SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you want to grab a Bible, that'd be good. We're going to open it up now. We're going to be in Matthew chapter 9. So we are continuing our series on fresh starts. And by judging who's still on holidays in the middle of February, uh January, there's still plenty of us here getting that fresh start. So, but that's okay. You guys will get to be here to open up the word together. And I'm super excited about that. And that's better. And that's a real win. Even if we're still at work, the fact that we're here, that's a real win. Why do I say that? Because Jesus says that, and we're gonna see that in this passage in a second. So, what we get to see this morning uh from Matthew 9, 9 to 13, is where the Apostle Matthew, so the guy who wrote this book, this gospel, um, how he was called to follow Jesus. Uh what we're uh and why we're looking at that is because what we want to do with this season, what this new series is to go, what what are these examples of sort of new seasons, new starts that God actually calls people into? Um, after all, this is what he says to Isaiah, right? Isaiah 43 43 says this uh remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. See the cool thing is God has his track record of taking what is old and making it new. And at the same time, he tells people who follow him, his disciples and us, to step out of old things and into new things. The Bible is littered with examples of this, right? Of people stepping into new seasons. Like, think about all the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11. That's all people stepping into new seasons, like Abraham, who's called, steps into the unknown, into a new foreign land, and which ultimately God uses wildly and powerfully. We know that God is the one doing these new things that he calls his people into. He is the one who makes these new things spring forth. And so that's what we're doing here. We want to look at these examples, focusing in on the one that's in the gospels that Jesus calls people into. And so today we're gonna look at Matthew. See, because I think when we start New Year's and new seasons, we all sort of are ambitious and have a lot of ideas, a lot of New Year's resolutions. How are your New Year's resolutions going? Did anyone make who made some? No one. This is an ambitious bunch. So two people made them. Is it still going?

unknown 2:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

That's pretty good.

unknown 2:36

I was gonna watch the like intro song bit before the TV show, and I've just jumped straight into the TV show.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

And you're doing that.

unknown 2:46

Yeah, we're gonna just run the DC. I had to bring this here.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Okay. That's that's uh that's a huge new season. I think we're uh we're done. Seb, you're still going? Uh yeah.

unknown 3:01

My my team every year is to nearly touch my toes. So I still have to say the year, but it's not it's not closer than the year.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Is it closer than the start of the year?

unknown 3:15

No.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Okay.

