What a fabulous day of worship we had at Redwine UMC on Sunday, February 12! It was Scout Sunday and we had a chance to hear from each scout den and from both the Pack and the Troop. In addition to our Spotlight on Scouting Ministries, we also had Phil Gilstrap with us from One Harvest Ministry. Phil described the One Harvest ministry, how it can benefit our church families and how it can be a good ministry tool to bring families from the community onto our church property so we can offer them Christian hospitality!
At the 11AM worship service, I only presented the outline of the message titled “Matthew: From Despised to Dedicated, Driven Disciple.” I was able to preach this message in its entirety at the 9AM service, but due to the length of the 11AM service, I only presented the outline and encouraged the congregation to come here, online, to read the message on Matthew: Jesus’ great, transformed, and highly effective evangelist. Thank you for coming here to read the message. May it bless you today and this week!
Matthew: From Despised to Dedicated, Driven Disciple
Matthew 9:9-13
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Redwine United Methodist Church
As we continue our series of Meeting the Master’s Men, we come to Matthew. As a tax collector, Matthew was despised by his fellow countrymen. He stole from them legally. They classed tax collectors with thieves, murderers, and prostitutes. So, how was it that Jesus would call a traitor and an outcast to his own countrymen, to be part of the “inner sanctum,” the Twelve? That’s a good question.
1. Jesus Saw in Matthew What No One Else Saw (9:9a)
What did everyone else see? A greedy, money and power hungry thief who had the power and authority to tax just about anything he wanted. It is said that the tax collector could pass you on the street, levy a tax on you on the spot, and if you couldn’t pay it, right then and there, he had the power and authority to take any of your possessions. He could take the horse right out from under you, if he wanted to. And it was legal. He was despised by his fellow countrymen. Matthew would not have been invited to the neighborhood cul de sac parties. He was shunned and literally avoided. Matthew also was not allowed to worship with his fellow countrymen. The Jews believed that the tribute was due only to God, so tax collectors were prohibited from the Temple. He was literally a man without a country. He had no friends. He couldn’t go to church. We hope he loved money, because that’s all he had going for him.
That is what human beings see, on the outside. We tend to judge the book by its cover and see the limitations, the flaws, the imperfections. We can make all that assessment in just a glance, mind you. But looking only at the surface of a person is a bad approach to take.
The calling of Matthew teaches us that Jesus sees in people what no one else sees. In Matthew, Jesus didn’t see greedy, miserly, inconsiderate, thief. Jesus saw in Matthew bright and beautiful possibilities. He saw talent and resources and love. He took one look at Matthew sitting at his desk, with pen in hand, and knew that the same pen Matthew used to record tax payments could be used to record a gospel. We have Matthew to thank for such rich resources as the Sermon on the Mount and eleven parables which are only found in his gospel, including the ten virgins (oil), the workers in the vineyard, the wedding banquet, the treasure hidden in the field, and the sheep and the goats, to name a few. Who knew Matthew would be capable of such eloquence, such soul stirring words? Jesus saw in Matthew what no one else saw. He saw all the hope, all the possibility of God in his life that had been dormant and hidden until that moment.
That’s what Jesus does. He sees in us what no one else sees. There is a story of a beggar who was sitting across the street from an artist's studio. The artist saw him and thought he would make an interesting portrait so from a distance he painted the defeated man. His shoulders drooped, he was dirty, his clothes were tattered, his eyes were downcast sad. When the artist finished, he took the portrait over to the beggar so he could look at it. The beggar said, “Who is that?” The painting bore a slight resemblance to him, but in the painting he saw a person of dignity, with squared shoulders, bright uplifted eyes, a kind and happy face, and he was greeting children on the sidewalk as they flocked around him. He said to the artist, “Is that me? I don't look like that” The artist replied, “Ah, my good man, but this is the person I see in you.”
One of the holiest qualities Jesus had was the ability to see the potential for goodness where no one else could. What a great quality to have: to see the very best in others. The good news of the gospel is that God sees deep inside each one of us to see our hidden worth and potential and he doesn’t want to throw us away. He wants to not only salvage you, he wants to make something beautiful of your life. The first thing to learn from the calling of Matthew is that Jesus sees in you what no one else sees. What a wonderful , cherished thought.
2. Matthew Saw in Jesus Something He Could Not Ignore (9:9b)
Matthew was sitting at his tax collector’s desk and all Jesus said was “Follow me,” and Matthew got up, the other gospels add the words “he left everything” for emphasis, and followed Jesus. Why was Matthew so quick to leave everything and follow Jesus? The answer is he saw in Jesus something he absolutely could not ignore. What did he see in Jesus? He saw things he had not seen in a very long time. He saw love, sincerity, acceptance, friendship, and a chance to connect again with people, heart to heart, and that he simply could not ignore. In today’s terms he “went for it.” That’s why he got up so fast and left everything he had to follow Jesus. The life he was living was no life and he knew it. Jesus offered him a new start to live again.
A grade school friend of mine, Tony, was in the back of my parents’ family station wagon and he was crying his eyes out. It was 1968. My mother was our youth leader the church my father was serving in Fairmount, Georgia. She had loaded the whole youth group in the family automobile to take us to an outdoor crusade led by Bob Herrington, a popular evangelist of the day, also called The Chaplain of Bourbon Street, for his successful evangelism crusades in New Orleans. The whole experience was spiritually moving. Our lives were really touched that night. After his moving message, Herrington made an altar call and we joined the hundreds who filed from their seats to make their way to the infield grass where a makeshift altar had been built. On the trip home, in the dark of that Chevrolet station wagon, we all heard Tony whimpering, then openly sobbing. His older brother Billy said, “Mrs. Outlaw, I think you better stop the car. Something is wrong with Tony.” I can still see my mother’s eyes in the rear view mirror, illuminated by the dashboard lights. With a knowing smile on her face and her eyes dancing with radiance, she said, “There’s nothing wrong with Tony. He’s being born again by the Holy Spirit!”
