Do You Need a Doctor?

INTRODUCTION

Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church.

Over the last number of weeks, we’ve been asking people to sign-up for our Shoreview Launch Team to help start the 2nd location of Renovation Church.

We’ve been mentioning that our goal was to get to 200 people to send to this new location…

…and I’m happy to announce that we had 302 sign up to go!!!

(302)

That’s amazing! God is on the move!

Also, as many of you know, we are starting our 3rd location this Fall already, and it will be NORTH of here…somewhere 😊

And next week already, we’ll be introducing our location pastor to you for that North Location…

I’ll bring him up on stage quick at the beginning of my message for a Q&A, so don’t miss that!

One last thing about these locations before we get to our passage.

I read something from a friend in this church that I wanted to pass on to you.

She wrote that she was really praying about going to Shoreview and that she was excited about getting even more involved at church…

…and she wrote that if she went to Shoreview, it would also be an opportunity to level up in Christian community in House Church…

…to put some more intentionality into taking friends out to coffee…or actually sharing a Faith Update…

And then, as she began to pray about it, she felt like the Holy Spirit told her, “You know all of those things you’re saying you could do, you can do that here in Blaine too”

And it’s so true.

Listen, sending out 302 people is amazing…but the reality is most of those people they serve here...in Blaine

And sending them out creates major holes in our Kids Ministry, parking team, crew team, and more.

And so for many of you staying in Blaine, it’s time to level up your faith too...

If you’ve been coming here for a few months, 6 months, a year, and you haven’t started serving yet…now’s the time.

As we say all the time, this isn’t a cruise ship, it’s a row boat.

It works because we all pick up an oar.

And so at your chair today is a serving card (go ahead and look at it…and fill it out if you’re not serving yet)

If you need more info on what those teams do, click on the Ministries Tab of our app, and the serve page and you can see all the team descriptions.

So listen, we need you.

And God can use you.

And so I want you to fill this out at your seat, and when the service is over, drop it in the giving box slot by the doors.

THE PASSAGE

All right, let’s get to our passage

Go ahead and grab a Bible

Luke 5:27-32

Page 702

We are continuing in our Risk the Pursuit Series where we are teaching verse by verse through Luke chapter 5 in the Bible.

And we have 5 different stories about Jesus in this section.

We are on our 4th one today.

(Luke 5:27-32) – NIV

27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

(Series Slide)

And so Jesus calls a tax collector named Levi to follow Him.

BTW, Any big fans of the IRS here?

Oh, no?

Well, it was WAY worse back in the days of Levi

See, the tax collectors were considered traitors by the Jewish people.

At this point in history, the Romans were occupying Israel, and using local Jewish people to collect taxes for the Roman Empire.

AND, to make matters worse, the Romans allowed the tax collectors to over-charge and take any extra money they could get for themselves.

And so Tax Collectors were hated…despised…by almost everyone in Israel.

That’s who Levi was.

And yet, Jesus reaches out to this guy and says, “Follow Me” (verse 27)

THOSE WHO DON’T THINK THEY NEED A DOCTOR

And Levi is so in awe of Jesus, that verse 29 tells us that one of the first things he does is through a huge party for all of his tax collector friends to meet Jesus.

And the religious folks of the time (the pharisees) are flabbergasted that Jesus would accept an invitation to such a party.

This is the end of verse 30.

They say, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

And then Jesus gives them a very important answer

I want to read verse 31 & 32 again:

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous (the perfect), but sinners to repentance”

And repentance is where you receive forgiveness from God and you TURN (that’s what the word means) your life in a new direction towards God and His ways.

Now, Jesus is speaking in proverbially here.

He says, “ I have not come to call the righteous (or the healthy)

But the reality of the proverb is: no one is righteous…no one is perfect.

Without God, we’re ALL spiritually sick…in need of Doctor Jesus.

There are two groups of people on earth.

1) Those who don’t think they need a doctor

2) Those who know they need a doctor

There are people who don’t think that they really need Jesus (the Great Physician) in their lives….

But there are also those who know that they desperately need Jesus.

And more of us live like that first group than you might think.

We say, “I get that the tax collector really needs God. The prostitute, the transgender person…those people really need God”

But for me, it’s not the same.

And we can draw lines like this like nobody’s business.

Your sibling that can’t keep a job…they need help not you.

Your friend that can’t stay in a relationship

Your coworker who’s been posting that political stuff on social media that’s driving you insane…THAT’S the sick person.

You know, one of the unspoken dangers of the political polarization we live in, is that it props up the spirit of the Pharisees in us.

And we start thinking, “I’m not like those people…those people are cruel…unenlightened…. sick”

But I’m on the correct side of the line. I don’t need a doctor.

Pretty soon we start sounding like the Pharisee in Luke 18

(Luke 18:9-14) – NIV

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I think there are more Americans today who sound like this Pharisee who prayed, “Thank you I’m not like other people”

We think, “Thank you I’m not like those liberals…thank you I’m not like those Trump supporters”

But I don’t hear very many people anymore saying, “God, have mercy on me a sinner”

But that’s the person that Jesus says ends up getting justified by God.

Why?

Because they know they need a doctor.

