A Grace-Filled Community.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. [0:03] If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village. [0:06] And as always, I’m thankful and grateful to see those of you who either forgot to set your clocks [0:11] or you just took a mulligan and slept an extra hour. [0:16] Everybody’s favorite day of the year, Daylight Savings Time starts today. [0:19] We’ll be thankful for it in a week when it’s not dark at 2.30 in the afternoon.

[0:23] But if you have your Bibles this morning, go ahead and open them to Luke chapter 5. [0:27] We’re going to be starting in verse 27 there this morning. [0:32] We’ve been going through this series on the Gospel-centered community. [0:36] And one trait that seems to be somewhat universal of all people is the desire to be accepted and loved. [0:45] Now I know there are some people who don’t realize that they’re kind of outliers to this. [0:49] You’re just like, I don’t care what anybody thinks about me. I don’t need anybody in my life.

[0:53] But for most people, there is an innate instinct in us that we desire to be accepted. [1:02] And one aspect of the community that we desire is to find people that will accept us and people that will love us. [1:10] Now the issue that many people run into is that with this desire is that it is only available through the Gospel of Jesus. [1:17] When we’re seeking acceptance, when we’re seeking love, [1:20] people are going to look for it in all types of different places, in all types of different ways. [1:25] But one key component of being a follower of Jesus is that we know through God’s Word and because of the resurrection

[1:33] that we have actually found the only source of real acceptance and real love that is available to us. [1:41] But the good news is that it is available. There is real love. There is real acceptance for us in Jesus. [1:48] And in that, we also find another key point. [1:54] And that is acceptance and love through Jesus lead us to realize that we have a need for change. [2:02] We have a need for growth. [2:05] You know, the Bible teaches us that people are not fundamentally good. Why?

[2:11] Well, sin. We are all sinners. And that’s not news to most of us. [2:17] And many of us will even agree with that kind of as an on paper fact. [2:22] Well, obviously, yeah, I’m a sinner. Everybody’s a sinner. This is a struggle that we all have. [2:27] But we have trouble living out the reality of that statement. [2:32] You know, Jesus came with a mission to redeem us from our sin and to transform our lives by the power of his Spirit in our lives. [2:44] But too often, what we want is the type of love and acceptance that doesn’t engage the reality of our need for redemption.

[2:53] While we’ll say in one breath, yeah, I’m a sinner. [2:55] And the very next thought, maybe even subconsciously, you are looking for the type of acceptance and the type of love that isn’t going to call you to deal with your sin. [3:06] It isn’t going to call you to the change that you so obviously need in your life. [3:12] If you didn’t need change, you would not need redemption. [3:17] And because of our kind of default mode to really not desire change and to struggle with change, [3:23] we sometimes think grace should mean that we aren’t challenged.

[3:28] We think grace should mean that we aren’t held accountable. [3:32] We sometimes think that grace should mean that we aren’t prodded to grow by the community that we are in. [3:37] The picture that God gives us of his church in the scriptures, though, tells us that when we enter into the church, [3:44] because Jesus has earned our acceptance, that there begins a journey of change through the mission of the church of Jesus. [3:54] And this is only going to be accomplished by the power of God’s spirit in our lives. [4:00] And this is actually the work of grace in our lives.

[4:05] We don’t deserve forgiveness. None of us do. [4:09] But Jesus earns that forgiveness for us. [4:12] But just as you don’t deserve forgiveness and I don’t deserve forgiveness, I also don’t deserve to grow. [4:23] I don’t deserve that. That’s a grace. [4:27] The ability to grow in my relationship with Jesus is just as much of a grace in my life as the forgiveness that I so long for, [4:36] for the many sin issues that I have in my life.

[4:39] Because God is going to be the one who is empowering us to actually change and grow, because we can’t change ourselves. [4:50] But by his grace, God gives us that ability. [4:54] Now, we’ve talked about a joyful community. We’ve talked about a humble community. [4:58] We’ve talked about a community that is honest and gives us this posture of honesty. [5:04] But that all combines to create a grace-filled community. [5:11] And God so generously offers this to us in his church through the local body of Christ.

