"The Levi Response: Leave Everything, Invite Everyone"

Luke 5: 27-31

"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, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 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?”

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

It is easy to overlook the significance of this short scripture of the call from Jesus to Levi the tax collector. In these few verses, Levi gives us an example of how to respond to Christ, and then how to share the good news of Christ. Let's examine what we can learn from Levi's response, starting with his immediate obedience.

"Follow Me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up."

When Jesus called to Levi and said, "Follow me," Levi got up! He didn't hesitate or mull it over—he was obedient to Jesus' call. When Jesus calls us, He requires that we fully and obediently trust in Him. It requires action on our part! We need to get up. How many times do we hear the call of Jesus and instead of getting up immediately, we hang back? We may think, "Is He really calling me?" But when Jesus is speaking in your heart to follow Him, don't delay obedience. Delayed obedience leads to disobedience.

Imagine if Levi had said, "Let me finish this transaction first" or "Can I think about it overnight?" That moment of divine encounter might have passed, and we might never have known Matthew the Gospel writer.

Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

We have to continually examine our priorities and be willing to leave everything for Jesus. There is nothing that we possess on this earth that should keep us from making Jesus our number one priority—not our relationships, careers, material items, hobbies, even our ministry. Absolutely nothing can come before our Lord and Savior.

Regardless of what Levi was doing, nothing took precedence over Jesus. In that moment, Levi chose to make Jesus his number one priority. We don't know if he left his clients, money, or potential business, but the scripture says he left everything.

Everything means all that exists, all that is important. Think about that—all that existed and all that was important in Levi's world was nothing compared to obeying the call of Jesus. Everything is nothing if we are not following Jesus. Whatever we lose on this earth by following Christ we gain extravagantly in our eternal salvation.

We have to ask ourselves: are we willing to leave all that is important and make following Jesus our priority?

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 

Did Levi keep the good news to himself? No! He held a great banquet for Jesus. Levi knew that in those few moments Jesus had the awesome power to transform his life, and I believe he wanted others to experience Jesus too. So what better way than to host a banquet and invite a large crowd so they could see and experience the good news for themselves?

Levi teaches us that we should spread the good news of Jesus and invite others to the table to share the Gospel. Notice that Levi didn't wait until he was "spiritually mature" or had all the answers. He shared Jesus immediately, right where he was in his faith journey. We don't need to be perfect or have years of Bible study under our belts—we just need to be willing to say, "Come and see what Jesus has done for me."

Jesus may not be physically present, but through our testimony and willingness to share the Word and how it has transformed our lives, when others see our excitement and light, we are bringing Jesus to the table. We can present the banquet feast of Jesus and invite them to taste the goodness of our Savior. Whether or not they partake is not up to us, but we can present them with the nourishing Word of truth that sets them free.

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

Although this question was asked of Jesus, there is a lesson here for us as we prepare the banquet. We are not to judge who is and is not worthy to sit with Jesus. Sometimes we can get very righteous about who we invite into fellowship and start to only invite those who fit inside our neat, tidy 'Christian box.' Jesus didn't have boxes—He invited everyone to His table, and if He did, how dare we not? Jesus, who never sinned, who had not one blemish, sat with tax collectors, sinners, and prostitutes. He did not shun the lost; He gathered all unto Him. Levi did not decide who should and should not sit with Jesus, regardless of their background. His door was open, and that is the lesson we need to bring to every opportunity the Lord presents us.

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

I think Levi invited the sinners and tax collectors because he knew their condition—it had been his own before following Christ. Just think of the power of his testimony. His guests had witnessed Levi before Christ and Levi after Christ. I believe Levi understood that Jesus was a great healer, not just physically but spiritually, and he wanted everyone to experience the freedom he now had. Jesus had come to call the sinners to repentance. No one is too far gone to be saved by the forgiveness, grace, and mercy of Jesus Christ.

As we know Levi's story did not end with that one fateful day, it was only the beginning. This same Levi would become known as Matthew, one of Jesus' twelve disciples and the author of the Gospel that bears his name. But that one choice, the most important choice Levi would ever make, changed the trajectory of his life and countless others' lives as well. When you hear Jesus' call, follow, make Him your priority and never stop inviting people to the table to share in the good news of our Lord.