Matthew 9:9–13 (NIV)

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. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Do You See Me?

Introduction

Have you ever had to do something good for someone that really did not deserve it?

Maybe, someone hurt you or someone did something to offend you, and you had to still show up and do something for that person even though you felt like they did not deserve it?

If that’s the case, and if you’ve ever had to do that, then you can identify with Matthew.

Transition

And Matthew is the disciple we are going to talk about today, and we are going to see how he handled the tension of having to do something for someone that he really didn’t think they deserved.

Text

The story of Matthew’s calling is recorded in the three synoptic gospels; Matthew, Mark and Luke. The word synoptic simply means, they were “eye witness accounts”. So each of these writers witnessed this calling, the calling of Matthew, and in Matthew’s case, it is his first hand account of what happened.

Jesus is in Capernaum at the time of this passage and Capernaum is a small fishing village on the North West shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it was a place for trade. Beyond that, we also know that it was a Roman outpost. And because it was a Roman outpost there was a tax collectors booth there, which is where Jesus first encounters Matthew.

Jesus Sees Matthew

Now, the first observation from the text is this: Jesus saw Matthew.

Jesus saw Matthew.

I think that the danger of the Christian church in America is that we don’t see the need in people.

Because we live in a Country with so much excess, it is easy to think that becuase our neighbors live in a home like ours, they go to our schools, they work with us, they drive the kind of cars we drive, eat at the places that we eat at, and by many other measurables, because live like us, that they don’t need anything.

But the great irony of our day is this; even though we have everything we need to be seen by other at our fingertips, many people still feel unseen.

Even with the ability to share and post moments of our lives in real time, there are great numbers of people who feel that nobody sees them and nobody cares.

And if we want to live like Jesus, and if we want to pattern our lives to be like Jesus, then we need to start seeing people as He sees people.

Let me pause here and make sure that everyone in this room knows - He sees you, He knows you, You are never alone, we believe that He created you, He knows the most intimate things about you, and here’s the big deal that you need to know, HE IS FOR YOU.

Do you believe that? He is for you.

So let me give you an application right here before I move on, how many times have you prayed “God put someone in my way today that I can see”?

You see that’s a dangerous prayer because we are busy. We got a lot going on. We got places to be and things to do. We don’t have time for… people….

And if that’s the case, then we will never become a Friend to Sinners, like Jesus is a Friend to Sinners.

So let me ask you, can you start praying like that every day? Can you start your day with a simple request - “God, put someone in my path today so that I can share your love with them.”

Could you imagine what would happen if everyone in this church started to pray that way?

Maybe, more of our friends would enter into a relationship with Jesus.

Maybe, our communities would start to feel the shift as the church is more concerned about the community than they are concerned with showing up and having church on a Sunday.

Maybe, just maybe, someone would stand in front of your loved one that you have been praying for and they would speak to your loved one and get through to them.

Maybe, just maybe, it would usher in a wave of renewal in our City as we open our eyes to the people that are all around us.

How many of ou can join me in this. Let’s start this week! Pray for God to open your eyes to the people around us that are hurting.

Back to our text…

We read that Jesus saw Matthew and he approached him and he called out to him.

I found this image of what a tax-collectors booth might have looked like in the time of Jesus.

I want you to notice that in order for Jesus to talk to Matthew, he would have had to go to Matthew.

So the second application is that God would not just open your eyes to those who are hurting around you, but that you would have the courage to speak to them. So we’re going to pray for our eyes to see the need, and we’re going to pray that we would be full of faith and full of confidence to go to them.

Follow Me

The next thing that happens in the text is that Jesus tells Matthew, “Follow Me”.

What does that mean practically?

Jesus is inviting Matthew into his life.

Now at the time of this invitation, Matthew does not understand what he is being invited into. We look at this moment and think, “Oh, Jesus is calling him to be one of the 12.” But in the present moment, Matthew doesn’t know that. Matthew doesn’t know that there is a 12.

Jesus is a Rabbi who is inviting him to come and see his way of life. And we read that immediately in that moment, Matthew got up and followed him.

Now before you start thinking to yourself, “It’s not that easy for me to do in 2024,” you are right. Our context is different. When we say follow me, it probably means follow me on the gram. Let’s connect on social media. Let’s go grab coffee one of these days.

And that is what that moment looks like in 2024, and that’s how it begins in 2024. A simple, let’s grab coffee. Or, I’d love for you to join me at church. Let’s go grab dinner one of these days.

It’s just that simple.

