When someone acts inappropriately in a situation it can bring shame on them and embarrassment to everyone around them. I don’t mean inappropriately in the immoral sense. I mean inappropriately as in a way that’s not fitting to the occasion as in when someone is laughing hysterically at a funeral or when someone weeps uncontrollably at a birthday party. It would be inappropriate to wear flip-flops and shorts to a formal dinner with the president. It is inappropriate when a grouchy great grandmother yells at the children for running around too much on the playground. Each of these settings calls for a specific way of acting and if you don’t “read the room” as they say, you end up looking like a fool and destroying the spirit of the moment.

As Christians we are in danger of not “reading the room”. We evaluate the cultural moment around us and what God is doing in the world and we live in the exact opposite way of what is appropriate. In our text this morning, we’ll see Jesus calling people to live in an appropriate way because he has arrived and because he is saving people from sin.

Main Point – Since Jesus is saving, we must live appropriately

Text – Mark 2:13-22, which can be found on page 786 of your pew Bible

Prayer

I want to take a little time as we begin this sermon to position ourselves in the book of Mark. We want to keep a view of the book as a whole even as we walk through specific passages in it.

I’ve already shown you a very simple outline of the book of Mark which I’ll put up on the screen again for us.

The book has an introduction and a conclusion and is divided into two main sections. The first deals with the Authority of Christ. The second deals with the suffering of Christ.

In the introduction Mark presents for us what this book is going to be about. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. As Jesus begins his ministry we see what his message will be and how he will battle against Satan - “Repent and believe in the gospel”. This is consistent throughout the book.

Next we enter into the portion of the book demonstrating Jesus’ authority. He begins by gathering some disciples then we see 4 consecutive miracle stories - he casts out a demon, he heals a woman with fever, he cleanses a leper, then he heals the lame man as we saw last week. In each of these we saw Jesus has authority.

Last week we began to transition into a new section. I call these the “Why” stories. Look at 2:7, they ask “Why does this man speak like that”. Now jump down to verse 16. At the end of the verse they ask “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Look at verse 18. “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” and again in verse 24, “Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” We have four “Why” stories back to back. The first one provides a nice transition because it is both a miracle story and a “Why” story. In these stories Mark will begin to show us Jesus’ authority over traditions and the law.

Transition - Now that we’ve reviewed a little, I’m going to do things a little bit backwards today and start at the end of the passage first. The last two verses are the most difficult two to understand, but I think they determine how we’re supposed to understand everything that happens prior to them. So I’ll say it again…

Main Point – Since Jesus is saving, we must live appropriately

Read verse 21-22

This appears to be what is called a non-sequitor. A non-sequitor is when you pair two things together as if they have a logical connection, but in reality they have none at all. For instance if I were to say, “You should eat dessert first in the meal, because we all know that rain comes from clouds.” This is a non-sequitor. Yes, rain comes from clouds, but that has nothing to do with eating dessert first. Here Jesus says, “My disciples don’t fast, because a new patch will tear an old garment.” What’s the connection? Is there any at all? It’s tough to see and I’m fairly certain that even the original audience to which Jesus said this probably walked away scratching their heads wondering what on earth he was talking about.

To understand what he’s saying, let’s first clarify the images. He uses two. The first image is about mending a torn garment. We don’t do this often today, but a common way to mend a garment is to place a patch on it. You sew the patch of cloth over the hole and voila there’s no more hole. But you have to be careful about what patch you use. We all know that washed clothes tend to shrink over time. If the garment has already shrunk, but the patch has not shrunk, then over time when the patch does shrink, it will tear up the garment on which it was sewn. So, the moral is to be wise and choose the right patch for the garment.

The next image he uses is one of pouring wine into wineskins. This one is a little less familiar. They would pour wine into wineskins which are containers made out of animal skin and allow it time to ferment. When it ferments the wine expands and stretches the wineskins. If you were to pour new wine into old wineskins that have already been stretched, then when the wine expands and stretches them even more, they will burst open and both wine and wineskin are ruined.

