JESUS AND MATTHEW (LEVI)

It has been a flurry of activity around here this past week as we’ve prepared to launch our 3rd Service at 8:45am. This service tends to be a bit more traditional in nature, and we had a wonderful turnout where many were blessed by the service.

All 3 services continued on in the series “33 Years that Changed the World” and Tim spoke on Mark 2:13-17 which is the story of the calling of Matthew (Levi) and how he threw a party for Jesus and his friends.

Matthew was a tax collector. Tax collectors were not well liked people. They would often take extra profit from their collections for themselves, and could change the amount they collected based on the people that they came across. Because of this they were often despised and disliked by the community. However, the benefits of being wealthy and powerful might have outweighed the guilt or greed they may have known.

When Jesus crossed paths with Matthew at the collectors’ booth he simply said, “Follow me!” and Matthew got up and followed him without hesitation. It wasn’t for a day, a week, or an hour – but it was a sacrifice of his life. Everything that he presently knew and valued he left behind. He must have known that despite all the benefits he gained as a tax collector that Jesus had something more to offer him.

Matthew decided to throw a party and invited Jesus and his disciples as well as all of his own "tax collecting" friends. He might have been excited to share the news of how his life changed with all his friends. The Pharisees saw this was happening and were astonished that Jesus would rub shoulders with such “sinners”!

But Jesus replied, “It is not the healthy that need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I loved that Jesus spent time getting to know people who didn’t know the “truth” despite the accusations from the Pharisees.
Tim challenged us, asking if we were willing and prepared to give up whatever we needed to follow Jesus wholeheartedly as Matthew did. Sometimes in our church culture, we forget we’re all sinners and often we can be quick to condemn as the Pharisees did rather than love and care for those who aren’t yet believers.

However, Tim advised us to be wise in our dealings - to be in the world but not of it. He cautioned us not to put ourselves in a position where we might be vulnerable in getting caught up in adapting the worlds’ culture. Jesus spent time with all kinds of people, but he was also there experiencing it with his disciples - his friends and comrades.

I hope today you are able to challenge yourself to submit to God’s plan for your life. I also hope you can be used to make a difference in someone else’s life by spending time developing a friendship with them. This is how we can change the world together!