Calling All Unlikely Heroes

Text: Matthew 9:9-13

Chris Correa

Introduction

Good Evening, South Valley.

I’m Pastor Chris.

I’m so grateful to be with you all tonight, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our series on unlikely heroes so far. 

Before we go any further I’d like to say how grateful I am for our table leaders and volunteers.

I had met with and had organized a group of leaders weeks before the launch of this series and then days before the launch we saw a mad rush of signups! which Is so great!

But this meant we needed to reach out to more people and challenge some who have never led like this before!

So please can you give your table leaders, youth leaders and volunteers a round of applause for their hard work and commitment to you guys?

Our hope with this six-week series is that each week, you’ll begin to see how God’s calling and work can transform you into an unlikely hero in your community.

As you were reading through your booklets this week you know we are looking at a very unique disciple named Levi, who most of us know as Matthew.

We will begin our look at Matthew by reading Luke 5:27-32

So if you brought your bibles go ahead and turn there.

While you’re turning there I’d like to reflect on our last two weeks together.

Pastor Jonathan kicked off our midweek series by taking us through a look into the life and ministry of the Apostle Peter. 

In your booklets that week you all learned about things like

Grace after Failure

Restoration

and Courage in Calling

Last week, we explored the unique story of Lydia and her significant impact in the New Testament with Pastor Marcus. 

With your small groups you guys took a deeper look into Lydias,

Open heart

Hospitality

and Gospel partnership.

Which leads us to our Unlikely hero today.

The Tax collector named Levi who would become the disciple we know as Matthew.

Before we pray and jump into the passages for tonight I want to take a moment look at Matthews story before we see how his interactions with Jesus apply to us this week.

As many of you know Matthew was originally known as Levi.

The name Levi actually means joined or attached.

His name originally held strong associations with carrying out, the jewish covenant, and worship.

These associations symbolized his role in joining his people to God’s service.

See whenever parents give their child a name most parents look for meanings behind the name and hope that it may be something that the child will represent well.

For Jewish people at that time, names held immense significance by representing a person's character, destiny, and essence, rather than being mere labels

A person's name was believed to reflect their inner nature and character.

A person's name was linked to a “Divine Calling”

Names were used to honor ancestors or family members legacy

Also the naming of a child was considered a prophetic act, reflecting the child's future potential. 

All that to say, that Names mattered..

When Levi was born his parents likely had high hopes that their son would do wonderful ministry.

But instead of living out the meaning of his name he would grow up to become a shameful representation of his name.

We don’t know where his story took a wrong turn we only know that it did.

Levi became an enemy to the Jewish people.

Instead of being joined to God and his people he was detached from God and hated by his people

Levi was instead Joined to Rome connected to sinners like murderers and thieves.

Many of you maybe thinking whats the big deal about being a tax collector.

Romans collected taxes from jews not to improve their quality of life but to simply oppress them.

To simplify the Jews were paying Rome to oppress them.

Romans hired Jews to collect the taxes because they were familiar with jewish customs and would know if they were lying about religious reasons they couldn’t pay taxes.

Tax collectors like Matthew would have used their roman soldier enforcers to bully and force their jewish brothers and sisters to pay them more than the amount that romans required.

They were equivalent to the people who would turn in their own country men and friends to the Nazi’s during WW2.

They were a disgrace and the lowest in the eyes of the jewish community and were not even allowed to go to the synagogs to worship or pray.

Maybe some of you have come tonight and you can relate in a way to Levi.

Maybe you grew up in a family who had high hopes for you but you feel like you let them down.

Maybe you are seen as a disgrace and you feel cut off because of your life decisions and now you only feel connected to those who are stuck just like you.

Maybe your in a better place than you were but you still struggle with the guilt and shame of past failures.

Whatever your story may be, I believe that tonight Jesus is calling out to all the Unlikely Heroes in this room whether older or younger.

Lets pray and we’ll begin.

Matthew 9:9–13 ESV

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. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Now as we read through that passage you might be wondering when Levi’s name became Matthew.

While there is some debate on this, many biblical scholars have concluded that at the moment Jesus called to Levi and he responded his name changed just as his life did.

