Not the Healthy: Ministering To Those Who Need It
April 1, 2010 5:30 AM -0500
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Outline
Notes
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We live in the most connected generation in history, and we are surrounded by people who are broken, hurting, and lost in sin. With some of them, the need is obvious. With others, it's not. Learn how Jesus ministered to a man who didn't want anyone to know about his desperate need.
Thesis: Jesus ministered to those who were rejected by getting close to them, regardless of what anybody else thought.
Objective: Call believers to notice that there are people in need all around us and challenge them to reach out to them as Jesus would have.
- Jesus calls the rejected (13-14).
- They're the ones left out (“a large crowd” (13); Just as Levi was excluded from the large crowd by a mutual choice – they didn't like him, and he didn't feel worthy to be there – there are people all around us that don't come to Jesus or church because they feel judged by Christians or unworthy of Christ. We must be on the lookout for these and ready to engage them.).
- They're the ones looking “put-together” (“he saw Levi sitting at the tax collector's booth” (14); Just as Levi was hanging out at the tax-collector's booth, making it look like he had everything under control, when deep inside, he was desperately aware of his need.).
- They're the ones Jesus seeks (“'Follow me,' Jesus told him” (14); Just as Jesus actually went to the tax collector's booth, sought out Matthew, and issued the call to him on his own turf, we must be prepared to do the same: go to these people and call them from where they are.).
- They're the ones called alike (“'Follow me'... and Levi got up and followed him” (14); Just as Jesus' call to Levi was the same as it had been to each of the other disciples, we must recognize that the same call to follow Him has been issued to everyone, including the outcasts, downtrodden, unworthy, unliked, etc. And He expects them to respond in the same way, too, by giving up whatever it is that holds them back and following Him everywhere He goes, with everything they have, learning and applying everything He has to teach them.).
- Jesus fellowships with sinners (15-16).
- We must get close (“While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house;” If we're going to effectively minister to the rejected people around us, we must get down into life with them. Jesus dined with Levi, conveying the message that He saw value in him, accepted him, and wanted to hang out with him.).
- We must expect a response (“for there were many who followed him;” The truth is, there are far more people out there who need ministry than we generally realize. And if we will start ministering to them, seeking them out and calling them just as Jesus did Levi, many will undoubtedly follow.).
- We must expect some resistance (16; The truth is, with the “in” crowd, real ministry to people who need it isn't all that popular. It probably won't make us the “in” church, with massive budgets or even massive attendance numbers. And it will probably even draw significant criticism from the religious establishment because we'll probably have to get dirty, and there will be messy situations.).
- Jesus ministers to those in need (17).
- We must not argue about it (Jesus didn't waste time trying to justify what he was doing before people who would never accept it. We shouldn't waste time with rhetoric designed to convince people of the importance of ministry. We should just minister.).
- We must not stick on the righteous (Whether the person is truly righteous, or just thinks they're righteous, there is really very little point ministering to those who don't need it. The reality is that the return on our investments will be minimal.).
- We must focus on sinners (If we want to be effective for the kingdom of God, realizing the will of God that all should be saved, then we must train our efforts to reach those who are lost, broken, trampled, soiled, and mired in sin.).
Ryrie
- (14) Levi would have been loathed by fellow Jews because he was a Roman tax collector and therefore deemed a traitor.
- (15) The Pharisees considered anyone who didn't live up to their interpretations of the law a “sinner”
- (16) “Scribes, who belonged mainly to the party of the Pharisees, functioned as members of a highly honored profession. They were professional students and defenders of the law (scriptural and traditional), gathering around them pupils who they instructed in the law. They were also referred to as lawyers because they were entrusted with the administration of the law as judges in the Sanhedrin.”
Reflecting God
- (14) Levi = Matthew, which means “gift of the Lord”
- (14) “Levi was a tax collector under Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. The tax collector's booth where Jesus found Levi was probably a toll booth on the major international road that went from Damascus through Capernaum to the Mediterranean coast and to Egypt.”
- (14) “Jesus' call is definite and comprehensive. Levi chooses to respond in kind.”
- (15) sinners = “Notoriously evil people as well as those who refused to follow the Mosaic law as interpreted by the teachers of the law. The term was commonly used of tax collectors, adulterers, robbers, and the like.”
- (15) To eat with a person was an extremely intimate act. It implied an intense and true friendship.
- (16) It is important to note that not all of the teachers of the law were Pharisees. The Pharisees were the “successors of the Hasidim, pious Jews who joined forces with the Maccabees during the struggle for freedom from Syrian oppression (166-142 BC). They first appear under the name Pharisees during the reign of John Hyrcanus (135-105). Although some, no doubt, were godly, most of those who came into conflict with Jesus were hypocritical, envoious, rigid and formalistic. According to Pharisaism, God's grace extended only to those who kept his law.”
- (16) “The Pharisees were a legalistic and separatistic group who strictly, but often hypocritically, kept the law of Moses and the unwritten 'tradition of the elders.'” In comparison, “the Sadducees were more worldly and politically minded, and were theologically unorthodox – among other things denying the resurrection, angels and spirits.”
- (16) The name “Pharisees” means “separated ones.” In Jesus' time, “they numbered about 6,000 and wree spread over the whole of the Holy Land. They were teachers in the synagogues, religious examples in the eyes of the people and self-appointed guardians of the law and its proper observance. They considered the interpretations and regulations handed down by tradition to be virtually as authoritative as Scripture.”
- (16) “Jewish tax collectors were regarded as outcasts. They could not serve as witnesses or as judges and were expelled from the synagogue. In the eyes of the Jewish community theyri disgrace extended to their families.”
- (16) “Traditionally known as 'publicans,' [tax collectors] were local men employed by Roman tax contractors to collect taxes for them. Because they worked for Rome and often demanded unreasonable payments, the tax collectors gained a bad reputation and were generally hated and considered traitors.”
- (17) “A self-righteous man does not realize his need for salvation, but an admitted sinner does. Part of living righteously includes showing mercy to others who seek righteousness.”
- Ryrie, Charles C. Ryrie Study Bible Expanded Edition. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.
- Barker, Kenneth, ed. Reflecting God Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000.