Coming home (Mark 2:1-12)

[Preached at the Chinese Church combined service on Sunday, 8 January 2017. Translated into Cantonese.]

When Jesus heals the man, he tells him to get up, take his mat and go home. Every day after work or after school when we pack our bags and go home. What is so special about this man? Why does the crowd go, “Wow! We have never seen anything like this.”

Because he cannot walk. Because, if this man wants to go home, he has to be carried home. The word for this is “stuck”. To be “stuck” means you want to go home, but you can’t. Like this Chinese New Year: You want to go home, but you are stuck at work. Or here in church, you want to go home but you are stuck because my sermon is too long-winded (cheung hei)!

But Jesus heals the man and he goes home! And everyone goes, “Hooray!” Yet, Jesus says: More important than going home is being welcomed home. More important than going home early or quickly is being loved in your own home.

Look with me to verse 1.

Jesus goes home

Verse 1: “The people heard that he (Jesus) had come home.” It’s like when Along comes home. Or when David comes home. Everyone says, “Let’s have tea in Wetherspoons!”

Jesus has just come home after travelling the villages. And everyone says “Let’s go and see Jesus!” Verse 2: “They gathered in such numbers, there was no room left.” “Not even outside the door.” So many came that some were standing outside next to the rubbish bins.

And Jesus “preached the word to them.” (verse 2) They wanted to see Jesus. Jesus wanted them to hear God’s word. Those standing outside couldn’t see him. But everyone could hear Jesus preaching God’s word to them.

Imagine your house full of people. That’s stressful! Is there enough food? Are there enough chairs? Imagine every Chinese person in Cambridge came to CCCC on Chinese New Year. Two thousand people! What should we do?

What we should do is preach God’s word. That was Jesus’ number priority. “That is why I have come,” Jesus says in Mark Chapter 1 (verse 38), “so that I can preach there also.”

Whether we go out to them or they come to us. We want to preach God’s word to our friends. That’s our number one priority.

Faithful friends

Some men came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.

Mark 2:3-4

These are good friends.Tam Wing-lun (Alan Tam) wrote a song about good friends. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUMA8g3-lnM)

Nei wai liu ngor / 你为了我 (You’re there for me)

Ngor wai liu nei / 我为了你 (I’m there for you)
Kung foo wan nan chuit mong lui
/ 共赴患難絕望里緊握你手
(In times of troubles to the end, I’ll hold your hand)

Kan nap nei sau

… Pang Yau!!! / 朋友 (My friends!)

Good friends will do anything for you especially in times of trouble. “We will get you to Jesus.” They climb up the roof. They dig a hole (in Jesus’ house). Everyone is looking at them but they don’t care. Like Tom Cruise on Mission Impossible, they lower their friend down from the ceiling.

Parents don’t approve of these kind of friends. So naughty! But these friends are the best friends because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Look at verse 5.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralysed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Mark 2:5

What did Jesus see? Their faith. Not: Oi, what are you doing to my roof? No, the bible says he saw their faith. They were trusting Jesus to help their sick friend. “Only you can help him, Jesus.”

When my father was sick, for a long time he didn’t want to see the doctor. One day, he friend drove an hour to the house, put my father in the car, drove him another hour to the hospital and admitted him. For every check-up, he drove my father. He drove four hours each time. Not to the restaurant or to sing Karaoke, but to hospital to get the help he needed. What do you call that? A good friend.

Jesus sees our faith. When you pray. When you share the gospel. When you pick people up to come to church. Don’t give up bringing your friends to Jesus. But more importantly, keep trusting Jesus with your friends and family. “Jesus, only you can save them. Only you can change their lives.”

Secret enemies

Finally, we see some secret enemies.

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’

Mark 2:6-7

I call them secret enemies is because they are undercover. On the outside, they look good. Firstly, they were sitting there, meaning, they came early - not like those four friends who came late and the house was full. Secondly, even though they were saying bad things about Jesus, they said it secretly in their hearts.

But Jesus could see into their hearts. Verse 8: “Immediately, Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these thing?’”

What were they thinking? Jesus cannot forgive sin. He is not God. He is insulting God because only God can forgive sin.

And Jesus asks them a question. “Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’” Or put it another way: Which is cheaper? When we buy something we often compare the prices? This brand is cheap, but that brand has a big discount. Jesus offers two options: Which do you choose?

The first is Brand Forgiveness. “Your sins are forgiven,” and we say, “OK, let me think about it.” But the second brand is Brand Fortune. Get up: Meaning, Immediately! You are healed immediately. Pick up (your mat): Meaning, No need for your friends to carry you. You are strong enough to carry your mat. Go home: Meaning, Life is back to normal. And Jesus says: Which is better?

If I am honest, I want Fortune more than I want Forgiveness. When I pray, I ask God for health, for happiness, for my exams, for my job, for more time, for more money, for more people to like me. I pray for fortune more than i pray for forgiveness. And Jesus says, “Why are you thinking these things?”