Levi’s new name has given his life a new meaning.

Levi’s new name Matthew means Gods gift.

Some of you tonight are sitting at your own version of a tax booth.

You may be living in your sin as we speak.

Like Levi you are in a place of guilt and shame joined to sin and detached from God.

You’re giving into various temptations.

Like Levi, you’re in the dark without direction

But theres hope.

If thats you tonight, Jesus is calling out for you to get up and follow after him.

You might be sitting there wondering but do I need to say something specific right now?

When Jesus called Matthew to follow Him, God sovereignly granted Matthew faith, resulting in genuine conversion that immediately bore fruit in obedient action, sacrifice, and evangelism.

By the power of faith and the Call of Jesus Matthew gets up and leaves his dark past behind.

Then He sacrifices the wealth and protection of Rome to follow Jesus where ever he goes.

Then Matthew shows his new heart for evangelism by throwing a huge feast at his house and inviting those he had been joined to (sinners and other tax collectors) to come and meet Jesus. But in his gospel he doesn’t mention that its a huge feast or that its at his house. Yet thats what Mark and Luke tell us in their gospels.

What’s remarkable about Matthew’s story is not just that Jesus forgives him—but how Jesus transforms him.

Matthew’s life doesn’t change all at once, but it does change in a clear order.

Jesus doesn’t just save Matthew and leave him where he is.

He leads him, teaches him, and eventually sends him.

And when you zoom out, Matthew’s story shows us a pattern that every disciple of Jesus walks through

whether you’re a student, a young adult trying to figure out your future, or someone who’s been following Jesus for decades.

What I want us to see tonight is this:

Jesus doesn’t just call unlikely heroes to believe—He calls them to follow, to learn, and to go.

So for the rest of our time, I want to walk through these three moments in Matthew’s life and show how they speak directly to us today.

1st Point:

 Following After Jesus for Direction

Matthew 9:9 ESV

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.

Direction answers the questions:

“Who am I following, and where am I going?”

Jesus’s first call is about direction, not information.

Jesus doesn’t approach Matthew with a detailed what to expect while following Jesus pamphlet.

Jesus doesn’t give Matthew a 5-year ministry success plan.

Matthew gets a call: “Follow Me.”

Jesus’s direction is about:

Allegiance – Who belongs to me?

Trust – I don’t see the whole road, but I trust the leader.

Movement – You can’t follow without getting up.

Jesus doesn’t start by fixing Matthew’s past

instead he calls him out of it.

Jesus doesn’t give him set of rules before following him

He simply calls him to immediate action.

Jesus doesn’t ask him to clean himself up

He calls him to come as he is and follow him.

However

Before Matthew knows where Jesus is going…

Before he understands who Jesus fully is…

Before he ever opens his mouth in ministry…

He has to answer one question:

Will I stay seated, or will I get up and follow?

Finally Matthews Obedience leads to:

A joyful invitation to all of his fellow tax collectors and sinners to come and meet Jesus.

Welcoming the Pharisees who have hated him and being hospitable towards them.

Before we go onto our next point we see a stark contrast between a sinner like Matthew and the Pharisees who were also following Jesus around.

Pharisees are being met with the example of loving your enemies spoken about in Matthew 5:43-46 and they respond with repulsion.

The Pharisees don’t leave their self-righteous sin behind them they bring it with them as they follow Jesus’ ministry with critical and divisive schemes.

Jesus Concludes this passage by answering the Pharisees grumblings by saying he came for the sinners not the righteous.

The famous theologian Matthew Henry describes it like this;

“Christ came not with an expectation of succeeding among the righteous, those who conceit themselves so, and therefore will sooner be sick of their Savior, than sick of their sins, but among the convinced humble sinners; to them Christ will come, for to them he will be welcome. “ - Matthew Henry

In other words;

The self-righteous Pharisees will be sickened by their Savior

The Sinners who humbly recognise their need of a savior will welcome him.

When we follow Jesus we get to see first hand:

His compassion

His kindness

And his power in our lives and the lives around us.

Like Matthew, following Jesus doesn’t just change where you’re going it changes who you’re becoming.