Senior Pastor Bill Rains continues his “What Would Jesus Do” sermon series from Luke chapter 5 with a message entitled: “When Jesus Called Levi”. This sermon focuses on Levi (also known as Matthew). Here we find a tax collector who appears to hear only two words from the Lord Jesus: “Follow me" and immediately begins to do just that. Pastor presents three important points for the lesson today.
• DECISION of Faith
Levi had a stable job making good money when he met Jesus. The scriptures don't include an introduction of Jesus to Levi, so we don't know if he had met Christ before this particular encounter but it's clear that Matthew showed great faith in obeying Jesus and leaving his stable job to the unknown of beginning a new life. Matthew applied a biblical principle cited in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Matthew took a leap of faith demonstrated in leaving his lucrative job to immediately following Jesus.
• DINNER Honoring Jesus
Levi was so thankful to be numbered in with the believers that he hosted a great dinner to honor Jesus. He invited all of his tax collector friends and cohorts to attend. Matthew spent his own money to throw this party knowing full well his money was most likely going to go away. Gratitude out of faith obviously pleases God. Matthew was in fact already professing his new found belief in Jesus so that they all could see his saviour in person.
• DISGRUNTLED Religious Leaders
The scribes and Pharisees heard about this dinner and came to it as well to find out more about this man who claimed to be the Son of God. They looked around and deemed those attending as sinners. They assumed they were far above the tax collectors and people not involved in their corrupted priesthood. They questioned the disciples attending about their eating and drinking with sinners. Jesus answered for the disciples saying: “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” It was a clear declaration that his salvation offer was to ALL. We are ALL sinners needing his forgiveness. Our sins are many, but his mercy is more!