[5:17] And so today, what I want to talk about is what does a grace-filled community look like? [5:23] Because it is necessarily going to look different than the way many within the culture around us are going to define [5:32] what they want grace to be about and what they think grace should be based on their definitions of grace. [5:41] And I just want to jump right into it. [5:42] Number one this morning, a grace-filled community must be founded in redemption. [5:48] A grace-filled community must be grounded in redemption.

[5:54] Just the first thing the Gospel tells you. [5:57] You need to be redeemed from your sin. [6:01] And if it is grace from God through the work of Jesus that gives us that redemption, [6:08] then the very first thing that any community that we’re going to build needs to be based on, [6:14] it is by nature that very redemption. [6:18] And because all of us need to be redeemed, none of us are better than the rest.

[6:23] And so that necessarily bleeds over into the grace of Jesus Christ. [6:28] But we have to be careful in that. [6:32] Because sin has distorted our understanding of grace. [6:38] Sin has distorted our understanding of grace. [6:41] In the Scriptures, specifically in the Gospel accounts, we have many narratives of the actions that Jesus had on this earth. [6:48] And one of the best narratives that I find that communicates this reality is in Luke chapter 5.

[6:54] And it starts in verse 27. [6:56] It says this, after Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth, [7:05] and Jesus said to him, follow me. [7:09] And leaving everything, those are three very important words that we can’t overlook. [7:17] And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. [7:23] And Levi made him a great feast in his house.

[7:27] And there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with them. [7:32] And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, [7:35] Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? [7:39] And Jesus answered them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [7:46] I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. [7:53] You know, Luke 5, starting there in verse 27, it contains this amazing narrative of Jesus calling Levi.

[8:00] And if you’re wondering, well, that name doesn’t look familiar. [8:02] This is what Luke calls Matthew. [8:04] Matthew, of course, the author of the Gospel according to Matthew as a tax collector. [8:08] And this is the narrative of Jesus calling Matthew to follow him as his disciple. [8:14] And this narrative gives us this wonderful picture of the grace of God. [8:19] Matthew was a tax collector.

[8:21] And if you kind of have any background in reading the Bible or understanding some of the biblical background, [8:26] you know that tax collectors didn’t have the best reputation. [8:31] Tax collectors weren’t known as being the most honest guys in the rooms. [8:35] They weren’t known as being the friend of the common man. [8:38] These were basically scumbags. [8:41] All right.

[8:42] Tax collectors had bad reputation and they had a reputation that there wasn’t an honest tax collector among the bunch [8:49] just because of the temptation that went along with being a tax collector. [8:54] When you’re a tax collector, it is your job more so than the IRS, because nobody likes them either. [9:00] Sorry if you work for them. [9:02] But more so because what Rome would do, Rome would hire these guys and say, we need this specific amount out of you. [9:10] And so it’s your job to collect it from among the people.

[9:14] And so all over what we’re specifically talking about here is Jerusalem. [9:18] And that whole area around there that Jesus would have walked and talked in and kind of called his disciples towards himself in [9:24] is that they would tell him, we need this amount from you. [9:28] And so this is what we’re going to hold you accountable for as a tax collector. [9:31] Now, the salary that you are to live off of, that’s on a commission basis. [9:37] So anything above and beyond this number, well, that’s yours to keep.

[9:43] So they put no limits. [9:44] They put no restrictions. [9:46] They just said, you give us this. [9:48] You get to keep the rest. [9:50] And so as a tax collector, you’re put in this interesting position. [9:53] How big of a house do I want?

[9:56] Do I want the big one, the mid-sized one or the small one? [10:00] That’s a tight spot. [10:02] And so you live with this temptation that by and large, history tells us they all gave into, [10:08] which is that they’re going to build people out of as much money as they possibly can. [10:13] And so they would, in a sense, rob people blind. [10:17] If I owe Rome $5 in our current money, you’re going to give me $50.

