Low Places

March 17, 2024 homily on Mark 2:13-17 by Pastor Galen

Friends in Low Places

This past week I was in Nashville, Tennessee for a conference related to my work at the Seminary, and so I heard a lot of country music this week. I typically don’t listen to a lot of country music, but one country music song that gets stuck in my head whenever I hear it is Garth Brooks’ song, Friends in Low Places. In the song, he talks about showing up to a formal event wearing cowboy boots, to the apparent embarrassment of the person who invited him. Realizing that he’s not welcome there in his cowboy attire, he leaves and goes to a bar by the name of Oasis, where he knows he’ll be welcome, singing, “Yeah, I’m not big on social graces, Think I’ll slip on down to the oasis, Oh, I’ve got friends in low places.”

In his book, The Way, pastor Adam Hamilton points out that Jesus had friends in low places, saying, “Jesus broke bread with the rich and poor alike. He ate with the ‘righteous’ and the ‘sinners.’ But often the righteous were offended by him, while the sinners were drawn to him in droves” (The Way, 130). Jesus did indeed have friends in low places. And if it’s true that “the company we keep says a lot about us,” then the company that Jesus kept says a lot about God’s heart for the outcasts and those on the margins of society. 

This morning we’re going to dig a little bit into the story of one of those “friends in low places” that Jesus hung out with: a tax collector by the name of Levi, also called Matthew.

The Calling of Levi

Jesus was walking along the sea of Galilee when he called Levi to follow him. The Sea of Galilee was the same location where Jesus called several of his other disciples to follow him as well—the fishermen Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Fishermen were not considered high society by any means. They were the type of people who would have shown up to a black-tie affair wearing cowboy boots. But while fishermen were not exactly aristocrats themselves, they at least were seen as respectable members of society. Tax collectors like Levi, on the other hand, most definitely were not. 

While many of us may grumble when it comes time to pay our taxes, and while we might not like the IRS as an institution, few of us hold it against the individuals who work for the IRS. We know that they’re just doing their job. But back then, people held a deep-seated hatred toward tax collectors, because they were seen as dishonest traitors who were extorting money from their own people for their personal gain. The Roman government hired locals to collect taxes from their own people, allowing them to tack on as much as they wanted and to keep the extra for themselves. (Imagine going to a restaurant and ordering food, and then when you got your bill, the sales tax was 100% instead of 6%!) For people often struggling to make ends meet, it was absolutely agonizing watching their neighbor-turned-tax collector getting rich off of their hard-earned money, and they wanted nothing to do with those traitors. 

But then Jesus came along, and invited one of those tax collectors, Levi, to follow him. And Levi closed up his tax booth and left it all behind to follow Jesus. 

Why Levi was willing to leave behind such a lucrative career, we’ll never know. Maybe he was tired of being seen as a traitor. Maybe he felt bad about the way he made his living, and was ready for a change. Maybe he realized that the call of Jesus was so much greater. But either way, like the fishermen who left their boats and their nets behind to become disciples, Levi too left everything to follow Jesus.

Not the Righteous, But Sinners

And interestingly, the first place they went was Levi’s house. Levi hosted a dinner party for Jesus, and invited his “friends in low places”–other tax collectors and others who were outcasts by religious society because of their occupations or lifestyle. And Jesus ate with them, and talked and laughed with them, to the point that the religious leaders of the day questioned why in the world Jesus was fellowshiping with people like that. But Jesus pointed out that only people who are sick need a doctor, and only people who realize they are sinners realize that they need a Savior. Indeed, this is why Jesus hung out with the tax collectors and sinners—because they, more than anyone, realized their need for Jesus.

Now the reality is that each and every person in the world is a sinner who needs a savior. Even the “righteous” people of Jesus’ day needed a Savior, even if they didn’t admit it. Some people are just a little more aware of their need for Jesus than others are. 

Twelve Steps

Thinking about people who recognize their need for help reminds me of 12 step recovery programs. Starting tomorrow, our church will be hosting an Alcoholics Anonymous group on Monday evenings. While I’m sad that the Hampden Family Center has closed down permanently, forcing the AA group to find a new location, I’m grateful that we have space to host the group here in our church building.

Something that strikes me about 12 Step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous is that they start by acknowledging their need for help. The first step, in fact, states, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable,” and the 2nd step is that we “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” The third step is deciding “to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”

These were essentially the steps that Levi and his friends took in following Jesus. For Levi, perhaps it was the constant craving for more money, and power, and influence that had been his downfall. But no matter what it was for each of the tax collectors other outcasts, each and every one of them realized their need for a power greater than themselves, and they willingly turned their lives over to God, expressed through Jesus Christ.  

May we too recognize our need for Jesus. And, like Jesus may we too befriend those who are in “low” places, looking for every opportunity possible to share God’s love with those who are on the margins of society, welcoming all to the party that is the Kingdom of God.

Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection:

1. How do you perceive the concept of having “friends in low places” in your own life? Do you find yourself drawn more to those who are marginalized or outcasts in society, or do you tend to associate more with those considered respectable or high-status?
2. Reflect on the significance of Jesus’ choice to call Levi, a tax collector, to be one of his disciples. How does this challenge your understanding of societal norms and expectations, particularly regarding who is worthy of God’s love and grace?
3. Consider the parallels between the calling of Levi and the calling of the fishermen disciples. What does this suggest about the inclusivity of Jesus’ ministry and his invitation to people from all walks of life?
4. Why do you think Levi was willing to leave behind his lucrative career as a tax collector to follow Jesus? What might his decision teach us about the transformative power of encountering Jesus and responding to his call?
5. Reflect on the statement, “Only people who realize they are sinners realize that they need a Savior.” How does this resonate with your own journey of faith and understanding of your need for God’s grace?
6. Consider the comparison between Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12 Steps and the steps taken by Levi and his friends in following Jesus. How might acknowledging our need for help and turning our lives over to God’s care apply to various struggles or challenges we face in life?
7. In what ways can you actively emulate Jesus’ example of befriending those on the margins of society and extending God’s love to all people? Are there specific opportunities in your community where you can demonstrate inclusivity and hospitality, particularly towards those who may feel marginalized or outcast?