Jesus is …..

(click the pic to  hear it) Ralph is a good old boy. He is in his late 80’s and he loves Jesus. I visit Ralph in the nursing home and just recently in the hospital. Ralph sits near the front at church and when God touches his heart, his hands come up offering praise to the God he loves. In one of my visits with Ralph I asked him about his soul. More precisely I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said, “yes!” He went on to tell me that a good friend of his invited him to his church in his 20’s. His friend had talked to him about knowing Jesus. When Ralph left this particular evening he was changed man. All his friend did was be his friend and invite him to church. The end of the story is Ralph now worships the only true God and his life was changed for eternity. All because of a friendship. At the end of our conversation, Ralph said, “people are full of sh** if they think they are going to get to heaven without Jesus.” I told Ralph, “I feel the same but I couldn’t say that from the pulpit.”

What caught my attention in Ralph’s story is it was his friend that took an interest in where Ralph would spend eternity. This man was Ralph good friend. This friend put his around Ralph’s shoulder and invited him to know Jesus.

Jesus did the same thing. Jesus became a friend to those who didn’t know Him.  And when they got to know Him they were changed. Read this passage of scripture

Mark 2:16-17:
16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Jesus is a friend to sinners.

Typically, “bad” people don’t like to hang out with “good people.” And…..”good” people don’t typically like to hang out  with “bad” people. I experienced this in high school. While I was in high school I was only invited to one party. I didn’t become a Christian until after I graduated from high school. I have come to the conclusion that I looked to nerdy and too good. So … I never got caught up in the “wrong” crowd. Nor was I ever invited to be a part of a wrong crowd in grade school, middle school, or high school. My reputation proceeded me. I went to church all the time.

Jesus liked spending time with sinners. He was invited to parties. I am confident that he went to so many parties that many of the religious leaders of his day labeled him a drunkard. He was God and He was perfect and yet it was “the scum” of the earth who were attracted to him.

They weren’t attracted to him because of his looks because Isaiah tells us there was nothing that would have attracted us to him.He didn’t look like Peeta of the “Hunger Games”. They weren’t attracted to him because of his charisma. For 3.5 years of His ministry he talked with them, ate with them, cried them, and even served them (them = “bad” people). According to this scripture, Jesus didn’t see people as good people and bad people. He saw them as either healthy or sick. The sick are the ones who know they are not righteous. For me,  this is a much better picture because when you label a person a “bad” person you are less likely to help them. We are much more likely to help a sick person.

Another thing we learn from Jesus is people were not just objects or projects. They were not people who needed to be saved. He cared about them and he listened to them. He offered them unconditional love , hope, and compassion. As you read the gospels you would discover that Jesus was attracted to them and they were attracted Him. He looked at them, no matter what label they wore, as an opportunity to be a friend to.

We also learn Jesus didn’t wait for them to come to church. I don’t think he ever invited anyone to church. He didn’t wait for them to come to him. He invited himself over to their house to eat and he wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Jesus isn’t just A friend to sinners: He is the only friend of sinners. He didn’t save them and them make them their friends. He was their friend and then they experienced salvation.This is a major key in Jesus effectiveness. He first became their friend. They learned to trust him and when you earn anyone’s trust they listen to you. I don’t think he looked at people and said they need to saved. He looked at people and said they need a true friend. 

He became a friend to the woman at the well in  John 4. He became a friend to the prostitute in John 8. He became Zacchaeus’ (a lying, cheating tax collector) friend. And when Jesus was having dinner with a bunch of Pharisees it was a former prostitute who came and washed Jesus feet with the most expensive perfume and she couldn’t stop kissing his feet. The religious people in this particular story  didn’t recognize him as a friend or even a guest. They looked at him as someone they needed to get rid of.

His desire to be with sinners is amazing – but what is even more amazing is that sinners desired to be with him. I think it is sad that the super- religious people wanted to kill him and the sinners wanted to be with him. Super religious people are often harsher judges than God himself. We look at the evil in others and it arouses our righteous anger. So we put on our robes, set out our little plastic Jesus, and pound our gavels without ever taking the time to hear their stories. Super religious people never listen to their stories – they are just thankful that they are not like that sinner over there.

There is a reason why people do what they do. If you look at the stories of Jesus and the people he interacted with – he didn’t concentrate on their sin and how bad they were. He concentrated of loving them, showing them mercy. Showing them grace. He sat around listened to their story. They became friends. And anyone who excepts Jesus as their friend – they will be changed. 

So, why don’t more people want Jesus to be their friend? The problem is with us super-religious people. Instead of being the one who profess Christ – we have become professionals at being Christians. God doesn’t need professionals.

The professional Christians tend to keep others focused on their sin and never introduce them to the Savior. In fact we can’t get past their sin enough to have a conversation. If we would simply take the time to listen to their story we would find out that they are not much different than many of the believers we know. We, professionals,  tend to condemn rather than encourage. When it comes to sin the only who has the right to condemn others is Jesus. God is asking us to take off our robes and put down our gavel and be their friend. Professional Christians talk rather than listen and are constantly trying to correct the other’s behaviors rather than just accepting others behaviors.

Jesus was not very good at being a Christian. He refused to condemn.  John 3:17 tells us, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  God condemned the world only once. It was so full of evil and so full of hate and so full of sin that he destroyed it by a flood. Only one family was righteous. Instead of condemning it again – He wants to save it. He refuses to condemn others. Jesus wants to be our  friend so that he can save it.

Romans 5:10 – For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

John 15:15 – I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

Only the true friend would give his life for you. Jesus is the true friend. He is the truest friend you will ever have. While you were yet sinners, while you were his enemy – he still wanted to be your friend.

What gets in our way of being a friend to sinners?

We make a lot of assumptions. Like the Pharisees we look on them like scum. We may not call them scum but our actions, body language, and attitudes towards them communicate that they are scum. We professionals  assume that they are really obstinate to Jesus the Savior and they want nothing to do with him. We assume that sinners think sin is fun and God is boring.  We assume sinners are far from God.

The reality is they might be closer to Jesus than most religious people.

Matthew 21:31-32

“I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.

No sinner is irreparable or irredeemable. No sin is so great that the blood of Jesus cannot cover it. His love is so deep and wide that he can, in one moment of faith – forgive our past and present sin. Sin is not a problem for God. He has a way of escape.

Why aren’t people attracted to Jesus?

They haven’t experienced the true Jesus. The true friend. The Jesus we read about in the gospels.

We professionals spend a lot of time trying to attract sinners to Jesus. Sinners are attracted to Jesus.  The real issue is are we professional Christians attracted to the sinner? The city in which you live, your friends, your colleagues, would like to know the Jesus you know. Most of what people have about Jesus is negative. They have heard of the Jesus that glares down from the ceiling of cathedrals and shakes their finger at them. They have heard that Jesus was a good man that did some good things. They have heard that he was a really good religious teacher.

• But do others know that Jesus is not mad at them?
• Do others know He wants to be their friend first?
• Do others know that he lived on the earth and understands what they are going through?
• Do others know he wants to help them not hurt them?

Whose going to tell them?