Worship - Sunday at 10:30AM
Bible Study - Wednesday at 6:30PM
2007-03-04 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church
ATTRACTIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS
Luke 15:1-2
1. Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
2. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
This statement just sounds arrogant, no matter how I try to rearrange the word emphasis. Whenever we look at other people, it's so easy for us to see their faults and problems. It's so easy for us to see their bad habits, and their sinful behaviors. We see what they're doing and we say to ourselves, "I just don't understand why they keep doing those things." We see how destructive their behavior is to others. We see how self-destructive it is, but we just shake our heads and go on. Oh, maybe we'll say a prayer for them, maybe we'll try to reach out to them, but do we "receive" them like Jesus did?
Sinners came to Jesus. They saw something.
How do we act when they come to us, or do they even come to us at all? When "sinners" see me, do they see any reason to come forward, or do they see something worse than they see in themselves?
Jesus knew what the religious-types were murmuring at Him, so He proceeded to give parables about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a prodigal son. I think the arrogance of these scribes and Pharisees prevented the message from getting through. They probably missed out because they pre-judged the people who were coming to Jesus.
Why did Jesus receive sinners? They could see something in Him, something greater than the miracles. They saw righteousness, not Pharisaical self-righteousness (the kind that wouldn't cross the road to help someone in distress - Luke 10:30-37); they saw the righteousness of God. In Jesus, we find righteousness with humility, and that is attractive. They saw righteousness coupled with wisdom from above, as James says...
James 3:17-18
17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
They saw a King who would sit down with regular folks to have a cup of coffee and a doughnut. Not just for show, not ignoring their sin, and not coming down on them in a condescending manner, even though they could plainly see that He was a righteous man.
Jesus receives sinners, and even eats with them (John 8:10-11). Aren't you glad for that today?
Who had the greater sin, those who were coming to Jesus, or those religious-types who stood by and murmured about it?