But then Jesus says, “I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” and he heals the man. He gets up, picks up, goes home. Everyone goes “Wah, so amazing!” and he goes home. But what should they have said instead? They should have said,  “Wah, his sins have been forgiven.” They should have said, “Wah, Jesus has authority to forgive my sin.” Maybe even, “Wah, Jesus is God!”

Going home is important, but more important is being welcomed home. Why go home if you are only going to argue with your parents, to boast about yourself, to fight with your friends? Why go home if you are not welcome in your own home? We are stuck. We want to go home but we can’t, not because of money. Because we are not welcome.

But if you are welcome home, it means you are going back to a family who loves you. To friends who want to see you (Paaang Yaauuuu!!). And when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven,” he is saying, “God is welcoming you to come home.” “Son,” he says, “Your sins are forgiven.”

There is a story of a man named Paco who ran away from home. His father put an advertisement in the newspaper - “All is forgiven. Paco come home.” 800 sons named Paco came home. Why? Because all of us want to be forgiven. All of us want to go home.

At the cross of Jesus Christ, where he died for our sins, God is saying, “All is forgiven. Come home.”

All is forgiven

We have seen three things. Jesus comes home to preach God’s word. That is his number one priority - that people hear God’s word in the bible. Secondly, Jesus sees our faith. Don’t give up bringing your friends to Jesus. Jesus sees your love and your sacrifice.

But finally, Jesus sees our hearts. He offers us the most expensive gift God could ever buy - forgiveness. On the cross, Jesus died to pay for all our sins, for all our hatred towards God so that he can say to us, “Come home. All is forgiven.”

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

We pray for our friends,

Who are sick,

Who are in trouble,

Who don’t yet know you as their God,

We pray, most of all, for them to be forgiven of their sin.

And to hear Jesus saying to them, “All is forgiven. It is time to come home.”

In Jesus name, we pray,

Amen.

What happens when a Christian sins?

But if, in our endeavour to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

Galatians 2:17-18

What happens when a Christian sins? That’s the question Paul raises in verse 17 - “If... we too were found to be sinners?” He isn’t talking about the non-believer who doesn’t know Jesus. He isn’t talking about the backslider who has turned his back on Christ. No, these are genuine Christians who are “endeavour(ing) to be justified in Christ,” - who are living day-by-day trusting in Jesus, following Jesus and loving Jesus - who are the same people who then fall into sin.

Literally, the phrase means “found out” (heurethemen - discovered). Meaning, not simply, that your friends point it out to you (“Aha! I saw what you did!”), but more so, that you are aware of a particular sin in your own life - an ongoing struggle with temptation, perhaps; or a serious wrong that you have committed against your own conscience and against God.

What do you do then with your sin as a Christian? How are you likely to react to your sin as a believer?

What Paul says next is personal, practical and real. He says to us: You are going to be tempted to do one of two things. You are either going to excuse it or justify it.

Excusing our sin

The first common reaction to sin is to try and excuse it. Paul says to the Christian, “Is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!” What he is saying is: Just because you know that Jesus died on the cross for your sin does not mean you have a free pass to keep on sinning. You need to stop. You need to repent - that is, to turn away from your sin and to face up to God. In fact, it even means that if the sin that you’ve committed is a crime punishable by law, you need to submit yourself to that punishment.

Now, when Paul asks the question, “Is Christ then a servant of sin?” it’s not as strange a question as you might think. When someone gets the gospel for the first time, it always sounds too good to be true. God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins in our place - while we were still sinners. He died to pay for all our sins - past, present and future. Many people are going to hear that and think it is a con. They are going to think, “What’s the catch?” Why? Because it sounds too good to be true. It sounds like God is handing out a blank cheque. It that really happened, what would stop us from taking advantage of God’s generosity and abusing it?

And it needs to be said, that is a real temptation for us as Christians - to take God’s grace for granted and to use it as an excuse to keep on sinning. Paul says, “Certainly not!” That’s the attitude we need to take towards our sin, “No way am I doing that!” “No way am I going to use Jesus as an excuse to keep on cheating on my wife.” “No way am I going to use my church attendance as a cover up for my greed.” Paul is serious about sin, but it is because Paul is even more serious about Jesus. No way is Jesus to be used as an excuse, a free-pass, a licence to sin against other people, against our conscience, against God. No way.

So, that’s the first temptation for the Christian who has fallen into sin: to excuse it, to minimise it or to take it for granted. But the second temptation is the one he really wants us to sit up and take notice of. It is the temptation to justify that sin.

Justifying our sin

For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

Galatian 2:18

Paul gets personal. If I rebuild; what I tore down; I prove myself (literally, establish myself) as a sinner. Paul is speaking from his experience of struggle with his own sin and openly confesses, “Here is what I am most tempted to do with my sin: To justify it.”

