A sermon based on Matthew 9:9-13, Rev. J. Orlando Flahn
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Recognizing and accepting God’s call or invitation is often challenging. As I wrote in my pastor’s blurb for this Sunday: “Responding promptly to God’s call can be difficult. We may hesitate to leave our comfort zones, worry about the unknown, question our worthiness, or fear letting go of our ambitions and lifestyle. Still, God keeps calling us to follow, serve, honor, and worship Him.”
God’s call may come through an encouraging word from a Christian friend, the Holy Spirit’s gentle prompting as you meditate on God’s Word and pray, or even in the midst of a difficult season of trials. Discerning God’s will when He calls is always challenging.
ILL: A story is told of a pastor who received a call from a church offering him a salary four times what he was earning. He and his wife discussed it, and she was amazed by the size of the offer. Being a devout man of God, the pastor spent much time in prayer, trying to discern what God wanted him to do. However, it was taking time, and people in his current congregation were unsure whether he would go or stay. One day, a friend of the pastor met the pastor’s young son as the boy walked down the street. He asked the boy, “Do you know what your dad is going to do? Is he going to accept the call or not?” The young boy paused for a moment and replied, “Well, I don’t know, but I see Dad is still praying, while Mommy is packing!”
If you have ever struggled to discern what God wants you to do… you know how difficult it can be to discern God’s will, call, and purpose for your life.
In today’s Gospel lesson, we see Jesus call a man named Matthew (also known as Levi) to follow Him. Matthew was a tax collector despised by his people. Jesus then sat down to eat with Matthew and other sinners, demonstrating God’s grace and mercy by reaching out to those on the margins of society.
Jesus walks to Matthew, who is sitting in the customs booth, and says, “Follow Me!”
Just imagine… the most corrupt and disliked person in your community… a person considered a notorious traitor, probably the #1 public enemy in your city… that is the one to whom Jesus walked up and said, “Follow me.”
In Jesus’ days, being a tax collector in Roman-occupied Judea wasn’t just a nice government job… it was an opportunity to enrich oneself overnight… extortion on steroids. Tax collectors pocketed extra money for themselves and were considered traitors because, by their profession, they were not only making themselves rich by cheating but also financially supporting the oppressive Roman Empire.
Would Matthew receive the invitation of Jesus to follow Him? Well, his response was radical… The text says, “And Matthew got up and followed Him.” He dropped everything, got up, and followed Jesus.
APPLICATION: What would happen to his income? How would he support his family? What would his future look like now? These are the questions Matthew must have faced……But my friend, just look at what you hold in your hands. The first book in the NT was written by Matthew—the Gospel of Matthew. Some of the greatest, most life-changing words of Jesus Christ come to us through this man who once sat at a customs booth, extorting his own people: “The Beatitudes,” “The Lord’s Prayer,” “The Great Commission,” and more……God’s call changes everything!
We may ignore God’s call, but the voice of God continues to reach out to us. Remember, you have the free will to reject God’s call, but doing so often leads to pain or sorrow. Consider the rich young ruler who approached Jesus; when he realized the cost of discipleship, he chose to walk away. As the Bible says, “He went away sad” (Mark 10:22).
APPLICATION: As I walk past people on the streets, in shops and malls, or at any community gathering, I see people walking around in regret and sadness because they have refused to listen to the voice of God who is calling them to something far better…yet they are embracing lifestyles and making personal choices that will impact their lives for eternity.
God’s call comes in three distinct ways. First, there is the call to be a baptized Christian…to know the Father’s love through His Son Jesus… Second, God’s specific call to you…a defining purpose or mission, a reason for which God put you here on earth……Third, there is the call that we face each day ordinarily in response to the multiple demands on our lives…Those immediate duties and responsibilities. (Taken from Courage and Calling by Gordon T. Smith. ©2011 by Gordon T. Smith. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426. www.ivpress.com)
Is God calling you? Will you accept that divine call today? Will you say, “Here am I, Lord, send me!” (Isa 6:8)
Frequent excuses we make:
• I can’t let go of my lifestyle, possessions, ambitions, etc.
