Luke 5:27–39
A sermon preached at Geraldton Anglican Cathedral 23 May 2021
Buried Treasure
Jesus told a story about a man who was bushwalking and saw something odd sticking out of the ground. It looked like the corner of a chest. He scraped at it with a stick until he saw that is indeed what it was: a chest, about half a metre square. He found himself a better stick to dig with and freed up around it, until he had cleared the lid. It had once had a lock on it, but that was now rotted away. He prized it open and lifted the lid on jewelry and coin like he had never seen before. He slapped the lid closed replaced the dirt and went off to identify that piece of land and buy it. Jesus does not say what happened next, but I think I can guess. He probably threw a party!
Why do I think that? Because, if I had a piece of luck like that, that’s what I would do. But also, because, when he told the story, I suspect Jesus may have had a certain person in his mind.
Jesus and the Tax-Collector
Levi was used to dealing with treasure. He was a tax man in the days when a businessman would tender to collect customs, duties and taxes in a particular area. The highest bidder won, and within certain limits it was then up to the winner to raise the agreed amount and whatever else could be levied. Herod’s military was there to make sure people paid up. For the chief tax-collector it was lucrative, and also for the officials he employed to do the work. They were called “publicans” and it was common knowledge that they cheated. They were part of a wider group of mainly business people who found their wheeling and dealing made the Jewish law too difficult to keep. They were known as “sinners”.
Levi was a wealthy man. Jesus stepped into his office when he was at his desk. Levi was surprised. What was Jesus doing here? For a while he had been hearing reports of Jesus’ activities. A couple of times he had slipped out to hear him. What he heard excited him. Wealthy as he was, he was becoming bored with his job, and some of the things his collectors got up to troubled his conscience. He had done it all himself, of course, before he had been promoted to the office. Jesus spoke of a new world. He was believable, and his healing made him hard to ignore. But what was he doing in Levi’s office? What could he have to declare? “What can I do for you?” said the tax-collector. Jesus simply said, “Follow me!”
Levi knew what that meant. When you followed a rabbi, it meant you became his apprentice—his disciple. You travelled with him, studied with him, worked with him, ate with him, stayed with him. It would mean leaving his job, leaving his family and friends for long periods. He wouldn’t know where tomorrow might take him, or where his next meal would come from, or what his future might be. And it excited him out of his mind. He turned his back on it all and said, “Yes, please.” It was like unexpectedly stumbling an a buried treasure.
Levi Wants His Friends to Meet Jesus
It is a measure of how much Jesus impressed him that the first thing he thought of was to introduce him to his friends. He hurried home and told his wife to get cracking; they were going to have a party and he wanted all his friends there. When he told her who the guest of honour would be she nearly fell over. “Get the servants going! This is going to be the banquet to end all banquets.”
I don’t know what you are like with invitations. We are used to organizing events at the church that not many want to come to, but there are some people whose parties no one wants to miss. I organized a dinner-party in London, and happily, most people who were invited came. One chap didn’t. He had organized a party of his own. He invited thirty guests, all of them owners of big companies, none of them believers, and told them he wanted them to hear a certain Christian speaker. All of them accepted his invitation. It may have helped that the man who invited them was the head of a large bank and they were clients, but there were other factors that made his invitation irresistible.
So, Mr and Mrs Levi prepared their dinner-party and the guests came, and met Jesus and he spoke to them, and it was a great time. Some of them went home different to when they had come.
Scandal
For Jesus disciples it was something of a shock. When they set out to follow him they thought they were going to be roughing it. This house was better than anything they’d ever been in, and the food and drink – well, it didn’t come from the local supermarket.
It was a shock to others too. When word of the party got around, the synagogue people were scandalized. “What is your teacher doing associating with sinners? It’s totally inappropriate and sets a bad example. Isn’t he supposed to be teaching about God? God doesn’t fellowship with sinners. And besides, those people aren’t careful about how kosher their food is.”
This was serious. A scandal like this could destroy Jesus’ mission. It is one of the most perceptive scenes in Zeffirelli’s, Jesus of Nazareth, that it is Peter who takes Jesus aside and warns him of the danger of associating too closely with Levi’s friends. I wonder if Levi himself wasnt horrified at the thought that he had dragged Jesus’ name in the mud. He meant well; he just wanted for his friends to meet Jesus. But now it’s gone pear-shaped. He should have realized …
But Jesus came to the rescue. “Don’t be silly,” he said. “Those who are healthy dont need the doctor, it’s the sick who need help. I haven’t come to call the righteous, but sinners—to repentance.” It was a signal that with Jesus it was not going to be religion as usual.
Does Your Teacher Fast?
Jesus just wasn’t fitting the profile of a holy man. “What about fasting?” they asked. Fasting was taken very seriously. “Pharisees fast, so does John the Baptist and his followers—why don’t you and your disciples fast?” Those committed to Judaism fasted twice a week, so did the later Christians. An old Muslim gentleman confronted me once at a debate: “Jesus fasted,” he said. “We Muslims fast, but you Christians don’t fast.” He was only a tiny bit right about Jesus. After his mammoth fast at the start of his ministry Jesus didn’t fast again. Here he explains why.
“Do the groomsmen fast at a wedding?” he asked. If there’s one place where fasting would be downright offensive it is at a wedding, especially for the bridal party. Sure! But is there a wedding going on? To discover what that meant we need to do a bit of digging in the Old Testament.
The Great Marriage Feast
Hosea was a prophet in the eighth century BC. He married a girl called Gomer and they had children, but no one was sure whose children they were, because Gomer was sleeping around. In the end Hosea was forced to divorce her. Then God explained that Israel had been playing the prostitute with other gods, and he was about to divorce her.
