Jesus Changes Lives

Jesus Sees Who We Can Be Rather Than Who We Are!

Jesus approaches Matthew and says “follow me”. This is probably a shock to Matthew and everyone that heard Jesus invite Matthew to follow Him. Tax collectors were the most despised people in this culture. They were view as enemies of Israel and crooks that lined their own pockets by taking excess taxes. This is not far from the truth. You see a person could bid on the job to collect taxes for Rome because they knew they could get rich by extorting cash for themselves. There was no recourse for doing this. Consequently, most tax collectors were rich off of the backs of those they stole from.

Matthew is probably no exception. We see that he is a rich man because he has a large dinner and many other tax collectors and sinners join him at this dinner. This would require a lot of money to put this dinner together.

There is no indication that prior to this encounter that Matthew had heard about Jesus. However; one may consider that Matthew was on the outskirts of some of the people that followed Jesus. I have to wonder if he heard something that Jesus said that stirred his heart and put a desire to follow Jesus.

Logically it doesn’t make sense that Matthew would leave his profession to follow Jesus. Although, he was despised by the Jews he had a very comfortable lifestyle. He probably had everything the world could offer him and yet it was not enough. I wonder if he was seeking peace in his soul. Money and material possessions can sooth the aching soul temporarily, but they can never fix the aching soul. Perhaps Matthew saw the fix for his hurting soul in Jesus.

Jesus desires that we become everything that he created us to be.

There may be some here this morning that feel like the tax collector. You know that your life has not been pleasing to the Lord, but you are comfortable where you are. Maybe you find comfort in the sin that has a stronghold in your life. This is what addicts do. They know that they should not do drugs. They know that it is destroying their bodies. Quite honestly they don’t want to do drugs, but it is the only thing that can comfort the pain of their lives. So they go back to what makes them feel good. This is what sin does in our lives. Jesus came to set us free from this viscous cycle.

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Jesus came to conform you into His image. He does not expect us to conform ourselves into His image. He wants us to surrender to Him so He can transform us. So how do we do this FOLLOW HIM!

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit [c]of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [d]prove to be My disciples.

Daily following Jesus will conform you into the image of Christ. You become who you choose to follow. To follow Christ is to know His word and live according to His word. When we do this we become conformed to His image.

Jesus Came To Heal Not Condemn

The Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. They didn’t believe that a Holy person should associate with unholy people. They believed that a holy person would become unholy by associating with sinners.

Jesus told them that only sick people need a physician. He was a physician for the sin sick soul. I would like to discuss 3 characteristics of doctors that doctors have that the church should have.

Risk themselves for the good of others.

Doctors see patients that have communicable diseases. They are more concerned with the well-being of the patient than getting infected themselves. They take precautions to keep from getting infected, but ultimately are focused on getting the patient well.

As a believer, we encounter sin sick people every day. We should care enough about them to help point them to Jesus who can heal them. We should not avoid them because we are afraid of what people may say because we associate with them or that they will have influence in our life. We should ultimately care about the well-being of the sin-sick person.

Diagnose and prescribe treatments to heal a disease

Doctors deal with diseases that most people would look at with disgust. A doctor will not say that is too disgusting so I will not treat this patient. Instead they see though the disgust and look for the healing.

As a believer, we will deal with people that have done some pretty bad things in their life. We must not say to ourselves that I will not have anything to do with that person because of what they have done. We have a responsibility to help the most heinous of all people. I would like to read to you and interview from a person that has committed an evil that most would find too far. However, James Dobson interviewed Ted Bundy right before he was executed for serial killing many.

Dobson:  Do you deserve the punishment the state has inflicted upon you?

Bundy:  That's a very good question, and I'll answer it very honestly.  I don't want to die.  I deserve, certainly, the most extreme punishment society has, and I think society deserves to be protected from me and from others like me.  That's the irony.  What I'm talking about is going beyond retribution because there is no way in the world that killing me is going to restore those beautiful children to their parents and correct and soothe the pain.  But I'll tell you, there are lots of other kids playing in streets around this country today who are going to be dead tomorrow and the next day and the next day and next month, because other young people are reading the kinds of things and seeing the kinds of things that are available in the media today.

Dobson:  And yet, you told me last night, and I have heard that you have accepted the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and are a follower and a believer in Him.  Do you draw strength from that as you approach these final hours?

Bundy:  I do.  I can't say that being in the valley of the shadow of death is something that I've become all that accustomed to, and that I'm strong and nothing's bothering me.  Listen, it's no fun.  It gets kind of lonely, and yet, I have to remind myself that every one of us will go through this someday in one way or another...and countless millions who have walked this earth before us have, so this is just an experience which we all share.   Here I am.

With that, Ted Bundy was led away with his arms cuffed behind his back.  At seven o'clock the following morning, he was buckled into the electric chair, and his soul went into eternity.  If anyone ever deserved to be executed, it was this man.  He brutally killed without mercy and inflicted incredible pain on the families and friends of his victims.  What a tragedy!  There is a possibility, at least, that it would not have occurred if that thirteen-year-old boy had never stumbled onto pornographic magazines in a garbage dump.  He was one of those people who was terribly vulnerable to depictions of sexualized violence.

Bundy was correct in saying that most serial murderers are addicted to hard-core pornography.  FBI records validate that point.  Not every person exposed to obscenity will become a killer, of course, but too many will!  If only five or ten people in a nation become serial murderers per year, each killing twenty-eight people, it is too many!

I ask you a question. Can Ted Bundy be forgiven for what he has done?

Don’t see themselves as better than others because of their profession.

A good doctor does not see himself as better than others because of the prestige of their profession. They go through all the training and practice so they can be a blessing to other people. They want to cure disease

Christians are not any better than the lost person when it comes to perfection. We all fall short of the glory of God. Could it be that God saved us so that we could help save others?

Jesus Came To Save Sinners

Jesus tells the Pharisees to learn that compassion is better than sacrifice. What this means is that how we deal with others is more important than the outward appearance of our religion.

In the south a good person is one that goes to church, doesn’t cuss, doesn’t drink, listens to christian music, doesn’t watch trash on TV and has a successful career. These may be attributes of a person and they are good attributes, however they are not what the Lord values. What He values is how is His relationship with us influencing our relationship with others. He has forgiven us much. Are we forgiving others much? He is sanctifying us. Are we discipling others?

Folks we must be an intentional church that focuses on winning the lost to Christ and making disciples.