Sermon

Mark 2:15-17
2-25-01
Festival of Friendship

Jesus is the Sinner's Best Friend

1. He Welcomes Us As We Are
2. He Tells It Like It Is
3. He Gives Us What We Need

Just for a minute I want you to imagine that when you walked into church today, you saw hanging above the door a great big banner that read, "Today is Festival of Friendship. All Sinners are Welcome Here!" Tell me, if that was the first thing you saw when you came into church today, what would be your reaction? How would that sign make you feel? Maybe if you brought a friend with you to church today, you might look at a sign like that and say, "Man, why did they put up a sign like that? My guest is going to think that I think he or she is some kind of terrible person. I mean, here we are rolling out the red carpet for sinners."

And of course, if you are one of those guests with us today, maybe you'd be thinking the same thing. If you saw a sign that reads, "Sinners welcome here." Maybe you'd be looking at your host and think, "What do you think, I'm some kind of sinner? Is that why you brought me here today? Because this is your special day to welcome sinners?"

And of course, even if you're not a guest or a host, you might still look at a sign like that and say, "Don't put a sign like that. It sounds like we're judging people. All sinners welcome here. Sounds so negative, so intolerant.

Well, as you know, there is not a sign that reads, "Sinners welcome here." But there could be. In fact, you might say that while there is not a visible sign above the door, there is an invisible one. A sign posted not by the hands of men, but rather by God himself. For as long as this is a Christian church, as long as God's Word is proclaimed in its truth and purity, as long as Jesus Christ is the focus of our worship, then you can be sure that sinners are welcome here.

For you see, today is Festival of Friendship. And as much as we cherish and appreciate the friendship we enjoy with one another, that's really why we're here today. We are here to celebrate an even greater friendship, a friendship which at times is hard for us to fully comprehend, a friendship which has the power to change human lives. Today we celebrate the friendship which Jesus Christ has shown to each one of us. And if there's one thing that the Bible makes clear about Jesus Christ, it's that:

Jesus is the Sinner's Best Friend

Why can we say that Jesus is the Sinner's Best Friend? Because

1. He Welcomes Us As We Are
2. He Tells It Like It Is
3. He Gives Us What We Need

First, Jesus is the Sinner's best friend because he welcomes us as we are. Isn't that the truth? Jesus doesn't ask us to pass some kind of moral achievement test before we can come to him. He doesn't say that we have to dress a certain way or act a certain way or talk a certain way before he'll associate with us. He doesn't say that we will have to maintain a certain reputation in the community before we're welcome in his presence. I mean, look at whom Jesus associates with here in our text. Here Jesus invites a man by the name of Levi to be one of his 12 apostles. Before Jesus called Levi to discipleship, Levi had been a professional tax collector. Do you realize the reputation a tax collector had in Jesus' day? Tax-collectors were lumped together with the drunks and the prostitutes. They were all regarded as public "sinners."

And yet, Jesus had no qualms about sitting down to eat with Levi and the rest of his tax-collector friends. That doesn't mean that Jesus condoned the sin of greed or dishonesty or fraud. But neither does he reject out of hand those who commit such sins.

In fact here in our text, when the Pharisees question Jesus about his association with these tax-collectors and sinners, Jesus' answer is profound. He says, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Isn't that the truth? Can you imagine seeing a hospital with a sign that read, "Only healthy people admitted here." You'd think, "What? A hospital that's only for healthy people? Are you kidding? Hospitals are for people who are sick. People who are hurting. People who are in danger of dying. In fact, a person might go as far as to say that a building that's designed only to house healthy people is not really a hospital at all."

Well, the same thing could be said for a building called the church. A building that is designed only for sinless people is not really a church at all. That means that Mount Olive Lutheran Church is not made for perfect people. It's made for imperfect people. In fact, since it's Festival of Friendship and we have a number of guests here today, maybe I should say that if any of you visitors are perfect people, you might as well be excused now. You probably won't fit in very well here. This church is not for perfect people. It's for imperfect people.

Now, maybe you're thinking to yourself, "Well, duh! Of course it's made for imperfect people. I mean, nobody's perfect." You're right. There's not a perfect person in the world. But that doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of people who think they're perfect. Or at least people who think that they're close enough to perfection to get some kind of credit from God for their good behavior. In fact, sometimes, you and I find ourselves thinking like those people. How often aren't you and I tempted to think that we're somehow better that the majority of the people out there? And that brings me to the second reason that Jesus is the Sinner's Best Friend, namely because: II. Jesus Tells It Like It Is.

