Sermon Tone Analysis

/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 him.

/ - [[bible: Matthew 9:9 ESV]]

* In this passage, Matthew recounts the day of his calling.

So, what is a Tax Collector in their age and culture?

Tax Collectors, or publicans, are Jews who work for the Roman Government; they gather taxes to benefit the Roman Empire, and are despised by fellow Jews for this matter.

They enrich themselves by collecting taxes from their own people, and oftentimes extorting more as they pleased, for the purpose of buffing up their already-exorbitant salaries.

It is likely that Matthew was well-off, as Luke mentioned in his account: Levi, or Matthew, hosted a great banquet for Jesus with a large crowd in attendance

* Our topic today doesn’t center around Matthew.

But we could use his story as a conveyor leading to our calling as a Church.

A humble reminder that our old ways have passed, and we are made new by the grace that Jesus Christ has blessed upon us all.

/And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples./

- [[bible: Matthew 9:10 ESV]]

* In Luke and Mark’s accounts, they noted that the feast was held at Levi’s home.

Here, it says: many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.

* It’s quite interesting how Tax Collectors and Sinners seem to be emphasized in this verse — it kind of jumps on you.

If we are to imagine and place this picture next to our modern culture, seeing Jesus associate with sinners and outcast is like seeing Him dine with terrorists, or even Hitler and Putin.

It's a disturbing and triggering sight to many.

* It is also said that Matthew may have led them to spend supper together, that they may have the opportunity to hear Jesus, to dwell in His presence, in hopes that they, too, might experience change.

/And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’

For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”/ - [[bible:Matthew 9:11-13 ESV]]

* As a minister, or religious elite, you ensure to remain clean by only associating with those who you share the same faith and doctrine with.

Tax Collectors, like Matthew and a man named Zacchaeus, were seen as very sinful by the Pharisees, and to share a space with the likes of them can easily tarnish your "good reputation."

Jesus, being a Rabbi, was questioned by the Pharisees in His choice of companions.

To which Jesus responded, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’

For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

In verse 13, Jesus referred from [[bible: Hosea 6:6]]:

/For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offering./

* Steadfast Love, in Greek is /eleos/, which means /“mercy: kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.”/

To make it sweeter, /“the mercy of Christ, whereby at his return to judgment he will bless true Christians with eternal life.”/

* It is God's desire to redeem His people from the bondage of sin — from the shackles that holds people hostage by the enemy — that they may prosper and have eternal life.

Which was a contrary to their expectation of the prophesied Messiah, thus stirring up the water as Jesus defies the Pharisee’s man-made laws by extending his love to the unlikely.

!!! Radical Hospitality

There was a quote that has stuck with me, it was from Rosalia Butterfield, and it goes along the lines of how the LGBTQ does a way better job in hospitality than the Church.

Like I've said from my previous devotional, we are quite hateful for someone who advocates love — how we approach unbelievers have changed over time; how exclusive, demanding, condemning, and legalistic we have become, and we somehow became indifferent with theology and negligent with the Gospel.

Before I was led towards the community I’m currently in, I began to examine my own heart and question my authenticity as a Christian.

After listening to other Christians through podcasts, commentaries, etc.

I realized how unloving I have become.

I can’t say 'hateful' not because I’m in denial for God knows in my heart that I am capable of extending compassion towards others, but somehow never enough to consider as loving in a sense that, in my mind, I love you, but then I’m less of a sinner now than you are, so maybe you should hear what I have to say.

The Lord humbled me by explicitly reminding me of who I was becoming on my own terms and not His, through brothers and sisters I don’t even know personally.

It was then I realized that at the end of the day, we are all for the Gospel, we are all in Christ, and everyone else beyond the walls of our church are never past grace.

And the discipline continues to this day, as I meet and share the table with Christians who hold on to different beliefs than I do.

/We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.

Whoever does not love abides in death./

- [[bible:1 John 3:14]]

* Theologians noted that, in this passage, the earliest manuscript omits “the brothers” which makes it more general.

John also says, we love because He first loved us.

And Love is the evidence of our justification and renewal in Christ; the sum of righteousness, and the very test of our being born in God.

Love flows from the sense of God’s love to us.

And how can we say we love God, if we can’t love others?

And that includes sinners, down to our enemies.

/Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares./

- [[bible: Hebrews 13:2]]

* And one way to express the love that we source out from God, is to reflect that love to everyone, not just our fellow believers.

To extend hospitality to those you don’t share the same faith with; to those who are poor in spirit; to the outcast; to reach the lost and marginalized; to become stewards of God’s grace.

Let them sit with you, because you could either be the first person in their lives to do so or they were simply waiting for angels as mentioned in Hebrews 13:2.

In any way, this humbly represents the heart of God.

The Chosen said it best, It’s not only the rich who deserve hospitality.

/And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God./

- [[bible: Mark 10:14]]

* Although the context of this passage doesn’t exactly cover our topic, we can still relate it to hospitality.

Some of us have the tendency to gate-keep the Kingdom of God.

Cause we are more worthy, aren’t we?

If we go back to today’s scripture, Jesus clearly said, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

And looking back on Jesus’ Parable of the Lost Sheep:

/“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance./

- [[bible: Luke 15:4-7]]

* Who do we think we are to deprive people of salvation?

Weren’t we that one lost sheep, too, at one point in our lives?

* So, in what ways can we practice hospitality and effectively advance the Kingdom?

How do we invite people to follow Jesus with us, to experience change and to also live the life that we so love?

One of the well-known ways is by accommodation.

To provide shelter and express welcome into our home.

Yes, but then hospitality in biblical sense doesn't mean to host gathering, or in a much better word: to entertain.

Hospitality, in our language, not only means to provide shelter, but to also have the heart to invite people into our space.

To receive them, and provide them comfort and blessed assurance.

/‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’/

- [[bible: Matthew 25:40]]

* We all know the story about the thief at the cross: the thief next to Jesus repented and confessed that Jesus is Lord.

And Jesus gladly extended grace to him — considering that this man did not walk with Jesus; he may not even belong to a ministry or church.

But then Jesus eagerly welcomed him into His kingdom.

Jesus did not come for the saved, nor for the rich.

He came for those who are lost; those who are unbelieving and sinful.

The Lord said in Genesis 1:27, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him (..) We were made in God’s image, and through the works of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we once again bear His image spiritually.

Which is more glorious than it once was.

How do we offer hospitality?

Jesus said, /Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me/.

We follow what Jesus did: invite the lost into our space, in that way we repay God for His sacrifice to redeem the hopeless.

For we were once lost, and now found through the love of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, by which we reflect His love by sharing His salvation to those who haven’t heard, for His name’s sake and for the advancement of His Kingdom, yesterday and today and forever.

Amen.