Think about something with me. If God changes His program – His way of doing life – wouldn’t that imply that it would
have to be a major change? I mean this is GOD making a change in the way He wants life lived. There are a lot of things
to think about, if God is going to do that.
One, you’re GOD and You never make mistakes, so if You made a change in the way life was to be lived, it would have to
not go against Your character. In other words, it can’t be construed as, “He didn’t get it right the first time, so here’s
another way to try it.” God is never wrong and never makes mistakes. Everything He does is always and completely
perfect and without error. So for God to change a basic issue of how to live, the only thing He can do is make it BETTER.
Another thing You would have to think through as God if you changed Your program is that everything You had already
said and done would have to have a connection to what You are implementing new. Once again, if God makes an
improvement in something, His past ways of dealing with that issue can’t contradict who He is or go against anything He
has said about life or make His former way bad. This would be really difficult.
We serve the God of the universe who always does all things well and never makes mistakes and never goes against His
Word or His character. We are in the Gospel of Luke looking at the life of A REAL Human Being – the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our worship focus today has been “All Things New in Jesus.” We are going to think a little further along the lines
we have been talking about – but we are going to get to some much more practical and applicable things, too. As we
prepare to hear from God’s Word, let’s ask our Teacher to help us hear clearly. PRAY
Open up to Luke 5:27. Last Sunday we saw Jesus respond to the faith of a leper and the faith of a paralyzed man and his
friends. Jesus willingly healed the leper – even touching him. And Jesus saw the faith of the paralyzed man and let the guy
know that his sins had been forgiven based on his faith – and Jesus healed him, too. Here’s what happened next. Luke 5:
27. READ.
Every morning you get out of bed and you know that your day will be filled with people hating you. People sneer at you
and talk about you behind your back – some even in front of your back. People try to avoid eye contact with you and
walk on the other side of the street to keep from having to deal with you. Those who are unlucky enough to be unable to
avoid you pretend to be nice to you, but you know everyone hates you. What kind of a life would that be? No, I’m not
talking about BO PELINI. I’m talking about BILL CALLAHAN. No – really, I’m talking about Levi the tax collector.
We know our warm feelings for the IRS – and I have a feeling they may get warmer, maybe even HOT. But with the IRS,
we only really have to deal with them through the mail. In Jesus’ day, Roman officials would sell the right to collect taxes in
an area to the lowest bidder. So like a McDonalds franchise – owned by a really rich guy – the taxes in that part of the
region were then collected by people who were hired by the person who won the bid.
The tax commissioner and the tax collector would set the tax rates very high so that both of them could make a living and
then pass on the required tax to Rome. Zaccheus, the wee little man, was a tax commissioner. Here, Levi is a local tax
collector. Both were hated by the Jews, not only because they charged so much, but also for being in league with Rome.
Here is Levi, sitting in the tax office, doing what he was hired to do. People would enter the town or they would exit the
town having business to do or having done business and they would be forced to account for the transactions which had
happened. You would probably be charged a tax for stuff you were coming to do – I’m going to buy wool for my wife to
do some knitting. OK, the tax for intending to purchase wool is X amount of denari. And then after buying the wool, and
upon leaving town, you would have to stop by the tax office again – I bought this wool. OK, the tax for carrying wool out
of the town is X amount of denari. Tax collectors were unfair, unconcerned and unscrupulous.
But Jesus goes past the tax office here and doesn’t ignore or avoid Levi the tax collector. Jesus engages him – He says 2
words to him. “Follow Me.” What would possess Jesus to go out of His way to call this man? We have an indication by
Levi’s response. Luke 5:28. READ. Jesus, listening to His Father and doing what His Father told Him to do, saw that
Levi must have been rethinking his life. I think it is quite possible that Levi was struggling with his conscience. He may have
been seeking God for a way to get out of cheating his fellow citizens. And when Jesus issued the call – Follow Me – Levi
responded just like the fishermen. He left everything, rose up and followed Jesus.
Apparently Levi was primed and ready for the call of Jesus. Jesus, the REAL human being, was able to see Levi’s
struggle. When Levi heard the call of Jesus to follow Him, it was the final click of the lock. It all opened up and Levi was
free.