Later, I asked Tony about his experience and conversion, giving his life to Jesus. He said, “I just couldn’t go on pretending I had a relationship with Jesus that I didn’t have.” In other words, Tony saw in Jesus something he could no longer ignore and he gave his life to Jesus because of it.
How do you see Jesus? Do you see in Jesus Christ something you cannot ignore? Jesus sees what no one else sees. When we open ourselves to him, we see in Him something we cannot ignore. He gives us a chance at new life. But there’s a third thing to say.
3. Matthew Went Out to Do for Others What Jesus Had Done for Him (9:10; 28:16-20)
After meeting Jesus, the first thing Matthew did was he had a party in which he invited his friends over, they were tax collectors and sinners, to meet Jesus. Jesus was the guest of honor. Matthew had life and love and joy again in Jesus and he wanted to do for others what Jesus had done for him.
Matthew took Jesus’ Great Commission seriously, of course. Sometime later, he went on to write the first of the four gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. Matthew wanted as many people as possible to know about the love and transforming power of Jesus Christ, which he had experienced personally.
It was Matthew who would later write what is known as the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. It is this Commission, these exact words that continue to this very day launch souls and lives into ministry all over the world. He wrote them because it was a part of Jesus message that stuck with him like no other disciple. It charged him, inspired him, equipped him to go out and do for others what Jesus had done for him.
That’s what we’re called to do. To love the unlovely. To do for others for Jesus has done for us. A lot of times that’s hard to do, but when we do it, we follow in the direct footsteps of Matthew and of Jesus, and following in the footsteps of Jesus is really the most important thing we can do as Christians.
The Acts of Andrew and Matthew and The Martyrdom of Matthew are two ancient, apocryphal New Testament accounts. They comprise the most famous legend of the death of the disciple Matthew.
In the Acts of Andrew and Matthew we find the following account:
The disciples divided the known world into regions and each took one to go to and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Matthew received a far-away land, no one knows exactly where, that was inhabited by man-eaters, or cannibals. They “ate no bread and drank no wine, only the flesh and blood of men and women.” These cannibals put out the eyes of strangers, gave them a drug which took away their senses, and left them in a dungeon for 30 days before eating them. (Hannibal Lecter-silence of the lambs) So it was done to Matthew, but the drug was powerless to take his senses away. The power of the Lord gave him his sight back, unbeknownst to the jailors. It was the 27th day of his jail term. Only three days left before he was to be eaten. Meanwhile, the Lord appeared to Andrew in a dream and told him to go and rescue Matthew and he only had three days to do it. Andrew took some friends and found a boat that had a steersman and two other men on board. The steersman asked him if they had any money, and Andrew said, “No sir, our Lord, Jesus Christ, told us not to take any money with us wherever we go in His name.” The steersman said, “Well, “I’ve been hoping to meet a disciple of Jesus. Come on board.” They did. Andrew and his friends did not know it, but the steersman was Jesus and the two other men were angels. A terrible storm raged on the sea and Andrew’s friends feared for their lives, but Andrew told them about the time he was with Jesus in a boat when a storm raged and Jesus calmed the Sea. Andrew begged them not to worry. Jesus could calm the Sea again. About that time, the steersman, listening to Andrew, turned and said, “Can he really?” In that moment the storm calmed and the water was as smooth as glass. Andrew and his friends fall asleep and when the boat reaches shore, the angels carry them to the cannibal city where Matthew was. Jesus and the angels depart to heaven. When they woke up, the first thing Andrew said was, “Did you see that? He calmed the see again! That was Jesus!” Then, Jesus appeared to them and encouraged them to go on. Andrew goes to the prison at night, the guards fall dead, the jail doors open, and he rescues Matthew.
In the Martyrdom of Matthew, Matthew returns to the land of the cannibals to try and teach them about Jesus and to civilize them. He cast out demons and performed miracles of healing and the King grew jealous of his power. The King had Matthew bound and fastened to the ground. He was covered with dolphin oil and pitch and asphalt and they laid golden images of their 12 gods around him. And they lit the fire. But the fire blew outward and melted the golden idols and it chased the King into his palace and it surrounded him and he could not move or he would have been consumed. Matthew was released and he went to the King and said a prayer to spare the King. The fire disappeared, but when the fire disappeared, Matthew fell to the floor. He was dead. The village gave him a burial ritual, the King was converted to Jesus Christ. His sons were made deacons, his wife, the Queen, a priestess, and he gave his palace to be converted into a sanctuary for Jesus Christ. The entire village came to believe in Jesus Christ.
Just a fantastic legend, but behind it lies the truth that Matthew died for Jesus Christ.
Like no other, Jesus can bring out goodness, wholesomeness and love. He did it in Matthew and if we let Him, he will do it in us. And as he shines His light for us we can reflect it for others.
Our best response to the gospel is to go out and help others realize their highest and greatest and best. That’s what Jesus did for Matthew. That’s what Jesus does for us. That’s what Jesus wants to do through us for others. Like Matthew, may we reflect the Light and Love of Jesus in the dark places that are around us.
Amen and Amen