Scripture reading: Mark 2:13-17
13 Jesus* went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. 14As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
15 And as he sat at dinner* in Levi’s* house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting* with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. 16When the scribes of* the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat* with tax-collectors and sinners?’ 17When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’
Sermon Title: "I'D RATHER LAUGH WITH THE SINNERS..." Sunday, April 6, 2008
PASTOR HUDSON: Well, this morning we are
exploring a passage of scripture in which Jesus
pushes the boundaries on the established church. He
spoke about the struggle that many times the kingdom
of God had with the established culture. He likened
it to the difficulty of wine skins, that when you
introduce wine into used skins, oftentimes the vigor
of a new vintage of wine overcomes the wine skins that
have lost their elasticity and so forth, and they
rupture and burst. Well, that's kind of where Jesus
was.
Have you ever felt like that somehow or another
church was kind of a been there, done that, "got the
t-shirt" kind of moment? Sunday was too predictable.
You knew what was going to happen, as if it was set in
stone.
What I am talking about this morning is some
of the virtues that we have and how they are good
things, but in some studies that have been done, one
of the critiques from a younger generation about the
church is that on the one hand, it is too predictable,
and on the other hand, it's not relevant to where they
are.
I can understand where they are coming from to
some extent. That generation may have been inspired
by the song that our sermon title is taken from. So
today we're talking about needing to laugh with the
sinners. Those of you that kind of listen to pop
music will know this line. It is from a Billy Joel
song: They say there is a heaven for those who will
wait. Some say its better, but I say it ain't. I'd
rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the
saints. The sinners are much more fun.
You have heard that song. Now is that fair? Many
of us would immediately say no, and yet, there are churches all
across our land today where you'd be hard-tasked
to prove that it's not correct.
So for me when the church is at its best is when
Jesus shows us that it is okay to test the boundaries
directly, when it's understood that we're doing so to
bring the kingdom of God to people. I think our best
moment as a church is when we understood that we have
reached out and made a difference in the life of
somebody who is not a part of that comfort zone that
we describe as church.
Our most exciting, exuberant moments have been
when we have been on mission trips or in service to
people who needed our help and could not help
themselves. We reached out spiritually or physically
and made a difference. How many times have you found
yourself having the kind of experience at Wesley where
you're coming away from it saying, Praise God, that
was the greatest moment I've had since I can't
remember when?
A few years ago I had a friend named Steve who
had sold real estate for many years. He was good at
it. Steve reached that point in life where he just
felt like he wanted to do something different. There
was a feeling of having been there and done that, and
tomorrow is going to be a lot like today. I just need
to push my boundaries a little bit.
As he wrestled with what he might do, he made the
decision that he was going to go to auctioneer school.
So he went to school, loved it, engaged in it, won
awards at it. It became the break that he needed.
Sometimes we can all relate to that. He wanted to do
something different, push the edges.
Over and over again in the gospel, Christ
demonstrated a propensity to turn not just to the
status quo religious Jewish person of his culture, but
to alternative people like harlots, Samaritans, and
helpers, all of the outcasts of society that were
marginalized, on the edge of society.
A number of years ago I worked with a student
that came from a family that was very well to do.
This young man came to the college where I was
teaching at that time, and he came as a person out of
high school who believed very sincerely that he had a
call to ministry in his life.
I remember getting to know him as he came in as a
freshman and learning something of the struggle that
he was having on the home front because of his family.
His dad often told him you are going to go to one of
those foreign countries and live in poverty and not
have any retirement. Chances are you'll catch a
disease and you might even die. Stay here, get a good
education, get a job. It was not what was driving his
heart. He stayed the course and actually is serving
as a missionary in Ecuador today.
We are not going to try to conform to
a cultural expectation of what a church ought to be.
We are going to do something that ministers in ways
that are life changing. We're going to take the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to our world in ways that are
invasive and creative. We are going to follow the lead
of God's spirit, and knowing that many times, given
where we're at in Shawnee, America, that may be very
different than what somebody might do in El Reno or
Ardmore or Tulsa.
I think we need to recapture that excitement that
is reflective of the very best moment that we've ever
experienced at Wesley and know that it is okay to live
in that moment afresh and anew every day. It is a way
of saying -- if you'll accept this expression -- live
as though our best days are yet to come, not behind
us.
A number of years ago I pastored a small
congregation in another area of the state. I learned
very early on that they had marvelous memories. One
of the memories had to do with back in the day when
the county fair would come, and they operated a fried
chicken booth.
They told stories that were great memories, but
the problem was for them they had forgotten how to
anticipate that tomorrow could be just that good as
well. They truly were living as though their best
days were behind them. Part of the task at that
congregation was to get them to realize, you know,
we're going to create some memories today and tomorrow
and the day after.
Some of you have discovered as you've talked to
me, and I suspect you may occasionally not understand
where I'm coming from on this, but my stock answer
when you come to me and say, I think it would be great
to do "X", my stock answer is, Great, let's do it.
I am easy.
Some of you may imagine that is my way of saying
go do it and leave me alone. It is not that at all.
I am wired to say that. When a person comes to me and
they're excited about doing something, whatever it is,
I tend to want to say to them, if possible,
let's do it, let's do it.
Now I know there are some boundaries. If you
want to open a casino out here in the back. I might
have to visit about that one, but there is a world of
things that can be ministries in the life of the
church, even boundary-pushing ministries.
I like the idea that we give our people
permission to be empowered to say ministry and not
kill that passion by a clergy that simply says, I'm
sorry, we don't do that. We do not stomp on those
things, but we say, hey, look, let's pray about it.
Talk to God and see if that is a possibility and go
from there. Some of the things may not be.
One of the most exciting ministries that I have had
anything to do with in recent years was this Angel
Food ministry that many of you are familiar with. It
came to our church where I was pastoring a few years
ago. A young woman in the life of the church came up
to me and said, Hey, there is this ministry called
Angel Food, and I experienced it up here at this other
church. I think it would be great if we can do that
here.
She heard the same answer many of you have heard.
I said, Sounds cool. Let's see if we can do it. She
picked up on that, grabbed someone to help her, and
next thing you knew they had carried that ball far
more effectively than I could. Gone through all the
processes necessary and put it into place.
They were serving in the sense of giving
groceries to or making groceries available to 1,400
families a month. I didn't do it, she did it, but
what she needed was somebody to simply say it's okay
to push the boundaries.
My point today is simply this, let's say, Lord,
use us to bring new and powerful ministries into great
and significant ways all across our conscience, and
let us truly follow Jesus Christ in that process. In
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.