We Are Called for Mission
Matthew 9:9-14
January 13, 2019
Not in his worst nightmares could he have ever envisioned that he would end up here. If you could go back in time and make different decisions he would do it in a second. His parents had turned their back on him. His friends were no longer his friends. He was even disgusted at himself. The people considered him worse than a sinner. Guys like Matthew were worse, he was a “Tax Collectors.”
One day Matthew was sitting at his post and a crowd of people were hovering in the area. Not to see him, but to see some guy called Jesus of Nazereth. He tried to listen to what this Jesus was saying. People were interrupting Him, and Jesus saw a man who was paralyzed. He looked at the man and his friends and Jesus saw their faith. He told the man “Your sins are forgiven.”
People laughed and people starting yelling at Jesus that He had no right to forgive the man’s sins. Then Jesus did the remarkable, the unthinkable. He told this paralyzed man, not only are your sins forgiven, but get up and walk and go home. At once the paralyzed man was paralyzed no more. He got up and started to walk home. The people were astonished and many glorified God.
As Matthew watched what was happening, Jesus began to walk towards his booth. It was like Jesus was walking right at him. Finally, Jesus was standing right in front of him, and Jesus simply said, “Follow me.”
It was like Matthew didn’t even think, he just got up and started to follow Jesus. He simply got up and walked away from his tax collecting booth. Matthew knew this was life changing, but he still didn’t realize what he was really doing.
Matthew was invited by God to join Him in ministry, to serve God and others. We arr all called by God and when we accept that call, our lives can be transformed.
I believe God has a mission for each person’s life. There’s a purpose and a plan. Sometimes we ignore that plan, we don’t like it, or we don’t hear it, so we miss out.
Others will kind of flirt with God’s plan and purpose. They dip their toes into the water, but don’t get in the water.
Then there are those who hear the message and just jump into the water and swim away with God.
I believe we’re all seeking purpose, we’re seeking something bigger in our lives. We all want to have a purpose for what we’re doing in our lives. We want it to be more than just getting up and going to work everyday . . . ultimately, we want it to be more then going to school. We want to make a significant difference in this world. I believe that’s part of the cause for so much restlessness in this world. Ultimately, we were created to serve, for missions!
As we begin this venture to see how we are made for mission, that we are called, we’re going to look at the story about Jesus calling Matthew. After Jesus healed the paralyzed man, Matthew tells us –
9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he rose and followed Jesus.
The fact that Jesus, a Jewish man even approached Matthew, the worst of the sinners was astonishing. Understand that tax collectors were Jews. They had sold out their own people in order to become wealthy. People hated them. You would think these would be the last people Jesus would choose to be part of His inner circle. Who would want to hang out with a tax collector?
I believe this is really important for us because some of us think God would never want me to do anything for Him. I’m not good enough. I’ve done too many bad things, I’m a really bad person. We come up with all kinds of reasons to justify not being involved.
BUT - - and this is really important, if God called Matthew to serve Him, why not you?
In his book Gaining by Losing, J.D. Greer, the Southern Baptist Convention, president wrote, “There is a widespread myth in the church that “calling into ministry” is a secondary experience that happens to only a few Christians. Their job is to do the ministry and everyone elses job is to just show up and foot the bill. Few lies cripple the mission more than that one. Each believer is called to leverage his or her life for the spread of the gospel. The question is no longer whether we are called, only where and how.”
With that in mind, know that you are called by God! He has chosen you to be an active part of His mission. Since your called, you need to start asking some big questions.
If you’re working — why did God make you good at doing what you do? Surely not just to fill up your life with all kinds of comforts so you can spend the last 20 years of your life on vacation. God has given you your talents as a means of blessing others and as a platform to spread the mission.
If you’re a stay-at-home mom, ask yourself: What role do I play in advancing the mission as I raise my kids? The same question applies if you’re in the military, fire department, teacher or a student. You may not be a pastor, but God has put you on the front lines of ministry.
The word “vocation” actually comes from the Latin word voca, which means “to call.” What if you started seeing your job as an actual calling from God.