In the first instance we see Jesus reminding them, if you have a patch that hasn’t yet shrunk, you should match it with the appropriate garment. In the second instance we see Jesus reminding them, if you have a wine that hasn’t yet expanded, you should match it with the appropriate wineskin. There is a time and a place for everything. You must evaluate the situation correctly before you start sewing or before you start pouring your wine.

So when I say that the main point of this passage is that we must live appropriately, it’s because that seems to be what these illustrations are driving at. Jesus was calling his listeners to take stock of what is happening. Evaluate the times. Understand the moment. And respond accordingly. If we don’t respond in the appropriate way, it could have disastrous results. The garment is torn and destroyed. The wine is spilled and destroyed. Responding appropriately is key.

I’m worried that many Christians are in severe danger of evaluating the times poorly and responding to them poorly. We are in danger of causing destruction instead of healing.

Now that’s about as long of an introduction you’ll ever hear me tell. But with that in mind, let’s look at the rest of our text and get to our first point.

Point #1 – It’s appropriate to call on sinners because Jesus is saving (vs. 13-17)

Read vs 13-14

This all sounds extremely familiar. Haven’t we seen this before? Jesus is walking by the sea. He passes by someone working and he says, “Follow me”, and that person gets up and follows him. This is practically the exact same story as we saw in chapter 1 when Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John. In their case they were fishing and he called them and in this case Levi is collecting taxes when Jesus calls him. Mark is clearly aware of what he is doing because he uses the word “again” in verse 13. Not all of the 12 disciples will get an origin story like this, but some do. The first case was necessary to set us up for two stories featuring Simon. And this one is necessary to set us up for a story featuring Levi.

Who was Levi? When most people make their list of the 12 disciples Levi is nowhere to be found. And curiously when Mark makes his own list in Mark 3, Levi is nowhere to be found. In the book of Matthew, however, he retells this same story, but instead of a man named Levi it is Matthew himself. It wasn’t uncommon for men to have multiple names in that day. Often they might have a Greek name and also a Hebrew name. This isn’t crucial to the point of the message, but if you were curious, I didn’t want it to distract you.

The most important thing to note about Levi is that he is a tax collector. And tax collectors were intensely hated by the Jews. It’s not because taxes are inherently bad, but it’s because of what these tax collectors represented. The Jews were living in a time when they did not rule themselves. They didn’t have a Jewish system of government that made laws consistent with Jewish beliefs. Rather they were ruled by Romans and had a Roman government that made pagan laws. They hated the Romans. The Jews understandably wanted to rule themselves for both political and religious reasons. But these Roman oppressors prevented them from obeying God in the way they felt they ought. The tax collectors were an extension of the Roman government. They forced the people to support the work Rome was doing even though they hated that work. Levi is an obviously Jewish name. And for a Jew to be working for their enemies, supporting their cause was disgusting. Tax collectors were shameful and hated for these reasons.

And so it’s shocking that Jesus would call one to follow him. And more so with what happens next.

READ Vs. 15-16

Here are these people that all the Jews hate along with some other miscreants of various types and Jesus is sitting with them and enjoying a meal with them. The scribes of the Pharisees are there and they are evaluating the situation. Again, these are the men who are considered the religious leaders of the day. They are seen as the authority on what God says and how people ought to obey him. Honestly, people hate on the Pharisees pretty quickly, but I think we should be a little slower to just write them off as hypocritical losers.

If you’re familiar with the Old Testament you know that God gave his people a law at Sinai through Moses. He told them it’s really important to keep this law so that you get to enjoy my blessings in the land I’m going to give you. The people of Israel almost never keep the law at all. They worship all kinds of idols and participate in all kinds of pagan practices over and over again while ignoring the law. After nearly a thousand years of patience, God punishes them and sends them into exile in Babylon. Everything they have is destroyed. God is gracious though and he brings them back into the land to start over. Eventually, in this go around the Pharisees are formed. And they see themselves as the ones who are going to prevent the Jews from ever disobeying God’s laws again. They will make sure that no idolatry is ever brought back into Israel and God’s laws are kept. And honestly, they’re largely successful. You’ll notice the Jews aren’t worshipping idols anymore in Jesus’ day which was rampant in the Old Testament days. So the Pharisees see themselves as keeping Israel pure.

