“Follow Me” (Matthew 9:9-13) - Not a Fan II -

Jesus Calling

If someone wants to be a pastor in the United Methodist Church, the Board of Ordained Ministry always asks the following two questions: (1) what is your conversion? And (2) how do you know if God has called you to ministry? These are two distinctive Christian experiences. In the Old Testament the word “converted” means “to turn back or return.” In the Bible the word convert is to return to what we were initially created to be. When we put our trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are converted. God gives us a new nature, a new heart. We are born again. But this is not all. God also give us a new purpose to life. God calls each of us to his kingdom ministry. Some people think that “call to ministry” is just for few chosen ones. But actually, God has a purpose for everyone. God has a unique mission and ministry for each one of us.

I shared my conversion several times in different occasions. It happened when I was in the army. I fell ill with an endemic disease, called “Dengue Fever,” in East Timor, and I had a near death experience. At the valley of death I repented my sin and surrendered my life to Christ. Miraculously, I was completely healed. I was converted. I knew I had a new nature. I knew I had assurance of pardon. But once I went back to college, I was still not sure what God’s plans for my life were. I kind of wanted to have my cake and eat it at the same time. I wanted to have a decent job and salary and do some church work. I wanted to have a little of Jesus but at the same time I also wanted to have my own areas that I can make decisions. I pursued “moderation.” At that time I felt like I was sitting on the fence. I didn’t feel satisfied. I didn’t know what to do. Around that time I attended a youth Bible camp as one of the teachers. At the end of the evening service there was a corporate prayer time. I was praying for my group students. I prayed that they might encounter Christ and discover God’s plans for their lives. While I was praying, I heard the inner voice of Jesus calling, saying, “My son, I want you. I want you to follow me.” That night I gave Jesus Christ the master key of my heart.

“At the Tax Collector’s Booth”

Jesus meets us where we are and calls us to follow him. Jesus meets us in our mess and then begins the process of change. In today’s passage there was a man named Matthew who was suffering from a bad reputation. As a tax collector, Matthew was rich, but he was absolutely despised and considered outcast. No one wanted to associate with him. I want to draw your attention how and where Jesus met this man. Verse 9 says, “… he (Jesus) saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth.” Jesus didn’t meet Matthew at the synagogue. Jesus didn’t meet him at the prayer closet. But Jesus did meet Matthew right where he was – “at the tax collector’s booth.” Many biblical scholars say that Matthew’s conversion was not some kind of miraculous summons that suddenly changed him from a racketeer into a saint. Matthew had heard of Jesus long before He challenged him to follow Him. He had heard Jesus’ gracious words and had seen His mighty works. Matthew was being moved. A change was taking place. He began to loathe his business in life. He began to ponder his purpose in life. Matthew was greatly distressed. He wanted to change his life. He wanted to run away, but he couldn’t go anywhere because he didn’t know which way to go. He didn’t know what to do. He felt like his life was a treadmill set at a pace that he couldn’t control. He just kept going. One day Jesus came and stood before his desk at tax office and said, “Follow me!” Jesus didn’t condemn Matthew. Instead, Jesus did meet Matthew in his mess and call him to follow Him. And Matthew followed. Have you met Jesus in your mess? Have you heard Jesus calling? Have you responded to His calling? How do you live out your calling?

What Separates Real from Fake

In today’s passage there are two groups of people who were following Jesus. The first group of people was those receiving Jesus’ love and rejoicing in it. They repented and believed Jesus. They ate with Jesus and followed him. They were tax collectors, prostitutes, and “sinners.” The second group of people was those rejecting Jesus’ love and calling because they considered themselves righteous and healthy. They didn’t need a savior. They didn’t need a doctor. They were Pharisees, religious leaders, and coddle insiders. They thought they were following Jesus. Yes, they were being around Jesus, but they were not following his ways and his words. In Matthew 23 Jesus rebuked teachers of the law and Pharisees. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (v. 37). They rejected Jesus and his love.