I remember one day when my son Jaden was young I took him to the bank to open him a kids bank account. I began to have a conversation with the banker there in that moment. His name was Marco. And in that moment I was willing to be open with him, and invite him into my life.

He would later go on visit Lighthouse Church because I made the invitation, and within just a few weeks, he was water baptized at our Baptism Sunday, because I was willing to ask him if he would follow me. I dug up the photo of him just before his baptism that day.

Now, let’s finish the text here to see what happens next with Matthew after spending the day with Jesus. Later that evening, Matthew opens up his home for Jesus to come and Matthew invites all of his friends to also come and meet Jesus.

This is one of my favorite parts of the text - Matthew finds a good thing, and the very next thing he does is share what he has found with to other.

Let me say it this way: Found people, find people.

Now let me say some very strong things right now about this.

When you give your life to Christ - I don’t want you severing your friendships with people who do not know Jesus unless they do not respect your decision to follow Jesus and actively pull you away from your commitment to following Jesus.

I think that real friends wouldn’t do that. They would respect the journey you are on. And if they don’t, that might not have been a true friend.

So, you don’t sever those relationships. Instead, you now begin to invite them to experience what you have experienced.

That’s exactly what Matthew did.

Let me tell you the reason I am highlighting this. Perhaps you were taught that when you give your life to Jesus you are to renounce your family and friends, and only have church friends. That is not consistent with the story of the Bible. Everyone that encountered Jesus would go on to invite family, to invite friends, and to tell everyone they know what they have just found!

Matthew knew that he had found a good thing and so he brings everyone he knows to Jesus.

That’s the way to do it!

When you make a decision to follow Jesus, the next best thing you can do is to get all of your friends to do the same.

So unless your friends are going to drag you down, then invite your friends to experience what you have experienced and together you can live out God’s calling and plans for your life.

Friend of Sinners

Now Matthew’s friends weren’t the only ones who were there that day. Some of Jesus’ ops rolled in. The Pharisees. These are the uber religious people who were constantly at odds with him. And they are being very critical about everything that is going on.

And I love what Jesus says to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

The religious people had the whole thing backwards. Rather than make God accessible to the people, they made him inaccessible to anyone but the religious elites.

Let me try saying it this way, there was no shallow end to their pool. You had to be an elite, or you weren’t even welcome.

But what do the scriptures show us?

Jesus is for the sick.

And this is what we have always strived to be as a church. Don’t for one second think that this church is for people who have everything together. This isn’t a Country Club for the in crowd. This is a place where:

The sick can be healed.

The broken can be made whole.

Marriages can be restored.

Addictions can be broken.

Minds can be restored.

Children can be trained in the word.

We are not a club, we are the family of God, and we don’t wound our own. We love them back to life!

This is Lighthouse.

We are going to light up the City with the hope of Jesus.

We are going to light up the City with the love of Jesus.

And we won’t stop doing this until Vista looks like heaven.

The Wounded Writer (Conclusion)

As I come to a close, can you please humor my theological nerdiness for a few minutes. Matthew, who we see here in the text, is the writer of the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew is considered a Jewish Gospel. Mark and Luke have different primary audiences. But Matthew writes to the Jews. It is written to convince the Jewish reader that Jesus was the Messiah.

There are so many literary cues in the scripture that show us the “Jewishness” of the text. We actually learn about this in our Bible College. We deep dive in it and it is fascinating.

But here is the larger story of Matthew writing to the Jews.

Matthew was rejected by the Jews, because as a Tax Collector, he was viewed as a sell-out. Matthew was despised by the Jews. This is why when Jesus sees Matthew and validated him by speaking to him, it began to radically change the course of his life.

And Matthew, he could have very easily treated the Jews with the very same contempt that the Jews treated him with, but he didn’t. That’s not what he did. That’s not how he responded.

Instead, Matthew, out of the pain of rejection, took on the literary assignment of writing to the very people who rejected him.

Matthew’s gospel is a letter from the rejected to the people who rejected him.

What would compel a person to do that?

Jesus.

The radical love of Jesus.

Because when you encounter the love of Jesus, it will change every part of you. And you wont live from your pain, but you will live from your purpose.

I asked you at the beginning of the sermon if you’ve ever done good to someone who you thought didn’t deserve it. Well then you know how Matthew felt.

You did not see me, but I see you.

Call

Now some of you are sitting here and you are like, there’s no way I can become that person! And you are right. You can’t. But Jesus can. And if you let Jesus into your heart, he can radically change you and make you a new person. If you want to receive Jesus here this morning, I want to lead you in a prayer.

Salvation Prayer - Next Steps with book and sign up for Water Baptism.