[10:23] And that’s what I’m going to live off of. [10:25] And so you can see these guys garnered a very bad reputation [10:30] because not only were they in charge of taxation, which no one likes, [10:34] but also the commission that they were working off of basically kind of tempted them to be very dishonest [10:40] and very greedy people. [10:43] And in the end, you see the very key thing, though, is that Jesus is not calling someone

[10:50] that would be the marginalized of society in the sense that we tend to think. [10:55] So Jesus kind of has this reputation. [10:57] He’s the friend of sinners and prostitutes, right? [10:59] He’s the friend of gluttons and drunkards, right? [11:01] He’s the friend of the marginalized. [11:03] He’s the friend of the oppressed.

[11:05] Matthew’s not the oppressed. [11:06] Matthew’s the oppressor. [11:09] Matthew is the man holding everybody down. [11:14] And so for Jesus to go to him, in some sense, it challenges the picture that many of us will have of Jesus. [11:23] Is that Jesus is not just going after prostitutes, gluttons and drunkards. [11:26] Jesus is offering grace to the man.

[11:28] And nobody likes the man. [11:31] Jesus goes to Matthew. [11:33] And what does he say?

[11:37] He says, follow me. [11:39] He looks to Matthew. [11:40] Immediately shows him grace. [11:43] This is a picture of Jesus offering new life to Matthew. [11:49] Now, because of the rest of the narrative in the gospel accounts, [11:52] we know that Matthew then would go on to live a life of following Jesus.

[11:58] And the request that Jesus makes of Matthew is no simple request. [12:03] Matthew is literally leaving his old life behind. [12:06] He will follow Jesus and leave his old life.

[12:10] So he looks at Matthew and he says, follow me. [12:12] And Matthew doesn’t look at him and say, give me a minute. [12:16] I gotta finish, save my file. [12:19] I gotta get this all under control. [12:21] I got some stuff to work out, Lord.

[12:24] See, when Jesus tells us, and he necessarily has, follow me. [12:32] So many times we tend to respond with a reaction of next week, next month, next year. [12:41] I’ve got to work this out. [12:43] I’ve got to work that out. [12:45] I’ve got to get around to healing my inner child and get over the burdens that my upbringing has given me. [12:51] And only then will I be able to follow you, Lord.

[12:54] I’ve got to unload all of the baggage from the life that I’ve been living. [12:58] I need to follow you, Lord. [13:00] Put yourself in Matthew’s shoes. [13:02] The despised of Israel, the tax collector. [13:08] No one has a nice thing to say about him. [13:11] He’s bilking everybody for everything that he can.

[13:15] And a rabbi from the Jewish community, the one that’s been pointing at him, comes up to him and says, [13:23] hey, you, follow me. [13:25] Matthew doesn’t say, oh my goodness, a rabbi having that type of authority over me, I’m triggered. [13:31] He says, I need to go to my safe space. [13:36] I need to work some of this stuff out. [13:39] I can’t believe you’re calling me to this type of obedience.

[13:45] How often do we respond like that?

[13:49] Lord, I will once I get this worked out. [13:52] Lord, I will once I get this going right in my life. [13:57] That’s not the call that Jesus gives Matthew. [13:59] That’s not the grace that Jesus shows Matthew. [14:02] The grace is found in two words. [14:05] Follow me.

[14:06] And it says, Matthew got up.

[14:11] And the specific words in the original language are accurate here. [14:15] He left everything.

[14:22] It’s a high call. [14:23] It’s a hard call. [14:26] See, friend, it challenges my understanding of grace and how I apply the grace of the Lord to my life. [14:31] Because understand that grace gives you the motivation and power to fight your sin. [14:40] It does not give you the motivation or permission to sit in your sin.

[14:48] That’s what says Matthew was doing. [14:50] He’s sitting in his booth, waiting for the next guy to pass through the gate so that he can tax him. [14:56] And he’s not allowed to sit there any longer. [14:58] He’s not allowed to be a thief anymore. [15:01] He’s not allowed to oppress. [15:03] He’s not allowed to make excuses when confronted with the king and kings.

[15:07] And the Lord of lords is the son of God, Jesus. [15:10] And we might say, well, of course, but I mean, come on. [15:13] Jesus is standing right in front of him. [15:16] If that happened to me, that would be the same thing. [15:18] But understand, this is before the resurrection. [15:22] Matthew, the scriptures don’t tell us Matthew had some kind of special revelation in that moment.