Are you at that point? Are you tired of doing life the way you’ve always done it and tired of seeing the same messed up
things you’ve always seen? You hear about this God stuff and see God doing amazing things in the lives of others, but the
ghosts of past failures and sins are impossible to ignore – and seem impossible to get rid of. Jesus call us – calls ALL of us
– to follow Him.
Think about those words – “follow Me.” It’s a very simple thing to do. And if my memory serves me from years ago, it’s
kind of fun, too. Now Jesus didn’t say, “Follow the leader.” so this wasn’t like a game. But to follow someone’s lead IS
usually a safe and comfortable place to be. Soldiers will follow their commanders into battle – into very dangerous places.
But a good leader has the well-being of his followers in mind. And Jesus did – and Jesus always DOES.
This man who was probably dealing with emptiness and guilt and his conscience, hears Jesus call to him – Follow Me – and
leaves his lucrative career and walks away from his job. He is no different than you and me. Many people work a job they
really don’t like, but they want the paycheck, so they keep going. Levi didn’t walk away because he was flaky. Levi had
been looking for a way to get out. And Jesus presented it.
Levi was so excited and so grateful that he threw a party to celebrate. I think he knew other people who were going
through the same doubts and disgust with their lives as he was. Luke 5:29. READ. Outside the house, doing what
religious people do – not those who have a relationship with Jesus, but those who have a religion, a set of rules and a self-
righteous attitude – the religious people were watching as Jesus and His followers went in to Levi’s house for this party.
Luke 5:30. READ.
At this point, early in the ministry of Jesus, the religious leaders seem to avoid bringing up their issues with Jesus. They
avoid the person with the answers and go to others who they may feel superior to or who they may think they can sway to
their way of thinking. And we have also seen that they have questioned things Jesus did in their own minds, too.
When WE have issues with one another or with someone, our responsibility as followers of Jesus is to courageously and
lovingly go TO the person we have the issue with. We should not talk to everyone else – especially if our intent is to build
our case or build a following OR to cause other people to think badly of the person we have the issue with. There aren’t
too many of us who enjoy confrontation. In fact, I would guess that most of us avoid it like the plague. But our tendency, if
something of someone bothers us, is not only to feel bad about it, but to begin to see if we can find or convince others to
feel the same way. That’s where we step over the line.
These religious leaders complained to Peter and James and John, trying to figure out why a Person who would heal and
drive out demons would hang around with the very people who NEEDED healing and demons driven out. And Jesus
responds to them. Look at Luke 5:31-32. READ. People who don’t consider themselves needy don’t need anyone to
meet their needs. But those who see and know their brokenness (people like Levi) are looking for ways to fix it. Jesus
says, “I have not come to call the righteous people, but I HAVE come to call sinners to repentance.” When He says
“righteous,” Jesus obviously means those who think of themselves as righteous. Jesus calls to people who know their
unrighteousness.
The Kingdom of God, which Jesus introduced, is not a place where only happy, shiny people are accepted. ALL people
are accepted, no matter what kind of a mess their lives are. ALL people are welcome in the Kingdom of God that Jesus
brought to earth. Plattsmouth Bible Church is a welcome center for the Kingdom of God. If you don’t think you need
what Jesus offers, you’ll get tired of what happens here. But if you know you are needy and your life is in various stages of
disarray, this is the place for you. And truthfully, the place for you is not JUST Plattsmouth Bible Church – the Kingdom of
God is the place for you. Welcome.
Apparently these religious leaders get really uncomfortable and make a quick subject change to avoid the truth of what
Jesus just put in front of them. Luke 5:33-35. READ. If You’re going to have a following, Jesus, there are certain things
that followers ought to do. Why aren’t Your followers doing that stuff? Jesus answers and reveals that God is changing the
way He does things. My followers don’t fast because I am WITH them – there is no need to fast and ask Me for stuff in
that way when they can just talk to Me in person. Days will come when I won’t be here with them face to face any more –
then they will fast and ask for Me to work.
