“Who's In? Who's Out?”

The Appomattox Court House Presbyterian Church Pulpit
Rev. Cameron S. Smith
The Lord's Day, July 9, 2006
Luke 5:27-32

     Who's in? Who's out? That's a loaded question to be sure! Who can walk through our doors and become a member of this congregation; a part of this family of faith? For an an answer that functions like a scenic overlook towering above the family of God, let's take the time to listen to a story from the Gospel of Luke (5:27-32). I think this story gives us a good place to begin talking about the first half of the question:

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

     Now, as an introduction to the main character here, the tax collector, let me say that it's quite common here in the United States to make jokes at the expense of the Internal Revenue Service, and there never seems to be a shortage of horror stories involving the excesses and zeal of the IRS when it comes to collecting back taxes and harassing honest citizens.
     But, it seems that this story displays an even more intense animosity towards the tax collector, if you can imagine that! This particular line says it all: "And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, 'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?'" These respectable, righteous servants of God came upon this happy feast of Levi and his tax collector colleagues sitting at the same table with Jesus and they were outraged. To the pious Jewish mind, this was simply not acceptable. For one thing, tax collectors were generally reputed to be traitors. They were Jews who offered their services to the occupying Roman government, collecting heavy taxes from their own brothers and sisters for the pagan oppressors - this fact alone was unforgivable.
     In the second place, these turn-coat tax collectors could also border on the unscrupulous in their collections. They would demand two times, sometimes three times the tax and pocket the excess. This practice tended to make tax collectors extremely rich, and this on the backs of their fellow Jews. Due to this very practice, they were hated men. In fact, some rabbis even taught that it wasn't a sin in and of itself to defraud a tax collector!
     In the third place, tax collectors were despised because they associated and worked with the hated Gentiles. Every self-respecting Jew knew that the Gentiles were ritually unclean, and the fact that Jewish tax collectors rubbed shoulders with them every day in their routine business dealings was unconscionable. So deep was this intense hatred, it often overflowed and extended to even family members of the tax collector!
     Taking our brief study even further, in the mind of a pious Jew, the names tax collector and sinner were virtually synonymous. Although they were very prosperous individuals, they were on one of the lowest rungs of society, if not the lowest.
     It's hard for us to identify with this kind of scorn. I mean, I know a good Christian man who once worked for the IRS. I don't recall being upset in the least when he revealed the awful secret that he worked for the IRS! What would possibly carry the same kind of scorn in today's society?
     I think I heard of one last night. My father-in-law, who works as a jail chaplain, told me about a prisoner who wanted to get seminary training so that he could enter the ministry after his release. The interesting thing about this request -- besides the fact that it is a prisoner making the request -- is that this particular prisoner is a convicted rapist.
     Now, this man did a detestable thing, period. But, since coming to jail, he's repented of his past and in faith, clings to the cross of Jesus Christ. His heart's desire now is to follow Christ in obedience. Now, what do you think about that? Suppose you found out that your pastor was going to jail each weekend to help him prepare for the ministry? Might your response be the same as those who grumbled at Jesus? What business have I with such a scoundrel? Cameron, don't you know that sex offenders don't change? They are sick individuals. They are never, never going to change. How could you? (So much for belief in God's ability to transform a rebellious heart!)
     One of my professors in seminary told us about a church-plant in Miami. They had just moved into a storefront building, and many were horrified that the new plant just so happened to be situated right next-door to a strip club! The pastor, undaunted, went next door and invited many of the strippers to a Bible study. The long and short of the story is that many strippers did respond to the invitation. The Bible study became wildly popular, and many girls eventually abandoned stripping because they met the love of Christ in the pastor and the members of that small group Bible study.
     Let me now answer the question I asked at the beginning: Who's in? Who belongs? Better yet, who CAN belong? Are you kidding? There's not a sin under the sun that can keep anybody away from the love of God because He is liberal in His application of mercy and grace.
     Our church, though far from perfect in our embodiment of God's amazing grace, does offer the same invitation and answer because we have experienced this undeserved love through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our mandate; our marching orders, if you will.