THOSE WHO KNOW THEY NEED A DOCTOR

(Do you need a doctor?)

Listen, until you can see yourself like the tax collector, like the sick who need a doctor, you can’t really know God.

And be careful to say, “Well, I’m not an addict, abuser, or an adulterer, so this message isn’t really for me.”

Jesus’ VERY point of this passage was that the Pharisees weren’t any of those things either, but their lives were still full of sin…but sins like pride, lack of compassion, hypocrisy.

They were sinners just the same.

And if anything, they were farther from God because they couldn’t see their sin.

A lot of us, (no matter where we come from) we have a hard time deeply knowing God, and it’s because, at the end of the day, kind of like the Pharisees…we can’t admit we need the Doctor, Jesus.

Just like there are people that can’t admit they need a medical doctor.

Do you know anyone like this?

Elbow them if you’re sitting next to them.

I’m talking about people who could be in bed with 103 degree fever and coughing up blood, and they’re like, “I’m FINE! I don’t need to go to the doctor!”

A lot of us end up being the spiritual equivalent of that.

Even as Christians…who know God…and know the truth.

We convince ourselves that we’re fine now because we don’t commit sins x, y, and z, like we used to.

But you don’t ever outgrow your desperate need for God

You know, we’re now seeing hundreds of people a year now here give their life to Christ for the first time

And over the last 6 months or so, we have had a lot of recovery folks becoming Christians here.

They’re from AA, NA, you name it.

And I love these people. A lot.

And I know sometimes they get looked down upon by certain segments of society, but honestly, they’ve got a leg up on most of society.

I can see it right when they come to Christ, and we tell them that we are going to start them in an 8-week 1-on-1 discipleship program to learn how to follow Jesus.

They don’t even flinch

They say, “Oh yeah, I need help. Can’t do it by myself. Powerless on my own. I need a doctor”

And guess what?? They grow and change SO FAST!!

Why?

Because they’re so much more willing let the Great Physician come in because they’ve already acknowledged they’re sick

Not that long ago, I was reading Brennan Manning’s spiritual classic, The Ragamuffin Gospel (which you can of course find in our library)

(Ragamuffin Gospel)

And Manning was one of the best writers of the last 50 years on grace.

And he went through a lot…including his own addictions.

And he has a chapter in the book where he was at Hazelden, just down the road in the Chisago Lakes area, the famous recovery treatment center.

And in his book, he tells the story of a successful business man named Max who was in group therapy with him at Hazelden way back in 1975.

And Max couldn’t admit that his life had become unmanageable. (that’s part of step 1 of AA)

The therapist asks Max how many drinks he has a day…and Max lies and says, “Not that many”

And so the therapist starts asking about all the places alcoholics tend to hide drinks, and uncovers even more drinks he has a day.

Then the therapist (with permission) calls Max’s bartender, and finds out (in front of the whole group) he has an additional 6 drinks at the bar every afternoon.

Max seems flustered at first, but regains his composure and starts talking about how he’s still so successful at work anyway.

But then the therapist says, “Has your drinking ever affected your kids?”

And Max says, “No, I have a great rapport with my boys”

The therapist says, “What about your daughter?”

And he says, “Well, I guess I was a little thoughtless with her last Christmas eve. Nothing big.”

And the therapist proceeds to call Max’s wife (this is 1975, different times), puts the wife on speaker in the room and asks her to tell the recovery group at Hazelden what happened on Christmas Eve

And she says that their 9-year-old daughter really wanted a particular pair of shoes for Christmas, so Max took her downtown, gave her money, and said to buy the best shoes she could.”

She was so excited and Max felt like he was the best dad in the whole world

So he decided to celebrate on the way home by stopping at the tavern.

It was only about 12 degrees outside, but he told his 9-year old he’d be right back out, and he locked his car from the outside, as you could in those days.

That was at 3 in the afternoon.

But he went inside, got lost in his drinking, and didn’t come out until midnight.

The motor had stopped running, the car windows were frozen shut, and his daughter was badly frostbitten on both ears and her fingers.

The doctors had to amputate a thumb and forefinger, and she became permanently deaf

And Manning writes this about Max’s reaction to his wife re-telling the story: “Max appeared to be having a coronary. He collapsed on all fours and sobbed hysterically.”

Broken. Finally beginning to see that he is sick. He needs help.

Later in the chapter Manning writes, Max over time, proceeded to undergo the most striking personality change I have ever witnessed. He got honest and became more open, sincere, vulnerable and affectionate. He even started to pray.

And Max begins to meet God.

But He couldn’t even start to meet God until He could realize that He needed God.

See, the foundation of real change in your life starts when you can admit (that no matter who you are!) you need a doctor.

You need God.

And this is just as much for the Christian as it is for those of you in the room that are seeking.

In that same powerful chapter, Manning writes:

“At Sunday worship, as in every dimension of our existence, many of us pretend to believe we are sinners. Consequently, all we can do is pretend to believe we have been forgiven.” – Brennan Manning

This is what a lot of us do. We say, “Yeah, we’re sinners.”

I pray that prayer, “Dear Jesus…I confess to you…that I’ve sinned against you”

I’m a sinner

But do you really believe it?

