Luke 5:27-31

       Wow!  Don't know what happened to last week's post.  It was there when it was put there last Saturday -- now you see it, now you don't!  So here it is this Saturday.  -- Next week the study won't be posted until Sunday or Monday since I will be unable to post the study until after Annual Conference.  Asking for prayers!

Luke 5:27-31
     Luke has already told of Jesus doing some things that would have been considered remarkable, if not shocking, to his contemporaries. He actually touched a man with leprosy. He calls fishermen, working folks, not scholars, to be his disciples. He talks about forgiveness in front of religious leaders who wonder if he’s being blasphemous. Now we hear that he passes by the booth of a tax collector named Levi. Jesus actually calls to Levi and invites him to also be a disciple.
     Tax collectors were not among the respectable members of society. They were collaborators with the enemy. The Romans had conquered Israel. The Romans used Israelites who were willing to be the collectors of taxes. Such a tax collector was to get the amount the Romans expected, and then they could take more as their fee. This presented plenty of opportunity for greed. With the fear of the Romans behind them, who could object if a tax collector decided an exorbitant fee was appropriate—or if extra taxes were due (whether they were or not)? Just their willingness to stooge for the occupying power would have earned them distaste if not hatred.
     But Jesus without any visible hesitation, called a tax collector to be a follower. And Levi jumped up and left everything to follow him.
     Now, the focus is usually upon the following controversy, but pause to consider Levi. There’s no evidence, of course, that he had ever taken more than a fair amount in taxes or fees. But even so, he would have been an outcast. Illustrating this is the response of the Pharisees and teachers of the law who objected to the fact that Jesus and his disciples would actually die with him and his guests. Levi’s other friends included a large number of tax collectors and other “outcasts,” as described by the Pharisees. These were the folks who were willing to associate with Levi.
     But when Levi was called, his response is immediate (and as subsequent experienced showed, whole-hearted). To abandon any job would make most people a little nervous. After all, where’s the food going to be earned after this? But to walk out on the Roman government had to carry a special worry. Yet Levi did so. Did he experience a sense of relief, along with some anxiety whether he’d be in trouble? Did he wonder whether his friends (those other tax collectors and outcasts) would decide he wasn’t someone they wanted around anymore either? Did he worry whether Jesus’ other disciples would accept him? We’re not told any of those details, just that he followed Jesus.
     Most societies have individuals and groups that are considered less than socially acceptable. The strata for this was especially radical in the Israelite culture. It has been suggested by a few scholars that Jesus was, at one time, considered a Pharisee himself. (And their subsequent ire with him was because they considered him a traitor to the Pharisees). Whether or not that is the case, they did not see him as unclean or an outcast. They spent time with him and ate with him. So to see him willingly eating dinner with Roman collaborators and other unclean members of the community must have been shocking. How could he do that?
     Jesus’ answer was simple. People who aren’t sick, don’t need a doctor. He’d come to heal the sick, not the healthy. One translation says he told them that he had not come to call respectable people to repent, but outcasts.
      An ongoing issue in Israelite society was the proliferation of ritual laws. Those who were better off had the money and leisure to follow them. Many other people did not. We don’t know whether the outcasts in this case were outcasts simply because they couldn’t follow the rituals. But what Jesus illustrated consistently was his concern for those whom “respectable” people in his culture rejected. Will Rogers in the 20th century claimed no enemies. For Jesus, no one was an outcast. No one was so unclean as to be rejected.
      Of course, as subsequent actions and words show, Jesus was vitally concerned over the sins of those who considered themselves “respectable” and religious. The primary sins he called by name were things like judging others, self-righteousness and the failure to love others.
    
Who are the people that our culture might consider outcasts, unclean or unacceptable in ‘polite’ society?
Are there parts of yourself that feel like the outcast or unclean?
What does it mean to those parts of yourself to hear the call of Jesus?
Can that give us empathy for others in our society that are on the fringes?

Computer Virus Strikes

Hi Everyone - a computer virus struck the church computer - Did I say a virus?  Make that ELEVEN viruses.  We had the computer in the shop for almost a week and just got it back.  A new study will be posted Saturday.  Have a great day!