0:0 - All right, pray, and then we'll read scripture.
0:5 - Lord God, help us to be receptive to the things that you have to say this morning.
0:9 - Help us to be open to the words that you have for us.
0:13 - Lord God, if there's things that are distracting us or things that are dividing us, we ask that you give us peace and a calm heart and the ability to listen and apply your word to our lives.
0:29 - Thank you for your word, amen.
0:33 - We are continuing to march through the book of Luke.
0:37 - Well, I guess we're more sauntering than marching, aren't we?
0:40 - It's a large book and we're taking it little piece by piece and we're working our way through and we are in chapter 5.
0:48 - And so our text this morning is Luke chapter 5 verses 27 to 32 and I'll read that now.
0:57 - So after this, of course, we have to hold the context of everything we've been studying.
1:1 - After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth.
1:9 - Follow me, Jesus said to him and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
1:16 - Then Levi had a great banquet for Jesus at his house and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.
1:25 - 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?
1:37 - And Jesus answered them, it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.
1:42 - I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
1:48 - This is the word of the Lord.
1:54 - All right, so after this, Jesus went out and saw these tax collectors.
2:1 - Because it says after this, because Jesus has already been healing and he's been teaching, and he's been gaining all sorts of popularity along his travels, and we've seen this developing.
2:15 - And then Luke tells us that Jesus went out.
2:18 - That's all the description we get.
2:19 - Jesus went out.
2:21 - And I have a picture in my mind of what this may have looked like.
2:25 - So let me paint that picture for you.
2:27 - So Jesus goes out, and I imagine he has quite a crowd that is following him.
2:33 - And I actually picture four distinct groups of people who are there, and they're there for different reasons.
2:40 - And so first, right on the heels of Jesus are his devoted followers, and these are the growing group of disciples.
2:49 - And so far, inside this narrative that we have in Luke, there's only three.
2:53 - We know it gets to 12, but right now we have three.
2:56 - It's Simon Peter, it's James, and it's John.
3:0 - And then the next group behind those, in my mind, is those who are hurting and broken, and in search of and in need of healing.
3:10 - These are the ones who are seeking miracles that they have heard about, and they're looking for Jesus to rescue them.
3:19 - And then right behind them is the general Jewish public.
3:23 - Okay, these are the ones who are curious about this new teacher of the law, this guy from Nazareth.
3:29 - And they're here to maybe learn a little bit more, but they have less of a vested interest.
3:35 - And they're a pretty large group, and like many large groups, they're fickle with low investment.
3:41 - This would be the group that can go from saying Hosanna to crucify him in about a week.
3:48 - That's this group.
3:49 - Okay.
3:49 - And then there's a fourth group.
3:50 - And I imagine this is a group that Rob reflected on quite a bit last week.
3:55 - And they're kind of mixed in with all of these other groups.
3:58 - And they're a large group as well.
4:0 - And they're watching Jesus closely.
4:2 - It's the religious leaders.
4:5 - And they're now analyzing his words and his statements.
4:8 - And they're at this point where they're looking either for credibility, like evidence of his credibility, or they're looking to condemn him.
4:17 - Like, he's either the guy or he's not the guy.
4:21 - That's the kind of questions that they're asking.
4:23 - So there's all these people who are following Jesus.
4:27 - And I imagine Jesus in this moment isn't looking at any of them because he is on a different mission, the mission of our text this morning.
4:36 - And so he's headed to the economic hub.
4:39 - He's headed to a place of business.
4:41 - And I imagine this may be to be a fishing port or maybe a marketplace or a trade route.
4:47 - And it's a place anyways, we know for sure, it was a place where money flows.
4:53 - Because this is where you find the tax collectors.
4:58 - Now, tax collectors were often Jews and they were employed by the Romans.
5:5 - Because through war and conquest, the Romans were ruling over the Jews at this time.
5:10 - And one of the perks for Rome was to collect taxes from any profit that's made by any Jew.
5:18 - And the way they collected it was by enlisting local Jews who were willing to take their fellow countrymen's money.
5:26 - And Rome didn't, they didn't actually pay the tax collectors.
5:30 - They just gave them permission to kind of add their own inflated price on top of what they were collecting for Rome.
5:38 - And they could kind of choose that at their own discretion.
5:42 - So you can imagine how this would go over with the people.
5:46 - Like if Roman tax was hated, and it was, the tax collectors who sold out their own people to collect a large profit were hated even more.
5:59 - And not only were they disliked, there was pronouncement on them from the religious leaders.
6:6 - They were seen as morally compromised people.
