“Follow Me” - Matthew 9:9-13

It was a surprising scene. They could hardly believe their eyes. What had they just witnessed? Why would he do such a thing? Can he really be who he says he is, even after doing something like this? I picture Jesus' disciples and James and John especially–the Sons of Thunder, wrestling with these thoughts after what they just seen. They were passionate about Jesus, fiery in zeal and quick to speak. Later as Jesus and the disciples headed to Jerusalem for the final time they came to a Samaritan village where the people were not welcoming toward Jesus. How did these two Sons of Thunder feel then? They were ready to call down fire from heaven to wipe the city out - Elijah style - like when in the Old Testament God sent fire from heaven to burn up Elijah's sacrifice on Mt Carmel, wood, sacrifice, water, stones and all. And that was after a full three years of following Jesus! So just imagine their reaction when Jesus calls a tax collector to join their group in year one? What did Jesus see in Matthew? How can such a loser help us?

And honestly it wasn’t a crazy question. Tax collectors were despised. The system was corrupt and everyone knew it. Rome controlled its empire by putting locals in charge of districts. Taxes were run like a modern day chain restaurant. Wealthy overseers leased out territories, and hired collectors in their own city. Rome set the quota, but the collectors set the individual price, pocketing the extra. Neighbors cheating neighbors. That was the reputation. That was the reality. That is what others saw when they looked at Matthew. A traitor for the Romans. A greedy selfish thief. On the ‘no-fly list’ at the local synagogue. A social pariah. But here we are, two thousand years later talking about Matthew the tax collector, because that is not what Jesus saw. And in fact it’s for people just like him that the master calls saying FOLLOW ME, away from sin and into service.

I wonder how much Matthew’s life choices grated on him. Did he ask himself the hard questions? Was the wealth he was raking in worth living life as an outcast? Was his conscience burdened? Had his own friends and family shut him out entirely? We aren’t told. Scripture doesn’t mention Matthew much beyond his call as one of the twelve apostles.

Matthews' reputation didn’t scare Jesus away. Jesus knew who he was and he knew what was in his heart. Jesus didn’t despise him. He didn’t stop in his tracks and turn the other way or avoid eye contact with him. No. Jesus looked directly at him and called him with just two simple words “Follow me.” Those two words must have been a shock to Matthew. ‘Good rabbis don’t invite tax collectors to be their disciples.’ But these two words carried for Matthew an inexplicable promise, ‘You can leave this all behind and follow me. I want to associate with you. I have something better in store for you.’ Make no mistake Jesus knew how despised people like him were. Earlier, Jesus had taught about loving even your enemies using a tax collector as the prime example of the morally destitute, saying, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Aren't even the tax collectors doing that?” Jesus knew Matthew, and he knows us too.

Jesus sees our imperfection. Maybe unlike Matthew we have a more agreeable persona to project to others. However, our record of wrongdoing is no cleaner. Jesus sees the pride that critiques. He sees a heart that envies the worldly things of others. He sees betrayal of trust, lustful glances, outbursts of anger, laziness in regard to the daily study of his Word and doubts of his goodness. Jesus sees the open wounds of sin that infect and plague us all. Like spiritual lepers, you and I are outcasts from God, cut off by the sickness of our sin. Like Matthew we have no right for the very Son of God to want to associate with us. But just like with Matthews' calling that day, Jesus' call to you and to me is less about who we are and what we have done and way more about who Jesus is and what he is calling us to do.

Jesus came for the sick as he says in verse 12, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” By this statement Jesus is acknowledging a few truths. First, sickness is real and it is prevalent. Sin is a disease that infects and if left undiagnosed and untreated, kills, eternally. Secondly, some live their lives without sin being diagnosed. In their mind, some think they can be healthy apart from the treatment of the doctor. Finally, there is a doctor. In fact, Jesus is the doctor, the person who can surgically remove sin and skillfully repair hearts.

When I was a junior in high school, I took a tumble while on a run in the beautiful city of Watertown, WI. And if you would have had the opportunity to visit there you might be picking up on my sense of sarcasm. While the city was truly just alright, it had a reputation for having some sketchy sidewalks, especially right around campus. Well, in an effort to avoid the real athletes running track and field on the nice paved track, I decided to give those sidewalks a go and unsurprisingly, it didn’t end well. I hadn’t made it very far when I took one bad step. My ankle turned, I started falling hard and I braced myself for impact. And then, I heard a little pop and my arm went numb and stiff. I had fractured my ulna and messed up my ankle. Needless to say, I gave up running for good. But I remember that getting my arm scanned afterwards was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. It was fully locked and I could barely move it. But the radiologist insisted that he grab it and yank it to scan it, saying, ‘Ok good, now just hold it perfectly still for a couple of minutes.’ It was excruciating and at the end I was sweating and literally seeing stars. But my arm wasn’t right, and I needed the skill of the doctors to repair what was broken. I certainly didn’t have what it took to fix what was wrong. 