We live in those days. We don’t talk about fasting very much. Withholding food or something else for a period of time and
focusing our prayer and requests on how intent we are to hear from God is a very powerful thing. Any time a hunger pang
is felt, it can be a reminder to bring your request to the Lord. In times that we might spend eating, we can spend listening
for God’s still small voice directing us and guiding us. When Jesus was with His followers face to face, there was no need
for that. And now, if we put that activity into practice, we have the Spirit of God living in us who believe and He can
communicate with us.
Jesus continues His response in the following verses. Luke 5:36-39. READ. A parable is a comparison of one thing to
another. Why don’t My followers act like yours or John’s? I’ll compare it to this – the reason no one would put a new
piece of cloth as a patch on an old garment. God is introducing a new plan – My ways are new. Your ways are old. They
worked fine at one time, but they would damage the new thing God is introducing it He tried to make it fit in the old system.
The old system is the Old Covenant – the Law of Moses. It accomplished and even today continues to accomplish it’s
purpose. Romans 3:19,20. READ. The Old Covenant was effective to do what it was intended. But, Jesus says, the
time has come for something new – the New Covenant (which we find in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 34 and 36).
No wine maker would take his new wine and put it in used wine skins. The new wine would explode the old skins – it
doesn’t work. The Kingdom of God, which I bring, is powerful and active and growing and would not be contained by the
old system of the Law. If you have new wine, it has to be put in new wineskins. Things are going to be different and new.
Verse 39 isn’t saying that the old is better. Jesus is telling these religious leaders that they don’t get it. You’re OK with the
old ways. In fact, you think the old ways are better, when the truth is, God’s new way is better.
Jesus is not commenting on new things in general. He’s not saying that just because something is new that automatically
makes it better. Jesus is talking about God’s New Covenant, which will replace the Old Covenant. Instead of a system of
sacrifices, which merely cover over sins, the New Covenant brings one Sacrifice which takes away sin. Instead of having
to approach God through a priest, under the New Covenant, every person who believes knows God and has personal
access to Him through Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews makes this extremely clear. Jesus was asked why His
disciples didn’t do what followers in the “religious” world usually did. His response is that what is happening now under
the Kingdom of God is completely new.
In fact, think a little bit about the terms “religion” and “follow.” Religion can and often does get to the point where a person
can fulfill it without any interaction from anyone else. Religion implies ritual and rote and automatic response. But to
FOLLOW someone implies a relationship with that person. To follow Jesus is not to have a religion. It is to have a
relationship with Jesus. As followers of Jesus, if we allow ourselves to fall into religion, we have lost the aspect of
following. Even though Jesus has been risen from the dead for nearly 2000 years, His ways are still NEW. He does not
do things the way religions would. Religions are man’s organization of God. To be a follower of Jesus is to be organized
by God into a family – a relational organism.
Are you like Levi – dissatisfied with the results of your life to this point? Are you ready to move into something more –
something NEW? The elders were talking the other night. We are sensing that God is working in our church family and in
our community to do some amazing things. I think God is going to break things wide open very soon. We are seeing and
realizing that we are people who do not have it all together – and God loves us anyway.
We are seeing and realizing that the people around us in our community are looking for the answers the Good News
provides. And I think some of us are seeing that we have been selective in who we think is worthy to hear the answers.
That sounds an awful lot like the scribes and Pharisees we just saw – Why are You eating with tax collectors and sinners?
I have a feeling that we are going to be stretched as a church family and as individuals. And we can’t stretch if we are
trapped in outdated and especially in WRONG ways of seeing people. At Plattsmouth Bible Church our message will
never change. We are sinners, we have no hope except in Jesus and His death and resurrection. This is the message that
we are sent out into this community to proclaim. I think we have proven that we can put up a nice sign and we can run ads
in the newspaper – even the Cassgram – and people will stay away from this building in droves. We’re going to put the
new wine – the message of rescue from sin and restoration to God – into new wineskins. We’re not going to have soup
suppers and clothing drives and VBS and special speakers and expect to draw hurting people IN to the church building
with those things. We are going to have to take the rescue message to them – both with our lives and with our words.
If people could see the real God really working in the lives of real people like us – and we did not put a point scale on their
sin, but accepted people where they were – as they ARE – and let GOD do the work of changing, we would see the
Kingdom of God built and expanded and grow. That is our calling – FOLLOW ME. That’s where Jesus is going.
FOLLOW HIM.