Your Life Can Be Significant

Your Life Can Be Significant

Text: “As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him” (Matt. 9:9 NIV).

Scripture Reading:

Mark 2:14 Mark 2:14 “And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.”

Luke 5:27–29 ESV

After this he 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. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.

Introduction

A feeling of insignificance is prevalent everywhere today. People are overwhelmed by scientific and technological discoveries. It is an age of depersonalization. People are cogs in a machine. But Christ comes to say that life can be significant. Think of the marvelous possibilities of life in Christ for you. Visualize the greatest success that could come to you. Matthew is an example of one who went from feeling insignificant to feeling valued and dignified.

Matthew was a tax collector. Now, tax collectors are not very popular in most countries, but in Palestine this was especially true. Collection of taxes was farmed out by the Roman government. A man would pay the government a fixed sum for the right to collect taxes in a given district, and then he would take all he could get.

Further, most tax collectors were Romans. The patriotic loyal Jew refused to hold such an office. Now and then, however, one moved by greed would take the office of tax collector to enrich himself. Such was Mat-thew.

The scribes and Pharisees passed by the tax collectors and would not even look in their direction. Small boys whose actions frequently expressed the thinking of their elders threw stones at them. The more brazen spat on their garments and then scampered into the narrow alleys before they could be caught.

No wonder Matthew felt insignificant. He had a sense of guilt about his

work. He was ostracized from his people. He was so despised and hated by others that he began to despise and hate himself.

One day as Matthew sat at the gate scanning his ledgers, a shadow fell across his book. He lifted his head to see Jesus Christ looking kindly down at him. There was something in that look—the eyes looked him through and through; and in that gaze Matthew saw his destiny.

I. Jesus Christ saw something worthy in Matthew.

Christ saw a man with hidden hungers and divine desires. The people saw Matthew the sinner; Christ saw Matthew the saint. The people saw Matthew the greedy publican; Christ saw Matthew the author and useful disciple. Christ saw the best in people and was always bringing it out. Christ sees something in you. Your life can be significant!

The gospel of Christ offers hope for all. There is a chance for every person—the most unlikely, unlovely, and sinful—to be the person Christ sees. A life may be covered with the dust and debris of sin, but underneath it all is a soul for whom Christ died.

Never was there a more unpromising disciple than Matthew. People probably thought Christ’s choice of Matthew as a disciple was unwise. In modern times it would be as if the Community Fund elected as chairman a person just released from prison for embezzling funds from a bank.

II. Matthew needed Christ.

Matthew recognized his need. He was sick and tired of his lifestyle and wanted to change. One who is great enough to make life can also remake it. Christ can do for you what no one else can do. He can cure the love of gambling. He can put out the fires of lust. He can take away the love of alcohol. He can take away lying, cheating, and cursing. He can remove pride and prejudice and jealousy. Many of us have said, “I would give anything to change. I’ve tried, but I can’t.” There is hope, for Jesus Christ can transform your life.

Matthew tells the story of his own conversion. In Matthew 9 Matthew tells how Jesus healed the man who was sick of the palsy, the woman who had been ill for twelve years, and the two blind men; but right in the midst of these great miracles, Matthew tells how he was called to follow Christ

Matt. 9:9 “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.”

Do you know yourself? Do you have any idea of the power, glory, and greatness that are latent within you? Christ knows what you can be. The marvelous thing about Christ is that he did great things with the most unlikely people. He saw possibilities in a prodigal son, in a woman taken in adultery, and in a thief dying for his crimes. He was constantly giving people power to become new creatures.

When Christ touches a life, the instruments of evil become instruments for good. The voice of blasphemy becomes the voice of love; the hand of hate becomes the hand of mercy. Eyes that seek evil become eyes that seek good. Every talent, if properly dedicated, can be an instrument for God’s use. A sense of significance comes in doing what we can for the Master.

III. Christ needed Matthew.

The first thing Matthew did when he became a follower of Christ was to make a feast and invite all his friends to meet Jesus. He did not say, “Come around the synagogue next Sabbath and sit in my pew.” He invited them to come to his home the next night and sit at his table. Jesus needed a man like Matthew, for he could use his method of doing Christian work.

In the book of Acts, we find Matthew’s name on the list of the twelve apostles. It is thus assured that Matthew remained loyal to Jesus during his lifetime and during the crisis days of his crucifixion. Matthew had left all to follow Christ—his business, his money, his way of life. None of the apostles had given up more to be an apostle. Matthew, once despised by everyone, became the first man to present to the world a written account of Jesus’s life and teachings.

According to tradition, Matthew died a martyr. Tradition has it that he first preached the gospel in Judea to his own countrymen and later was condemned to die for preaching the gospel. He was faithful to the end.

Christ needed a man like Matthew who would work to save the sinful, needy, and neglected. A few years ago, a young minister in a small town near New York City saw that the people who attended his church already believed in Christ and tried to live Christian lives. He was preaching to the consecrated while he saw unchurched people go by saying, “We’re not good enough. We’re sinners.” One Saturday the young minister inserted in the town paper a notice that read: “You are invited to a sinner’s service. The service at the Downtown Church next Sunday will be exclusively for sinners. The saints are all asked to stay away.” Do you know what happened? The following Sunday the church was filled to capacity. The young minister told the people they were the ones for whom Christ came, lived, died, and rose again.

Conclusion

Jesus said, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matt. 913). Such a work makes life significant. Let us give ourselves to reaching the poor, needy, sick, abused, addicted, burdened, problem-ridden, and untouched by the church that we may make our lives count.