If you’ve ever read a book that’s part of a series you may have noticed that as you reach the end of one book the author is starting to weave in the plot lines for the next book. So, you reach the end of the book but you haven’t reached the end of the plot. It entices you to read on into the next book. J.K. Rowling certainly did that with the latter books of the Harry Potter series. Suzanne Collins does it with the Hunger Games books.
The gospel writer Luke uses a bit of
the same technique as he’s telling us about Jesus. He doesn’t necessarily go from one topic
abruptly into the next. That’s the sort
of thing we find in Mark’s gospel, and to some extent in Matthew. But Luke begins to weave his next themes into
the story before he’s finished making his current point.
Last week we read about a couple healings:
there was the leper that Jesus cleansed and the paralytic that was lowered
through the roof of the house by his friends.
Luke has been developing some boundary breaking (or perhaps boundary
disregarding) themes in Jesus’ ministry.
When Jesus touches the unclean leper he disregards the boundaries of
clean and unclean; contagious and healthy.
With the healing of the paralytic Jesus first tells the man he is
forgiven. That is a blasphemous thing to
say. The religious leaders in the crowd
made a point of it. And so in a sense
Jesus, in showing he is the Son of God, is able to disregard the normal
boundary between human authority and authoritatively speaking God’s word.
Today we start with Jesus inviting
the tax collector Levi to follow him. He
then goes on to be a guest at a great banquet of other tax collectors.
I don’t think we really grasp how
much hatred we should be feeling for those who were tax collectors. I know that hate is a strong word, but I
think it can be accurately applied here.
I don’t think it was possible to do anything but hate them.
It’s often believed that tax
collectors overcharged those who were being taxed and that is the reason for
them being disliked. Indeed that
certainly happened in many cases. But
we’ve talked before about how there is more.
Tax collectors were traitors.
They were Jews who were collecting money from their own people and
turning it over to the Romans in order to pay for the ongoing occupation of
their land. It would be as if Cananda
conquered the United States and then taxed us in order to pay for the ongoing
occupation. We wouldn’t like that! And we’d despise those who were collecting
the taxes!
But there is more. Commentator Joel Green points this out. So does
the video series The Chosen that the Men’s Breakfast is currently
viewing. Tax collectors were also often
snitches and spies. They’d gathered
information on their own people and turned it over to the Romans. You’d never trust a tax collector! How would you feel about your neighbor if
your neighbor was gathering data about: your going out and your coming in,
about what’s in your trash cans on garbage day, on what movies you watch, where
you go to church, and on and on, and then turned that information over to a
hostile government?
The
lives of the tax collectors were leading to the ongoing exploitation and
oppression of their own people. The
undermined their cultural identity, the strength of their faith, and their hope
for independence. And why did they do
it? Because they were paid off! They could be bought. They had sold their souls to the devil. They were schemers, manipulators, and
exploiters.
If
you’d meet a tax collector in a dark alley your impulse would be to beat him
into a bruised, bloody, unconsciousness pulp.
And the truth is he’d deserve it.
For that is just the sort of pain his treachery was causing to his
fellow citizens.
And
so why is Jesus inviting one of them to become a follower? Why would Jesus go to a banquet served by one
of them? A banquet, I might add, paid
for on the backs of other exploited Jews!
Jesus
says to the criticism, “I have come to call not the righteous but sinner to
repentance.” Well Jesus, you’ve
certainly found the sinners!
Luke
continues on with the religious leaders questioning Jesus about the practices
of his disciples. They aren’t following
the disciplines and traditions of historic Judaism. You’re probably sick of hearing me defend
these religious leaders, but we do need to remember the desires of their
hearts. They were the religious leaders
of the long-oppressed Jews. They deeply
believed that if the Jewish people as a whole were to grow in righteousness
then God would send a messiah who would rescue them from the Romans. However, if and only if the people were
righteous enough – that is truly good enough to be genuinely loved by God –
would a messiah come. And how do you
become truly good enough? The answer was
simple. God had given it. Follow the laws from Moses not only to the
letter but also from your heart.
