Hanging out with the Wrong Crowd

Scripture:

Luke 5:27   After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And he got up, left everything, and followed him.

Luke 5:29   Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them. ³⁰ The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; ³² I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Observation:

Luke introduces us to another sinner, Levi. This man is a tax collector, and John the Baptist had already called these people to repentance. These individuals were viewed as some of the very worst of society, specifically of the Jewish community, for they had turned their backs on their own people for selfish gain. That’s why this encounter between Jesus and Levi is just as miraculous as any of the previous healings. It is this return to equilibrium that represents healing — so Levi “got up, left everything, and followed him.” This sounds much like the healing of the paralytic. 

The next portion of the story is an important glimpse into the life and ministry of Jesus. Table ministry is a common feature in the life of Christ, where he gathers together with people for fellowship and teaching. Levi’s wealth puts him in a class of people that the religious officials would deem unclean. The Pharisees and scribes complain to Jesus’ disciples about their leader’s behavior. Jesus’ response is couched in language from Ezekiel 34:4-24, where you find the prophet criticizing the shepherds of Israel. “There, the religious authorities are accused by God of not caring for the lost: “You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally” (v 4). In Ezek 34:8, 16 (NRSV), God himself said, “Because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep … I will seek the lost” (Neale, NBBC). 

Neale goes on to tell us: “His use of the language of Ezek. 34 suggests he was charging these particular Pharisees with dereliction in their sacred duty. They had a sacred trust to watch over the lost sheep of Israel. These were the Jewish tax collectors and sinners they despised. It was the duty of the Pharisees to seek out these lost sheep, but instead they had scorned them as sinners” (Neale, NBBC). 

Application:

Luke is taking us on a journey with Jesus, and here in these opening days of his ministry we find him going out and finding the lost sheep of Israel. All of this will come to a culmination in Luke 19:10 where we find the story of another tax collector, Zacchaeus. Here Jesus says, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (NRSV). These are bookended stories that remind us that good shepherds go out to find those who are lost. It is the sick who need the healing, and not those who are well.

If we really wanted to be like Christ, we ought to think about where we spend our time. I’m involved in ministry and most of my time is spent with others who are in ministry. Now, Jesus did spend most of his time with his disciples, teaching them, but he was modeling ministry for them, as he went out seeking those who were lost. Along the way it meant that he spent time hanging out with “the wrong crowd.”

Throughout the history of our tribe there have always been those who felt called to minister at the margins. That’s where the message of holiness really took hold, in the lives of those who were desperate for help and transformation. I think of Johnnie Jernigan and her work among the women in the brothels. This was the wife of a District Superintendent who spent her time going to brothels and getting to know the young women, helping them to find transformation. She didn’t just minister to their physical needs, she shared with them the hope found in Jesus Christ - but she went to them. 

Who do we go to? Who do we invite to table fellowship in our own home (after COVID, of course)? Are people from the margins of life welcome in your church? 

Jesus was intentionally hanging out with those whom the religious elite would view as the “wrong people.” May God open our eyes for opportunities to be Jesus to the wrong crowd. 

Prayer:

Lord, I pray for opportunities to be with those on the margins.  Amen.