WEBVTT 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:20.559 Welcome to the Ambassador Church Podcast, a church in the city for the city, on Milwaukee's east side. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:27.039 We pray this message meets you where you are, challenges your faith, and draws you closer to Jesus. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:29.920 All right. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:32.000 You have to go ahead and find your seats. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:32.640 Take a seat. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:33.920 Take a seat. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:39.200 And as you're finding your seat, go ahead and grab your Bibles as well. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.359 We're going to be in the Gospel of Luke. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:43.359 We're staying in the Gospel of Luke from last week. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:48.240 Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 5, verses 27 through 32 today. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:49.439 This is where we're going to be. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:50.799 Grab your Bibles and meet me there. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:55.840 And as you're getting there, I want to tell you we're in the middle of a three-week series on discipleship. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.039 Okay, we talked about coming into a new season of Ambassador Church. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:00.880 We're coming in, new ministry starting. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:02.960 We're also releasing city groups. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:05.120 Everybody's so excited for city groups in the room. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.680 Make some noise if you're in a city group and you're excited about connecting in city group. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:11.920 Okay, so they began at the beginning of the month. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:21.680 And as we were doing that, what we're saying is, man, it'd be cool to be a discipleship series here at Ambassador Church, just to help our people know, hey, what are we hoping and expecting as we continue to walk with Jesus? 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:25.840 What kind of disciples are we praying that God creates here at Ambassador Church? 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:26.159 Okay. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:38.400 And so we're taking it three weeks to go through what we call our discipleship strategy, which is just a fun way to say, hey, this is what we are praying that the people of Ambassador Church do as we begin to know and follow Jesus. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.239 And they're gonna pop up on the screen here. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.719 I don't uh, I'm not gonna ask you to memorize these, but it'd be helpful for you to know. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:45.120 Okay. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:48.480 Um, grow in our new identity is the first part of our strategy. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:50.879 Gather around the table, go to the city. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:55.200 So if you were here last week, we unpacked the first one to grow in our new identity. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:02:01.359 Well, we unpacked then was that, hey, there is something that happens when you place your faith in Jesus that happens to you. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:09.680 When we say yes to following him, something in you changes immediately, which means you are effectively no longer the person that you once were. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:11.039 Okay, this is what's true. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:16.319 We are transformed people and we believe in Jesus and we are becoming transformed people in our walk with him. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:20.639 And so this week, we're not talking about growing, we're talking about gathering. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.439 And this is the second part to our discipleship strategy. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:28.080 We grow on our new identity and then we gather around the table. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:36.240 And when I say gather on the table, here's what I mean: I mean that the table is this kind of place, and many of you know this, where you can actually lean into the people around you. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:41.680 You can learn from the people around you, and you can love on the people around you. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:48.879 Like, how many of you know few things draw people together better than sharing food and drink with one another? 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:50.319 Like sharing a meal. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:57.520 Like how many of you grew up and you have tight-knit families where most days of the week you gather around the table for a family meal? 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:59.360 Some of you, this is your experience. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:05.199 Or how many of you had a childhood where it felt like any given day, any given night, there could be anybody at your house. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.919 And what happens is like they're just popping over and they're just sitting down, sharing a meal, sharing a conversation, right? 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.080 They just find themselves at your dinner table. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:13.840 Some of you guys grew up like that. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:20.960 Or how many of you had grandmas like me who in the afternoon would just be caught in that kitchen, man, cooking up, chefing up. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:22.080 Dinner time comes. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:23.840 It's like a whole party. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:25.360 Everybody and their mama's there, right? 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:29.360 Like, like this, they just come because they knew the food was gonna be on point. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:33.120 And what do we know about gathering around the table? 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:35.840 Gathering around the table, like the food and stuff, that's all great. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:39.439 But the best part isn't even about the food, is it? 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.080 The best part is always about the people. 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:47.520 The people that come, the stories you get to share, the stories that you get to hear. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:53.759 The table is a place where people come for the meal, but they stay for the relationship. 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:58.240 They come for the meal, but they stay for the conversation. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:04.080 And in Jesus' day, here's what's true: sharing a table was a form of intimacy. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.159 It's not just something that you just did. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:10.639 It wasn't something that you just popped up at a cafe and shared a meal and grabbed some coffee and just that kind of thing. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:16.319 Like back then, sharing a drink, sharing a meal with somebody, that was telling something about yourself. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.959 It would tell you that who you're sharing a table with shows who you have relationship. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:27.600 Eating together with somebody showed not just, hey, this is who I'm sitting with today, but no, it showed a type of solidarity. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:33.199 And in this day, you had to be careful who you were showing solidarity with. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.319 So the thing about Jesus is that he kind of has this habit. 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:43.920 Maybe some of y'all know your Bible, you've read through the gospels before, and you see these interactions with Jesus. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:47.680 And what Jesus does is he prioritizes gathering. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:51.040 He prioritizes gathering around the table with a lot of people. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.879 But you know the kind of people that Jesus primarily gathers around the table with? 00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:00.720 It's people that the society would say, hey, Jesus, you probably shouldn't be around these people. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:05.439 People you might know as kind of villains of the world. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:07.120 Have you thought of this question before? 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:10.959 Maybe you got this question in like an icebreaker conversation once in your life. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:15.519 Who in history, from any time period, would you like to share a meal with? 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:19.839 Like who in history would you like to sit down and just grab a coffee with, have a conversation? 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:21.600 You ever heard this question before? 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:27.199 When we think about this question, what tends to pop in our minds is we think of all the heroes in the world. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:31.120 Past heroes, people we think of, people we really love and want to know more about. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:36.480 For me, it could be like MLK Jr., I'd love to get a chance to sit down with him and hear about him and his story. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:45.839 Abraham Lincoln and his presidency, Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad, Ben Franklin, one of the most accomplished men to ever live on American soil. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.600 Amelia Earhart flying in the planes. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.000 Some of you more scripturally type people, right? 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:54.879 Moses and Elijah, Jesus, of course, right? 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:56.639 Jesus is always the answer in Sunday school. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:58.160 Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.879 But we often think of the people that we would deem as heroes, don't we? 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.959 People with interesting lives who accomplish things of significance. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.079 But what about the villains of the world? 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:13.120 We never think about the villains, do we? 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:19.199 You maybe heard this question, and nobody's ever raised their hand and been like, Yeah, I think I want to sit down with Hitler for a little meal. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:21.120 Drake with Hitler. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:23.839 Nobody says Judas. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:29.600 You know, like Judas, Judas single-handedly killed the name Judas. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:31.920 Have you ever met a Judas ever in your life? 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:35.839 I've never met one Judas in my entire life, all right? 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:37.600 Like, that's wild. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:41.759 Nobody thinks of the name Judas. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:44.639 You might say like Thanos or something, right? 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:45.360 Like Thanos. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:50.959 He doesn't count because he's a fictional character, but I would actually love to sit down with Thanos at some point, get his why. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:56.240 You know, it's kind of split between the MC universe, the movies, and the and the and the and the and the comics is different. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:56.959 I want to get the truth. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.000 I'm like, Thanos, like why slap your fingers like that? 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.560 Like taking out half the world from what, bro? 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:03.519 Like, why? 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:05.600 I'd love to do that. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:10.560 But why don't we cue towards the villains in our lives when we hear this question? 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:15.839 Here's why it's because we don't think villains deserve a place at our table. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:25.120 You functionally don't think that there's certain people in the world in your life who should have a place at your table. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.199 And we have modern-day villains. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:29.279 There's villains we can think of even right now. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:34.079 Since moving to Wisconsin, I'm not from here, but I've met a lot of Packers fans in my time being here. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:35.839 And you want to know who else I've met? 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.319 I've also met a lot of Bears fans in here. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:39.439 Make yourself know. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:40.399 I know you're in this place. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:41.279 I know you're in here. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:42.720 I know you're in here. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:47.519 And listen, man, some of y'all like I wouldn't be caught dead sitting next to a Bears fan watching the game. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.199 I wouldn't be caught dead sitting next to a Packers fan watching the Packers game. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:52.480 Some of y'all just like that. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:53.759 We have these natural kind of villains. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.800 By the way, your first matchup is coming up soon, Sunday, August 11th. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:57.519 I know you got it tally. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:07:58.480 I can't wait. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:07:59.279 I want to come to a party. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:00.160 Somebody invite me. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:00.879 I want to watch the fight. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:01.680 Can I watch the fight? 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:03.040 I want to watch the fight. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:09.759 But on a more serious note, see, some of us have villainized loved ones in our lives. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:17.600 Moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunties, uncles, loved ones, people that we know and love. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:19.279 Friends that we've had forever. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:22.879 We villainized them off of something that they may have done or said in our lives. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:26.000 Some of us villainize people across the city. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:27.519 I love the city of Milwaukee. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:31.519 Milwaukee is one of the most diverse and yet segregated cities in the country. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:39.360 And maybe you're in this room and you struggle with the image and the reputation of some of the people from a different part of the city that you're not from. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:45.440 People on the South Side, you have a reputation about them, the north side, the east side, the west side, whatever it might be. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:52.240 We might have an image of those kind of people, and we don't venture towards those places, and we don't invite them to come and hang out at our house. 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:56.480 Some have villainized political parties and politicians. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:58.559 We live in a divided country. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:00.879 And it's hard to engage with people. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:06.240 It's hard about man, you don't think like I do, you don't live like I do, you don't cherish the same values I cherish, and so it's hard. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:11.840 So we villainize the people, and you name it, these categories can keep going on and on and on. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:18.399 There is somebody somewhere that would be difficult for any one of us to choose to gather around the table with. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:25.039 But in our text today, Jesus has something to say about the villains of the world. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:27.600 Luke 5, 27, 32. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.000 Show us just in the Bible. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:31.360 I'm gonna start reading. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:36.159 Here's what it says, the narrator says in Luke 5, 27. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:48.240 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:54.720 So leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.240 Last week we saw the call of Peter, same thing happens. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.840 He comes to him, does his thing, whatever happens, and he immediately gets up and follows him. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:03.919 The same thing happens here to Levi. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:05.679 Well, we need to know about Levi. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:10.480 Levi is this character, he has another name, maybe name that you know him more by, and it's Matthew. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:14.159 Levi and Matthew in your Bible, these are the same people. 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:21.360 And as this narrative starts, it says, after this, we have to ask the question, after what? 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:22.320 Okay, after what? 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:23.600 So Jesus had been doing this thing. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:24.399 He talks to Peter. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:27.120 Next thing he knows, he's going on more ministry. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:32.399 And we talked about last week how Jesus not only has a teaching and preaching ministry, but he has a healing ministry. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.679 And so what he does is he starts leaving Peter's place. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:37.360 He goes, he does all this kind of stuff. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:39.679 And we see that he had healed a leper. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:45.600 He shows up to a leper, someone who's an outcast in society, couldn't be in community, couldn't do any of these things. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:47.519 People looked at them and they like went the other way. 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:52.080 They walked the other way, covered their mouth, making sure they didn't catch the things that lepers have. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:56.480 And what Jesus does is he goes to the leper and he actually heals the leper. 00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:58.320 There's a paralytic. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:01.600 And Jesus goes to the paralytic and does the same exact thing. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:13.039 And so now as a narrative continues after this, after those things, it says that he shows up to this guy named Levi's tax booth, and now he's talking to a tax collector. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:18.799 And if you're keeping score, here's what you need to know about this narrative people Jesus is going to talk to. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:23.679 These were people that would have been socially thought as villains in this time. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:25.679 These were villains. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:31.200 These were people that people looked at and was like, there's no way I'm gonna go alongside them. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:32.960 There's no way I'm gonna invite them into my space. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:36.399 There's no way I'm going to share a table with them. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:43.120 And as a tax collector, understand this, Levi would have been seen as especially wicked. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.960 Think of a tax collector, don't think like an IRS of our day, don't think about that. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:47.519 Think this. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:54.320 Think a Jewish traitor who works for the Roman government to extort their own people out of their own money. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:57.440 This is what the tax collector was in the Roman Empire. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:01.679 And so by every stretch of the imagination, Levi was a villain to his fellow Jewish people. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:10.799 And Jesus, as a Jew himself, he had no business walking up to a tax booth, calling out this guy Levi or Matthew, and inviting him to follow him. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:14.320 Like on the surface, this should have been a recipe for disaster. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:19.360 But like Peter, as we heard, Levi also drops everything and follows him. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:21.519 Remember Peter's story from last week? 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:26.240 Just a handful of verses back, Peter turned down a fortune to follow Jesus. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:27.679 Peter caught a whole bunch of fish. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:28.320 He was a fisherman. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.600 He could have taken that fish and capitalized on what he had caught. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.240 It was 3,500 pounds of fish, scholars say. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:37.360 That set you up for a lifetime. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:38.799 That'll set you up for generations. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.200 And Peter turned it down to follow Jesus. 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:42.879 See, Levi wasn't quite like that. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:44.080 Levi wasn't rich. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:47.759 Stories say that Levi wasn't like an upper echelon of a tax collector. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:48.720 Some of y'all know Zacchaeus. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:49.919 Zacchaeus, the wee little man, right? 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.399 He was a chief tax collector, also Jewish. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:54.240 But he was a man of wealth. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.639 Levi was a man in a tax booth, right? 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:58.960 He was ascribing to wealth. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:00.480 He was on his way. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:02.960 He didn't really have it yet. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:05.039 But here's what's true about Levi. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:13.279 Levi was a man who had to wake up every single day and convince himself the thing he was giving himself to, it was just a job. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.279 It's just a job. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:19.919 If people just obey the law and give their taxes and all this kind of stuff, man, it's just a job. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.639 I'm just trying to make an honest living and do my own thing. 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:24.799 He had to convince himself of that. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:32.240 He woke up every day wrestling, if it was worth walking to the tax booth knowing he was about to sell out his people again. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:35.679 He'd wake up at 5 a.m., alarm would go off. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.480 He'd touch it. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:40.720 The prompt that comes up is like, hey, respect your people or go get this paper. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:42.639 And he's like, I'm going to get this paper. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:46.559 Like this was Levi making these choices every single day. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.240 He had a ton of social pressure to leave what he was doing. 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:55.919 And he didn't have the nerve to take that step here, this, until this one Jewish rabbi came by, his tax booth. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.279 And he looked at him and he said, Hey, Levi, follow me. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:01.120 Follow me. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:04.399 You know, Levi, he didn't leave for a better job. 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:06.799 He didn't leave for a higher opportunity. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.720 He left to suffer with his savior. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:15.600 And in an instant, just like Peter, Levi's life was radically transformed. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.480 So let's look at what happens after Matthew answers his call. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:19.840 Look at verse 29. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:23.519 It says, then Matthew or Levi hosted a grand banquet. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.200 I'm gonna use that name interchangeably, okay? 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:26.639 So whichever one I say, just roll with that. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:30.080 Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for him at his house. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:36.879 And now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:44.720 But the Pharisees and the scribes were complaining to his disciples, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:51.679 And Jesus replied to them, It is not those who are wealthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:56.559 I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners, to repentance. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.519 Well, this is the end of the narrative for today. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:06.879 And what we see is Levi gets saved, he follows Jesus, and the next thing he does, I love this, is he throws a party. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:08.480 Any party people in the room? 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:09.519 Raise your hand. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:11.519 You ain't got a hot ear. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:12.559 I'm a party. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.159 Hey, we love a party around here. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:16.799 And Jesus, Levi, these are party people. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:17.679 I love it. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:19.840 And this is the significant part. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.000 Because as we're talking about, gather around the table, look at this. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:27.519 Levi does something that many of us don't have the boldness to do. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:31.919 When he throws a party, he invites Jesus. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:36.320 But he doesn't just invite Jesus, he invites all of his friends. 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:39.360 And you want to know who his friends are? 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:41.919 These aren't the people that you would think. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:43.840 These aren't the people that have it all together. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.399 There aren't the people that he kind of ran into along the way and said, hey, you have at least some kind of decent moral character. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:50.879 Why don't you come and meet this guy just made who kind of changed my life? 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:51.519 No, no, no. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:56.320 The narrative says Levi invited other sinners. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:58.879 Other sinners came to this party. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:05.519 And our account today it doesn't, it just says others in verse 29, but you have a little Easter right in verse 30 with the Pharisees' response. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:09.519 The Pharisees say, Hey, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and these sinners? 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:24.240 And even if you look at the parallel account in the Gospel of Mark chapter 2 and Matthew chapter 9, it is clear, and both of them say that Levi's house at this party were not just tax collectors, but other sinners. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:30.480 So here's a question for the room: if you were to throw a party for Jesus tonight, who would you invite? 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:32.799 I thought about this question. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:34.960 I was preparing this week. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:39.360 And the people that came to my mind weren't the people that Levi invited. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:41.519 I would have probably invited all my pastor friends. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:45.200 The people I'm in cohorts with, the people I meet up with and bump shoulders with, invite them. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:48.720 I'd invite my wife, of course, my mom and grandma. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:52.159 If they were still around, I'd invite them to come over and see Jesus. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:53.360 My kids. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:54.080 I don't know. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.600 I kind of went back and forth on that one. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.000 I'm like, y'all might ruin this for me, you know. 00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:59.600 I'm like, I don't, I don't know, man. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:01.279 Maybe tripping sometimes. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:07.920 Like, I might be a guy that sets up a party for Jesus and be so nervous I don't even show up. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:17.519 Or I'd at least spend the entire week leading up or weeks and days leading up trying to read the Bible as much as I could so I would come to this party and not say anything stupid. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:26.079 I was reading, I was thinking about this list, and the people that I know who are far from God, here's what kind of shame my heart. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:28.640 They didn't make my list until much later. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:36.240 I didn't think about inviting the other people in my life, the people who I know for sure need Jesus. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:38.000 Would that be you? 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:43.759 You're thinking about the party you're throwing for Jesus, and you're thinking about who you would invite. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.480 Who do you think you would invite to that party? 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.240 Like I admit, I likely wouldn't invite the people who really need to be there. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:58.559 And I grieve that because it's clear in the text, it's clear in all the scripture that this is who God pursues the most. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:04.240 You can read so many narratives in the gospels themselves about who Jesus pursues the most. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:11.359 You think about the Samaritan woman, the woman at the well, who wasn't in on the Jewish heritage, John chapter four. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:15.519 And what Jesus is he goes to her, pursues her, says, Yo, I want you. 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:21.680 I want you in the family, I want you as an evangelist, I want you to be a part of this thing that I'm calling my church, right? 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:27.359 The parable of the prodigal son, this son who has a father, who kicks him in the face. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.119 He's like, Yo, give me your inheritance now. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.279 While you're still alive, give me all my inheritance. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:33.599 He goes away and squanders all he has. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:41.680 A famine happens, he has to come back to his father's house, he gets there, he writes up the script about how he's gonna ask his father and let him back into the house as a servant. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:48.640 But the story tells us the father never receives him as a servant, he receives him back as a son, even after he spit in his face. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.599 And not only that, but he throws a party for him, a big banquet. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:58.480 Hey, go slay the most fattened calf so we can get all the people here and we can celebrate that my son has just come home. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:01.519 The person that is the villain in the story. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:05.519 In the parable of the wedding banquet, we know this one too, Luke chapter 14. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:09.759 There's this man, he wants to throw this party, big party. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:11.680 And he invites all these people to come. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:14.400 And the people he expected to come, they never even came. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:19.440 One by one, they started making every excuse in the book why they couldn't come and be a part of this thing. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:36.559 So in his infuriation, in his anger, he tells the servant, hey, well, well, well, go to the alleys, go to the city, go to the outskirts of the city, even, go to the highways and byways and invite anybody that you can and tell them, tell them, tell them they can come to my house. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.079 And the youngest that try to come and not even welcome, right? 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:45.119 Like every time I read the gospels, I'm blown away about the people that Jesus tends to spend most of his time with. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:52.799 First, the people he can't stand, and the people he spends his time with most are the people we would say these are the villains of the story. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:20:02.720 I wonder, I wonder if this should influence the way we at Ambassadors of the Church lean into discipleship as we seek to gather around the table. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:06.000 And spoiler alert, it should. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:15.359 So, what I want to do with the rest of our time this morning is unpack three things that gathering around the table means from the narrative of Levi and Jesus. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:17.599 Here they are up top, and I'll unpack them one by one. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:20.799 The first one is gathering around the table means inviting your heroes. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:23.680 Number two, gathering around the table means inviting your villains. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:28.720 And number three, gathering around the table means initiating gospel conversations. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:32.400 The first one, gathering around the table means inviting your heroes. 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:33.920 Look back at verse 29. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:40.000 It says, and Levi hosted a grand banquet for him, Jesus, at his house. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:47.680 Like I don't want us to forget that the savior of the world shows up at a party. 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.000 Like Jesus was at this party. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:52.640 Levi threw this party for Jesus. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:21:00.960 So what we need to see is that the thing that Levi does when he wants to gather around the table is yes, he invites the holiest person that he knows. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:02.799 He invites his hero. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:08.559 And there's nothing wrong, I want you to hear this, about gathering around the table with the people that we love and enjoy. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:10.720 We should 100% do that. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:19.759 You should pursue your friends, you should pursue the people you you make friendship with around here, you should pursue people outside of this space who you know love Jesus, who give you joy. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.000 Like you should pursue those people. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:26.400 In fact, as a Christian, this should be the heaviest diet in your life. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:30.799 You should spend your time around people who know you, love you, cherish you, all these kinds of things. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:35.359 Like we should gather with these kinds of people who share our love with Jesus. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:38.000 We need the gathering of the saints. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:45.599 We need it for the joy in our lives, for the encouragement in our lives, for the accountability in our lives, for the correction in our lives. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:50.000 And what's true is that most Christians don't need to be reminded of this. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:51.599 You know you need this. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:53.039 You know this kind of community. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:55.759 And so this isn't really the topic of conversation today. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.759 You know you need this unless you're legitimately neglecting the gathering. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:08.160 Okay, you're not right now because you're in this space, but maybe at some point you will be wrestling with if you should join and go and be with people that you know love who love Jesus too. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:09.039 Like, yes, you should. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:10.799 You should commit to that and do that. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:11.359 Okay. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:18.799 So most of us don't need this kind of reminder, but these aren't the only people to gather around the table with according to the life of Levi. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:22.720 Secondly, gathering around the table means inviting your villains. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:25.279 Look at the rest of verse 29 and verse 30. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:30.960 It says, Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:40.240 But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:47.359 Okay, so Levi invited Jesus to the party, but then he also invited all his other office buddies to the party. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:51.839 He's like, all these people that he would have now had a different outlook on. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.640 And he's saying, Man, I used to live like that. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:58.000 You used to be my primary community. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:22:59.119 I know your life. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:00.000 You knew my life. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:02.160 We were doing all these kinds of things together. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.480 You know what we'd be tempted to do if that was us? 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:12.559 Like when we tend to come to Christ, we look at the old communities we were a part of at one point, and we're like, how fast and how quickly can I get away from that? 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:15.279 But I love the example that Levi gives us. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:22.640 Because he not only wants to gather with the heroes of his life, but he also wants to gather with the quote unquote villains of his life. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:24.880 So he invites them too. 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:31.440 Jesus is there, his buddies are there, and he invites them for this potential to get the same thing that he got. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:36.000 And this is a bold move by Levi because most people think he was crazy. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:44.480 Because he was already a former tax collector himself, and now he's throwing a party where there's food and there's drink, and he's socializing with more sinners in broad daylight. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:48.880 He doesn't even have the decency to do this at night when potentially somebody might not be able to see. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:57.519 He's like, yo, all who want to see, and all who want to come, come and see, come and see the savior of the world who changed my life. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:58.559 Anyone can come. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:23:59.440 Come one, come off. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:01.920 I think there's a principle here that we can learn. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:06.400 That gathering around the table should cost us something. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.759 Gathering around the table should cost us something. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:13.200 It's easy to gather on the table with people who make you look good. 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:17.119 It's hard to gather around the table with people who make you look compromised. 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:21.440 Like I don't have to be coerced into spending time with my wife and family. 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:22.559 I love them, they love me. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:23.519 Y'all know that. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:28.160 With my friends who I know love Jesus and love me, you don't have to coerce me to do that. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:32.880 With my family, at least select people in my family, amen. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:44.720 You ever be hanging out with somebody that you kind of like, and then someone else comes over that you really like, and then you feel a little bit awkward about it. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.960 Like you feel like your social points take a 10-point hit or something like that. 00:24:49.119 --> 00:25:03.279 You catch that feeling, you're like, wait a minute, like I didn't know you was gonna be here and not not feel kind of awkward here, sitting here, and then you try to sneak away, hoping the person just came over doesn't make a big deal about hoping that you don't hurt the person's feelings that you were just with too much. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:12.240 And this is kind of how we can be when we venture into the place like Levi and invite not just our friends, our heroes, but our villains to our table. 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:20.480 But I want to show us something, because in Galatians chapter two, the apostle Paul, as he's writing his epistles, he actually has something to say about this. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:35.359 That the epistles that Paul writes, the majority of that content is Paul trying to let the people of God, the church, know that the church of God isn't to be one that's like um an affinity group. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:43.119 He's trying to say the church is not a place where you just go to gather with people who are like you, who think like you, have everything in common with you. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:48.319 But no, the church is a place you go where the blood of Jesus Christ reigns and the Holy Spirit has power. 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:54.559 And what the Holy Spirit can do is bridge a gap that we can't bridge on our own among differences that we have in and of ourselves. 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:55.759 You guys know this? 00:25:57.599 --> 00:25:59.440 This is what the gospel is for. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:01.279 This is what the deal, the blood of Jesus Christ is. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:06.480 If you're asking what the blood of Jesus Christ is doing right now, it is saving souls and it's building a new family. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:08.480 This is what it's always been doing. 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:17.599 And this new family is not one that's built on things that we want it to be built on, but it's things that the Bible says that it's built on, and it's built on unity among diversity. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:20.480 Galatians chapter two is gonna pop up here on the screen. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:26.319 Paul is talking to Peter, yes, the Peter who just got saved from last week's message. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:29.680 This Peter, the apostle Peter, the chief apostle. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:32.880 Here's what this narrative says. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:40.960 It says, but when Cephas, and Cephas, another name for Peter, came to this place called Antioch, one of the central places where the church began. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:46.240 Paul says, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:47.839