Opening and Introduction
In our text today, we heard of a tax collector named Levi, more commonly known as the disciple Matthew. Matthew was working in his toll booth and left everything behind to follow Jesus. He left without hesitation, without conditions, and without negotiating how he would follow.
Following Jesus without restrictions is something that we’re not that good at. We carry with us thoughts, ideas, and philosophies from the secular world, and keep them along-side our faith. Sometimes habits form that don’t line up with God’s will. Other times, we carry problems with us that we try to deal with ourselves, yet we have a hard time with those burdens.
Sometimes, we get in the way of our faith and carry baggage that we don’t need.
Tonight, we’re going to take a closer look at Matthew and what he left behind to follow Jesus. We’ll also look at our baggage, and see how that impacts our faith. Finally, we’re going to look at ways to help us lay these burdens at Jesus’ feet, and reduce, or get rid of, our baggage, so that we can follow God more freely.
Follow Me
Our text today probably happened in a city called Capernaum. It was a commercial center on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee, placing it between a number of important trading areas including Damascus, Jerusalem, Asia, and the Mediterranean coast. As an important crossroads, there was a lot of money that came from customs and tolls that flowed through this area.
The people that controlled those taxes would have been, of some importance in the local government. With all the money they handled, it was a lucrative job that paid quite well.
Although Matthew and his co-workers were in a special position of trust to boost the government coffers, they weren’t trusted by everyone. There was a social stigma attached to tax collectors, so that even the Roman elite, wouldn’t accept such a position.
Most considered them dishonest, corrupt, people who abused their authority by collecting extra tax for themselves, and as snoops who always watched what was going on. They were today’s social equivalent of thieves, embezzlers, and informants.
This combination of qualities put tax collectors in one of the lowest of social status. Jews, especially the Pharisees, felt that no honorable person should be spending time with THESE sinners.
As Matthew collected the tolls for the area, Jesus was already well underway with His ministry. He’s exercised demons, healed people, and amazed those in the synagogue with his wisdom. Jesus is starting to become well known and already has a small following of disciples.
It’s likely that Matthew heard about Him. As a tax collector, he was exposed to a whole lot of people, and while they stand in line waiting to take care of their tolls, Mathew hears the news and rumors of the day.
Yet, it’s this untrusted, sinner that Jesus approaches. This worker who’s hated and unpopular by the general public, and considered one of the worst of people; in the same category as the gentiles.
Then Jesus shows up while Matthew is working:
“He (Jesus) went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.” (Luke 5:27-28, ESV)
I wonder if there was a bit of soul searching for Matthew. Should he leave his job, his income, his career? Should he just walk away from everything he knows, and follow this preacher who shows no signs of being able to support Himself or Matthew.
But Matthew doesn’t waste any time. He stands up. Leaves his counting table behind. Leaves everything, and follows Jesus. He doesn’t run home to take care of a few errands first. He doesn’t pack a bag and meet Jesus somewhere. He doesn’t even say goodbye to his friends or family. No conditions. No hesitation. Matthew didn’t bring any baggage along. But that’s not always so true for us.
Holding Our Baggage
Have you ever gone on a trip where you needed to pack luggage or take a bag with you? The more that we pack, the slower we move from one place to another. That’s true with other kinds of baggage too.
Going about our life, we carry lots of stuff. We carry opinions, biases, and beliefs about a variety of topics. Some of these are innocent ideas and there’s nothing wrong with them. God hasn’t given us advice on our favorite color, or where we should live. These concepts shouldn’t slow down our faith journey. But there are some ideas that do.
When Jesus asked others to come along, sometimes folks chose their baggage over following Him. To one man:
“Jesus said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-60, ESV)
This example seems like Jesus was harsh in dealing with him. But keep in mind that He could see inside the man’s heart. If the man’s father had already died, he would have been tied up with preparations, so dad must have still been around. How long would it be, before he decided to follow?
Jesus was clearly telling people that following Him required reorganizing values, and priorities. He was going to come before everything else. That’s quite a standard to follow.
But, few of us are going to follow in such an unrestricted way. We’re like this man who didn’t follow Jesus immediately. We like to bring our baggage, our conditions, our timeline around with us. We set the rules to follow OUR way. We may not even realize the burdens we carry.
We may follow, but still continue to do those sinful things that pull us away from His will. Perhaps we hang out with those friends, or go to places, that are a bad influence to our spiritual health, you know, those things that distract us away from Jesus, and instead, move our focus to our selfish desires, our sins of choice, and put God last in our list of priorities.