unknown 3:16

Well, it's hard to tell. I don't know how you can tell.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Okay, well, so the stats are this, and I don't know how true this is, but they say that 23% of people quit their new year resolutions by the first week, so well done. We are on the third week. Um, and then about 40% quit by the end of January. So, assuming it's like a straight line progression sort of thing, we're at about the 30% mark, so well done for being in the top 30. So, why is that? Why is that? Because New Year's resolution's good, right? Like it's trying to step into something new, something better. Why do we stop so quickly? See, I think one of the reasons, not the only reason, but I think one of the big reasons is that the reality of the everyday just drags us back into our routines pretty quickly. Right? The reality of the everyday hits us in the face as soon as that Jan 5 comes back and we're back at work. But let me give you an example, right? Over the holidays, I uh I spent some of it swimming, went to some of those outdoor baths, um, generally felt very healthy. Um like a pool, guys. Um and uh I literally I think I said out loud to Yenny at some point, like, you know, if I had this kind of time, I would do this all the time. I would swim all the time. And the reality of the everyday is that now we're back uh back into the year, and um during the hottest part of the year, I'm sitting inside an air-conditioned office. Right? I'm not swimming, I'm not at the bus. And if you're anything uh like me, you know, I think the first couple of weeks of the year feels very quickly exactly the same as the last couple of weeks of last year. Same routine, same every day. And if you're like me, you also then just wait for that next thing. Hey, what's my next holiday? When do I next get this free time to do all these things to pick up new habits? Uh, when do I go swimming again once busy season over? I'll I'll meal prep once this week's over. Um, I I will I will get through the semester at school and then I will start to do X, Y, Z. I'll see my friends um again. See, I think our tendency when the everyday catches up with us is to assume that the next best and only opportunity for stepping into something new again is when there's a break. Is when there's a release from the everyday. From the release from the usual. Or think about it when it comes to our spiritual life, right? To we want to spend that time with God that we've been talking about, or that we have that devotion we want to read, or that coffee we should have with someone. Let's wait for that break. Let's wait for that next conference that we go to, that next feeling that we're actually zealous and on fire for God. Or, you know, this mission that we want to go on, these people we want to reach, let's wait for that next alpha course. You know, let's wait for that next event I can invite them to. Next period where someone's where we're all really hyped because some internet passer released a video. See, we fail at resolutions because I think life gets in the way. But what I want to show you today is Matthew's story shows us that Jesus interrupts that every day. Jesus interrupts that very life. Like he doesn't wait for us to be resolution ready before doing what he wants. And we don't have to wait for that spiritual high or the breaks in life, but actually, new things can start and can happen in the benign, in the mundane, in the everyday grind. So let's read this account, yeah? So if you've got your Bibles, Matthew 9, 9 to 13. 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. And as Jesus reclined at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard it, he said, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. So I've got three quick points for us today. First one is this Jesus meets us where we're at. See, right from the get-go, I think the calling of Matthew is really interesting for two reasons. Right? Firstly, Matthew is probably the last person that you would expect Jesus to go and call as one of his crew because of who he is and the reputation that he is, right? As one of his top 12, right, his disciples. We'll get into that. And secondly, I think he's probably the most in the most unexpected place for Jesus to call him as well, uh, given you know the moment that Jesus reaches him, like for God to intervene and to make a change in his life.

unknown 8:15

Right?