Just for a moment, I want you to imagine that you've just come home from a long day at work. You had to make a formal presentation to a large group of people so you wore your very best navy blue blazer. But when you take it off, what do you see running down the back of the blazer? It's a long white smear. You look at it closely. You smell it. And to your horror, you determine that it's a bird dropping. You been wearing bird dodo on your blazer all day long. Not wonder the people snickered when you walked up to the microphone today. At first, you're horrified by the thought of it; then you're embarrassed. And ultimately, you're just plain angry. "How come nobody said anything to me? Somebody could have politely and privately pointed out that stain. Sure, it might have been a little embarrassing for them and for me, but a true friend would have told me the truth. A true friend would tell it like it is."

My friends, Jesus is a true friend. No matter how ugly the stain on our coat or the stain on our heart, or the mark on our record, Jesus still welcomes us as his friends. But as our very best friend, Jesus is also not afraid to tell us what we really look like. He looks at our sinful condition and then tells it like it is.

In that sense, Jesus is like a doctor who accurately diagnoses our ailment and then openly and honestly tells us about it. I mean who wants a doctor who looks at the red spots all over our body, and listens to our heart racing and our temperature going through the roof, and then says, "You look just fine. You're perfectly normal." No, we want a doctor who is willing and able to tell us the truth-even if the truth hurts.

Well, that's the kind of doctor Jesus is. In his Holy Word, Jesus tells us the truth about our true spiritual condition. He tells us how we stack up to the standards a just and holy God has set for us. Jesus tells us, for example, "Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10) Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. (Matt. 5:21) Among you there must not be a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity or of greed. (Eph. 5:3) For the wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23)"

The Lord doesn't mince any words there, does he? He doesn't paper over our sins. He doesn't sweep them under the rug. Neither does he allow us to justify our immoral behavior with expressions like, "Well, everyone else is doing it." Or "I'm really not that bad." God knows the truth. And he's not afraid us to tells us the truth. He announces the verdict, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)"

Friends, that's God's diagnosis of our true condition. He has searched our hearts and lives and we've come up short. Fortunately, Jesus is not only willing to point out our problem, he's also willing and able to offer a solution, a remedy, a cure. You might say that Jesus is our Very Best Friend because III. He Gives Us What We Truly Need.

Now, if you went to the doctor and the doctor determined that you're 100 pounds overweight, then he might also say that what you really need is to go on a diet. Or if you just had knee surgery, the doctor might tell you that you really need to start a regimen of rehabilitation for that knee. And if you have a cold, he might say that you have to drink plenty of fluids and get some rest. That's usually the way it works. If this is your problem, then this is what you have to do to get better.

Well, a lot of people think that it's the same way with a person's spiritual life. If you want to get better spiritually, you have to just work a little harder to be good. You have to cut out some of the sinful vices in your life. You have to exercise some self-discipline. Start living right and then you'll be all right with God.

But the Bible says that it doesn't work that way. You see, we have more than a minor ailment. You and I are infected to our very core. You might say that sin is in our blood. And that means the only way for us to be saved is if we have a blood transfusion. In other words, someone has to be willing to take our infected blood into his body and give us his purified blood in return. Who in the world would be willing to do that? There is only one person who is willing and able to do that. And it's our best friend Jesus Christ.

What does the Bible say? "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." In other words, God the Father, in effect, transferred our infected blood into Jesus' body, thereby condemning him to die in our place. And in exchange God gave you and me Jesus' holy precious blood. And the effect of that life-giving exchange? St. John tells us, "The blood of Jesus, God's Son, purifies us from all sin."

Isn't that amazing? You and I come in here today carrying the baggage of sins, our shame, our guilt and Jesus says, "Here, let me handle that. I'll carry that for you. I'll take that away. Now, you are forgiven. You're clean. You're all right in God's eyes. All because I loved you enough to die for you. All because I proved that I'm your very best friend."

The American Indians have a word for friend which loosely translated means, "One who carries my sorrows on his back." If that's the definition of a true friend, then you and I could have no better friend than Jesus Christ. If you've got burdens you are carrying right now, bring it to the Lord who says, "Come to me, you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." If you are unsure of what the future holds for you, bring it to the Lord who says, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." If you are stressed out by the challenges you face in your family, in your job, then come to the Lord who says, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you."

You can be sure that Jesus will help you handle all the problems in your life, because he's already handled your biggest problem. He's taken away your sin. No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, you don't have to be ashamed. You don't have to be afraid-because Jesus Christ has opened his arms to you. Now do you see why there is an invisible banner hanging over the church door that reads "Sinners are welcome here." It's because in Jesus, you and I have found the sinners' very Best Friend. To God be the glory in Jesus' name. Amen.