[15:27] All Matthew had was the same grace that you have. [15:30] And you have it on the other side where you know that Jesus has died for your sin. [15:34] You see the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [15:37] You know, Jesus’s body isn’t there. [15:39] And by all accounts and all evidence, there’s no explanation that meets any historical test that could say Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. [15:47] Everything points to the fact that he did rise from the dead.

[15:49] And that same savior with more evidence stands and looks at you and he says, follow me. [15:55] Follow me. [15:57] It’s a hard call. [15:59] Puts on Matthew. [16:01] And this is where our comprehension of grace must change. [16:05] Grace is the gift of life in Jesus is reconciliation to a new relationship with God in which he does not hold your sin against you.

[16:16] You are free from condemnation in sin. [16:19] And that freedom is to a new life in which your sin is not holding you down so that you are free to follow Jesus unhindered. [16:31] Shame gone. [16:33] Guilt no longer the burden. [16:36] Sin no longer the baggage. [16:39] Justice for everything that’s been done by you, everything that’s been done to you, everything that’s been done through you.

[16:45] Justice has been had for your sin. [16:50] And Jesus, in light of that, says, what do you do with your freedom? [16:52] Follow me.

[16:55] By all biblical accounts, we see that Matthew never returned to his tax booth. [17:03] He never returned to his old life. [17:06] His story was that he was sick and he met the physician with the cure.

[17:16] My friend, my next term may offend some of you, and I could have found a more offensive one, but I decided to stick with this one. [17:25] But I didn’t think anything described what I want to say right here in this term. [17:30] Grace doesn’t allow you to sit in your crap.

[17:35] Grace doesn’t allow you to sit in your crap. [17:40] Imagine a parent is on the news and, you know, after five days, the child is found with a diaper that they’ve had on all week, and they’re just covered in their own filth and excrement. [17:52] Every single one of you is going to respond, at least the decent ones are going to respond. [17:57] It’s terrible. [17:58] Get that child out of that situation. [18:01] Get a new diaper on that child.

[18:03] I mean, some of you have like a buzzer going off and new mothers a lot like this. [18:07] You got a buzzer going off every half hour and you’re changing that diaper like clockwork, man. [18:11] You don’t even want dead skin cells in the diaper. [18:15] They need a clean one. [18:16] That’s really expensive, by the way. [18:17] That’s a lot of money on diapers.

[18:18] But the reality is, is you understand this mental picture that sitting in your own excrement is not what you should do. [18:26] It’s not decent. [18:28] But that’s oftentimes the reality of what we want God to do for us.

[18:34] We want to be honest about our sin.

[18:37] We’re cool with being transparent about our sin. [18:40] We’re being cool being authentic about the fact that we are sinful.

[18:47] But then we say, I’m just going to return to it.

[18:52] I’m just going to go back. [18:54] For that is not the grace that God gives to us. [18:58] But this is how some of us attempt to view our grace.

[19:03] The story of Matthew and every other Christian through the ages is what Paul wrote in Titus, Chapter three, starting in verse five. [19:11] He says this is Jesus saved us not because of works done by us and righteousness, but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. [19:23] Whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior.

[19:30] So being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [19:37] See the picture there, the regeneration, the renewal, the washing. [19:42] He’s saying he takes you out of your sin. [19:45] He cleanses you from it. [19:47] And then he gives you a new hope and a new life in which you are to walk in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. [19:56] So it’s saying it’s saying Jesus saves.

[20:00] And he saves fully. [20:01] He saves wholly. [20:04] And Matthew is redeemed by Jesus to enter into a community that is all about redemption. [20:12] When you think about the community that Matthew walks in for the next few years, it is the most joyful, the most humble, the most honest and the most grace filled community that exists, a community of the disciples of Jesus.

[20:30] And because of that, Matthew doesn’t keep oppressing people.

[20:36] Because Matthew is realizing his calling. [20:39] Matthew is walking in the new life that Christ has given him. [20:45] He doesn’t sit at his booth and inflate taxes, then go sit in a group once a week and be transparent about his sin, but keep returning to it.

