A New Opportunity in Christ (2)

 

Matthew 9:9-17

 

Matthew was called to be a disciple of Jesus.  A very unusual act by Jesus. But the story goes further.  Jesus not only calls Matthew, but he also goes to a party to Matthew’s house where other friends, the gang of tax collectors were around the table.  We read, “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"” (10-11)

 

The message is very clear: “No one is too bad for the Grace of God.”

Therefore, the answer of Jesus is: “12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

 

“I came to not to call the righteous, but sinners.” in other words, “I came to call the sinners.” The Greek word for call is kalein. It means inviting someone to your house for a meal.

This reminds me of the parable of the Great Feast (Matthew 22:1-10), where the invitees refused to come while the poor and the lame, the blind and the outcast got invited. Jesus is saying, “You invite to your table the people who think they are righteous But I invite people who are aware about their sins and know that they need God for salvation.”

The word “sinner” that Jesus uses is quite different from the way Pharisees understand it. For them “sinner” is one who does not keep the Law according to their interpretation. But for Jesus, the “sinner” is the person who opposes God’s will.

I believe we Armenian Evangelicals could fall in the same trap. I have served in many churches in the Middle East and now in the US. I have found church members who have fallen in this self-righteous justification trap. They are nice people, church-attending people, who have a passion for the church. Yet, somehow, they do not give their life to Christ. They oppose God’s will in their lives. Jesus says, “I am the doctor for the sick people.” If you cannot see yourself a patient who needs God, you are falling in the same trap as the Pharisees.

 

 

 

 

The other trap was to do the same things over and over, fasting, sacrifices. Both were important. Fasting was good for discipline and sacrifices were representing the self  being offered. The Pharisees completely misused these rituals. Sacrifices became the most important thing, yet their lives were not changed. Jesus said, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” These words were quoted from Hosea (6:6)

What is the use of sacrifices when the heart is not right with God?

What is the use of any church activity when our hearts are not broken, when our will is dominating and not God’s will?

“I need Mercy and not Sacrifice.”

 

Then John the Baptist’s disciples were not happy that Jesus and his disciples were not fasting. Again, there is nothing wrong in fasting. But why do we fast? How do we fast? Why are we not happy when others are not fasting?

In the Old Testament obligatory fasting was for the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29, 31; 23:27, 32) But there was also the voluntary fasting.

Jesus’ answer is very important. He told them the Messiah is here. The “bridegroom” is here, let us have a feast. One day he will not be here, then you can fast.

Please notice again, the ritual will not make you a holy and man and woman of God. In the Sermon of the Mount in Matthew 5,6,7 Jesus dealt with these issues. Do we have the desire from our hearts to be broken and know God? This is the ultimate question.

 

We have to see that the Pharisees always said, “We have done it this way. Why do it  in a new way?” Jesus is the God of new opportunities, if we want to be part of this transformation. If we want to recognize that we are “sick” and we need a good doctor like Jesus.

 

A newlywed husband watched his wife preparing a pot roast. As he watched, she cut off one end of what looked like a perfectly good roast and threw it away. The husband asked why she did that. "Because my mother always did it that way!" was her response. The man was still confused. He went to his mother-in-law and asked why she always cut the end of the roast off. She said, "Because my mother always did it that way!" Man then went to his wife's grandmother, now old and feeble, and asked her about this strange family practice. The old woman laughed. She said she always cut off the end because they didn't have a pot large enough to hold the whole roast!”

 

We need to ask ourselves. What am I doing? Am I obeying God or following the tradition?

 

Here Jesus gives the final solution for problem in these passages:

16"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

Stop using good patches on old clothes. When one washes the clothes, the new patch will shrink and will make a larger hole. Bad clothes. Who wants to have bad garments?

Listen now, Jesus did not come to patch our old clothes, the old ways of life, old religious traditions. He CAME TO GIVE US NEW GARMENTS. Remember the wedding invitation. You cannot go to the wedding without wearing the new clothes that Jesus will give you, the new life, the new garment. But you cannot wear new clothes on the old one. You need to take the old one off.

Once in a children’s camp in Kessab, I was a leader for this summer Christian camp. We took very poor children to the camp. We asked the parents to put six pieces underwear, six shirts, and so on. It was interesting that one of the boys wore all six underwear on top of each other everyday without taking the dirty one off. He did not understand why he needed six pieces of underwear. You need to understand that many of those kids did not change clothes everyday in their homes.

 

Don’t you think we do the same way? Without giving up the old life we try to “patch new cloth on the old one”?

 

Then Jesus gives the example of the wine. You do not put the new wine in the old wineskins; it will ruin it. The old wineskins are stretched. If you put the new wine, it will expand make a hole in the wineskin. The wine will run out. Jesus is asking us to have a new life.

 

That’s why the sermon title is A NEW OPPURTUNITY IN CHRIST.

 

 

 

At the 19th Summer Olympics in Mexico City in 1968, an American named Dick Fosbury set an Olympic record in the High Jump and brought home a gold medal. No one had ever jumped 7'4.25" before! What was so unusual about Fosbury's legs was that he did the high jump backwards. Looked awkward and strange. It was called "The Fosbury Flop." But it worked! It worked because Dick Fosbury was less concerned about how something looked than he was about whether or not it was effective. 2

 

Jesus was not concerned about what people would say behind his back. He was not concerned about whether he needed to keep the traditional style of inviting people to be his disciples. He obeyed His father. He taught us to obey Him.

 

Where are you today?

Are you like the Pharisees who are trapped in their self-righteousness?

Get out and ask Jesus to change you.

Are you feeling you don’t need Jesus, because you are not a sinner?

You are in big trouble. Allow God’s Spirit to change you.

Are you like a “Tax Collector” who needs Jesus?

He is asking you to follow him. Repent and follow him.

 

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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