This week we’ve been exploring the story of Levi meeting Jesus, and having a big party with his former partners in crime, now his friends.  Jesus’s transformative effect brings Levi’s colleagues into a new friendship with Levi first, then that friendship brings his friends into contact with Jesus.

It’s no different today, this is very reason we held an outdoor movie night.  We brought a bunch of people together over a great feast of popcorn.  Our online users met one another, and made some new friends.

This app and web site is meant to be more than a transaction, more than something to watch/listen to.  It’s meant to bring us into community.  It’s meant to be made up of real people, in real community with one another.

Obviously movie nights and apps are large scale.  But it depends on the small scale.  It depends on people like you.  You can be a Levi.

At parties, people mingle and meet, and often discover things in common.

So, have some people over to dinner, see what happens.  It doesn’t have to be fancy. Or maybe have a hockey watching party, a playdate, a block party, whatever your scene is.

Through that kind of party, I hope you and some people you know and work with, or have helped, will become friends, and friends can talk about what really matters.  When followers of Jesus are present in the room and real deep things of life come up, I think that’s when Jesus enters the conversation, just like at Levi’s table.

When he throws a great feast, his partners in crime learn the money grubbing tax collector actually isn’t driven by money anymore, but now he’s driven by love for Jesus, which makes him love them.  Imagine the transformative effect on their lives.  More than that, they just met a Jewish rabbi who will actually eat and drink with them, get to know them, love them, despite the risks, rather than standing outside and shaking his head.

So, go and show your neighbours the same!  Learn their names, stories, needs, and then become friends.

Challenge: Plan a party, big or small!  Please tell me the story, I’d love to hear how it goes.

Ryan Sim - October 1, 2013

Tuesday - Study It - Acquaintances to Partners

Won\'t You Be My Neighbour?

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:34-40 ESV Spoiler Alert – Stop reading now if you haven’t seen the Internship, and still want to! The premise of the Internship, is that a competition for a Google internship. It essentially comes down to a team of misfits and a pompous rich kid and his team of stars. The bad guy makes it clear he doesn’t have time for anyone but those he thinks are important. This becomes most clear in his interactions with a scruffy headphone guy who is painfully shy, and never listens to music but wears the headphones because it lets him keep to himself. One of the two bumbling protagonists goes out of his way to befriend headphone guy, while the pompous villain makes fun of him. At the final announcement of who won the internship, the pompous guy can’t believe he lost, and interrupts the announcement to say, “lets get someone down here who matters.” Headphone guy appears, is revealed to be the head of a major department at Google, and he’s been listening to the whole thing. He tells the villain – you haven’t shown very much googliness. We learned earlier in the movie, this googliness is all about community and creativity. But the villain says, “what does that even mean?” The headphone guy sums it up, “The fact you don’t even know is why you’ll never work here.” Jesus says this about his kingdom. Compassion is a sign that you get what my kingdom is all about. Its part of kingdomliness. The way you treat those who don’t seem important, is actually very important. Jesus even puts himself in their shoes – says it’s like you’re serving him when you serve others. He goes so far as to say that this is how he sorts out those who want to be in his kingdom, with him, and those who want to take a pass. He says its like separating sheep and goats – the ones who want to be in his kingdom will act like it, and those who don’t, won’t. He says this twice, and I only read one version here, which is the positive describing who gets in, but he also tells the story in the negative, describing who stays out. What becomes clear is that we choose God’s kingdom, or separation from him, not just with words but with actions. We’ll see tomorrow how this applies to our neighbours. Question: How do these six actions benefit the recipient, the doer, and Jesus?

From Series: "Won't You Be My Neighbour?"

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