[20:57] So we often do. [20:59] Matthew gets grace to fight and follow Jesus. [21:05] As we said last week, understand it is OK to not be OK, but it is never OK to stay that way. [21:13] It’s never OK to stay that way. [21:16] This is the theme of an honest community. [21:19] This is where Jesus finds Matthew.

[21:21] And as long as he was in this life, Matthew was not perfect.

[21:27] But he was growing. [21:30] He was changing. [21:31] He grew to follow, love and obey Jesus and is then privileged to write the gospel according to Matthew, the Holy Spirit penning the words of God through him.

[21:48] Matthew lived a story of redemption from sin, not redemption to sin. [22:00] And that same calling that Matthew had on his life is the same calling that God puts on your life. [22:07] Understand, number two, this morning, biblical community confronts wrong beliefs and actions.

[22:15] It’s a work of grace. [22:17] That community confronts our wrong beliefs and actions.

[22:22] Unchecked sin will hinder the flow of grace in a community. [22:28] You look in verse 30 and it’s pretty obvious the Pharisees didn’t understand what Jesus was doing. [22:35] They didn’t get it. They didn’t grasp it. [22:37] They looked to Jesus and grumbled at him about the community and the company that he is keeping in that present time. [22:44] But I have to tell you, if they understood what Jesus was doing, maybe they wouldn’t have grumbled so much. [22:52] Matthew is not far removed from his tax collecting situation.

[22:56] But in verse 28, it’s recorded that he left everything and followed.

[23:02] Left everything is how redemption works. [23:07] Your identity is replaced by Jesus’s identity.

[23:13] And the grace of God is so beautiful because it makes beauty out of ashes, the word tells us. [23:19] But the beauty emerges from the ashes. [23:23] It doesn’t settle back into the ashes.

[23:29] When the Pharisees come and they ask Jesus, why are you eating with tax collectors and centers?

[23:36] Jesus’s answer.

[23:39] Is the only answer. [23:41] Jesus looks and he says, understand that the sick.

[23:48] They’re going to stay sick until they meet the physician with the cure.

[23:54] You see, there’s a wrong way to read this story, and it’s the way many within our culture read the story.

[24:01] You see, they have the wrong view of grace, and I think Jesus is just surrounding himself with a group of centers to kind of flick off the Pharisees that are in the crowd and say, all you dirty Pharisees, I’m surrounding myself with all the people that you’re marginalizing, all the people that you’re hating. [24:15] And they’re just going to stay that way. [24:17] And they get this picture that Jesus running his fingers through the hair of the sinners. [24:21] And he’s saying, oh, it’s OK for you to stay this way. [24:24] Nothing’s expected. [24:25] My grace is totally forgiving.

[24:27] It’s just totally accepting. [24:29] It’s totally keeping. [24:30] It’s completely unconditional. [24:31] I’m never going to ask you to change who you are. [24:34] That is not the answer that Jesus gives.

[24:39] Jesus gives an answer of hope. [24:42] It’s not about surrounding yourself with the bad to shock the good people of religion.

[24:49] What Jesus is doing is he’s surrounding the sinners with his hope. [24:53] Because Jesus is the physician. [24:56] Note that Jesus had both the thieving, powerful and the guilty oppressed surrounding him because he was confronting all of the sin of society. [25:08] Every single one of them. [25:09] He didn’t want anything off base. [25:11] That’s why so many were uncomfortable with Jesus.

[25:13] Every aspect of society is confused because Jesus isn’t just surrounding himself with one type of sinner. [25:19] It isn’t just prostitutes and glutton’s around him. [25:21] Jesus has the oppressors in the same room with them. [25:26] And they’re having a good old time.

[25:30] Jesus is saying, there’s much to celebrate because the physician has come to confront and to heal the sin. [25:40] You see, friends, sometimes when we gather, there needs to be a focus on getting our sin to the cure of Jesus.

[25:48] It’s not enough to gather the sinners into gracious community. [25:52] Many try this.

[25:55] Oh, let’s just show unconditional love, unconditional acceptance, unconditional everything to everybody. [26:01] And we’ll gather them into community one another. [26:03] And it’ll be a community marked by this wonderful grace where nobody’s ever called to be any different than they really are. [26:08] And everybody’s just following their own notes.

