Jesus: Friend of Sinners

When we think of Jesus, because he is the Son of God, we tend to think that he hung out with the morally good people. Now I am sure He did at times, but the Bible shares with us one group of people who enjoyed being around Him.....sinners!!!  Whaaaaat?

Look at a couple of passages:


 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
Luke 15:1-2

"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
Matthew 11:19

In fact, as you read the Gospels it was the "religious" people, the people who "thought" they were morally good who Jesus would confront. It's what led to His crucifixion.

Now let me add a few thoughts here:
1. Jesus wants us to be good moral people
2. If we are fortunate enough to be good moral people, Jesus doesn't want us thinking we are any better than someone else.
3. It's only because of God's help that we aren't commiting the same acts that others do that repulse us.
4. You see the problem with "religious" people is they are in danger of forgetting that they are sinners also.

There is a truth that has always blown my mind:
Somehow Jesus was able to hang out sinners, not participate in their sin, and yet be accepted and liked by them. That is so amazing to me I think I will write it again in bold type:
Somehow Jesus was able to hang out sinners, not participate in their sin, and yet be accepted and liked by them.


All of this talk is leading to the thought that we should follow Jesus' example.
I personally think Jesus was able to make the connection with people because there was something about Him that they were attracted to. I believe it was love. I believe we should be people who practice love to people, even the people we don't agree with. I'm sure Jesus didn't agree with the lifestyle the "sinners" were practicing, I'm sure He didn't condone it, yet, He loved them.

Here's a good test of how well we love: Are other people glad to be with us? Somwhow Jesus attracted the people the "religious" people looked down on, and yet those "sinners" liked being with Jesus.
                                    

Rather than looking down on them, Jesus loved them, and in the process brought to them the truth they were looking for. Think of the woman only described as a sinner in Luke 6:36-50, the woman caught in adultery (John 8:2-11),  Zacchaeus, the tax collector (19:1-10), The woman at the well (John 4:7-42), Matthew the tax collector (Matthew 9:9-13). The list goes on to even you and I ......we were drawn to Him by His love. Let's go do the same for others.

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector's booth; and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. 10Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.13"But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:9-13

 Troy

Great Prayer from Proverbs 30

Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God. 

Prayer is something that is complex and simplistic all at the same time. I would like to share some principles from Augustine that can help with prayer, and then you and I can see the wisdom of this prayer from Proverbs 30.

Augustine, who lived back in the 400 is considered one of the great Christian thinkers of all time. Augustine taught that before we can know what to pray for or how to pray for it, we must become the kind of person who accounts ourselves as "desolate" in this world, however "well off" we may be. We have to be able to see that no matter how great our circumstances are or can become, that they can never bring us the  lasting peace, happiness, and consolation that are found in Christ.

Augustine taught that our heart's loves are 'disordered'. out of order. Things we ought to love third or fourth are first, and our love for God, which should be supremely, is third or fourth on our list of importance. Unless  we recognize this heart disorder and realize how much it distorts our lives, our prayers will go array. Let me give you an example, If we think being in a relationship or financial security are the main sources of safety and confidence in life, then when any of these are in jeopardy, we will cry out to God for help, but our prayer will be nothing more than worry directed to God.Prayer won't bring the healing and comfort we need because relationships or financial security is our security instead of God being our security.

So once we see the truth of our hearts being disordered Augustine would say we are ready for the "next level' of prayer. He would tell us to pray for what we like, because now we know that comforts and rewards and pleasures in themselves only give fleeting fulfillment. Augustine points us to Psalm 27:4:

 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.

If God is our greatest love, and if knowing and pleasing Him is our highest desire and joy, it transforms both what and how we pray.

This is where Augustine cites our prayer from Proverbs 30. The prayer from Proverbs 30 reveals a proper motivation. If we don't realize our hearts are disordered then our prayer may be, "Make we wealthy." But the prayer from Proverbs 30 is asking, "Lord meet my material needs, and give me wealth, yes, but only as much as I can handle without it harming my ability to put you first in life. Because ultimately I don't need status and comfort- I need you as my Lord."

Isn't that the attitude we need with any prayer that we pray? We only get to this attitude by realizing our hearts are disordered, and coming to the realization that only God can give ultimate fulfillment in life. Then we can apply the principle from Proverbs 30 to our prayer life.

Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God

Troy

Grace

People often ask me ,"how have you been able to be a consistent follower of Jesus for the past 20 years? As I have thought on that, I could give a lengthy answer, I could go into a lengthy discussion on theology, I could quote Church Fathers, give a long treastie on the doctrine of salvation. But when it's time to simplify, I simply say, Grace.

 

Grace started me on the journey, Grace has sustained me on the journey, and Grace will help me reach my destination.

 

 

 

 

It's interesting to me how many people I meet who feel they aren't "worthy" of grace. But isn't that the whole point of grace? If I deserved it, it wouldn't be grace. It would be something I've earned, and guess what.....we can't earn grace!!!

 

Isn't that part of the reason why we are uncomfortable when someone does something nice for us, especially if we know we haven't been really good to them? We feel we don't deserve it. On the other end of the spectrum, isn't that why we get upset with others when we have done a favor for someone, but they don't do a favor for us when we are in need?......We think we have earned the favor and it's proof we aren't operating out of grace.

 

I pray this upcoming year will be a year of grace for you. I was reading a blog post from Perry Noble and I would like to close with his words: 

 

Grace is for the person who has messed up somewhere in life and believes the lie that, because of their failures, God can never do anything significant with them.

 

Grace is for the person who wrestles with trying to not find their identity in what they did on their worst day.

Grace is for the person who is tired of trying to keep all of the rules and regulations associated with religion.

 

Grace is for the person who really does believe God is mad at them.

Grace gives us the strength to forgive when we believe that forgiving someone else is an impossibility.

 

Grace gives us courage.

Grace gives us strength.

Grace allows us to keep going when we want to give up.

Grace shatters the shackles of sin that have dominated our lives for years.

Grace allows me to stop being a victim of what happened to me.

Grace gives us hope.

Grace is available to everyone.

I know – it sounds too good to be true.

It’s not!

 

Troy