And when Jesus, who claims to be some sort of teacher of God, is sitting with openly sinful people and with traders who serve Rome, the Pharisees are obviously upset. If they are to keep Israel pure, they cannot allow this type of thing to go on. But Jesus’ response is that they have misevaluated the times and the situation.

READ VS. 17

Jesus is telling them. “Don’t you know what my mission is? Don’t you recognize who I am?” They are not seeing the invisible realities that are as clear as day to Jesus. He is on a mission to call sinners to repentance and remove them from the kingdom of Satan and if he is going to do that he is going to have to spend time with sinners. Notice that word “call” he’s calling sinners. He’s not simply enjoying their company and spending time with them. He’s calling them and I believe from everything Mark has shown us up to this point that it is a clear call for repentance.

The Pharisees however are evaluating the situation wrongly. Their goal is simply to maintain the status quo. They want to keep things as they are essentially forever. They have completely forgotten the fact that they needed someone to come save them. The Old Testament had predicted a Messiah who would save them and here he is doing exactly that, but they missed it.

It’s as if the Pharisees had this mindset that it was time to hide behind the castle walls. Close up the drawbridge. Hunker down. And keep the enemy of sin out as long as possible. Anytime they saw someone venture outside the castle walls they would yell, “You fool! You’re going to get killed and you’re going to get all of us killed.” So when Jesus steps outside the safe zone and ventures toward the unclean and the lost. They yell out “danger! danger!”

But they have misread the situation. Jesus is the commander of the Lord’s armies. Jesus is the one who will not hide safely from the enemy, but is the one who will destroy it altogether. Or to use Jesus’ exact analogy. He’s not going to hide from the sickness, the disease, and the plague like everyone else. He’s going to step out and touch people who have it, because he is the doctor who is called to defeat the disease.

If Jesus was forced back inside the safe walls of the castle it would have been catastrophic. His mission would have failed. Sin would never have been defeated. Misreading what is happening here won’t just make you look silly, it will ruin everything. The way Jesus acted was unexpected, but it was completely appropriate because he knew he was there to save people.

How are you reading the situation we’re in right now? When you consider your goals and plans for this year, when you consider how you’d like to use your free time, when you consider where you’re going to lead your family, are you acting in a way that is appropriate to the times. Is it appropriate to what Jesus is accomplishing in the world right now?

That’s a tough question. How can we know? Consider this. Are we as Christians hiding in our castles or are we outside fighting back the enemy? Jesus is outside the gates. He’s going straight to the sinners and he is calling them. I’m aware that this is a fun and inspiring metaphor. Calling the church to leave the castle and storm the enemy sounds great. But what would that look like practically? Let me make some suggestions.

First, are you praying for the salvation of the lost? Who do you know that is not a believer? Are you praying regularly for them? Are any of these people outside of your own family? Do you have contact with unbelievers? Pray for them. Are you praying for unbelievers outside of your immediate circles? Are you praying for the lost in inner cities? Are you praying for the lost in other countries? If we want to leave our small castle is going to involve first turning our eyes outward to know who is out there and who is in need of saving.

Second, are you drawn to people who are outcasts? Do you see people who are unlike you or are some way unattractive to you and do you recoil from them? Or do you move towards them? This is a completely unnatural action. No one wants to move towards people who make them uncomfortable. But pray that God would grant you the compassion to do this.

Recognize the times. Jesus is actively saving people and rescuing sinners. It is not the time to sit back and maintain everything the way it is. It is not the time to seek comfort and convenience. It’s the time to engage, to pursue those who are sick because Jesus is saving them.

