 

 

I imagine the scene happening near an open window (no glass) and the religious leaders asking someone close what’s going on.  Upon hearing the conversation Jesus gets up and walks across the room and Mark tells us the following happened.  “When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do” (Mk 2:17a).  When Jesus is accused of hanging out with scumbags he doesn’t deny it.  He admits it.  This is great.  If you could ever be accused of anything this is what you want to be accused of.  Hanging out with sinners. 

 

Let me saying something real quick.  You got to be careful.  It’s one thing to hang out with sinners and quite another to hanging out AND engage in sinful behavior.  If you’re not careful or spiritual immature or strong enough you might find yourself being negatively influenced.  Be careful.  “Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Cor. 15:33 TNIV).  

 

ILL: two boys capture a bobcat, one trees him, the other put sin the sack,  What’s wrong can’t you catch one lil o’ bobcat?  Catch him ain’t the problem, it’s turn him loose. 

 

There will come a time in your life when God will call you to turn loose of some sin and that may mean you don’t need to go to various places or be around certain people.  [ILL: in my collage days, you can’t do this]

 

Here’s the important fact to remember as it relates to our story: Jesus did all the influencing - he never allowed the world to influence him.  The religious leaders don’t want to have anything to do with those they believe would “stain them.”  Jesus wasn’t influenced by their sin, but saw them for who they were and who they could become.  So how do we interact with those people that the rest of the world wouldn’t have anything to do with?

 [Show clip: The Aviator] You don’t need to know anything about Howard Hughes to appreciate the principle in action in this scene.  Some people in the church are so focused on remaining "unstained by the world" that they isolate themselves and refuse to have any contact with the scumbags who’re outside the faith and lost and dying (never mind the scumbags inside the faith). When people who are “different” arrive in do our actions communicate that they’re welcomed?  Have you ever gone to a church and felt like you had leprosy?  Right.  Instead, the model Jesus gave us was one in which we touch the untouchables and love the unlovables.  We take our lessons from His life and ministry and take the risk by getting our hands dirty as we invite people to follow Christ.  The teaching of Jesus is that rather than shrink from society, circle the wagons and sing Kum-By-Ya we’re called to invade and impact our culture with the love and power of the gospel.

When Jesus walks over and tells the hypocrites why he’s doing this it goes like this:  I’m a doctor.  No one goes to the doctor if they’re well, right?  At this point he ups the ante.  “I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Mk 2:17b)?  Now those standing on the outside asking the questions have to answer a question.  Who are we?  Are we the ones who know were sinners or are we the ones who think they’re righteous?  Was Levi a sinner?  You bet.  And Jesus doesn’t ever say that he was not, but so were the very people who’re condemning Christ.  They were sinners because they were excluding others and lacked mercy especially in the face of Levi who’s just left his former life and is now desiring something new.  They were scumbags too in the very fact that they could not extend a forgiving and restoring hand.   You do know what this means, right?  It means The House has to start inviting scumbags to church.  You know…people who don’t have it all together, the broken, the less than perfect, but the people who’re hungry for a touch of grace.  You know what I think?  I think that’s most ever person in this room. Stat: 87% of people who come to church, return, and get involved do so on the elbow of others.   Jesus wept of his mission field, do you? Would you believe…·        Most people are just one invitation away from experiencing a god who doesn’t fit their old school thinking.  ·        Most people are just one invitation away from a community of scumbags that’ll love them right where you they are.  ·        Most people are just one invitation away from an opportunity for Christ to radically change their life.   Quote:  Rick Bizzet, New Life Church - “You will never understand our vision a until you bring someone to church with you.  When you do, you will not only understand our church’s vision and mission, but you will be addicted, and you will do it again, and again, and again.” 

Conclusion: I started this morning by telling you the story of scumbag Jim Baaker, then Levi, I think I could end it by telling your story, but I think that’s a story you’ll have to tell someone on your own.

 

You know what it comes down to?  It comes down to the fact that in order for us to be The House that God’s calling us to be we won’t be your daddy’s United Methodist church.  It’s not better than any other church in the area it’s just different.  The guy having dinner with scumbags he’s not the type of Messiah you’ve expected.  He’s different.  He’s going to make the religious people angry, but the sinners…oh, the sinners – THEY LOVE HIM!!!  [ILL: Someone said to me, “I like this church, but this isn’t like any UMC I’ve ever been to.”]  Praise God!!!  Jesus confounds the religious leaders, the holier-than-thou’s, and those think they’ve got it all figured it.  The people who think they’ve got all their spiritual i’s dotted and t’s crossed are often times the ones who’re blind to the new thing that Jesus is doing right in their midst.

 

Who’s in your life that you’d love to invite to church?  Who’s a person that the rest of the religious world wouldn’t want to have anything to do with?  What’s stopping you from inviting them to the table?  Hey, if dinner with scumbags is good enough for Jesus it’s good enough for The Highlands.

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