Trusting the Unknown

Intro

The stated mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Who are these disciples, that we as a church, are to be making?

By definition a disciple is a follower.

That means there must be someone to follow, and that someone wants followers.

When we read through the Gospels in the Bible we see that Jesus says, “follow Me” more often than he says, “believe in me.”

You can be confident that there is a call to follow laid upon anyone and everyone who seeks to draw closer to Christ.

It could even be argued that the whole of the life of faith is wrestling with that call to follow him.

Jesus never tried to convince us that following was an easy or a simple thing.

There is effort here; there is sacrifice demanded; struggle and lifelong commitment are needed.

So over the next couple of weeks we will consider together the weight of the call of Jesus Christ upon our lives.

In particular we will ask ourselves this question.

What is being asked of us, we who seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ?

The focus for this sermon is the hearing and responding to the call.

Here is a brutal truth about myself.

I know that I’m a sinner.

I often find that I am a slave to ways of being that I want to change.

I am sick and in need of healing.

Here is another truth.

Jesus has come for me and for you, despite our sinful nature.

And that is what Jesus does.

And that’s what Jesus did for Matthew, isn’t it?

(pause)

Matthew’s Call

In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, we are told that Jesus was walking along and He “saw” Matthew… ”

Jesus saw a person.

And Jesus saw all the vulnerabilities of this person.

Jesus saw this person who was being used by the Romans as a tool and was despised by his own people.

Jesus saw this person who had become a tax collector.

He saw what had drawn him to turn his back on his heritage and work for the oppressors of his race.

He saw the insecurities and fears that played and worked in Matthew’s life to bring him to this point.

He saw the assaults on his self-worth that damaged him and had made him ripe to accept this as his life’s work.

He saw the despair that Matthew must have felt—knowing that he would never be anything other than what he was now—a despised tax collector.

How many other people had ever really “seen” Matthew?

Or had he only felt the judgment of others his entire life?

Had he always lived on the margins?

I mean, what had possessed him to turn to such a wicked profession, as a despised tax collector?

Had he always felt like he didn’t fit?

Perhaps he had never sensed or experienced an unconditional love from his parents, siblings, and extended family.

Maybe he had a father who would come home drunk and take his frustrations out on little Matthew saying: “You’ll never amount to anything!!!”

Perhaps he had been bullied on the playground.

Maybe he had been socially awkward or shy, and thus felt shunned by his peers.

Maybe he had always been a loner, not that he wanted to be a loner—but a loner just the same.

Perhaps he felt that people were never gonna like him for who he was anyway so he might just as well, at the very least, get rich by becoming a turncoat Jew and ripping off folks for the Roman government.

And of course, as these decisions always do—they made Matthew’s life even worse.

They caused Matthew to be truly, truly hated.

And so, when people looked Matthew’s way they would give him “the evil eye,” or the “angry look,” or the “blank stare.”

Because everyone who looked at him saw only one thing: a man that they hated; a man that they despised.

Have you ever had someone who despised you, for whatever reason?

Matthew new all to well what it was liked to be despised by others.

He’d become accustomed to it.

But then one day, Jesus came along.

And Jesus is the perfect embodiment of God’s unconditional love.

And the perfect embodiment of God’s unconditional love must have been what Matthew the tax collector sensed—experienced—felt as Jesus walked along and really “saw” him.

And I’d imagine that this is something Matthew had never experienced before.

And it was so radically different from anything he had ever known, that he knew it was something special…

…he knew it was something priceless…

…he knew it was of another world…another kingdom.

We can only imagine the impact that Jesus’ intimate, accepting, loving look had on Matthew.

And then, Jesus called him personally.

He said to him, “Follow Me.”

In other words, “Come with Me.”

“Enter into a relationship with Me.”

“Join Me in My relationship with others.”

“Help Me create a community that embodies God’s rule on earth.”

“Just be with Me.”

The Scripture simply states: “and [Matthew] got up and followed him.”

And THAT is what LOVE can do.

It’s also interesting, to notice, in this passage, what Jesus did not do.

For instance, Jesus did not give Matthew “The Look.”

Jesus did not look upon Matthew with judgment and anger.

Jesus did not hate on Matthew.

As I mentioned before Jesus “saw” Matthew.

And when Jesus “sees people” Jesus has compassion on people.

If we were to dissect the Gospels this morning, we would be unable to find a single negative word coming out of Jesus’ mouth toward the people on the margins of His day.

Jesus' strong words are never to the outsiders like Matthew but rather to the religious establishment and disciples that exclude them.

At the same time, Jesus continually invites religious insiders to join Him in extending God's embrace to the excluded—to have open hearts, open minds, open doors.

When Jesus “saw” Matthew, Matthew was ripping off common folks by collecting taxes for the Roman government.

And when Jesus “saw” him, did Jesus scold him?

Did Jesus say to him: “Matthew, you have to get your act together, and then, maybe…just maybe I’ll come back here and you can follow Me?”

No.

Jesus just called him.

And where did Jesus go after He called Matthew?

He went to eat at Matthew’s house, and a bunch of other tax collectors and sinners came to eat with them: prostitutes, the handicapped, lepers, alcoholics, the mentally ill, the alienated, the low class, the marginalized, women.

And when the religious establishment saw this, “they said to [Jesus’] disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’”

And they didn’t ask this out of curiosity, wonder, or a genuine desire to learn or understand.

Their judgment was already in.

Their verdict had already been cast.

Their kind didn’t hang out, get close to, or even give the time of day to people like these.

These were the hated ones.

These were the despised.

They wouldn’t have been caught dead being nice to these folks, let alone eating with them!!!

When Jesus heard their judgments, He turned to them and said: “Go and learn what this means: I want mercy and not sacrifice. I didn’t come to call righteous people but sinners.”

Of course, that includes all of us doesn’t it?

The source of genuine conversion is always unconditional love.

Any transformation that comes about in our lives, comes through loving acceptance and trusting relationships.

And true, unconditional love comes from Jesus Christ.

And those of us who follow Jesus Christ are called to mimic His love for others.

And this is what it means to follow Him.

And it transforms our lives into something beautiful.

It frees us from self-hate, sickness, and spiritual death.

(pause)

I know that I’m a sinner.

I often find that I am a slave to ways of being that I want to change.

I am sick and in need of healing.

So, Jesus has come for me.

And that is what Jesus does.

And that’s what Jesus did for Matthew, isn’t it?

Has Jesus done this for you?