SPEAKER_00 8:15

So one of the least expected people, I think, and in one of the least expected places in time. So, first point, like who's Matthew? Well, he's a tax collector, boo. Okay, you guys are I made that joke with an ATO friend once, he didn't like it. But uh tax collector, um, and who likes tax collectors, right? We don't like tax collectors because who likes paying tax? See, even in our day and age, uh, when taxes are pretty standard fair and important for the right functioning of the Commonwealth system that we have, um, it's still not a reputation that we like. Right? They are people who take um our income and our hard-won earnings and take it from us and to do God knows what with it. Like there is still a Sigma tour. Um they are they feel like our opponents, don't they? They kind of come up against what we're trying to do personally, and they're out to get us or at least our money. Right? And that is no different to back then, and actually back then, it's during the time of Jesus, it was even worse, right? Tax collectors were not just annoying people who worked for the government who took a cut of your earnings, but they were traitors to the Jewish people. See, working as a tax collector back then didn't mean you were working for the ATO. No, you were working for the Romans. Right? You worked for the Roman government of Israel's captors, and they would use the force of Roman soldiers to make you pay your fair due. So if you're a tax collector back then, you're not just an accountant, but you're a collaborator working with a foreign power that has taken over your country and your land, forcing you to pay a king that you don't recognize. So you were the most visible form of oppression in this community on a day-to-day level, and the most identifiable collaborator in that community if you were a Jewish person working as a tax collector. That's not to mention the reputation of a tax collector in the first part, right? In and of themselves. Uh, from what we can tell, that tax system that they had back then was basically very open to corruption. That as long as these tax collectors paid Rome what they were supposed to collect, uh everything else they collect on top of that was theirs to keep. And so there's every incentive to essentially commit fraud, to collect more than what you people had due, and then to keep the cut. See, they were corrupt, traitors, criminals, turncoats, collaborators. Right? As a tax collector, your job, what you're known for, was the betrayal of the Jewish people and the corrupt taking of what's not yours. Like it was actually so rare, I find this real interesting. It was actually so rare for tax collectors not to be corrupt that uh in the records, there's this guy called Sabinus, who was the apparently the one tax collector who wasn't corrupt and only collected what he was supposed to. And so the Romans had erected these images with the superscription that says for the honest publican. So someone who dealt with public money and funds. So someone who was honest had a statue erected for them. Right? Imagine being in a profession so corrupt that when someone actually does their job properly, they're honored with the label, you are honest. And so these people were shunned, they were kicked out of synagogues, they were shunned from their communities, disqualified from participating in court and all these aspects of life. They were disgraced people. Right? Like that is who we're talking about when we say Matthew is a tax collector. And so this is the kind of man that Jesus walks straight up to and said, Hey, follow me. He walks straight up to the outcast of society, the person or the people that uh who people reviled. You know, Jesus wants the heart of the man who no one else wants or no one else wants to be associated with. The one who society has perceived to be so broken and so corrupt that they wanted nothing to do with him. Jesus goes to that man. Right? He is the last person that anyone would have expected Jesus to go to to recruit for his courting. More than that, did you notice where Matthew was when he was caught? Right, first nine says he saw a man called Matthew where sitting at a tax booth. Matthew was literally in his booth, in his office, doing the job that everyone hated. You know, in our context, Matthew was literally in the office doing the job that was deemed so wrong and so corrupt. You know, if Matthew was that irredeemable corrupt sinner, then finding him in the booth is like catching a sinner in the middle of committing his sin. That is a moment that Jesus decides to enter. See, when Jesus approaches Matthew and asks him to follow, like there is no sense of hiding, right? Of seeing a better side of Matthew. Like what if he was actually when he's at home, he's a great guy, and that's when Jesus approaches. No. He approaches him when he's unvarnished. He meets Matthew in his everyday, in his grind, in his sin, in his tattered reputation, social isolation, isolation, all of that. That's when Jesus approaches him. Paul puts it this way in his letter to Timothy. He says, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of who I am the foremost. So, church, I wonder when we're facing into this new season of 26 for us as individuals and us as a church, and as we ask what uh God what He wants us to do, do you trust that God came into the world to save sinners? Do you trust that He actually comes and meets us in the mundane and also actually in the worst part of our lives, not necessarily when we're at our spiritual high? That actually God can work in a church of 20 as he can work in a church of 200, that, or in a church who's faithfully attending Bible studies, just as a church that's got campuses all over the world. That he can work through every single circumstance. Like, do you trust that in order for God to work to call us into something that we don't need to be at our best? Right? We don't need to be at the peak of our morning devotions and Bible readings. But actually, those are good things that should be done as a response to Jesus' core in our lives, right, rather than what initiates Jesus' call on our lives. Do you trust that Jesus will work in the everyday? Right? And you know what, what's your equivalent of a tax booth right now? Not about sin, but just where where are you when you're called? Is it your desk? Your commute on the train, your living room? Do you believe that Jesus can actually and does call