If you have a bible, it’s worth looking back to the context of his argument in Galatians Chapter 2, especially beginning with verses 11 onwards where he mentions the apostle Peter’s visit to Antioch. You see, there, Paul confronts Peter’s sin in public. What was it that Peter did that was so horrible and so serious that Paul had to bring it up on Sunday morning in church in front of all his friends and family? Did Peter embezzle the church funds? Did Peter run away with his secretary? Well no, it was none of that, actually. All Peter did was he stopped hanging out with the non-Jewish friends after church. He was afraid, Paul tells us, of the “circumcision group”, that is, Peter was afraid that word would get around that he was breaking the traditional Jewish laws by mixing with Gentiles (non-Jews) and this would result in problems for the Christians back in Jerusalem. He was afraid that members of the “circumcision group” would use his behaviour as an excuse to carry out hate-crimes against the church in Jerusalem.

So, if you think about it, Peter was acting out of love, out of concern and out of consideration for his brothers and sisters in his home church. Paul saw things quite differently: Peter was acting out of fear. In itself, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that out of fear, Peter decided he would turn to the law instead of gospel, to deal with his fear.

Again, we might read this and say, “What’s the big deal?” Peter didn’t break any laws. Peter didn’t hurt anyone. What was the big deal?

The reason we say that is because we think that sin means law-breaking. That’s the most common understanding of what sin is: It’s breaking a set of rules. We think that sin means breaking the law. But notice how Paul defines sin quite differently here. Look at what he says in verse 18: “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” What is he saying? With respect to the law, it’s not the person who breaks the law who is the sinner, it’s actually the person who tries to keep the law. That’s a surprising definition to find, of all places, in the bible, isn’t it? Here is a verse that defines the sinner - the transgressor, as Paul puts it - not as the lawbreaker but the lawmaker.

“If I rebuild what I tore down,” Paul says. Remember that Paul used to be a Pharisee. He was the Hebrew of Hebrews, who kept the law, perfectly. This was a guy who memorised Genesis to Deuteronomy, word for word. This a guy who knew the rules, who lived by the rules, who enforced the rules. But when Paul became a Christian, he considered everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, for whose sake he lost all things (Philippians 3:8). What does that mean - to consider everything a loss? (He even calls it “rubbish” - a euphemism, as the word he actually uses much, much more offensive than trash)

What is he referring to? Paul is talking about his confidence in his own track record. That’s what the law represents. For Paul the Pharisee, the law was a way to fix things. But for Paul the Christian, he had come to realise that the law was never meant to fix anything. It was only there to uncover our brokenness and sin. The only solution that God has given us for our sin is Jesus. His death on the cross pays the full penalty of sin and credits our account with the full benefits of his righteousness.

Looking to our Saviour

As Christians we know that. But Paul is saying to us, we tend to forget; and the times when we are most tempted to forget is when we sin. We look to the law for a way to make up for our sin. We look to the law for a solution that will allow us to pay for our sin. We look to the law for a means to feel better about our sin. But all the law does is condemn us of our sin. What does Paul say again? “If I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.”

To turn back to the law, after having known Jesus and trusted in his salvation by grace through faith alone, is to establish ourselves firmly in our guilt as sinners. It is, in effect, to say to Jesus, “Thanks for dying on the cross for me, but I’ll take it from here.” Paul says, “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21)

And yet, don’t miss the fact that Paul is speaking about his own sin and his own struggles with sin. Verse 19: “For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live for God.” Verse 20: “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Verse 21: “I do not set aside the grace of God...”

Why does Paul get so personal here? Just a few verses earlier, Paul had been talking about Peter’s sin of hypocrisy, of fear of man, of compromising the gospel - and Paul mentions how he confronts Peter of his sin. But you see, Paul is confronting sin in a brother’s life not with the law, but with the gospel. And Paul then turns and says to us, “Quite frankly, the only difference between Peter and myself is the grace of God.”

I met a pastor a few years back who was in a counselling situation with someone who had committed a horrible sin. “How could he do that?” he said to me. “How could a Christian sin like that against someone he loves?” Over the years, as friends have shared with me their struggles with sin, I admit that at times, I have been tempted to say the exact same thing, “How could this happen? How could you let this happen?”

This passage from Galatians soberly reminds me that as I encounter sin in another believer’s life, I should be all the more aware of my own sinfulness and I should be all the more aware of the overwhelming grace of God available through Jesus Christ. Like Paul, I should be able to say, “There, but the grace of God, go I.”

If you are a non-Christian, you need to know that the only thing differentiating you and me is not our sin. We are both sinners. That is not to say, however, that there is no difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. We are both sinners, yes, but God has forgiven the sin of the Christian. He has done this not based on the law, not based on the track-record of the believer, not based on the goodness of the Christian, but purely out of his grace towards sinners. Sinners, like you and me.

But if you are a Christian, and you know this gospel - this message of free grace and forgiveness - what this passage is saying to us is: Don’t be surprised by sin. Don’t be surprised by sin - whether it is sin in others or sin in your own life - to the point that when sin happens, you are tempted to excuse your sin or justify your sinfulness. Instead confess your sin to God. Turn to Jesus alone who died for your sin and rose for your justification. There is forgiveness and restoration at the cross.