Everyday we have a new opportunity to serve God. You can wake up and go through the motions. Or you could see yourself, believe that God has called you to do something significant. It could be a simple “Hello” to someone who needed a friend. It could be serving somewhere, it could be that quick prayer. It could be a word of encouragement. God has called us to make a difference every day. Not just once in a blue moon, because that just doesn’t happen too often.
It would be really nice if God called you each morning and gave each of us a specific assignment for that day. But, we often just need to keep the eyes of our heart open to the needs of others. Sometimes it’s simply sharing the love of Christ!
When Matthew was called it wasn’t through an assignment, it was through the start of a relationship with Jesus. Whatever we do, is the same, we’re called firstly, into a relationship with Jesus, so that we just don’t do stuff for God, but we are present with God.
Matthew just got up and followed Jesus. He had a great paying job. 90% of Israel was living below the poverty line. Taxes were high, and Matthew was benefitting. He didn’t have to work hard. He sat at his booth. Jesus’ invitation was a bit vague. He just said, “Follow me.” Where they would be going? What they would be doing?
Maybe as Jesus walked toward Matthew, he was thinking if He could forgive this paralyzed man’s sins, and get him up walking, then maybe He can change my life and could Jesus do the same for me . . . “Could Jesus forgive me of my shame?”
When Jesus called Matthew, he had to get up and follow Jesus. He had to make a conscious decision to follow Jesus. He couldn’t stay in his comfortable chair and follow Jesus. In many respects, Matthew had to take a huge step of faith to follow Jesus.
For many of us, God is calling us to get off the sidelines and get in the game of being made for a mission — — believing we have been called by God. It requires us to do the same as Matthew did . . . consciously get up and follow Jesus. Even without knowing to where.
Do you know significance of the number 3900-4000? That’s the estimated numbers of weeks you will spend on planet earth. Don’t you think it may be worth taking 6 of those weeks to figure out if you were made for a mission? If I do that, what might happen? Check out what takes place next.
Matthew then tells us what happened next —
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples.
I can picture the conversation . . . Matthew asked Jesus, ‘where are we going?’
Jesus looked at him and said, “We’re going to your house for dinner. Text your friends and tell them to come by for dinner!”
It’s amazing what happened. They’re eating at Matthew’s home, and look who is there . . . tax collectors, who are the worst of the sinners, and along with them is another category, just plain sinners. They’re hanging out, having good conversation and eating dinner.
Matthew has a story to tell, but there’s not more than a quick story, then I’m sure Jesus told stories about the journey to faith and what that means.
It’s not what we expect when we follow Jesus. We don’t expect to have this crazy experience of inviting our other sinner friends over. It’s different for everyone. After the dinner, every person there would be changed. They would have heard, talked to, touched the Master. They would have a choice to make. What would they do, what difference would they make?
God is in the transformation business. When we meet Jesus, when we form a relationship with Him, our lives change. That was the purpose of that dinner party. You see the tax collectors and sinners knew they were not right with God. The Pharisees didn’t see anything wrong with themselves and always balked at having a relationship with Jesus.
I’m sure Matthew had many meals with his tax collector friends. They were probably the only friends one another had. After all, nobody wanted to associate with them. They were the worst kind of Jews . . . back stabbers, traitors, stealing from their own people. How could they? So, they and other sinners had kind of a ‘social group.’
Can you imagine when he calls for the dinner party, he tells them there will be a special guest there. Maybe, Matthew would tell them about the paralyzed man who was healed and walked away, physically and spiritually healed!
Who even called for the party? I don’t think Jesus forced Matthew. I believe Matthew was already a changed man and wanted his friends to experience what he had already experienced. This may have been the best chance his friends would have to meet Jesus up close and personal.
In a sense, Matthew became the first missionary. He was a local missionary. He called out his friends, “you’ve got to meet this guy!” He’s already led me to change my life. Trust me, just come out to my dinner tonight and tell me what you think!”
