No Perfect People

This Past Sunday, I began a new series called "No Perfect People Allowed". This is the first message in the series.

Let me know what you think...

PN

            Have you ever had a bad church experience? Have you ever walked into a church only to wish that you could turn around and walk right back out?

ILLUSTRATION- I have.

Several years ago, while attending Kingswood University (the school formerly known as Bethany Bible College) one of my class assignments was to attend a church that I normally didn’t attend and critique it.

Beth and I had just begun dating, so she accompanied me to this certain church. It was my first time at this church; I didn’t know anyone at all.

I wish I could tell you that my first time experience was wonderful, but it wasn’t. It was awful. Only one person said hello, only one person shook my hand.  

I don’t remember much of my visit to that church that day, but I do remember that it was awful. That particular church got a less that stellar report from me.

Churches can be pretty scary for a lot of people. You don’t know what to expect. You assume everyone knows everyone. You don’t know the secret codes—and all churches have secret codes.

You don’t know what to wear; you don’t even know where to sit.

ILLUSTRATION- In my first pastorate, I was told that a first time visitor had come to our church and chose a place to sit.

            When a regular attender of that church arrived, they walked over to the exact place that this first time visitor was sitting and said: “You’re in my seat.” 

            The first time visitor picked up their belongings and walked out the door and they haven’t been to church since.

            So, folks, please repeat after me: “This isn’t my seat. Anyone can sit here. I can sit anywhere.”

            Often people have this strange notion that we have to “fix ourselves up” before going to church.

            Or that only good people go to church.

            Or only the “really religious people”.

            Or wealthy people.

ILLUSTRATION- You wouldn’t believe how many times I hear this line when I invite someone to church: “Oh, I could never go. The roof would cave in if I ever walked in that place.”

            Somehow we have given people the idea that only good people can attend church.

Some churches, and some church people, make outsiders think that they have to be “good enough” in order to attend.

            Some churches, and some church members, aspire to the “Behave, Believe, Belong” mentality.

            If people walk into church for the first time, the people who are already inside the church expect first-timers visitors to behave like the “rest of us.”

            Then if you behave like the rest of us, you’ll believe like us and then you’ll finally belong to us.

            But this is backwards thinking.

It should be Belong, Believe and Behave.

            You see, I believe that when someone walks in the doors of MRWC,  they should instantly know that they belong.

            It doesn’t matter what they’ve done, who they are, or what they look like, if they come to our church, we have a responsibility to make people feel like they belong.

            People want to belong to something. This need to belong has been pre-wired into our psyche. We long to belong.

This is what everyone wants to know when they walk through the doors of a church for the first time. “Do I belong?”

            When people finally find a church that makes them feel like they belong, they will want to believe.

            They will begin to accept the truth about Jesus. People will begin to connect with God in a way that wasn’t possible before.

            After they believe, the Holy Spirit will help people Behave.

        People will start reading God’s word. People will want to join a Life Group; people will talk to God more and more.

            The pattern is I want to feel that I Belong, then I’ll Believe, and then I’ll Behave.

            If you look at the pattern of Jesus’ ministry—who He chose to spend His time with-- Jesus made sure to let them know that they belonged to God’s family first.

            Jesus opened the door on grace, and declared that the Kingdom of God is for everyone.

            Take Matthew chapter 9 for example.

            “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.

¹¹ But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”

¹² When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”

¹³ Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13, NLT2)

Matthew is giving us an inside look at his life before He met Jesus. He doesn’t try to cover up something or hide anything.

ILLUSTRATION-- There was a period in my life, when I would cover up all the bad parts of my life, and embellish the good parts when I was talking to someone “important”.

            Not Matthew. He hangs all of his dirty laundry out on the line for all to see. “Look” he says, “at what I was before I met Jesus.”

            Matthew meeting Jesus at his tax collector’s booth was like a drug dealer meeting Jesus in the alley... it’s off the charts.

            Now, before we go any further, we need to understand the nature of a tax collector in Jesus’s day.

            Rome was taking taxes from everyone. Anyone could go to Rome and buy the rights to take taxes in a region; just like you can go to Tim Horton’s Corporate HQ and purchase the rights to set up a Timmy’s on any particular corner.

            Rome had a certain tax rate and tax collectors could put their own surcharge on top of it and make whatever amount they wanted.