Other times, we struggle with issues and baggage that weigh us down, increase stress and may even result in depression and despair. We carry things that we don’t want to carry: shame, guilt, anger, unforgiveness, and… here’s a big one… worry. These are all things that weigh us down as we struggle with the emotional burden of something we did, something that happened to us, or concerns of what might happen next.
We all carry burdens. What baggage do you have? What is it that you can’t let go, or that you struggle with?
Putting aside our baggage is something that’s really hard to do. We may not be ready to get rid of those habits and ideas that we’ve grown so accustomed to.
Getting Past Our Baggage
So, in the time that we have remaining, I’d like to look at three ways, that can help us put down our burdens, and allow us to follow God more freely.
First, understand that we’re not alone in our struggles.
Scripture includes all sorts of stories that show that others embraced sin, experienced pain, and sorrow, and had a whole lot of unanswered questions, much like we do.
David was the second king of Israel and a man that we hear of repeatedly throughout scripture. He struggled with following God because of his own baggage, including one of the more jaw-dropping moments in scripture. The King had an affair with a beautiful woman named Bathsheba, and she got pregnant. Then, to cover up the crime of adultery, He arranged for her husband, Uriah, to be killed in battle. Two crimes for the price of one.
David wasn’t a perfect man. He struggled with sin, and he needed help. This was some of the baggage that he carried around with him. In response to his trouble, David wrote some of the Psalms. In one familiar passage, he wrote about his need for a clean heart.
Please read this with me:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Psalm 38:10-12 ESV)
Does anyone recognize this? We’ve used this as part of our services before. It’s a plea for forgiveness and sounds like someone who’s struggling with following God. He’s in pain as he looks for help to get back on the right track. Have you ever felt like that?
David wasn’t the only one that had difficulties. The Apostle Paul struggled too. In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul wrote about his struggle. Paul wrote:
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:18-19, ESV)
If two of the most important and prominent figures in the Bible can struggle with pain, and sorrow and sin, perhaps we’re not alone in whatever our baggage is.
But whatever struggles we have, God is still there for us. Which brings me to my second point.
Second, don’t bear burdens alone. God created us to be in a relationship both with Him and with each other.
When we struggle with things in life, it’s good to find a support system to help us through our problems. Family, friends and even neighbors can help us through some difficult times. Our church family can help too.
Here at Concordia, we have groups that meet together to help each other, as well as help the community. We have groups for men & women, those over 55 & those in school, and a few groups that come together to serve others.
These groups allow us to explore God’s word, share our insights and abilities with others, and connect us with people who have similar interests and challenges. These groups are one way to seek support, or maybe, to provide it to those who need our experience most. Maybe someone can even find a solution, that no-one’s considered yet. Paul wrote about this type of support in his letter to Galatians. He wrote:
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1-2, NIV 84)
That same support that helps us get through a bad situation, can also serve as an accountability system to keep us in line so that we don’t stray away from God’s path.
Perhaps we can get rid of some of our baggage with a little help from those around us, or maybe we can help others get rid of their baggage.
Third, turn our baggage, and our problems, over to God.
This one’s probably the most difficult one to do. Many of us like to handle our own issues, take care of ourselves, and find our own solutions. But life doesn’t always work that way.
The world is a hard place. There are constant struggles, financial problems, relationship challenges, health scares… all sorts of problems that we just can’t see our way past.
No matter what problems we have, no matter how big, or complex, or convoluted they seem, God is always bigger than any difficulty we’ll ever have. He created the universe with a word. He can solve our problems too.
Jesus wants us to trust and turn our problems over to Him. Jesus said:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29, ESV)
If we follow Christ and take up His yoke, He takes the load off of us, all the baggage that we have, and He bears the burden for us.
That’s what grace is. paid the price that we don’t have to deal with. He died for our sins in a way that we can never achieve. If He can do THAT, He can handle ANY problem we have and help us with our baggage, that we just can’t seem to put down.
Conclusion
The same ideas that help us put our baggage behind us, are some of the same ideas that can help others with their journey in Christ.
We’re not alone with our baggage. The entire world has a baggage problem. Use whatever support network we have, or build a new one, to help us get through the rough spots in life, and turn our cares and concerns over to God.
He can handle all of our baggage, all of our concerns, and all of our problems, even, and especially, when we’re struggling just to make it through another day.