Most important of all, don’t wait till you are caught in a serious situation of sin before you start looking to Jesus as your Saviour. For Paul, apostle though he was, the reason he was aware for his struggles and sinfulness, wasn’t because he was constantly absorbed with himself. It wasn’t because he was vigilantly looking out for this or that trace of sin. Quite the opposite actually, Paul was constantly focussed on one thing: Jesus. All his life, Paul never got over the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for him, a sinner. Every day, Paul looked to his Saviour. Every day Paul was conscious of Jesus’s sacrifice, “The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me!” And Paul knew, that in Christ, he was fully accepted; that in Christ, he was absolutely loved.

Alas, and did my Saviour bleed

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

Was it for sins that I had done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown

And love beyond degree

My God, why would You shed Your blood

So pure and undefiled

To make a sinful one like me

Your chosen, precious child?

(“Alas, and did my Saviour bleed,” original words by Isaac Watts, additional words by Bob Kauflin, Sovereign Grace Music)

Chow Sing Chi and repentance (Luke 15:11-24)

I will set out and go back to my father and say to him:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
The Prodigal Son in Luke 15:18

Chow Sing Chi

Every time I read these words, I can’t help but think of Hong Kong actor Chow Sing Chi. I’m a big fan of Stephen Chow movies (which is weird considering how I don’t speak or read Cantonese. I have to read the subtitles!).

Fight Back to School. God of Gamblers II. Kung Fu Hustle. Have you ever noticed how every Chow Sing Chi movie has the exact same storyline? He starts out a jerk (usually with his hair messed up), gets into serious trouble; but ends up always the hero (with his hair gelled and combed back)! Every Chow Sing Chi movie has exactly the same beginning, middle and end!

Some people can’t stand that! I was having dinner last week with friends from church and one of them said, “I don’t like Chow Sing Chi movies. He just seems so full of himself.” Which is true. You’re meant to pity him when he is down in the dumps. Then you’re supposed to admire him when he overcomes all the odds.

And many people think the same way about the younger brother in this famous story told by Jesus. They just can’t stand him. First he insults his father by asking for his inheritance. Then he blows it all in London – a distant country, the bible says – on wild living. We’re not at all surprised when he comes to the end of his cash, ends up working in a pig farm, hungry and penniless, abandoned by all his friends.

But it’s really when he then says, in verse 18, “I know what I’ll do – I’ll back to daddy!” that many think: This guy hasn’t changed one bit. He doesn’t feel sorry at all. You can’t seriously say he’s changed, can you? I mean, he’s just out to con the old man. Again!

What do you think?

I preached this passage 3 years back. It was one of my first messages. Right after, a friend came up to me to confront me about something I said about the younger brother. I had said that this parable was about repentance; and that Jesus was pointing to this younger brother to show us a picture of what repentance looks like. And my friend seriously disagreed. He said the younger brother couldn’t have possibly, sincerely repented. He was just desperate and hungry. Furthermore in verse 19, his plan was to ask his father to make him a “hired man”. Meaning: he wanted to earn his way up. The hired man was the lowest rung of the working class, even below that of a slave. These workers were skilled and paid according to their labour. So what the younger brother was really proposing to do was to save himself, by his own efforts.

I wonder what you think. Has he changed? Is he sorry for what he did to his own father? Or is he just thinking with his stomach – only feeling sorry for himself, and taking advantage of his father’s pity?

The thing is: whatever you think, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Because of verse 20.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him.
Luke 15:20

While the son was a long way off. Still in the distance. As soon as the father saw his son across the horizon, making his way home... he already forgave him in his heart.

Before the younger man had any chance to put his plan into action. Before he said a single word. His father already forgive him. My son. My son is home. The father runs out to the son, throws his arms around him and kissed him.

Repentance

What does repentance mean?

Many people hear the word “repentance” – when they walk into a church and they hear the pastor say, “You must repent!” They think they have to respond by feeling really, really bad about themselves. There must be tears and wailing. “I’m a horrible person! I’m soooo sorry!! I repent!”

The passage does not say – anywhere – that the younger son was in tears. Or that he felt really morose and depressed. If anything the description in verse 17 sounds more like he finally sobered up. “He came to his senses,” the NIV puts it. He came to a rational, clear understanding of what he had done; of what was really going on around him.

This is not to say that repentance should not be accompanied by tears. To be confronted by our sins and the consequences of our sins (especially to those around us) is an overwhelmingly emotional weight. But tears are not what the bible means by repentance. It is not what Jesus means by repentance. Repentance simply means turning back.

I will set out (anastas) and go back to(wards) my father.
Luke 15:18

So he got up (anastas) and went to(wards) his father.
Luke 15:20

[The Greek anastas, meaning leave occurs in both verses – rendered “set out” in verse 18, and “got up” in verse 20. Also elthon in verse 20 – went to(wards) is the same word in verse 17. He went/came to his himself. He came/went towards his father.]

Twice it emphasises the same thing. He left he current direction. He went back to his father. In other words: he turned back. That’s repentance! Repentance in the bible is the turning away from sin, a turning away from our own way of living; and turning towards to face God. A verse in the bible that crystallises the meaning of repentance is found in 1 Thessalonians 1:9

For they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
1 Thessalonians 1:9

Repentance means turning back – going back – facing God, your heavenly father. Which is why so many people find true repentance such a hard thing to do. It is hard not simply because it means facing up to their sins or the consequences of their sins. It is hard because it means facing God. And we are afraid to face God because we’re afraid he will punish us. We are afraid he will scold us and tell us what a horrible person we’ve been. We’re afraid we’ll see his face of anger. Of disappointment.

