4. Kingdom Calling

What is your calling? What does that even mean, and how do you know? Can your calling change? Can you be called to more than one thing? Called to be an engineer… called to be a teacher… called to be a mom or a dad…

Today’s story, we see Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector to be one of his disciples. We’ll see that whatever specific callings God has for you personally, there are three universal callings God has for all of us. And these callings are callings in every vocation, in every season of life, in every circumstance, on every path we walk.

Subject: When Jesus calls us, what is he calling us to? The invitation from Jesus invites us to what?

Scripture: Matt 9:9-17

Matthew 9:9–17 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.” 14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Big Idea: Jesus came to heal the sick, eat with sinners, and bring a new way of life.

Implications: The call of Jesus is a call to…

The call of Jesus is a call to to admit you’re sick. Jesus invites us all to acknowledge that we are poor in spirit.

Exposition

Jesus called a tax collector to be one of his disciples, and is accepting sinners into his circle.

The Pharisees can’t understand why he would welcome sinners, and Jesus points out two flaws in their logic (Matt 9:12-13).

Matthew 9:12–13 ESV

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.”

Imagine a doctor who refused to see sick patients, but would only see healthy people.

Imagine a sick person who refuses to admit they’re sick and therefore doesn’t go to the doctor.

People who aren’t sick don’t need a doctor. People who aren’t sinners don’t need a Savior. Am I a sinner?

What is sin? Sin is anything that goes against God’s will.

Romans 3:10-12, 23.

Romans 3:10–12 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Illustration: How many of you have had kids? Who taught your kids to lie?

Application: Matthew 5:3… “The kingdom is a one-class society—for sinners only” (Michael Green). Good people don’t go to Heaven. Forgiven people do.

Matthew 5:3 ESV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The call of Jesus is a call to share the cure. Jesus invites us all to give what we receive from him.

Exposition

What is the cure? Look at Matthew 9:13. Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6.

Matthew 9:13 ESV

13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

“Sacrifice” is shorthand for religious practices and traditions. “Mercy” translates hesed.

Hesed = steadfast love, loyal love, lovingkindness, faithful love… loving relationship.

So, God is saying, “I desire steadfast, faithful loving relationship and not religious rituals and traditions.”

Why would God say that?

Does that mean religious practices and traditions are wrong? No.

Look at Matthew 9:14.

Matthew 9:14–15 ESV

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

“There is something very typical and ironic about this enquiry. Here are the disciples of John and the Pharisees wondering why on earth they fast! Typical of religious people. They engage in all sorts of actions and ceremonies and have not the least idea why they do it” (Michael Green).

Look at Matthew 9:15. Jesus is saying, “You’re keeping all these religious traditions, but you don’t even know what they mean. You’re doing all these religious things, but you’re missing the point.” It’s not when you fast, but why you fast that matters.

Matthew 9:15 ESV

15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

What’s the point? Hesed. Religious practices and traditions exist to bring us together to establish loving relationships with God and loving, God-centered community with others.

Illustrations

Why do we gather for worship? To build hesed with God and be together in his presence.

Why do we have Bible studies? To establish hesed with one another on the foundation of Scripture and prayer.

Look at what Matthew did in this story.

Application: Daryl to talk about Gospel Communities

The call of Jesus is a call to live a new life. Jesus invites us all to be a new kind of people.

Exposition (Matt 9:16-17)

Matthew 9:16–17 ESV

16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Jesus didn’t come to reform. He came to rebuild.

You can’t shove Jesus into your old way of life.

Illustration: Each year, nearly 400,000 Americans have what’s known as coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. Most of them could avoid future heart problems by making a few simple changes to their lifestyle: eat healthier, exercise, get better sleep. But, Dr. Edward Miller, former dean of the medical school at Johns Hopkins University, said, “If you look at people who’ve had coronary-artery bypass grafting two years later, 90% of them have not changed their lifestyle. And that’s been studied over and over and over again. And so we’re missing some link in there. Even though they know they have a very bad disease and they know they should change their lifestyle, for whatever reason, they don’t.”

Application

Now that you’ve had heart surgery, don’t go back to eating fried chicken every night for supper.

Build a new life with new rhythms around hesed with God and others.

Gather weekly with the household of God to worship him together.

Spend time with God consistently in Scripture and prayer.

Meet regularly with 2-3 others to talk about life, share what you’re learning from God, and pray together.

Join a Gospel Community this fall.

Conclusion

Admit you’re sick, share the cure, live a new life. Will you answer the call?

For some that means taking the first step with Jesus.

For others, that means moving from consumer to community.

For still others, that means moving from spectator to player.

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