[26:16] Jesus is saying you’re missing the second half of the story. [26:19] You’re missing the physician with the cure. [26:22] They actually need to receive the medicine of grace.

[26:27] They actually need to understand that it is grace that changes. [26:32] So where the Pharisees were wrong was that they wanted religious appearance, but Jesus wanted to heal at the core. [26:43] You see, to remove condemnation through grace does not leave a hollow core. [26:48] It confronts us and it fills us with the hope that Jesus forgives. [26:53] And then it fills us with the hope for growth in Jesus. [26:57] It fills us with the hope that Jesus will be a good man to us.

[27:00] See, in Titus chapter two, Apostle Paul again tells us what happens when the physician has physician has visited you. [27:09] He says that Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself, for his own possession.

[27:21] A people who are as zealous for good works.

[27:26] See, zealous for good works equals zealous for growth, zealous for change that God calls us to by his strength. [27:38] You see, Jesus has a passion for righteousness. [27:41] And when he heals, he gives us that same passion. [27:46] So that does not give us a community of floundering and saturating just in our I’m just a sinner.

[27:58] Friends, no, it gives us a much greater vision than that. [28:01] It gives us a zealous desire to grow.

[28:07] See, in Ephesians chapter four, this type of community is described again by the Apostle Paul. [28:13] And he says, Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. [28:21] Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. [28:24] Give no opportunity to the flesh. [28:26] Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. [28:36] Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear.

[28:46] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [28:51] Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. [28:58] Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another. [29:02] Has God in Christ forgave you? [29:07] It’s interesting what you see there. [29:09] Lies are traded for truth.

[29:13] Anger is traded for forgiveness. [29:17] Stealing is traded for generosity.

[29:21] Corruption is traded for building up. [29:25] Malice is traded for kindness. [29:28] Why? [29:29] Because Jesus forgives. [29:33] You see, friend, the sick need to repent of what is making them sick. [29:39] Grace-filled community offers that environment.

[29:43] Community must be a place where acceptance in Jesus is championed and where falsehood is always confronted with the hope of truth and light of Jesus. [29:57] A few days ago, I was reading in the newspaper, and I read this story from somewhere in the country where this young woman was nine months pregnant and she was struggling through addiction. [30:10] She was basically a junkie and something was going wrong at very close to the date when she would actually deliver the baby. [30:18] And that tends to happen when drugs are involved. [30:20] She was in a house with her friend and her friend, not knowing what to do, calls 911 so that an ambulance will come to the house. [30:28] And while she knows that the authorities are coming, she looks to her friend and says, I need you to give me one more hit.

[30:36] I can’t do it for myself. [30:38] You’ve got to do it for me. [30:42] You see, friends, so often our vision of grace is, yeah, I’ll deal with it. [30:49] But I can’t do it right now, even though I know it would make me healthy, even though I know even to the next generation, it’s going to give me the cure for what is absolutely killing me. [31:03] And no one would look at that situation and say the answer for her was to return to her drugs.

[31:11] But so often that is how we treat our own sin. [31:14] And sometimes we are even guilty of treating the sin of others that way. [31:19] See, friends, in a culture that is absolutely dying because it proclaims this type of love that would never call us to change who we think we are, how we think we identify ourselves. [31:34] It does not need us to pacify the call to what is real love, the call to what is real acceptance, because it’s not unconditional acceptance and love that God offers us. [31:45] If it was, the gospel would be a moot point. [31:48] The gospel would be necessary.

[31:49] But instead, the Father calls us to get up and follow him.

[31:56] Give voice to the reality that we in our community must confront wrong actions and wrong beliefs. [32:06] And that is the pathway of grace. [32:09] There isn’t another one that Jesus brought us. [32:13] There’s number three this morning. [32:14] Understand that Jesus defines acceptance and forgiveness. [32:18] I don’t.

[32:21] I don’t get to define that. [32:24] Neither do you. [32:27] We’re trying. [32:29] We want to. [32:31] So many will tell us that we should define it for ourselves. [32:35] Well, I don’t know what acceptance is for you.