6:11 - They've chosen money, or the worship of a god named money, they would go as far as to say that, over community.
6:22 - And they were outcasts.
6:24 - And they're seen as less than their Jewish neighbors, the people that they lived among.
6:30 - And so Levi, or Matthew, as we come to know who he is later, is approached by Jesus.
6:37 - Jesus has all these people in tow, and he's looking right at Matthew.
6:40 - And he invites Matthew to follow him.
6:43 - And we don't get a lot of detail here from Luke in his gospel, but we just learned very simply that Matthew drops everything and follows Jesus.
6:53 - That is a sermon series in and of itself.
6:56 - But we're going to focus on other things this morning.
7:0 - So Matthew immediately joins those closest behind Jesus, and then there were four, right?
7:5 - Shoulder to shoulder with Peter, James, and John.
7:9 - And as if to celebrate his newfound devoutness in following Jesus, Matthew hosts a dinner and he would have the resources to do so.
7:19 - And so he invites all of his old acquaintances as well as his new ones.
7:24 - And this puts Jesus in a really interesting spot, because he is found at a table with many of the tax collectors now.
7:33 - And as Luke defines them, he says he's at a table with sinners.
7:38 - And that's a powerful word, okay, in the original language.
7:44 - A sinner is not just someone who makes a casual mistake, right?
7:49 - Like we say, we're all sinners, you know, we say that.
7:52 - But it carried more weight than that.
7:56 - These are people whose entire lives, identity and being has now fallen outside of Jewish moral code.
8:5 - They're basically, they've been condemned in some ways.
8:11 - Their identity and their being, everything about them is not kosher.
8:17 - They're not culturally acceptable and they're outcasts.
8:20 - And so this is who Jesus is with.
8:23 - And the religious leaders who we're seeing are growing more and more skeptical of Jesus and his choices.
8:29 - They take issue with this, like right away.
8:34 - And so they ask him, well, not him, they ask his disciples.
8:38 - At this point, the Pharisees still seem to be a little conflict averse.
8:42 - Like they're not as challenging as they get to be.
8:45 - But they ask the disciples, and it's the text says that they're complaining.
8:49 - Why do you, why does Jesus eat with sinners?
8:54 - And in their question, why is Jesus eating with sinners?
8:59 - We can hear a condemnation, right?
9:2 - Read between the lines.
9:5 - When they say, why do you eat with sinners?
9:7 - It basically implies you should not eat with sinners.
9:11 - That is what is being said.
9:13 - This is the official position of those responsible for teaching Israel about the rules of God.
9:23 - And we should be asking at this point, are they correct, are they on good standing inside Jewish law, inside their role as religious teachers to make such a statement?
9:37 - Is that an okay claim to make?
9:41 - And we can look at this or analyze this by taking a look at the Old Testament law.
9:46 - And we do see commands from God in the Old Testament, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, where God tells his people to stay separate.
9:57 - God does instruct Israel to remain set apart, which is what holiness actually means.
10:4 - It means to be set apart.
10:7 - He says, you're my chosen people and you're a nation and I'm defining you as separate.
10:12 - And he instructs them to stay away from the worship practices of sinful nations.
10:18 - And he gives them food laws that are different than all of the nations around them, what they're allowed to eat and what they're not.
10:25 - And this is to help them remember their identity and that they are different.
10:30 - And he gives them ways of worshiping that lead to him and only him.
10:35 - And he teaches them that these pagan other nation practices of idolatry or idol worship, that's not okay.
10:43 - That's not the kind of things they should be doing.
10:48 - But looking very closely at these laws, there's something important to notice.
10:57 - God doesn't put separation between the people of Israel, sorry, God puts separation between the people of Israel and these sinful practices of other nations, but not really between the sinful people of other nations.
11:17 - God does not outlaw any form of communion with the people.
11:21 - He instructs Israel to live differently.
11:26 - We don't find in the Old Testament really specific laws of Israel not being able to eat with others or to be in community with others.
11:35 - Now, yes, there was marriage, like they weren't supposed to marry those from other tribes, but you can imagine, like that's pretty far down a process of being partnered where you'd expect that you're on the same page with all of these other things that God outlaws.
11:51 - But it's kind of a stretch for them to say what they're saying.
11:59 - And so we should be asking, how do the religious leaders get to this point?
12:5 - Where they're not only saying you shouldn't eat with Gentiles, which is the other nations, but they're saying you shouldn't be eating with sinful Israelites who we have outcast.
12:18 - They don't even suggest this kind of separation as something to consider.
12:23 - Their question assumes that it's obvious that Jesus and his followers should not be sitting at the same table as sinners.