What’s so cool is that Matthew didn’t want to keep Jesus all for himself. He wanted to share his new faith, his new hope, a new purpose with his friends who he knew needed to know Jesus.
Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be about? We don’t want to hold onto Jesus and not share Him with others. There’s plenty of Jesus to go around. He’s here and He’s there, and He’s everywhere. The Spirit of God is wherever you go, isn’t He? So, this is a great lesson that we need to share Jesus.
Matthew didn’t get in his friends face. He simply invited them to a safe place. They came to his home. We might not have that option, but we can invite a friend or friends to dinner, or out for coffee, or if it is church, we can invite them to worship and meet them at the door. Better yet, pick them up, so they don’t have to feel the strangeness of walking through the doors by themselves.
God has the power to transform how we see our relationships with others. When we join God, we need to realize, actually, we need to believe that there are no coincidences. God has a plan, even if it’s not ours, we need to trust the people He brings in our lives are not by chance or luck.
If you thought who do I know who I could invite to a party, who would you invite? Can you do that, or even simply talk to a neighbor, or a co-worker, another student about your faith? Again, it’s not getting in their face. It’s not badgering, it’s sharing who you are in Christ. Remember everyone wants a reason for their existence. We all want a purpose.
Matthew then tells us the pharisees weren’t happy —
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” – Matthew 9:11
Do you remember the old program Bewitched? There was that crazy neighbor Mrs. Kravitz!! That’s how I see the pharisees. They were always getting into other people’s business. Especially Jesus’. They were nosey and yet, didn’t have a clue.
The pharisees saw what was happening. What respectable teacher and leader would go into the homes of sinners, of tax collectors, would hang out with the sick, touching lepers, talking to prostitutes? Who in their right mind would do stuff like this? No good teacher would!!
We will face ridicule. There will be people who think following Jesus is crazy. They think ‘they are their own god.’ I don’t need anyone and to give your money away? You really are nuts!! And at the minimum, just keep your thoughts to yourself you self-righteous person!
The Pharisees were the rule keepers, they kept the rules they wanted and made you follow the ones they didn’t. Everyone wanted to be like them. They were in with the Romans, they got breaks, they received special treatment. They had the best seats in the temple.
All others were beneath them, they were ‘WANNABES.’ The tax collectors were at the bottom of the totem pole. Now, Jesus is in their midst and change is happening faster than they could process it.
Understand this, and this is a tough one to accept, because we all want to fit in with those around us, but we weren’t created to just fit in, like a chameleon with everyone else. We were made to be unique, to stand out.
In Galatians 1, Paul said –
For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man?
If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ? – Galatians 1:10
Those are some of the questions before us. Our faith has to be real and visible. We are serving Christ, not other people. That’s a tough call, it’s one of those where we have to be able to speak, with kindness and gentleness the reason we have hope and faith in Christ.
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when He heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. – Matthew 5:11-12
Isn’t that the mission? He’s a spiritual doctor. When Jesus refers to the sick, He’s referring to those who are spiritually sick. Those spiritually sick people, as much as we don’t want to admit it . . . are you and I. It’s our family members, it’s those we love the most, it’s our friends - - - and ultimately it’s every person. We are all sick, spiritually sick, we are sinners in need of a physician, and Jesus is just the doctor we need.
Sometimes - - really most of the time, we have no idea of the impact we are making in this world. We have so many opportunities to touch the lives of others. We often miss those moments, because we’re looking for the big time events, but those small moments are there, and if we open our eyes, we will have so many more opportunities to share Christ with people.
Again, the goal is when we share, we share the way Peter explained –
15 Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. – 1 Peter 3:15
Again, when we’re living that Christ like life, people notice it, and they want to know how and why? That’s the time to give the reason for the hope you have in Christ. But you do it with respect and gentleness, helping a person understand who Christ is in you.
Jesus ended by telling the pharisees –
13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Matthew 9:13
The same is true for us. Go and learn what that means. Help others to see Jesus in you, and be ready to share with love, grace and His power the reason you are uniquely you!