“What can I do with you, Israel; and what can I do with you, Judah. Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. Therefore, I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgements flashed like lightning upon you.” (Hosea 6)
But that was not the end of the story. God will not abandon his bride forever. When her lovers have reduced her to nothing he will come to her again.
Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her … In that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘my husband’ … I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion… In that day I will respond, declares the Lord … I will show love to the one I called ‘Not-my-loved-one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not-my-people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’
And so, he tells Hosea to find Gomer and marry her again, just as he will one day remarry Israel. God rejected his people—sent them into exile, called them ‘Not-my-people’. But one day he will come to them, woo them, and be reconciled to them in a great marriage. It is a prophecy about a bridegroom, a bride, and a wedding. And that will be the wedding to end all weddings. Jesus says he is the groom, come to celebrate the promised wedding, and it would be criminal to fast at such a time. Except at the beginning and end of his mission, fasting played no part in Jesus’ ministry.
Cause for Celebration
Not that it was always party time! Celebration loses its significance when it goes on all the time. For the idle-rich, who spend their lives partying, it becomes a great bore. It is becoming that way for many in the West. Jesus and his team worked hard and were often tired out, but if you read carefully you will see that the keynote of his mission was joy. The kingdom of God was present; men and women and children were finding forgiveness and healing and peace with God. There was cause for celebration.
What About Today?
So, what about today? What kind of life is the Christian life? And should Christians fast? Muslims fast; so do Hindus. In John the Baptist’s movement they fasted. Orthodox Jews fast. Fasting has played a big role in Christianity’s history. Jesus didn’t fast because the kingdom was present, and it was a time for celebration. But he hinted that the bridegroom would one day be taken away, and then it would be appropriate to fast.
It boils down to the question whether the kingdom is present or not. The answer is that it is present, though not in its fulness. It is present, but the old age of evil and suffering must continue for a time. So, it is not easy to give a logical answer to the question whether Christians should fast. But what do we learn from the rest of the New Testament?
We should be clear that the new age began when Jesus rose from the dead. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me …” he declared when he met his disciples on the mountain in Galilee. These are the words of a king declaring his kingdom. At the last supper he said he would not drink of the fruit of the vine until he drank it new in the kingdom of God. That time arrived three days later. So, we read much about the first Christians in Acts, but there is nothing about fasting. Rather,
Day by day … breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. (Acts 2)
This sounds like people who are imitating Jesus in one of the fundamental characteristics of his ministry: hospitality and celebration. Not that they were partying every day, but every meal was a reminder of the goodness of God, every meeting an occasion of praise. There were times when they fasted, especially when big decisions had to be made. But overall, their lifestyle was fundamentally celebratory. It must be significant that with all its discussions of the Christian life, the New Testament never calls on us to fast as a regular spiritual exercise. Paul even goes so far as to say it is useless in helping to control our sinful nature (Colossians 2). No, read the New Testament and you will see that the Christian’s life is essentially celebratory. True Holy Spirit life is unmistakably joyful. And this will show itself in hospitality and celebrating together.
Sharing Faith
Think back to Levi and his banquet! Surely this must affect the way we go about sharing our faith. Acts follows its description of the generous hospitality of the first Christians by observing that “day by day the Lord added to their numbers those who were being saved.” Do you think there could be a connection between an open home and a generous table, and people coming to know Jesus and entering his kingdom?
Notice that it is not just about being hospitable. Jesus does not throw the party; he simply attends. It is just as much about accepting the hospitality of others, as it is about inviting others to you. When Jesus sent out the seventy-two he told them to eat whatever was put before them—in whatever house they entered. This was important. Jews had many scruples about what they ate and who they ate with. Jesus taught his disciples to leave all that behind. We need to learn to be appreciative guests as well as gracious hosts and hostesses.
Judge Not
But let me deal with a problem. When we enter another person’s home it is easy to be secretly critical. Perhaps their standards of cleanliness or tidiness are not the same as ours. Or perhaps we are uncomfortable with their level of wealth. Or perhaps we know they are living together, but are not married. We find ourselves judging.
A perceptive Pharisee might have said to Jesus, “I agree that the sick need a doctor, but you are partying with them like they are already saved, and they are not; they have not yet repented.” It is here we run into one of the peculiarities of Jesus’ ministry. He approached people and welcomed them like they were already part of his kingdom—before they had even had a chance to respond. It is what is called “prevenient grace”—grace that runs ahead of the response it demands—and he instructed his disciples to do the same. “When you enter a house, say peace be upon this house”—peace with God is salvation. But what if the occupants of the house are unbelievers? “If a son of peace is there your peace will rest upon it, but if not, it will return to you.” (Luke 10) This is one of the extraordinary features of the kingdom of God, and an important principle for whoever would share the gospel. Logically repentance and faith come first, but sometimes in practice you find yourself welcomed in before you have had a chance to do anything, and, because of the grace you experience, repentance and faith comes afterwards. Think of Zacchaeus!
There was a music teacher in Perth who threw parties from time to time. She told her friends she wanted them to meet so-and-so and hear him talk about why he was a Christian. She had a rule: no clergymen. Her speakers were engineers, professors of this or that, politicians, interesting people of the world—but no clergymen. She put on a great spread; I know, because I managed to sneak in once or twice. She treated her guests like they were her brothers and sisters in Christ, though she knew many of them weren’t, and she prayed that they would be. More evangelism happened in that home than in many churches. Her secret was generous hospitality.
There is much more to say. I hope you will continue to think about these matters. What appears at first to be a not very important part of the Gospel actually carries a power to transform a whole culture. As Jesus said, “New wine is for new wineskins.” The way of the kingdom could not just be grafted onto the old lifestyle. On this Pentecost Sunday we are reminded that we live in the age of the Holy Spirit, an age of celebration.