That without God, you’re broken. Lost. Sick. Unable to do good.

A lot of us, deep down, we don’t truly believe that.

We’re much more convinced that we’re not really that bad.

Not like those other people

And see because we don’t truly believe we’re broken sinners, like Manning wrote, we end up just kind of pretending to believe we’re sinners.

And if you’re just pretending here that you’re a sinner, all you’ll end up doing is just pretending to believe you’ve been forgiven.

And you’ll never really feel it.

I feel this tension in my own life.

Sure, my spiritual gifts are teaching and leading, but that doesn’t make me some super special holy person.

I’m a human being just like you…I just have gifts that put me in front of people.

But when I sin, (I yell at my kids, I get envious, selfish, anything) I feel so bad.

And I think, “David you’re a pastor! A leader! You should be even better!”

And when you start thinking about your sickness, it doesn’t feel good.

And so a lot of us, rather than face the facts, and feel our own sickness of sin and call the Doctor…we choose to rationalize instead

And we say: “Well, at least I’m not like so and so!”

Sure I got mad at my family, but I didn’t’ abandon my family.

And soon enough in our minds we’re back on the good side of the line…healthy & not needing God.

But that is not the path to God

The path to God is what Jesus said it was.

It’s to say, “God, have mercy on me a sinner”

It’s to say, “God, I’m sick. I can’t do this without you.”

It’s to say, “God, I read in this book, that you’ve seen me at my worst, the real me, and you still love me.

The path to God is when a person can say, “God, you love the messed up me. The ugly me. The me that flies off in a rage, or goes on a binge, or messes up their life.

You love and came to forgive that version of me.

When you can truly see that God loves you in your absolute sickest and most broken parts…

…that’s the sort of love that can absolutely change a life.

BAPTISM

And I want to show you some examples of what this understanding can look like…as we are baptizing 22 people throughout the morning, 5 or 6 at each service.

At this point I want to call out Baptism Team on stage.

Baptisms are a visual reminder that God’s Son, Jesus Christ has paid for our sins.

And by our faith in Him, we were forgiven, washed clean.

And not only that, that God has raised us up from the dead and given us new life.

Baptism doesn’t save you.

But it is such an important symbol of his love.

We have heard the testimony of every person getting baptized today and every person will be baptized by sponsors (people who’ve had a spiritual impact on them)

We have had SO many people coming to Christ here that each service now will still have one live testimony, and the rest of the baptisms will have a summary of their testimony on the screen as they get baptized.

And finally, if you have given your life to Christ, baptism is THE next step God’s Word tells you to do after you give your life to Christ.

(Baptism Interest Mtg slide)

So if you need to get baptized, I want you to go to the baptism interest meeting that is happening today!

Stop by this 10-15 minute meeting in the Northpoint room after the service today, okay?

All right, let’s get to some baptisms…starting with our live testimony

GOSPEL INVITATION

Thank you for your testimonies of faith.

There is so much courage in them.

It takes courage to say, “I need help. I need the Doctor. I need Jesus”

But it’s beautiful.

And we do need Him.

Not just because our shortcomings and our sin leads to consequences and pain…but because they lead to judgment.

The Bible says in Romans that we all fall short of God’s glory and for our sin we deserve God’s justice.

God is holy and just.

And without God’s forgiveness, we face eternal separation from Him in hell.

But God is also loving, and so He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross.

And in dying on the cross, Jesus was taking the punishment that you and I deserve.

And if we believe in that, the punishment comes off of us, and onto Jesus…

…and we can have our sins forgiven, we can have a life-changing relationship with God…and we can spend eternity now in heaven, not in hell.

And it all starts with saying, “I need a Doctor”

I’m sick. I’ve sinned. I need help.

But my friend, if you let the Great Physician in…and you surrender everything up to Him…He will change everything.

And it’s time to call the doctor!

And if you’re ready to truly come to truly accept Jesus as your Savior, I want to give you that opportunity today.

Let’s just have everyone, just for a minute, close your eyes and bow your head.

If you need to make this decision for the first time today…to tell Jesus that you need His forgiveness for your sins…to make Him the Leader of your life…to accept His gift of Eternal life…

In just a minute, I’m going to ask you to stand up

No one’s going to be looking at you at all, that’s why we had everyone close their eyes.

But sometimes in life, we just need that moment…that moment where we press the button.

To say, “I’m calling the Doctor”

If you need to tell God for the first time today that you do believe, and you want to follow Him and be forgiven.

I invite you to raise your hand where you are right now

The Bible tells us that in this moment we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths.

Dear God

I confess to you, that I have sinned against you.

But God I believe, that you sent your Son Jesus, to take my place

And God I thank you, for forgiving my sins.

And now I commit, to following you, with my life.

Amen, you can have a seat.

3 very Quick things

1) Would you grab that volunteer card that you filled out and drop it in the giving boxes by the door on the way out

2) If you haven’t taken the step to get baptized yet

(Baptism interest meeting slide)

…head to that interest meeting right now. Follow the signs to the northpoint room.

3) For those of you that stood up, come meet me right up here for some really important resources and next steps.