There’s a second way people are acting inappropriately in our text. And Jesus calls them to turn around again.

Point #2 – It’s appropriate to call on Jesus because Jesus is saving (vs. 18-22)

READ Vs. 18

Here’s another “Why” question. Why aren’t you fasting? Fasting is the act of giving up food for a certain period of time in order to devote yourself to prayer. It tends to be a somber time when you plead deeply with God for him to act. It’s rather uncommon today, but in this time it was typical religious practice. In fact the Pharisees would fast two days a week: Mondays and Thursdays. And we know from the other gospels that they made sure everyone knew they were fasting. They would put on sad faces and look disheveled and go about, “Woe is me, I’m fasting. I’m so devoted to God.” This frequency of fasting was seen as the height of religion.

But Jesus’ disciples don’t fast. He never instructs them to do so. Why aren’t they engaging in this important act? Let’s see Jesus’ response.

READ Vs. 19-20

Jesus doesn’t have a problem with fasting. He has a problem with doing it at an inappropriate time. Jesus uses the example of a wedding here. It’s a time of celebration. We think a wedding celebration is pretty long if it goes past midnight, but Jewish weddings would be celebrated for a week at a time. They would sing and dance and laugh. It was the most exciting event that would take place in a community. And it was certainly a time of feasting. There’s something about celebrating that just makes you want to eat lots of food. Jesus views himself as a groom and his disciples are guests at the party. It would in fact be completely inappropriate to fast at a wedding by failing to eat anything and by looking gloomy and disheveled. Instead they should celebrate with Jesus.

The illustration makes sense. It’s fairly simple really. When Jesus is with you, you’re able to celebrate. When Jesus is not with you, you are sad. It’s almost like a message for preschoolers. But why is Jesus’ presence something that makes us happy? Why is the fact that he is here on earth with his disciples a good thing? It’s because Jesus arrives to rescue people. If the rescuer is here, it would be completely inappropriate to fast and mourn as if you’re still waiting.

The point of the fasting was supposed to be asking for God to act. It was supposed to be anticipating the time when God would fight for them. But God was with them and he was fighting for them. Why act as if he wasn’t? I heard another preacher say this, “Any religious form becomes inappropriate when it obscures the point”. The Pharisees thought the goal of fasting was fasting and forgot the goal of fasting was to call on God to arrive. So when God arrived they missed the point.

How often are we also engaged in religious rituals as if they themselves are the point. We read our Bibles as if the goal of reading our Bibles is to read our Bibles. Check. Did it. We attend church as if the point of going to church is simply to go to church. It doesn’t matter what my heart is like after I arrive as long as I do it. We act as if the goal of tithing is to tithe. Meanwhile during all of our religious rituals for their own sake, Jesus is saying, “Hello? The point of all of these is for you to meet me. For you to give your heart to me.” Yes, there are times when each of these acts is right and appropriate. But they are never right or appropriate if they obscure the point. The point is to worship me.”

Church, are you calling on Jesus? Or are you simply doing the rituals while missing him standing in front of you? Our temptation will always be to fall into rituals that make us feel good, as if we’re accomplishing something, but don’t let those things obscure the point.

Jesus is saving sinners. That’s why we go to him. We’re still sinners. We need to be saved. We continue to run to him. He’s the point of all of this. We read our Bibles because our minds need to be transformed by who God is and who he says he is. We go to church to praise God for saving us and because we need the encouragement of Christian brothers and sisters. We tithe because we need God to teach our hearts not to rely on money, but to rely on him. We call on Jesus because he saves sinners like us. Don’t simply engage in ritual, but instead call on Jesus.

If we fail to evaluate the times and we fail to evaluate the condition of our hearts and we fail to see what God is doing in the world, we will act inappropriately. We’ll avoid sinners. We’ll engage in ritual instead of calling on Jesus. But if we recognize that the one who saves sinners and the one who saves us is here. He’s actively defeating sin. We’ll act appropriately.

Prayer