you there? That's my next point. What happens after he calls, and what happens to Matthew, is we go from guests to host. See, what I find best about Matthew's calling in this part at least is what Jesus does with Matthew after he chooses to drop his accounting and to follow Jesus. We're told in verse 10 here that Jesus ended up reclining at the table with many tax collectors and sinners. I would have made for great accounting convo, but I don't think that's a point. Like in this context, I think we can actually assume that a lot of these people are actually Matthew's friends, colleagues, people in and around his social circles, his spheres of life. So I think the fact that Matthew brought all his friends here tells us two things. Firstly, I think in this moment that he chooses to follow Jesus, what he has received is everything that the rest of the world has denied him. He's received relationship, he's received community and identity. Like Matthew doesn't need to hide anymore. Because after all, Paul says this in 2 Corinthians that if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. See, Matthew choosing to follow Christ has meant a new job. He has moved from collecting tax in a booth to what we now know is to be an apostle that authors one of the four gospels that we have today. And I think, secondly, what's even cooler is that what this tells us is that in this new identity, Matthew shifts from being just a recipient of God's grace and of and of Jesus to one who hosts so that others can see the same thing. He shifts from purely a recipient of good news to one that hosts so that others can hear the good news. See, Church, I think Jesus has some pretty epic ministry strategies here that we sometimes call out now and we think it's amazing, and that we came up by ourselves and something revolutionary. But what we see here is Jesus taking advantage of Matthew, who was then able to reach so many of his colleagues and friends, those in the circles that would not know Jesus yet, those in circles so disrespected by society that they wouldn't step foot in a synagogue or a church. That's what Jesus does with Matthew's calling. A theologian, uh Bruce, says this Jesus' arms aims at a mission among the reprobated classes, and his first step is the call of Matthew to discipleship, and his second, the gathering together through him of a large number of these classes to a social entertainment. See, as a man with a fresh start and a new identity in Christ, Matthew doesn't just sit and revel in that news. No, he takes it to his spheres, his communities, his friends. Right? The same theologian that who I just quoted thinks that this was probably a huge event. We're talking hundreds of people. But regardless of the size of that event, the point is this: that meeting Jesus causes us and causes Matthew to take on a new identity and a new role. To host rather than just to receive. So he reaches a whole group of people purely because Matthew worked there with these people and had an existing network and relationship with these people. And because Matthew is bold enough to host and to invite people to this gathering. See, Jesus gathers people through him, just as I think Jesus would gather people through us, through our spheres. So I think we all have a different circle, we all have a different reach, different cohort sphere of life that we play, work, sleep in. And I believe that Jesus gathers people in all of those spaces. And I think it's easy for us to close off one or more of those spheres just to say, ah, they're not interested. They would never set foot in a synagogue or a church. They wouldn't feel comfortable at church. It's so easy for us to close it off and say they don't want to be invited. Or we know that their answer is going to be no anyway if we invite them. So can I just flip that on us a little bit, given Matthew's example? I think taking on a new identity in Christ means that we should be missionally invitational. That means that we don't just wait for people to come to us and then for us to go, oh yeah, I'm gonna be at church anyway, come along. No, actually, we want to be people that actively invite people into our lives and into invitation to the gospel. Because that's what Jesus has called us into mission, into the everyday that we're placed in. Our families, our workplaces, our schools, our communities, our circles. And can I just say, like, I think in Sydney especially, it is easy to sit and wait for people to come in. It's a city so notoriously bad at allowing people to make friends at building community. Genuinely, I don't think it takes much for us to be active, to reach out, to be active in our invitation, and for that to be felt in the communities in this city. People are talking about loneliness all the time, right? People are craving community. Like I used this slide before, but like a third of people in this country say they feel lonely at any given time. That is a lot of people, considering a majority of our population lives in apartments where we're about three meters from the person next to us. Like there is a craving for community, for active invitation, based on some great life-changing news. So let's be a little different. Let's be the people who are active in invitation, be missionally invitational. Right, why? Because we are followers of Christ, right? Paul says this in Ephesians. He says, put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupts through deceitful desire. And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness? See, we are meant to be different. We are meant to do things a little bit differently now that we've put on the new life. So, church, can I ask you, are you missionally invitational in your new self as you follow Christ? If not, what's stopping you? Are you waiting for that next conference, that next spiritual high? Because Matthew didn't. He just went from work. He just did the equivalent of walking back into his office and inviting a whole bunch of people. Colossians says this, right? Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. So, Trish, can I just encourage you this week? Walk and speak with people outside to your neighbors. Be bold in your discipleship of Christ. Be invitational in how you think about Citigroup coming up on Wednesdays and church on Sundays. You know, who's that person you've held on to inviting them? Why have you held off? What are those reasons? Are they legitimate reasons?

