Let the Shepherd Lead

Intro:

• As a little boy, before school started we would come to the blue jean outlet in Pacolet.
  • We had to perform an important test with every pair of pants that we tried on.
  • We had to perform the squat test.
  • With the new jeans on, my mom would ask me to squat and see if they were too tight or if they worked.
  • Little did I know it but by performing that test, I was being a pragmatist.
  • I was basing my decisions on whether the jeans worked.
• If you listen to most of the experts in church growth and revitalization they will say something like this.
  • Reaching people today is not the same as what worked in the 1950s.
  • The 50s methods will not work today. We have to change if we are going to reach people today. We have to utilize methods that work.
  • So, most of these experts in a consultation will advise putting up screens, taking away hymns in favor of praise songs, and veil the message amid cool graphics or the pastor and worship teams’ modern attire and cool glasses.
  • If we will just do what works, they promise our success.
• Friends, such counsel is better known as pragmatism.
  • Pragmatism is “an approach that assess the truth of meaning of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application.”
  • In other words our beliefs are only true if they work.
  • For Christians and Baptists practicing pragmatism, they might say that our beliefs and methods are true and right so long as an increasing number of people are baptized or become members of the church.
  • The greatest danger of pragmatism is that it teaches that what is true and right today may not be true and right tomorrow if the methods and beliefs no longer work.

Hook:

• Consider if the Reformers had been pragmatists. The early ones like John Wycliffe and John Hus tried to change the Catholic church’s view of salvation a hundred years before Martin Luther. They both faced gruesome trials. Wycliffe died before the trial was over but they dug up his bones burned them and cast them into the river. Hus was burned alive at the stake. Pragmatists would have given up when they saw these horrors.
• Consider friends if the first Baptist missionaries had been pragmatists. William Carey and Adoniram Judson both had to labor and work in their countries for seven years before seeing their first converts. If they had been pragmatists they would surely have given up after year one or two.
• Consider if that person who shared their faith for you had been a pragmatist. The first time they prayed and then shared the gospel with you, and you did not respond to it, if they had been a pragmatist they would have ceased their efforts with you.
• Surely there is something better for us as Christians than pragmatism. Today, I hope to share with you through Christ’s call of two pragmatic disciples how he can give us something better than pragmatism today.

Message Points:

