Imagine for a moment what it would have been like to be Matthew, the tax collector (Matthew 9. 9-13). You would sit day-by-day in a hot little booth waiting for travellers to pay the toll as they passed from one province to the next, just like people used to do at the Dartford Crossing.
Just like today people didn’t enjoy paying tolls in order to continue on their journey, and it wouldn’t have been much fun for you either. On top of that, those who come to the toll booth and those in the villager or town where you live were constantly angry with you. Angry, because you were collaborating with the hated authorities and angry, because you were making extra money for yourself by collecting too much. As a result, tax collectors like you are lumped together with ‘sinners’ and ‘outcasts’ in the places where you live and work. And this went on day by day, year by year for most of your life.
Then think what it would be like to have a young prophet with a spring in his step and God’s kingdom in his heart coming past one day and simply asking you to follow him. How would that feel? Well, we are told in the story itself because when it says that Matthew responded by getting up and following Jesus, a resurrection word is used that means he arose, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. The act of getting up was for Matthew an entry into a completely new way of life. It was a coming alive all over again, a resurrection.
This is a story of resurrection. For Matthew, his work was a dead end. Jesus touched the life of Matthew in a way that transformed his existence and brought him back to life. And this story raises the same question for us this morning. Are there places in our lives where we are at a dead end?
Jesus brought the life of God into all that was dead about Matthew’s life. He was the catalyst for change. His arrival on the scene brought the opportunity for hope and faith and so we see Matthew getting up, leaving his work but not his friends, and following Jesus.
Jesus’ arrival and presence was the catalyst and opportunity for change and for the faith that life can be different, can be better than it is now. How will you respond to Jesus today? We are in the presence of Christ as we come together to worship, how will we respond? Will we ask for his help, reach out to touch his life, and get up to follow him this morning? He is here and his presence can be the catalyst for our change in our lives and communities. What change is it that we need to see?
Jesus becomes a catalyst for change because he crosses boundaries. Matthew was an outcast to his community because he was a hated collaborator with the Romans. People asked, ‘Why is Jesus eating with outcasts, with tax collectors and sinners?’, and the answer was that by crossing those boundaries he brought the opportunity for change. His work was not to protect himself from ‘outcasts’ but to bring the possibility of change into the lives of such people by crossing the barriers that kept other people out.
It was into this way of life – the crossing of boundaries in order to bring the possibility of change – that Matthew was called. Jesus called him to be a disciple. In other words, someone who sat at the teacher’s feet to hear his words and who followed the teacher everywhere to see his actions in order to learn what to say and do himself. As followers of Christ, we have the same calling; to see what Jesus does and get involved ourselves. As such we need to ask ourselves, ‘Who are the people considered as ‘outcasts’ in our workplaces, communities and nation?’ We need to know because, if we are to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, those are the very people with whom we should be meeting, eating, and seeking transformation. We need to ask ourselves, ‘What are the boundaries and barriers separating people from others?’ We need to know because those are the boundaries and barriers which we need to cross in order to bring the possibility of change?
And so, the story of Matthew’s call brings us both the possibility and the challenge of change. What are the dead-ends of our lives where we need to be brought back to life? What are the boundaries that we can cross to bring the possibility of change to those who our outcasts in our day and time?
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, you were despised and rejected by human beings, so we bring before you the needs of those who are despised and overlooked in our world, including ourselves. You value all and call us to put aside our sinful tendency to scapegoat and ignore others in order that we see what is unique and especially valuable both in those who are other than us and also in ourselves. Amen.
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