Facing the truth of a diagnosis is hard. Facing the truth about our sins is painful as well. But it’s far better than pretending there isn’t a problem or that if there was it will just go away, because it won't. God sees our hearts and knows we are sick. Like any good doctor, he invites the sick into his presence. Not to shame us for the reasons that we came running to him, but because he loves us and wants to help. Like the Great Physician that he is, he asks to see the sickness that we carry around with us so that he can heal it. 

Unlike that doctor who at the end of my treatment said, ‘I hope we don’t have to meet again,’ Jesus always has his arms open to you. Day after day, when we turn to him, he heals. His mercy has no limit or extent. Again and again he reminds us that the blood of his Son cuts out our sin that infects and restores us in the grace of his forgiveness. Jesus bore the disease of our sin on himself. Though Jesus was the only one who was ever truly healthy, he became sick for us so that by his wounds we would be healed. 

Matthew sat at a tax collection booth when Jesus called him “Follow me.” You and I were brought to a baptismal font, maybe even this one, as God called you and marked you for time and eternity as his very own. Christ’s merciful call extends to sinners like you and I, calling us away from our sin and into a life that we would go, and leave our lives of sin and walk differently.

Because Jesus doesn't simply call sinners away from their sin; he also calls his saints into service. Jesus chose the most unlikely of servants to be one of his disciples, and so now what? With a beaming heart of joy, Matthew calls a feast, and invites everyone he knows. And so who does he invite? Well who else but the “sinners and tax collectors,” those he knew. Just Jesus’ sort of crowd, the sick! Matthew’s gut-reaction isn’t to isolate from those who don’t know Jesus, but to create an opportunity for everyone he knows to have an interaction with him. Matthew wants all of his friends to know the one who called him out of his sinful ways to walk a new path as Jesus' disciple. From the very beginning of his time following Jesus, Matthew engages in evangelizing to those he knew.

But not everyone was so enthused about Matthew’s sudden change of heart nor his decision to still associate with sinners. Some were skeptics. Verse 10 says, “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” The Pharisees failed to understand. They were under the impression that a good person isolates themselves from sin. Jesus’ whole point demonstrates the very opposite. He says he came “not to call the righteous, but sinners.” That isn’t to say that the Pharisees weren’t sinners, they of course were. Jesus' point is that in their mind they had no need for the righteousness that Christ had to offer to them. They thought that they were healthy on their own, but inwardly their soul was wasting away.

Jesus who came to obey the law on our behalf and take the burden of our sin from us, didn’t do so in separatist isolation from sinners. He did so in the midst of them. Jesus associates with sinners for the forgiveness of sinners. We get to be agents of mercy working in God’s harvest field in this sin infected world. We get to represent the love of Jesus. We get to evangelize those around us, because those God calls as his saints, you and I included, he also equips with his Holy Spirit and sends in his service. In the spirit of our forgiveness, our new man is all too eager to rise to the occasion. There is no kinda, sorta, maybe; it’s an all–in attitude. 

And so how do we embrace this in our lives? Well maybe it is not realistic for you to invite your whole neighborhood to a great big feast at your house to teach them about Jesus. Maybe you wont go out and convert the whole nation, as cool as that would be. But maybe, like Matthew, you can consider who God has put in your own personal sphere of influence. People in your everyday life who don’t know Jesus like you do. I may not know what that may look like for you specifically. Maybe it means when you invite your neighbors over for dinner you get to model your pre-meal prayer habits and demonstrate that Christ is present in your house even as you sit around having a cocktail and catching up. Maybe you just flat out invite people to come with you on Sunday morning. Maybe you are examining how your social media reflects your faith. Maybe you can offer a Christian perspective in the tough conversations about the purpose of life, the reality of death and violence in this world. No matter where you are in life you and I get to be little Matthews, who invite others to discover a relationship with their waiting Savior.

Matthew, tax collector turned apostle, by God’s merciful call made a huge impact in this world. Over two millennia later, think how many people have come to know the grace of Jesus for them through his Gospel. So too for us, God calls, equips and uses you and I. While I don’t recommend writing the next inspired book of the bible, who knows the impact a conversation about Jesus could have on someone you meet. You may never know this side of eternity. But what a message we have to share, that the Master is calling out to all Follow Me, as he calls sinners away from their sin and calls his saints into service. Amen.