On the Day of the Lord many will say to Jesus, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then Jesus will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away form me, you evildoers!” (Matt 7:22-23) Pharisees and religious leaders did lots of God’s works, lots of good works. But Jesus said to them, “Away from me, you evildoers!” From what Jesus said here we can learn one very important truth. It’s not how much we do. What separates real from fake is “love.” If we have a great faith, if we give all we have to the poor and sacrifice ourselves for others, but have not love, we are nothing! My father-in-law is a Presbyterian pastor in Korea. Once my mother-in-law shared her testimony with me. After they planted a church, by the grace of God the church grew in numbers and experienced revival. But then, a time of great tribulation came to their lives. One pastor, who was invited as a guest speaker during the church retreat, stirred up divisions in the church and took many church members with him. To make things worse, that pastor and the followers spread a vicious rumor, saying “We are the real followers of Jesus, and those remaining in the church were fake.” The church was falling apart. My mother-in-law was crushed in soul, and prayed to God: “Lord, am I really fake?” Then, God showed her two visions. In the first vision, two eagles appeared. One was a young and strong eagle, and the other was an old and weak one. Both of them flew up into the sky. The young eagle flew high, but the old eagle barely flew. But, after a while, the young eagle suddenly fell to the ground. Actually, it was a wind-up eagle, and then the voice said to her, "When the time comes, you’ll know what is real and what is fake.” In the second vision, two doves appeared. Both of them looked exactly the same. One of them kept approaching the other and trying to hug, but the other one kept rejecting and avoiding. And finally he fled away. Then, the voice said to her, “What separates real from fake is love.”

Life with Love

Love. By love people will know we are followers of Jesus. This love is agape love, different from other loves. The Bible says even those who are evil know how to give good gifts to their children (Matt 7:11). It’s rather easy to do good things to our family and friends. But agape love, Christ-like love, is different. It is to love the unlovable. It is to bless those who curse us and pray for those give us a hard time. It is to lay down our lives for those who hate us. We do not have this agape love in us. But when we experience Jesus’ love first, then and only then can we love others as Jesus loved us.

Recently I have read the story of Mother Antonia. She was a blond Beverly Hills socialite. She married twice, divorced twice, and the mother of seven. But when she was 44, her life was transformed. She heard Jesus calling, “follow me.” She followed. She sensed God’s call to serve the forgotten prisoners. She went to notorious La Mesa prison which contains six thousand of Mexico’s worst criminals. Mother Antonia voluntarily took up residence at La Mesa. She has lived in the tiny cell for more than thirty years alongside her inmates. She spends her time praying with them, counseling them, and ensuring they have medicine and clean water. Although La Mesa prison experienced remarkable transformation, it remained a very dangerous place. In September 2008 a riot broke out in the prison when she was not inside. The prisoners had taken hostages, fires had been started, and bullets were flying everywhere. The 82 year old Mother Antonia pleaded with the police, “Let me go in. I love the men there.” They let her enter. She found the leader and begged him to end the riot, saying, “It’s not right that you’re locked up here, hungry and thirsty. We can take care of those things, but this isn’t the way to do it. I will help you make it better. But first you have to give me the guns. I beg you to put down your weapons.” The leader replied, “Mother, as soon as we heard your voice we dropped the guns out of the window.”[1]

The love of Christ transforms us. Jesus invites “anyone.” Anyone is welcome to follow him. Anyone. Sexual past? Anyone. Ex-con? Anyone. Inmate? Anyone. Recently divorced? Anyone. Legalist? Anyone. Alcoholic? Anyone. Addict? Anyone. Hypocrite? Anyone. Matthew heard Jesus calling. And he became a follower. Years later, as he was writing the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew humbly shares his own story with us how Jesus found him and changed him. He once was cheating his own people as a tax collector, but later with love he laid down his life for those who persecuted him in Ethiopia. And now Jesus is calling you. Are you listening?

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[1] Skye Jethani, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011) 159.