That’s why so many people, even when they realise they’ve messed up their lives and truly, honestly feel sorry for their mistakes to the point of tears and sincere regret, still do not repent. They are afraid that if they turn to God, they will just feel worse. But that isn’t the God of the bible. That isn’t the Father that Jesus talks about in this parable.

The love of the father

You know, Chinese culture is very similar to Jewish culture. Both the Jews and the Chinese uphold respect for their elders. Especially respect for fathers. The father is the head of the household. He earns the money. He feeds the family. He sets the rules.

And the father in this story would have been especially revered, in his household, but even in his community. He was elderly. Moreover he was wealthy. People would have looked up to the father; respected his success in business. He would have been an important member in the village and well-known to everyone.

Stanley Ho is name my Hong Kong friends instantly recognise. The 13^th richest man in Hong Kong, Stanley operates the one and only casino in Macau and is known as the “King of Gambling”. His is estimated to be worth 3.1 billion US dollars.

Stanley is very, very rich. He is very, very well-known. But recent news about Stanley, is very, very sad. This year, Stanley will be 90 years old and his four wives and many children are in a legal struggle with one another to control his assets; to get their share of the 3.1 billion dollars. It’s hard to keep such news under wraps. The local and international media are having a field day covering every statement, every legal maneuver, every embarassing development in the family drama.

It’s the same with the father in Jesus’ parable. You don’t think everyone knew what the younger son did? “Hey, did you hear about that spoilt brat? What kind of things he is up to?” You don’t think the whole village has been gossiping about the incident?

And yet does it seem at all like the father cares about what the whole village thinks? Of course not! He runs! This old man dashes across the high street in full view of everyone to embrace his son. What is more, he has a big celebration so that everyone knows that his son is home!

‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:22-24

What kind of father is this?

A good father. A father who loves his son. A father who forgives his son.

That’s God. I mean, you know that is who Jesus has been talking about all this while, don’t you? That’s God, your heavenly father.

The question is: do you know this?

You know, when Christians say that “God is good” or that “God is love”, I’m always worried that people think what we mean is, “God loves me so much, he’s given me my health, my money, my food, a good happy family, the sunshine, birds to chirpy chirp in the air, the rainbow... and my iPod.”

No. What I mean when we say the God is good is this: he forgives us. Even when we break his heart. Even when we live our lives like he doesn’t exist; take him for granted and insult him. God forgives us, embraces us and call us his son; his daughter.

The question is: do you know this God? Will you turn back to the Father?

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

[This excerpt is taken from a sermon preached at the Chinese Church on Sunday, 6 February 2011]

The Call of the Kingdom (Matthew 9:9-13)

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples.When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

(Matthew 9:9-13)

It is tempting to focus on the one individual Jesus approaches and enlists as his disciple here in this passage. My NIV bible heads the section as "The Calling of Matthew". The other two gospels have "The Calling of Levi" (Levi being Matthew's other Jewish name) in their parallel accounts of Mark 2:13-17 and Luke 5:27-32.

Yet, in all three accounts, the controversy surrounds Jesus calling not one "sinner", but gathering around him many "sinners". Here in Matthew's gospel, verse 10, it is when many tax collectors and sinners come and eat with Jesus, that the religious leaders start to kick up a fuss.

This is not to say that Matthew's invitation by Jesus to join him in life and ministry is not important. Rather the calling of Matthew as an individual, soon gives way to the calling of a community made up of many individuals like Matthew, which forms the basis of a Kingdom proclaimed to many sinners like us. This passage progresses from:

• The Call (Verse 9)
• The Community (Verses 10 to 11); to...
• The Kingdom (Verses 12 to 13)

1. The Call

Matthew is a tax collector. His profession is highlighted three times in the passage. In verse 9, he is sitting at the tax collector's booth. In verse 10, many of his tax collector friends join him at home. In verse 11, the religious leaders criticise the whole bunch of tax collectors as "sinners".

All his life, Matthew never forgot that. In the next chapter, Matthew's name is among the twelve chosen apostles of Jesus. Yet even there, he is called "Matthew the tax collector" (10:3). Being in the inner circle of Jesus, witnessing his miracles and listening to his teaching, even writing this gospel account Jesus' life, ministry and death - never changed the fact that Matthew would always be remembered for this one job he once worked. But what was so significant about being a tax collector?

It is often taught in Sunday School that tax collectors were greedy businessmen who imposed harsh taxes on the people of Israel, forcing them to pay more than they could afford to line their own pockets. But the hatred of tax collectors goes deeper than even that.