• I feel inadequate, unworthy, unqualified…
• I am too busy and distracted…
The truth is, when you say “Yes” to God, He has promised to provide what you lack or what you may need to do His service.
ILL: I put out a fight with God when He called me to the Office of the Ministry. I said, ” God, you might be joking……You got the wrong man….
Quickly listen: God calling you doesn’t necessarily mean getting on an airplane to fly out there as a missionary. It may not even mean a career change. It may simply mean being salt and light in your relationships, in your neighborhoods, and in your workplace. Maybe it’s just being faithful as a Sunday School teacher.
APP: When Matthew left his tax booth to follow Jesus, his life was transformed. In the same way, when you respond to the call to follow Jesus, it changes everything!
A Dinner Party for Jesus:
The first thing Matthew did was to introduce his unbelieving friends to Jesus, who had changed his life. To do this, he hosted a dinner party at his house for Jesus. And who was on the guest list besides Jesus and His disciples? It wasn’t the religious leaders or the regular church-goers. The Bible says, “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and his disciples.” (v. 10)
But the religious leaders, the Pharisees, saw things differently and took offense. To them, it was a scandal, on the part of someone who claimed to be a holy man of God, eating with sinners and tax collectors?
In that culture, sharing a meal signified sharing life, values, community, and acceptance. This highlights the difference between Jesus and the religious leaders. Religion often pushes people away, but Jesus welcomes them. His mission on earth was, and still is, to step directly into the mess of human lives and make a difference, rather than standing at a distance and pointing fingers.
The Pharisees, the religious leaders, questioned Jesus’ intentions. In verse 11, they ask, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” Eugene Peterson’s MSG paraphrase puts it this way: “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and misfits?”
Jesus responded, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “Who needs a doctor—the healthy or the sick?”
APPLICATION: When you go to a hospital, you don’t expect to see healthy people—except for the staff and workers. Hospitals are filled with those who need healing. In the same way, Jesus is teaching that the church is meant to be a place for sinners in need of grace.
If you are struggling with persistent habits or personal flaws, you are exactly where you need to be—in church. Jesus, the Great Physician, came to heal and restore people just like you.
This is the tragedy for religious people: believing they are spiritually healthy, they don’t realize their need for the Great Physician.
Self-righteousness remains a significant barrier today, preventing many from receiving the grace and forgiveness offered through Jesus’ sacrifice. Those who are self-righteous often believe they have no need for grace at all.
But the important question is: What does God truly desire—mercy or sacrifice? Compassion or self-righteousness?
To answer this, Jesus points to the Old Testament book of Hosea 6:6: “Learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’”
APPLICATION: Religious sacrifices are often focused on outward appearances—mechanical acts of rule-keeping meant to gain approval and praise from others. For instance, someone might proudly declare, “Oh, I am a Lutheran, and I will be Lutheran until I die!” While such conviction has value, the deeper issue is this: How do you treat those who do not believe, live, or look differently than you?
Mercy is at the very heart of God, demonstrated by His compassion for the marginalized, the broken, and the spiritually lost. Scripture reminds us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ…” (Romans 6:23).
Someone points out, “Our God is far more interested in how we treat broken, struggling people than in our flawless outward performance of religious duties.”
God calls broken people, like Matthew… people just like you… to restore and heal them, so that He would use them to reach a hurting world, to share hope with those for whom Christ died and rose again. Will you answer His call today?
Conclusion: In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of monarchical rule. He made an application to Prior Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery. “Your Majesty,” said Prior Richard, “do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king.”
“I understand,” said Henry. “The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.”
“Then I will tell you what to do,” said Prior Richard. “Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has called and put you.” When King Henry died, a statement was written: “The King learned to rule by being obedient to where God had called him.” (Steve Brown, Key Biscayne, Florida.)
Christ expects us to be faithful where he has called and placed us.
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