• Mark and Luke introduce us to our first disciple calling Him Levi. In his own gospel and in Acts we read of him as Matthew.
  • Levi was a name well respected among the Jews. Not only was Levi one of the twelve sons of Jacob, but Levi was the tribe to whom God gave the priesthood.
  • The Levites had a checkered past serving God, but among the Jewish people they were revered.
    • Most Levites had a tendency to simply favor what worked best for them. If that meant serving God, they served God. If that meant serving something else, they served that something else.
    • This began in Exodus when Aaron, the Levitical high priest, created the golden calf because the people demanded something to worship.
      • Then upon Moses’ return he condemned worship of the calf and called the Levites to kill all those who worshipped the same golden calf Aaron their leader had created.
      • This was pragmatism at its best, changing to suit the tides of public opinion.
    • While our Levi the disciple did not have to follow in their footsteps he certainly did.
• In Matthew’s gospel in chapter 10:3 this disciple has changed his name, but continues to refer to himself as the tax collector.
  • Tax collectors were a group more despised that the Herodians, the occupying Roman soldiers, and even Gentiles.
  • These men purchased a franchise office from Rome to collect taxes and hired thugs to help them collect. Rome would look the other way if additional “taxes” were collected so long as they were paid.
    • According to John Macarthur, there were two types of offices to purchase.
    • One could purchase a Gabbai office or general tax collector. These offices collected property, income, and poll taxes as assessed by Rome.
    • The other office was a Mokhes office. These offices collected taxes on any commerce moved by a road, and had the freedom to excise as much as they could since Rome did not assess any specific taxes on commerce. Thus the Mokhes were especially hated.
    • Matthew was a Mokhes, seated in a tax booth situated on a local road.
  • Tax collectors were cut off from their families, the synagogue, from temple worship, and held a status as one worse than a Gentile.
  • What would make a Jewish man willingly choose to be separated from society? The allure of success rather than scraping to make a living.
  • When we meet Levi, he has already purchased his own tax franchise, can afford a lavish banquet, no doubt has bodyguards and servants, can read and write which places him in a vast minority in the ancient world, and by every ancient standard has every sign of success.
• Mark tells us that Levi was the son of a man named Alphaeus.
  • Alphaeus is a Greek form of a Hebrew name. It means “successor, transient, exchanges”.
  • Originally the Greek name derived from the name for a river god.
  • Clopas, the Hebrew equivalent of the name Alphaeus also means exchanges. It also has the sense of whole glory, likely referring to the exchanging something for the glory. In a spiritual sense this may be the glory of the Lord.
  • So it seems difficult to ignore the idea that the father of Levi, utilized a Greek name that indicated his willingness to change for glory.
  • Could it be that Levi learned to choose what works from his earthly father?
• The synoptic gospels all tell us that James was also a son of Alphaeus in chapter (see Mark 3:18).
  • While two men may have been name Alphaeus, we know that Jesus was in the habit of calling brothers. He already called Peter and Andrew. He called James and John, sons of Zebedee.
  • In list of the Twelve in Matthew’s gospel and in Acts, Matthew is listed beside James son of Alphaeus.
  • Due to Levi’s choice to become a tax collector, it is likely that he was also estranged from his family. This may explain the indirect connection.
• The only other hint we learn about James is the identity of his mother.
  • Mark 15:40 tells us that at the foot of the cross there were three women named Mary. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mary and the mother of James the Lesser.
  • John 19:25 recounting the same events at the foot of the cross names the last Mary as a sister of the Lord’s mother and as the wife of Clopas – the Hebrew name most closely associated with Alphaeus.
  • If this is true, the James the Lessor most certainly is Jesus’ cousin, and if Levi is his brother, he may be a cousin as well.
  • While James could have made much of this relationship, he chose to do what worked best for him. He shrank into the background, not even as bold as his mother who followed Jesus to the foot of his cross and saw where he was lain.
• Pragmatists like Levi and James follow the allure of what helps them succeed in their own goals.
  • They look for what works.
  • For Levi that meant selling out his people and heritage in order to have the material wealth associated with a tax booth.
  • For James that meant shrinking into the background, seeking the simple life, avoiding the difficulties of a larger, greater role.
  • Even in church today, that means trading away our most important principles and godly traditions in favor of a greater crowd or a more entertaining service.
• That is our 1st Point: A pragmatist asks Jesus to commit to his version of success.
  • If we are honest, all of us initially come to Jesus as pragmatists.
    • As we weigh the account of his life and death, we are like so many of the crowds, are seeking the miracles that immediately benefit us.
    • We do not want Jesus to change us, but want Jesus to merely help us out of our most current problems so that we can get back on our merry way.
    • We formulate our own plans, and expect that Jesus will simply empower us to accomplish them.
  • But friends, this kind of approach to Jesus is not Christianity. Pragmatism is the approach of religious leaders of Jesus’ day.
    • Remember Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee and the Publican in Luke 18:10-14?
      • The Pharisee thanked God for setting him apart from the rabble, and the tax collector begged God for mercy.
      • Jesus said that the tax collector went home justified because “all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
    • Do not be a pragmatist today!
      • Realize that your version of success is not the eternal goal.
      • Doing what works for you will often hurt those around you and hurt our holy God who created you, sustains you, and sent His son to save you.
      • Hurting others, most especially God is sin. When people in our world today hurt others they are punished, so certainly our holy God will punish those who hurt others.