2000 years ago, Israel (and much of the Western world) was ruled by the mighty Roman empire who enforced their power and influence through a strong military presence. The only way to finance the large number of troops needed for such a massive operation was tax. Money was collected to pay for soldiers, arms and supplies. Jewish businessmen bid for contracts to collect tax on behalf of the Roman government from their own nation. In effect, these tax collectors were financially enabling the occupation of their own country.

Tax collectors were seen as political traitors. But the label of "sinners" goes one step further to say that theirs was a moral offence against the God of Israel. Working in close proximity with Gentiles made them "unclean" - they couldn't come into the presence of God. Colluding with a foreign nation was an affront to the Kingdom of God - they stood under the wrath of the Almighty.

For Jesus to call Matthew, a tax collector, to follow him as a disciple is surprising, if not offensive. Not least because Jesus could have had his pick. Huge crowds followed him wherever he went. Many came seeking miraculous healing. Large numbers gathered to hear him preach. Not a few approached him to be discipled. In the previous chapter, Jesus had a learned scholar coming up to him to offer his services. "Teacher," he said, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus rebuffed him, "The Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Or later in chapter 19, when a rich man claiming to have kept the commandments of the God's law sought after Jesus, only to end up leaving sorrowful, having been asked by Jesus to sell his possessions.

Jesus could have chosen the best, the brightest and the influential. Instead, he chooses Matthew - a traitor, an outcast and a sinner. Matthew: who was not there in the crowd that day but stayed in his office minding his own business. He doesn't even bother to get up when Jesus finds him "sitting at the ... booth". But Jesus sees Matthew, Jesus calls Matthew, and Matthew responds.

"Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

To be called of God, is to be invited by Jesus. Personally. Irresistibly. To get up from wherever you are in your life right now, and join Jesus by walking with him and living for him alone. This is what it means to follow Jesus. This is what it means to become a Christian.

And Jesus says the reason he came is to call people like Matthew. He came to call sinners.

2. The Community

The religious leaders did not understand this. When Jesus is in Matthew house with Matthew's friends, the Pharisees gather outside to condemn Jesus for the company he is keeping.

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

But notice that the point of contention is not just Jesus' company, but also his activity. Jesus is eating with these sinners. The issue is defilement. A sinner is unclean, and eating with a sinner makes you unclean. It was bad enough for Jesus to enter Matthew's home. But to eat his food? Doesn't Jesus realise he is contaminating himself not just externally but internally now?

Later in Chapter 15, Jesus would say to them, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' " In Chapter 23, Jesus would condemn them for their concern with outward appearances but ignorance of their inner hypocrisy: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence."

The Pharisees raise their objections to Jesus' disciples. Perhaps they are trying to be polite (yeah, right!) by passing the message along. More likely, the religious leaders are standing outside Matthew's house, unwilling to risk defiling themselves by entering in. Yet there they are, standing on the outside, refusing to join in the celebration, and looking down disapprovingly on all who do.

The scene reminds me of Jesus' parable of the wayward son and his older brother in Luke 15 which ends similarly with a big party. The youngest son who had insulted his father by demanding his share of the inheritance only to leave home and squander it all on "wild living", returns home sheepishly only to be welcomed with open arms by his loving father. The father throws a huge celebration in honour of his youngest, much to the displeasure of his oldest son, who comes home after working all day in the estate, and starts kicking up a fuss. The older brother refuses to even step into the house. "No! I won't!" Like a small brat he throws a tantrum, blaming his father, blaming his brother, all the while insisting on being in the right.

And here in Matthew's gospel, outside Matthew's house, the Pharisees act like the older brother - who complain against the wayward, sinful brother; who pour scorn on their joy; who criticise Jesus for associating with these outcasts; and who still see themselves as righteous, holy and acceptable. It is worth asking at this point: why were they so confident of their rightness and Jesus' wrongness? What was it about the Pharisees and religious leaders that made them think so lowly of the tax collectors, indeed, of Jesus for mixing with the tax collectors?

It was their goodness.

Sunday School kids are often taught, "Don't by like those Pharisees, those hypocrites! They are the bad guys!" We imagine Pharisees to be spoilsports, mean-spirited, grumpy old men. But actually, the Pharisees were the good guys. They read their bibles. They followed the rules outlined by God's law. They looked forward to God's kingdom. They were religious, respectable and biblical. They were the kind of people you wanted teaching your kids in schools. They were the kind of people you wanted to run your churches - serious about sin and fervent about God's word. Pharisees were the good guys.

And Jesus shocks them by saying he didn't come to look for the good guys. He's come for the bad.

"For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Ironically, it was not their badness that kept the Pharisees away from Jesus, it was their goodness. What about us? Are we tempted to think God will love us more because we have kept the rules? By maintaining a regular appearance on Sundays in church? Through our grades? What is our measure of goodness? A job? Cleanliness? What makes us look respectable, acceptable before other men? Our education? The number of friends on our Facebook page?

While we are at it: what is our modern equivalent of badness? Who are the sinners in our day and age? Who are the people we stay away from? The criminals? The hypocrites? The poor? The rich, maybe? The proud and arrogant? Are we tempted to think that they deserve God's judgement for what they have done, more than we do?