[32:38] What do you think acceptance is? [32:40] What do you think forgiveness needs to be based on? [32:43] What do you see your identity in? [32:45] Jesus doesn’t give us that as an option. [32:49] What Jesus does through his grace is give us a new set of desires and abilities. [32:57] You see, verse 32 tells us the vision that Jesus had for sinners.

[33:03] Jesus calls sinners to repentance.

[33:07] You know, sinners need Jesus. [33:10] And when you meet Jesus, he calls you to come to him. [33:14] He calls you out of the life that is destroying you to life saving grace that will change everything.

[33:23] Change everything. [33:26] He says, turn from your sin and follow me. [33:28] That is the plea of Jesus. [33:30] And there isn’t another one. [33:33] Loving people is about seeking their good. [33:37] Because of that, we aim them towards God as the ultimate good.

[33:41] And when we tell them the truth, when we show them acceptance and give forgiveness, it is not about us or them as the source of acceptance and forgiveness. [33:52] It is about getting them to God. [33:56] So if I define acceptance and forgiveness by anything other than how God defines it, I am not loving them at all.

[34:08] I am not showing them the ultimate good.

[34:13] I am pacifying their sin. [34:16] Our task as followers of Jesus is to stoke the desires and abilities that Jesus gives into our lives through redemption so that people can grow.

[34:30] Because sometimes we have this picture of Jesus just immersing himself into a community of sinners, listening to their prayers and saying, hey, it’s okay.

[34:41] You’re fine just the way you are. [34:44] Oh, you’re not as bad as you think you are. [34:47] I think you’re pretty good. [34:50] That’s not the grace that Jesus ever offered. [34:53] And it’s still not the grace that Jesus offers. [34:56] He is the physician that is here to heal us and turn us away from what is destroying us.

[35:05] That is the community that he builds. [35:09] Because, friend, the community forms more fully. [35:13] As we grow in obeying Jesus. [35:17] That’s what’s going to continue to build our community is what real grace is, what real love is. [35:23] Galatians six gives us a wonderful description of what this looks like in community. [35:28] Here’s what the apostle writes.

[35:29] He says, Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. [35:38] Keep watch on yourself. [35:40] Let’s you to be tempted. [35:41] Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. [35:45] For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. [35:50] Paul was so nice.

[35:54] But let each one test his own work. [35:57] And then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. [36:02] For each will have to bear his own load.

[36:08] Note what Jesus is saying here through the apostle Paul. [36:13] He’s saying this isn’t somebody that comes to you and confesses sin in community. [36:17] This is someone that is caught. [36:21] This is someone who’s been had. [36:23] This is someone who is seen in their sin. [36:27] He says, When that happens, restore him.

[36:34] I don’t say make him feel better about his situation.

[36:37] I don’t say pacify his grief and guilt. [36:41] He says, You do the hard work of confronting him in his sin. [36:44] You do the hard work of calling him to repentance. [36:46] You do the hard work of giving him a pathway forward under what is biblical church discipline. [36:52] As Jesus has showed us that. [36:54] And then your goal is to restore him to growth in Jesus.

[36:59] You do not leave someone in their filth. [37:05] You say, Oh, that’s okay. Be in that filth. [37:07] You say, Get out of the filth.

[37:12] You do it in a spirit of gentleness. [37:13] But note the warning.

[37:17] He says, You better watch yourself.

[37:21] Because if you don’t, you are going to be tempted in the same way.

[37:26] You better not think that you are something. [37:29] You better not think that you are above the fray. [37:32] You better not think that in a moment you can’t send just like everybody else. [37:38] Because when you do that, you’re lying to yourself.

[37:43] You’re deceiving yourself. [37:45] And he says, Let each one test his own work.

[37:50] Because when you stand before God.

[37:55] When you give an account for the fact that Jesus has looked you in the eyes and Jesus has said, Follow me.

[38:03] Matthew couldn’t look at Jesus and say, Oh, but these Jews, they’ve been so hard on me. [38:08] I’m just trying to make a living. [38:10] I’ve got two mortgages to pay. [38:12] I’ve got child support over here. [38:14] You don’t understand how hard it is to be me.