            Everything was taxed. If it moved; tax it. If it breathed; tax it. If it slept; tax it. Nothing was hidden from the tax man.

            When a Roman official came to town and set up a tax shop, he wasn’t the most popular person in the room.

            Rome even went as far as recruiting Jews to take taxes from other Jews. Who better to take taxes from people, than one of your own?

            This is Matthew. Betraying his own people; his own nation. He was an outcast.

            It’s interesting to note that the New Testament had two classes of people. “Sinners” and “tax collectors”. That’s how much tax collectors were despisedàthey were in a category all by themselves.

            Then Jesus walks by. The Holy Son of God, the Only Perfect Person to have ever walked the earth, walks right up to Matthew and says: “…Follow me.”

(Matthew 9:9b, NIV)   

            This verse right here tells me that Jesus will go there. He will go to the darkest places in our lives. He will touch that untouchable thing in your life.

He will go to great lengths to bring you back from the grave. Jesus will go there; He will take you no matter what.

ILLUSTRATION-- Roberto Alomar was probably the best 2^nd baseman to have ever played for the Toronto Blue Jays.

            He won a total 10 gold gloves, more than any other 2^nd baseman in the history of MLB. But what Roberto is most famous for is the “incident”.   

            On September 27, 1996, during a game against the Blue Jays, Alomar got into a heated argument over a called third strike with umpire and spat in his face. (Wikipedia)

            One single incident changed his career forever. One moment of poor judgment, one moment of rage, overshadowed an otherwise stellar career. 

            Friends: Jesus knows all about your one moment of rage. Jesus knows all about that stupid mistake that you’re still kicking yourself for.

            Jesus knows everything you’ve ever done, and He is still calling out to you; He is still asking you to follow Him.

            So, what happens when Jesus meets us where we are? Well, look at verse 10:

“Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.” (Matt.9:10, NLT2)

            This is what happens when Jesus meets us where we are.

       This is what happens when Jesus invades our space. We tell other people about what He has done for us, what He is doing in us.

            When Matthew found Jesus, he couldn’t wait to introduce others to Jesus. Even the Pharisees picked up on this fact: 

“When the Pharisees saw (that Jesus was eating with sinners) this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” (Matthew 9:11, NLT2)

If you’re life has been changed by Jesus you should be telling others about it. Mathew invited outsiders into His home because He knew that Jesus would love them.

You can invite your friends to come to Jesus, because He will love them too. You should be able to invite your friends to this church, because Jesus is here and He will love them.

Notice that Matthew didn’t approach God, God approached Matthew.

God approached Matthew because God is good and Matthew wasn’t.

God comes to us because of our need. He comes to us; where we are—not because of who we are, but because of who He is.

We’ll never be good enough to approach God. But we can come as we are because God will go anywhere to redeem His children.

What often happens is that we don’t feel worthy to approach God. The irony of it all is that we are not worthy to approach God. That’s why we need Jesus.

Jesus approached Matthew because Matthew needed to be approached. Jesus is approaching you, because you need to be approached.

You need God to go there in your life. You need Someone who can chase you down that dark alley. You need someone who will go to great lengths to bring you home. 

God doesn’t call perfect people; in fact, it’s almost as if God is saying “no perfect people allowed.”

Jesus said: “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” (Matthew 9:12a, NLT2)

“…I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Matthew 9:13b, NLT2)

God has come to find those of us who aren’t good enough. Those who will never be good enough.

God will go places you’d never thought imaginable. God will go to great lengths to bring you home, because His grace is enough.

God wants you to come as you are and leave transformed. He wants to change you from the inside out.

The truth is friends, there is no such thing as a perfect church. There is, however, a perfect God. This Perfect God calls imperfect people to follow Him.

Have you, are you following this perfect God? Have you given up your “tax collector’s” booth in order to follow Jesus?

Maybe you’re not all that sure about leaving everything and following Jesus, as Matthew did.

Maybe you’ve been hurt by the church one too many times. I want you to know that it’s ok to kick God’s tires. It’s ok to question God.

He can, He will go there with you. He will, and He can, if you are honestly searching after Him, call you, as He called Matthew.

There is no such thing as a perfect church. Why? Because I’m in it; because you’re in it.

There is, however, a perfect God who will go anywhere to prove His love for you. Even if you happen to be a tax collector.