12:34 - Now, how can these leaders justify creating laws, ones that we don't find specifically in the Old Testament law?
12:46 - Isn't that a dangerous thing to do?
12:52 - Let's get into that a little bit.
12:53 - Let's wrestle with the nuance of that concept.
12:56 - Now, it's a concept that is known as fencing of the law, fencing of the law, okay?
13:4 - The religious leaders are responsible for educating the people so that they don't break God's commands.
13:11 - Now, to accomplish this, they create laws that are one step further or removed from the laws that God gave.
13:21 - And the intention is to protect Israel from getting anywhere close to breaking God's law.
13:30 - All right, so let's play this out, okay?
13:32 - So God commands Israel, don't worship false gods.
13:36 - So the religious leaders want to protect Israel from getting anywhere near that.
13:41 - And so they say, don't associate with those from other nations who worship false gods, okay?
13:49 - Fence.
13:51 - They're sinners.
13:52 - In fact, you best not associate with anyone who could be accused of worshiping these false gods, even if they are Israelites, a second fence.
14:2 - And to ensure you don't develop relationships with these bad people, you should not ever sit at a table with them, a third fence.
14:13 - So the religious leaders have put up three barricades because they're trying to fight against the proverbial slippery slope.
14:25 - Now, this is a saying that you probably recognize, but let me give you an image of the slippery slope.
14:32 - Picture a pond that starts really shallow, all around the perimeter.
14:38 - Imagine if you don't know how to swim.
14:41 - Now, there's no danger of stepping into a pond up to your knees at the water's edge.
14:48 - You're not at risk of drowning, but the mud at the bottom of the pond is slick, and it slopes gradually downwards towards the inevitable reality that the water is over your head, and if you can't swim, you drown.
15:5 - So, if you don't even dip your toe in the pond, you will protect yourself from drowning.
15:13 - And the more fences you put around that pond, the safer you are.
15:20 - Now, we all know about this concept even today.
15:23 - Our lawmakers today operate with similar ways of kind of functioning, of placing fences.
15:33 - There's a rule, I think this is a law in PEI, I know it is in Ontario.
15:38 - I didn't get a chance to look this up, but I'm pretty sure you have to put, if you have a pool, you have to put a fence around it.
15:44 - I'm pretty sure that's a law here.
15:46 - It is in Ontario for sure.
15:48 - Is there anything morally wrong with having an unfenced pool?
15:52 - No, we wouldn't make that argument, but we would say it protects children from inevitably ending up in someone else's backyard and falling into a pool.
16:1 - So it's a measure of protection.
16:6 - It's a device that helps us stay safe.
16:9 - You could make the same argument about a lot of different things, like speed limits, for example.
16:14 - Is there anything wrong with doing 61 kilometers an hour in the country?
16:19 - Well, yes, if the speed limit is 60, but doesn't that feel arbitrary?
16:23 - And isn't that just protecting against us driving recklessly, which probably doesn't happen at 61, but the spirit of the law is to protect against harm.
16:34 - So we can see that there's good, good intention and good practice inside having fences around certain things.
16:49 - So the religious leaders are highlighting a fence that they have put in place, not necessarily one that God put in place.
16:58 - And so then Jesus gives a reason why their fence has risk.
17:6 - He says to them, it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
17:11 - I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
17:17 - Here is the issue that Jesus is highlighting.
17:22 - The spirit of God's law, the intention of God's law is to be set apart.
17:28 - And it's all about God's people being restored to right relationship with him.
17:34 - That's the purpose, to live in harmony with God, worshipping and living devoted to the one true God alone.
17:41 - That's the intention.
17:44 - And the religious leaders have created a fence that actually prevents that from happening.
17:52 - You see, their fence is not creating space for the sinners and the broken and the lost in Israel to be restored.
18:2 - In fact, it's doing the exact opposite.
18:5 - It forces them into isolation and separation.
18:9 - It cuts them off from the opportunity that the law was intended to create, which is repentance and forgiveness.
18:17 - The religious leaders, they're setting up a system where righteousness is only earned by purity, whereas Jesus is acknowledging sin and offering cleansing.
18:32 - One scholar that I read this week named Daryl Bach, he said it this way, for Jesus, recovery is the issue, not quarantine.
18:43 - You see, the religious leaders, they want to put the sinners in jail, and they want to throw away the key.
18:51 - While Jesus sees discipleship as a recovery process, not just a mode of punishment or discipline.
19:1 - Discipleship and discipline are the same word, actually, which is interesting when you start thinking about that.