unknown 23:23

Oh no, we have to go.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Home stretch, here's my last one for you guys this morning. We know it's about mercy. See, because Church, this is the end game, right? Uh we can't stay on only receiving. We want to be followers that uh that host so that more and more people can also hear the good news. Because that is the whole game. That Christ died for you and for me and for us whilst we were still sinners, and that he died for everyone around us who don't know that yet. The people who we share a desk with, share an office with in school, in class, in off in work. See, but when we start inviting messy people to our table, right, religious people might get uncomfortable. And that's exactly what happened to Jesus, right? So if you go back to verse 11, it says this. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard it, Jesus heard it, he said, For those who are well have no need of a physician, but for those who are sick, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous but sinners. See, these Pharisees didn't get it. They're asking the disciples, like, why is your leader, Jesus, why is Jesus eating with these people who are unclean under the definition of Leviticus? People who, as a society as a whole, has determined to be sinful and horrible and sort of casted them out. And to an extent, rightly so, right? These people didn't necessarily live in the ways that were that were in line with God's law. But Jesus responds to them with this analogy of a doctor. You know, doctors go to people who are sick, healthy people don't need doctors. And so, what's the point of hanging around purely righteous, healthy people? See, Jesus quotes Hosea 6.6 here, that he desires mercy and not sacrifice. What he means is he, I think what he does is exposes his world, and I think ours as well, and exposes how it actually works. That we actually value and prioritize like ritual and performance. We prioritize looking good, presentable, and being people who would who God would like. And we prioritize that over compassionately welcoming people who maybe are feel unlikable or that seem like they're not good enough. See, Jesus says that those are the people that he came for. Those are the people who know that they need Jesus, and those are the people who need mercy. But he also doesn't just let their sin be a barrier to his grace. See, Jesus teaches this earlier in chapter 5, right? Where Matthew wrote down, he goes, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus came to benefit those who understand their inherent need for him, those who are sick and poor. Not the proud ones who see no need for Jesus. Like he wants people who knows how much we need him, more than he wants people who think they're good enough to not need him. Jesus didn't come down to look at your CV or my C V. Not that it would be good enough anyway. Like he came down to so that he could save us and show us how much we actually need him. How much everyone actually needs him. And so we have a job to do to actually be with those people as well. Those people who maybe society thinks is not good enough. Spurgeon said this Lord, grant that if I am, I ever I am found in the company of sinners, and maybe to be maybe with the design of healing them, and may I never become myself infected with their disease. See what he's saying, what Spurgeon basically prays is, Lord, let me hang out with the sick people to heal them, but also yeah, let me not catch their cold. Right? Living a holy life that follows Jesus and obedient to his commands doesn't mean not to like never be in the company of sinners. No, for sure, let's be on guard, let's act and live according to our new identities and not fall back into the old ways doing things. But actually, we want to be in the company of people who don't know Jesus yet, to host with the design, with the intention of healing them. See, church, as we step into new things and into a new season, what we want to be is to be missionally invitational. We want to be hosts who intentionally introduce Jesus, who everyone needs. So as we wrap up this morning, I'm gonna get Seb to come back up. So can we we'll respond in song in a moment, but can we just take a couple of minutes? Maybe private prayer. Why don't you ask God about what that looks like for you in this coming season? For you to be missionally invitational? For you to be a host and not just to receive, and to do all of that with the full intention of introducing Jesus to everyone? You know, what does that mean for you for this coming week? Does it change who you talk to or hang out with? Does it change what you talk about even this week? And then does it change what the church looks like for this next season for us as a community? What we do, what we prioritize, what we focus on. What do you guys take a couple minutes? I'll come back and pray in a sec, and then we'll respond in song. Lord, we just thank you that you're a God who meets us where we're at. Thank you that you're a God who calls us even in the mundane and every day. Thank you that none of that is dependent on how we're feeling or how well we're doing. Thank you that you came to save people who are sick and you came to heal. So, God, we just pray would you just work in our hearts, Lord, change it, soften it for people who are around us, God. Show us a need for your gospel in our lives and in our society and our communities. And Lord, just give us the boldness that comes with a new start and a new identity in you. To invite, to be missional, to be hosts, and to just be ever intentional in introducing people to our Lord Jesus. I just pray all this in your son's name. Amen.