      • Jesus came to pay that penalty for you! But you must ask him, to forgive your sin and cleanse your record.
  • Pragmatism, or choosing what helps you to succeed in, will mean you hurt others, and it will mean settling for a shadow of what your convictions may be. But Jesus offers pragmatist so much more.
• In Mark 2:14, Jesus asked Levi to follow Him.
  • If Jesus was Levi’s cousin, then he would have known every detail of the pain he had caused his aunt and the family personally.
  • As God, Jesus certainly knew the pain Levi’s choice had caused, but Jesus also knew that Levi’s choice did not tell the whole story of this man.
    • Levi was a student of God’s word, and like the tax collector in the parable, tormented by his actions.
    • In his gospel, he quotes from the Old Testament more than all the other gospels combined. He quotes from the Law, Prophets, and Writings which means that he read the entire Old Testament.
    • Banned from the synagogue and the temple, wealthy, and able to read; when Levi collected enough money he must have purchased his own copy of the Scriptures.
    • While everyone else gathered for Sabbath services, he must have quietly pulled out his copy of the Scriptures and read, and Jesus knew this.
    • Jesus knew that Matthew was settling for something far less that what he was convicted to do. So Jesus asked him to follow Him, and in doing so, offered him forgiveness and cleansing.
• Though James may not have thought himself as overtly sinful like Levi, he certainly would have seen himself as small.
  • The name given for James in Mark 15:40 is the Greek word for small or little.
  • James may have been a small man. The adjective could also describe him as being young which is the way the NIV translates this word. It may also refer to his influence or prominence.
  • James had chosen to settle for the background in life. He wanted to be a spectator, not on the field. Likely if you had seen him with any of the crowds following Jesus, he would have been at the back, barely hearing Christ.
  • While some at the calling of the twelve would have been expecting to be chosen, James was not. At best discussing others who were likely candidates to be called as a part of the Twelve.
  • When Jesus called his name, He was offering James the opportunity for once, to abandon the background and follow Christ in the forefront.
  • While the gospels do not record many of his individual acts, we certainly read of his acts with the rest of the apostles. Jesus asked James to follow Him, and in doing so, offered him a new life free from his voluntary isolation and filled with opportunities to serve on God’s team.
• That is our 2ND Point: Jesus ask for a principled commitment to follow Him.
  • A pragmatist will choose to advance his own success. A principled believer will choose to exalt Christ’s success.
  • In our text, we read that the principled commitment of Levi was to turn away from advancing our success.
    • For Levi, this meant turning away from the tax booth, full well knowing that someone else would jump at the chance to own such a lucrative business.
    • It also meant abandoning his former names. From that moment forward he was no longer Levi, but Matthew.
      • Matthew means “learner” or “disciple”.
      • No longer would Matthew choose and live only as it benefitted Him.
      • The name he chose was intended both to communicate, and to remind himself that he was to follow the principles of his master, Jesus Christ.
    • Similarly James could never return to the background or the shadows once he had been highlighted as one of the Twelve.
      • He, like the rest of the Twelve were recognizable.
      • And it did not help him return to obscurity when the Holy Spirit was given to him and he began to preach with power and speak in foreign languages.
      • James could never return to anonymity because he had been with the Lord.
    • And the same is true for each one of us. When we choose to follow Christ, we are making a principled commitment to abandon our own version of success.
      • This does not mean that the Lord will not utilize our impulses and instincts to bring him glory.
      • When our interest is peaked, and our impulses and instincts tell us to make a certain decision we consider our principles before responding.
  • A principled commitment means that we turn towards exalting Christ’s success.
    • We can see this in our text. Matthew’s first instinct was to throw a banquet, invite his friends – who were most definitely sinners.
      • Matthew’s instinct and impulse to have a feast was refined by the principle that inviting people to follow the Messiah exalted Him.
      • Matthew’s principle desire was to see his friends have a relationship with Jesus. Notice in verse 15 that many followed Jesus.
      • This made the Pharisees livid, and they even questioned his disciples.
      • But Jesus said in verse 17, “It is no the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
      • Matthew’s banquet gave Jesus the chance to exalt Jesus’ success.
    • Matthew’s impulse towards reading the Scriptures and perhaps recording the Lord’s words made him the natural candidate to exalt Christ by writing the first gospel.
      • Jesus allowed Matthew to come home to His people, exalting Christ for the rest of his life in Judea for many years.
      • Eventually he travelled to Ethiopia, a longtime friend of Israel since the Queen of Sheba.
      • He exalted Christ there until, according to tradition Matthew was martyred for his faith. Some accounts say he was burned at the stake, others say he was killed by the sword.
    • James like many called of God to serve him did so with humility and always with a focus on exalting Christ.
      • We do not have a gospel written by him, or any major texts in the Scriptures that talk about his individual acts.
      • But we do know from Acts that he, with the rest of the Twelve, received the Holy Spirit, planted the first church in Jerusalem, and ministered and suffered imprisonment to exalt Christ.
      • Tradition tells us that he eventually ministered in Syria and Persia, facing martyrdom there likely by stoning still exalting Christ.

Conclusion:

• Jesus is asking for you to make a principled commitment to Him as well.
  • Jesus is not asking you to perform a “squat test” with him. He does not want you to choose to follow him so long as it works.
  • He wants you to follow him with nothing held back, because you know He alone can forgive and cleanse you.