Luke 5:27-32:

“27 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.
29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Question: If these verses were your life verses, what aspect of these verses would leap out and cause you to be excited, to set your heart racing?

Excitement and a racing heart are dangerous at my age.

Follow Me

Matthew’s response was an instant and complete change of direction, he dropped all distractions to follow Jesus.

My response has not been so dramatic, it’s more of an ongoing tension as I gradually become aware of temptations that would distract me, and activities that need to be discarded.

A feast with tax collectors and sinners

Matthew shared the joy of his calling by bringing others into the presence of Christ. He didn’t leave his friends to remain lost, but reached out to make fellow sinners aware of Jesus.

Our calling changes the nature of our presence in the world. Life becomes truly exciting as we live for Jesus in this fallen world, as we mingle with people who do not yet know Him, and as they wonder at the joy and hope we have been given.
But we need to be wise in knowing when to withdraw from the danger of being dragged down by worldly influences. Our presence needs to remain in contrast to the group-think and despair of this fallen world, as we are sustained by the truth and joy of His presence in our lives.

Personal call to repentance

These verses show that Jesus came to call me to recognise that I am a sinner, and to repentance from my sin.

Sin can taint every aspect of life, and there are many examples in the art world. The woman who leads my Thursday painting group told me that when she was in training, her classes were mostly attended by women. But the life drawing class she took, which had naked models, had a majority of men. She felt uncomfortable with that class and dropped it.

It’s easy to recognise sin in the moral aspects of the commands given through Moses, but sin can enter in many subtle ways, such as in personal ambition and pride of knowledge and skills.

Pride in things like bible knowledge, or our adherence to visible moral law, or in the status of responsibilities in worship, are more dangerous than easily recognised lapses of behaviour, because we tend to be blind to such pride and don’t see how it separates us from God.
On a cruise I was on many years ago, there was a prayer and reflection time in the program of activities. To begin, we sung a few hymns without music, and then shared a few bible readings, before starting to list items for prayer. But then an over-confident fellow arrived late, he discovered we hadn’t sung to music, and we couldn’t stop him from playing on the adjacent piano the hymns he thought we should hear. We were glad to leave him playing after a few hymns.

The scribes and Pharisees mentioned here later came in for Jesus’ most severe condemnation, their self-righteousness prevented them from seeing their need for forgiveness in Jesus.

To realise the presence of almighty God needs a response of humility and obedience, an eagerness to be shown where I fall short in following His will, and to seek His strength to change all I think and do.

That willingness allows God to begin the process of change in us, a change that saves us from many of life’s hassles. I still have many hassles and challenges, but we can trust God to provide all that is needed to carry us through.

Thanks be to God!