As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. – Matthew 9:9-10
There is a scripture that is probably one of the most encouraging scriptures in the New Testament, and most people do not realize it. It’s found in Romans chapter three, verse 12: “All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
How is that an encouraging scripture? It calls for and encourages us to be authentic. In the fire department, there have been moments where, in the excitement of suiting up, jumping into the truck, and barreling down the road with screaming sirens, AC/DC blaring in the speakers, and men fist bumping the ceiling while yelling, It’s John Wayne time! Sometimes in those moments, some profanity comes out, and in a moment, they’ll look over to me and say, “Oh, sorry, pastor.” I look back and say,”It’s ok, be yourself.”
The truth is that when we realize that we’ve all turned away from God and sin, we’re closer than we could ever imagine to being willing to surrender our sin to Christ. The more we fight the fact that we live sinful lives, the harder it is for us to surrender. So, from my perspective, when others are their true selves around me, I typically say, It’s ok. It gives me an authentic picture of where you are in life. For instance, a doctor can learn more about your condition by studying and interacting with you. They can place their cold hands on places on your body and ask, Does this hurt? or How about this or this? It’s a way to see what condition you have or how bad the condition is. It’s a way to see what the authentic cause of your cough is, or that blemish or redness. It helps the doctor zero in on the right prescription or care. We all know that when it comes to Jesus, the only prescription one needs for sin is for the blood to be applied. But often it takes Christians willing to sit, eat, ask, tinker, and probe to see where the person authentically is in thier walk in life.
Jesus, in this moment, was doing that. He sees Matthew in the tax collectors booth and calls for him to follow him. Matthew I believe was at the edge of belief. He did not hesitate, he got up and followed Jesus. Then he did one of the most beautify things, he introduced Jesus to all of his friends who I believed Matthew knew they needed Jesus to. And they came and obviously were authentic in front of Jesus. More on that tomorrow, but it just seems to be that Matthew wanted his friends to know Jesus. I pray and hope that is my desire for my friends too. No matter how authentically sinful they may be or act.
Prayer
“Jesus, I bring myself to You so that I can see ‘me’ clearly in the light of Your mercy and accept other in the light of your love.”
*Prayer from the book, “Meditations in Matthew” by Dr. Stephen Manley