HOWEVER....
     With all of the above exhilaratingly, breathtakingly true, it's at once, instructive and necessary to see what this saving grace does in the lives of those it touches. A couple of weeks ago, we heard about Paul's conversion on the Damascus road and the subsequent Herculean shift in his life. In the same way, consider Levi, the tax collector from our story this morning. This tax collector was so moved by the grace and love of Christ that he gave up his lucrative practice in tax collecting; went out immediately (as I believe Luke intends us to understand) and pulled in several of his colleagues for a dinner banquet with Jesus. I can only imagine the words of this invitation: "Hey guys, you've got to hear about this,.. really!"
     We find Levi's name changed later to Matthew. Although the Gospel's supply no reason for this change, my personal conviction is that it is to reflect and underscore the radical nature of his new life. He was no longer the same person. According to external sources, which I find no compelling reason to denigrate, we know this former tax collector as the writer of the first Gospel that bears his new name, Matthew. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, church tradition has Matthew going to Ethiopia to preach and make disciples. What a change! No status quo for Matthew!
     Consider as well, another one of Matthew's colleagues, a man by the name of Zacchaeus.

"He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.' So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, 'He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.' And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'" (Luke 19:2-10).

     The bottom line, my dear congregation, is that when the doctor, THE Doctor, comes and offers the healing touch, people don't remain the same. They don't hang on tenaciously to the lifestyle they once thought "normal" or justified based on our culture's well-intentioned stamp of approval. No! Those invaded by grace are transformed. They've found something much better, just like Matthew and Zacchaeus.

WHAT ABOUT THE SECOND HALF OF THE QUESTION?
     And so, Who's in? We have some fairly straight-forward teaching from the Lord on that question. But, what about that second question? Who's out? Perhaps that can best be addressed through another story from the Gospels:

"And a ruler asked [Jesus], 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'….[Jesus said,] You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.' And he said, 'All these I have kept from my youth." When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich." (Luke 18:18-23).

     Let me hasten to say that I don't think being rich is the problem here! There's something here that has a greater hold on this young man: His desire to hold onto what he thinks is rightfully his. This desire is so strong and compelling that he's willing to gain the entire world at the expense of his very soul. As I make this next assertion, I do so with my Calvinistic conscience firmly intact! Those who are out, do so of their own accord because the price is just too high. The demand is too great. Those who are out refuse to give up something that is their perceived birthright, be that financial wealth, personal property, and yes, even personal behavior, or yikes, sexual orientation.

THE FINAL WORD,
     Let me close with a quick ananalogy: Suppose you go to the doctor because of a certain condition. It's not painful, yet. It's not life-threatening, at least, not yet. But, you have this haunting suspicion that you might be the wiser for getting this checked out; besides, your conscience is weighing heavily on the foreboding nature of the problem. To your relief, the doctor says that there is a cure for the ailment, but, you seem to be okay and functioning sufficiently. Besides, the doctor doesn't really want to put you out financially -- the cure is expensive -- and the necessary diet and exercise regimen is demanding. Go in peace now! Please don't worry! I don't want you to get better, I just want you to like me as a doctor.
     Okay, so all illustrations and analogies all fall short; but don't get lost on the point: We certainly don't go to the doctor to be advised to remain in the condition in which we came! When we go to the doctor, we want to find the path to healing and wholeness.
     My friends, I am in the process of being transformed (i.e. healed!) I don't want to be the same person tomorrow, grovelling around in my pet sins. I want to be able to call sin what God calls sin and flee to His forgiveness and healing touch. I want to be more like Jesus. I want to be holy. I want to be passionate in my obedience. Those things that I hold onto tenaciously, be it sinful behavior or greedily collecting and trusting in earthly goods, I ask for the grace to let it go!
     But, I'll tell you something else that I'm passionate about: I want you to be changed as well. God didn't save you so that you could pursue your own earthly course, according to your own best wisdom.

     As a a postscript, the answer to the burning questions put before us this morning (Who's in? Who's out?), I say to you in all candor, I guess that's really up to you. Amen.