So
they see Jesus not only spending time with the vile tax collectors but then
Jesus’ own disciples don’t observe even the most basic faith practices designed
to show devotion to God.
What
these leaders missed is what we read last week.
Jesus is the Son of God. He is speaking a new word, a new way of being
with God. This way is not where one has
to become perfect before God will help.
Rather, this is the way where God comes to you in whatever state your
life is – even if you’re a national and religious traitor whose way of life
hurts people.
Jesus
talks about old and new wineskins. He
talks about sewing unshrunk cloth into an old garment and the mess that
causes. He concludes that little
teaching with the words, “And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine,
but says, ‘The old is good.’”
Complex
and puzzling as that may seem Jesus’ point is simple. God is not rejecting the old ways of
Judaism. In fact, the old laws from
Moses are actually quite good – deeply good.
But they must be applied with grace in life-affirming ways rather than
in life-crippling ways.
We
then get two more scenes of conflict between Jesus and the religious
leaders. The stage is being set for the
conflict that will develop throughout the rest of the gospel and ultimately
lead to Jesus’ death.
Next
week we’re going to look at the new principles Jesus lays out for his
followers. That theme is already
beginning in where we left off for today.
But we are going to end with Jesus choosing the twelve disciples and
making them apostles.
At
first that just seems like a list of names.
But there a couple to note. But
before we get to them we have to realize the process Jesus uses to choose them.
Jesus
did not put together a human resources department to determine who were the
most promising and able-bodied people.
He did not hire a consultant to do a nationwide talent search. No, he goes up a mountain by himself. And he spends a whole night in prayer to God.
We
Christians, often so gung-ho on intellectual beliefs and formal worship
services, overlook the importance of abundant time for prayer, listening, and
simply dwelling in the presence of God for helping to make decisions.
And
so, who are these twelve super heroes Jesus will make apostles? Who are the twelve who rose to the top after
a night of the Son of Man praying to God?
Peter,
James, John, and Andrew – all fishermen; if as you may recall, proved unable to
catch fish! Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas,
James, son of Alphaeus, Judas son of James, none of them with remarkable
pedigrees or educations. And then there
are three shockers in the list. One,
Matthew. He’s a tax collector! One of those scoundrels among the
twelve! And then, as a shocking
contrast, Simon called the Zealot. The
Zealots were known to carry out terrorist attacks on the Romans. And so, among Jesus’ inner circle we have a
national traitor, who’s sold himself out to the Romans, and basically a
terrorist who’s willing to kill and destroy to get rid of the Romans.
Why,
why, why would Jesus choose this lot?!?
None of them are remarkable. Some
are them are outright enemies! We aren’t
at all surprised to learn there was constant dissension among them!
And
of course the kicker of them all, told right off here at the beginning, Judas
Iscariot, who became a traitor.
What
is going through Jesus’ mind that he’d prayerfully put together this bunch, and
even sow the seeds of his own undoing?
God’s
ways are mysterious indeed!
What
do we take away from all this?
We
need to recognize the vastness of God’s love.
Spiritual disciples are powerful.
I highly encourage them. However,
God will not be bound by them. You can’t
force God to act the way you want God to based on your piety. That means that some people you feel are less
deserving may appear to get better treatment than you. That may not seem fair. I get it.
But we have to remember that we are all in the same boat – religious fanatic,
national traitor, militaristic zealot, failed fishermen, we are all sinners in
need of God’s grace. That is the new
reality Jesus brings about. All are
invited.
And
that means that when all are invited we should not expect sweetness. While I don’t want to cause fights and
conflict, if Jesus’ handpicked twelve can include some who are total opposites
we should not be surprised if we do not like or agree with those God has chosen
to be among us in the Church.
It
human terms it doesn’t work. It simply
doesn’t. However again, we are all
sinners in need of God’s grace. When we
can see that reality in each other, and realize that all are indeed receiving
God’s grace, then and only then can we be together. And then the reality of God’s kingdom comes to
earth among us.
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