The issue at heart of it is prejudice. Everyone agrees it is bad. Yet, everyone has prejudices; everyone discriminates based on their subjective judgement of what is good or bad, what is beneficial or unprofitable, what is useful or harmful. We might try to legislate against the act of prejudice - by enacting laws against hate crimes, unfair hiring practices or discrimination in schools and workplaces. But how do you legislate against the heart? How do you imprison hate? How do curb envy?

You see, even the Sunday School teacher, summarising a passage like today's by saying, "Kids, don't by like the Pharisees!" is essentially doing the exact same thing the Pharisees were doing. "We are good, they are the ones who are bad!"

Which makes Jesus' reply to the situation all the more radical. He brings the matter back to God's judgement. But more pointedly, he brings the matter back to his own mission. Jesus' call would be the true measure of righteousness and acceptability in the Kingdom. For Jesus is the King who has come to bring in the Kingdom. Jesus is the Judge who determines God's judgement on who gets into the Kingdom.

3. The Kingdom

On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

There was something very significant about Jesus sitting down and eating with these tax collectors, and the Pharisees could see that. It wasn't just the food, though it was a possible issue of defilement. And, it wasn't just his friends, as hated as these tax collectors were. It was what the food and the friends represented together - a fellowship. Jesus was giving a glimpse into the new community that he would establish as God's new kingdom.

Every week, Rock Fellowship meets to study the bible and a big part of our coming together regularly each week, is meal we share beforehand. It is such a blessing to be able to do this as a fellowship, as a church and as a family. It really isn't just about the convenience of not having to grab dinner at McDonald's after work, or saving money, or even savouring a good hearty Chinese meal (though that helps!). Eating together is something you do regular with people you share your lives with. You eat with your friends. You eat regularly with your family.

The early church did this. In Acts Chapter 2, three thousand people became Christians in one afternoon. And from that day on, Acts 2 says these three thousand believers did three things. Every day, the met to study from the bible, to pray, and to eat together. They ate together as a sign of their new life together in Jesus.

So we as the Chinese Church gather on the first week of every month to share the Lord's Supper. It is simply a meal, consisting the bread and the cup of wine (well, cups - plural... filled with of Ribena), representing the body and blood of Jesus. We do this to proclaim his death for us, as one body in him. Often, you will hear us refer to this as "Communion" - our coming together as a community, to share this symbolic meal, as a reminder of the cross.

The bible speaks of heaven as a huge banquet. It is a feast prepared by God and shared with God's people. We looked at one such parable of Jesus on Valentine's Day recently when we studied Matthew Chapter 22 - The Parable of the Wedding Banquet. Here in Matthew's gospel, Jesus points forward to that hope of God's presence, blessing and salvation; he foreshadows that new reality - when we gathers these "sinners" around him and eats with them.

The Pharisees could see this. Theirs was a loaded question. They were essentially saying, "Why is Jesus choosing them over us?" The following passage reinforces this, where in verse 14, John's disciples, aligning themselves with the Pharisees also question Jesus' allegiances. "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Notice, how complaint still has to do with food? One party feasts while the other fasts? And notice, how the issue is essentially about taking sides? We and the Pharisees - as opposed to - you and your disciples (which may have also been a dig at the tax collectors - ohh, so these sinners are your disciples now are they, Jesus?).

Jesus' reply engages them at three levels.

Need

The first is need. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Jesus says the reason people don't come to him is because they don't see their need for him.

For all the objections I've heard for years about the claims of the bible, about who Jesus is, about what he did for us on the cross, about the existence of God and the so-called problem of evil (which is really more a problem for the atheist that the Christian who actually believes that there is such a thing as good and evil, and a God who determines what is good and evil) - for all the effort that rightly goes into explaining and defending the truth of the gospel; what Jesus says here really hits the nail on the head. The number reason people aren't Christians isn't because they don't think it is true. It's because they think they don't need this truth.

Healthy people don't need a doctor. Good people don't need Jesus.

Jesus uses a very powerful analogy, doesn't he? Sickness as picture of sin. Now understand here that Jesus is not equating how you sick you are with how sinful you are (we will look at this in more detail in the next study). What Jesus is showing us is how aware we are of our sickness, yet how blind we are to sin.

That's because we don't ignore pain. We don't delay in dealing with our suffering. I have a headache, I take a few pills. I have a tootache, I immediately make an appointment to see a dentist. But we don't see our sin. We don't realise how it is killing us. We don't see how it affects the people around us. We don't realise how God is angry with our sinfulness.

Not all pain is a curse. God ordains some pain and hardship to open our eyes to the fact that we live in a sinful world. God sometimes uses pain to open our eyes to the reason for pain - our sinfulness and God's judgement over our sinfulness. There will come a day when God release this world from the bondage to decay. But until then, we cannot forget that heaven is not yet here, and Jesus has not yet returned. Seeing our pain, and recognising the pain of others ought to drive us to pray. It should remind us that we need God's grace to survive in this broken world, and ask him daily for grace, and long for daily for his Kingdom.