[38:18] Matthew couldn’t say, Oh, but look at these other people over here. [38:22] They’re the ones that caused me to live the life that I’m living. [38:25] It’s their fault. It’s everybody’s fault. [38:27] It’s not my fault. [38:28] And Paul says, You will bear your own burden.

[38:34] You can’t blame your brothers and sisters. [38:36] You can’t blame your parents. [38:38] You can’t blame your kids. [38:39] You can’t blame your spouse. [38:40] You can’t blame your pastor. [38:42] You can’t blame your community group leader.

[38:43] You can’t blame anyone. [38:45] Let each one bear his own load.

[38:53] It’s Jesus that is calling you.

[38:59] It is Jesus that looked to Matthew and he said in Ephesians 4, Let the thief no longer steal.

[39:08] And he said, It’s not enough for you to just stop it. [39:11] He said the thief needs to get a job and then learn to be generous with his money [39:16] because deep down what he’s struggling with is that he’s selfish. [39:20] And instead of stealing to consume and rip people off, [39:24] now you’re going to learn what it is to give of yourself to others. [39:28] He didn’t leave Matthew hollow.

[39:30] He gave him a new mission. [39:32] And that is what we offer to people through the gospel. [39:37] We offer forgiveness and love to grow. [39:40] We want to restore every person. [39:44] And grace is what makes us whole. [39:47] We are gentle in bearing one another’s burdens in order to help them flee temptation.

[39:53] We are honest about weakness so that we can know how to repent and trust the grace of Jesus more. [40:00] Jesus defines the terms. [40:03] We are not enablers. [40:06] We are not building a codependent network.

[40:10] Instead, we are building a community that equips each person to grow [40:14] so that in the end we can bear our own weight. [40:19] Why would we need to bear our own weight? [40:21] Because it is only in bearing your own weight that you can offer hope to more and more people outside of yourself. [40:29] Why did Matthew need to bear his own weight? [40:31] Because it wasn’t just that he needed to stop stealing,

[40:33] it’s that he needed to learn to be generous to other people. [40:37] Because that is the vision of Jesus. [40:40] That is what grace-filled community does. [40:43] It strengthens each person through the hope of Jesus Christ. [40:49] Because when Jesus gives of himself through the cross and the resurrection, [40:54] into your life,

[40:59] he’s calling you to grow.

[41:02] Friends, understand this morning as the band comes forward

[41:07] that the Son of God has come.

[41:11] That the Son of God has lived. [41:14] The Son of God has died. [41:16] And the Son of God has risen again. [41:18] And he has risen again so that he can look at every single person in this crowd. [41:25] So he can look at you personally. [41:29] And he can call you to the same thing that he called Matthew to.

[41:33] And understand this morning that the Savior, the Lord of the world is doing this. [41:37] He’s looking you in the eyes and he’s saying two words.

[41:42] Follow me.

[41:45] And the question that I cannot answer for you, [41:48] the response that I cannot give, [41:51] you have to give it. [41:54] Is will you?

[41:57] Will you leave the life of sin? [42:00] Will you leave the baggage that you’re clinging to? [42:03] Will you leave the rebellion against God? [42:06] Will you leave that stuff that you’re sitting in? [42:10] And saying I can’t get up. [42:13] Will you under the power of the Holy Spirit get up and stop making excuses?

[42:19] Will you follow Jesus? [42:23] His grace is sufficient.

[42:27] His power is yours.

[42:30] You see, every week we partake of the Lord’s Supper. [42:35] The bread represents the broken body of Jesus. [42:38] The cup represents his shed blood. [42:41] And when we eat and when we drink, [42:44] we proclaim to everyone around us, [42:47] this is a picture of the life of Jesus Christ entering my life.

[42:53] And this is me saying, yes, Lord, [42:56] I will follow you.

[43:02] Friend, this morning, as we partake communion, [43:04] the tables in the front and the tables in the back, [43:07] he’s calling. [43:09] He’s saying, follow me. [43:12] If you’ll follow him, come. [43:14] Eat, drink, proclaim the death of your Savior.