19:8 - And so this morning, Church, I would like us to think about how and where this text might meet us.
19:16 - This is something that we wrestle with as well.
19:18 - There's tension here for us as well.
19:22 - Fencing laws and staying a healthy distance away from things that can get us in trouble is not inerrantly bad in and of itself.
19:31 - But it's something to wrestle with.
19:33 - This church is made up of followers of Jesus.
19:36 - And so we see this place, this building that we come to and its programs that we take part of.
19:42 - We would often call this a place of sanctuary.
19:46 - A place where we can step away from the world.
19:51 - A place where we can come together with our sisters and brothers in Christ to worship God.
19:57 - To be equipped and edified for the daily grind of life.
20:1 - It's a place where our precious and impressionable children can be educated.
20:7 - But this church is more than just a sanctuary.
20:12 - It's also a place from which the good news of Jesus Christ is broadcast.
20:17 - And there is a tired, broken, and hurting world out there that needs to know how much God loves them, how he wants to see them thrive and flourish, and how he wants to see an end to their suffering and pain.
20:34 - For those that are living a life that is broken, which is really all of us, is this a place where we are truly welcome?
20:47 - Is this a place where we can all truly belong?
20:51 - Or have we created some fences that end up being a barrier to the restoration of all things?
21:1 - A barrier that stands in the way of the picture of this new heaven and new earth that God paints for us, which is a window of hope to when he will fix things up and make things new.
21:15 - We wanna live good lives that are pleasing and honorable to God, and we aspire to purity, to being clean.
21:24 - But are we worried of the slippery slope of creating space for those who live differently than us in our midst?
21:33 - Are we worried that their sin might rub off on us?
21:37 - And keep in mind, this applies to all of us.
21:39 - This isn't just an us and them kind of thing.
21:43 - Or on the impressionable minds of our kids?
21:46 - Are we more interested in quarantine than recovery?
21:52 - So that we maintain purity and righteousness just for ourselves?
21:59 - So I want you to think about that this week.
22:3 - Think about the good people that you interact with throughout the week, who would not say that they're living a life to follow Jesus.
22:12 - Have we created barriers in having them join us, whether they're subtle barriers or outright barriers, or barriers that have prevented you from really investing in their lives where you find them in the world?
22:28 - We have to be careful that we don't put up unintentional barriers for those who God is seeking to restore, to protect ourselves from a lack of safety.
22:41 - You see, often, God doesn't make safety for us the highest priority.
22:50 - I have often wrestled with and wondered about this question, has plagued me for years.
22:58 - Why is it that back in the Garden of Eden, why did God not put an 18-foot-high electric fence around the forbidden tree?
23:10 - Wouldn't that have solved everything?
23:13 - Then Adam and Eve couldn't have eaten from the tree.
23:17 - Isn't that what a good parent does?
23:20 - If you have danger on your own property, wouldn't you protect your children?
23:25 - Instead of just saying, don't go there, wouldn't you do more to protect them?
23:29 - I've asked God this question relentlessly over the years, as I've experienced hard things in this world.
23:36 - And I'm like, God, aren't you protecting your people against these things?
23:43 - And I can't tell you that I fully understand this still today.
23:46 - But the reality is he didn't put a fence around that tree.
23:52 - God gave humanity the ability to make a choice here, even though sometimes those choices are harmful and hurtful, not just to each other, but to God himself.
24:4 - And God still finds a way to restore, even though he meets us where we are in our brokenness.
24:12 - He continues to love and care for his children, even when they act in sinful and selfish ways.
24:20 - That is who God is.
24:22 - He's good and he's loving and he's patient and he's forgiving.
24:28 - And we're called to model this same behavior to the world so that they can know and see who Jesus really is and how far he's willing to go to rescue us from ourselves.
24:42 - Let's pray.
24:47 - Lord God, your ways are the way.
24:53 - And often, your ways seem probably not how we would do it.
25:2 - You have a complex and appropriate plan for all of your people.
25:10 - And God, we're called into community with you to share your love and your grace to a hurting and broken world.
25:18 - And we find those people inside these chairs and this building and also outside in the world.
25:24 - We're all in need of this grace and this reminder.
25:28 - And so Lord God, we hope that through your Holy Spirit, you continue to reveal yourself to us more and more each day so that we have a greater knowledge and understanding of just how immense your grace is so that we can show that to those around us that you have given us to interact with.
25:51 - Lord God, be with us.
25:52 - We can't do any of this without you.
25:55 - And Jesus, thank you so much for living a life that gives us examples and shows us just how much you love us.
26:2 - In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.