At the same time, not all health is blessing. Our wellness, our wealth, our privilege in life might very well be God's judgement in condemning a rebellious world in its blindness to the true source of life, treasure and joy in Jesus. It is one of the real dangers of the prosperity gospel over-emphasising blessings in this life. It spoils our appetite for Jesus. We don't need him as much as we need stuff from him.

Jesus says the healthy don't see their need, and they would not seek him to fill their need.

Mercy

Secondly, Jesus emphasizes God's mercy. He says, "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' "

Here Jesus quotes from the Old Testament book of Hosea, and you find that it's such an important verse, Jesus quotes it twice in Matthew's gospel. Here as well as Chapter 12. Both times, he is speaking to the religious leaders. Both times, it is about condemnation that they bring against Jesus and his followers. Both times, it stems from a misunderstanding of God's will in his word, which is why Jesus points to Scripture to clarify the situation.

And Jesus mentions two good things, yet one is better.

Jesus talks about two godly things, but one one is desired.

What is the mark of a true community of God? Isn't it tempting to say "sacrifice"? "Wow, look at that guy - he is giving so much of his time, and money, and energy to serve in this church! He has sacrificed so much!" Isn't sacrifice a virtue we value in the Chinese culture? The kind of thing we look for in our leaders? The mark of a true Christian?

Friends, I suggest to you that maybe we lack one thing. Mercy. I mean, think with me for a moment. What would it even look like? When I think of the brothers and sisters in our fellowship, in our church, it is easy to recall how sacrificial we have been for one another. That is truly a blessing. That is truly commendable. But what would an instance of mercy look like in our group, I wonder?

You see, "mercy" means not one of us deserves to be here. Mercy means I deserve God's judgement, not his love. Mercy means I am a sinner; we are all sinners. When Jesus calls Matthew and hangs out with the tax collectors, he isn't denying that stand under God's anger. He identifies their sickness that needs healing. He acknowledges them as "sinners".

But Christians are a special subset of sinners. We are forgiven sinners. We are to be repentant sinners. In the other gospel accounts, we learn that Matthew leaves his job. He repays all he has cheated. He leaves his life of sin - of living his life for himself - and follows Jesus, living his life to serve Jesus.

God shows mercy by pouring out his mercy on undeserving sinners. That is what Jesus does with Matthew and his friends. He is showing them what it means to be loved by God. Not surprisingly, the original quotation in Hosea could be rightly translated as "I desire love, not sacrifice". The word in Hebrew is chesed - a rich description of God's covenantal, faithful, everlasting love.

A community of Jesus that displays mercy, is a community that displays God's love. It means constantly forgiving one another, having received forgiveness from God. It means loving one another with the love we have received from Jesus.

Jesus' Call

Finally, Jesus sums up by pointing to himself - his authority to call sinners to himself. "For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

To see the weight of Jesus' conclusion, we need to first notice a shift in pronouns. Previously, Jesus was quoting from Hosea where it was God who was speaking. "I desire mercy, not sacrifice," declares the God of the bible. In Hosea, it is God speaking to his people who have rejected him again and again. God desires that his people love him, with the love that has been shown them. A love that is constant, unchanging and steadfast.

And almost immediately, Jesus shifts to the first person. He says of God "I desire". Then Jesus says of himself, "I have come". One is the expression of God's will. The other is the fulfilment of God's love.

Jesus says the whole reason he came - into ministry; into this creation - was to call sinners. But more than that, he underlines the focus of his call by emphasizing the negative. He did not come for the righteous. There is a serious lesson here we need to take on board. Jesus did not take on flesh, to walk as man, to die on the cross, to be raised from the dead - just to give us a pat on the back for all the good things have done for God. He came to seek sinners who could not possibly help themselves. He came to save those who could not possibly save themselves. He came to die so that we would not have to face the final judgement of death ourselves.

This is in fulfilment of Hosea 6 - Jesus displays God's ultimate, merciful love to those who do not deserve it and could never earn it.

But it is also a display of Jesus' ultimate authority as God. For God the only righteous Judge can show such mercy in forgiving sinners. Only God has the ability and the authority to love the unlovable. The Pharisees for all their religion could not - their goodness could not save themselves, much less those around them - they lacked the ability and they lacked the will. But Jesus did. He had the authority to call sinners because he had the authority to lay down his life for sinners. That is the reason he came.

By quoting Hosea 6, Jesus offers a glimpse into the source of his divine authority - his sacrifice. Our sacrifices can never make us acceptable. Our goodness can never make up for our sinfulness. But Jesus can. On the cross, Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for our sin, by taking God's judgement for our sin upon himself. He gave his life as a sacrifice for us, that we might receive mercy from him.

If you are a sinner, this means Jesus came for you. He died so that you could receive God's mercy, love and forgiveness. There nothing for you to do, nothing that you could do - because Jesus has done it all for you through his sacrifice on the cross. All you can do is respond. By obeying his call and by following him as your Lord and as your Saviour.

Hear the call of the kingdom
Lift your eyes to the King
Let His song rise within you
As a fragrant offering
Of how God rich in mercy
Came in Christ to redeem
All who trust in His unfailing grace

King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name