Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning
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Now let's dive into this week's message. If you
have your Bibles, we're going to be in Matthew
9, verse 9. We're going to be talking about the
call of Matthew in this section. As Jesus went
from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting
at the toll booth. And he said to him, follow
me. And he got up and followed him. While he
was reclining in the table in the house, many
tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus
and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this,
they asked the disciples, Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and sinners? Now, when
he heard this, he said, it is not those who need
a doctor. It is not those who are well who need
a doctor, but those who are sick. Go learn what
this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
For I did not come to call the righteous, but
sinners. We are the broken stones God uses to
build his kingdom. Just as a skilled mason can
take a rough piece of stone, a broken stone,
and meticulously shape it for a vital purpose
in our forest structure. God uses our flaws,
our failures, provided that. We allow him to
refine us so that we can serve a meaningful role
in his plan for redemption in our lives and into
the world today. Let me tell you how grace heals
you and how it changes you. Most of my life,
like many of us, I struggled with a lot of things.
I never was really a bad guy by the world standards.
But inside, I grew up broken, unchurched. I've
been a broken man really most of my life. Insecurities,
anxieties, depression, all types of sin, especially
with people pleasing. And sometimes making friends.
I'm still struggling with eating too much and
different things. But by the grace of God, it's
been less and less as time goes on. Some things,
the Lord brings freedom instantly. And some things,
it's a continual process, a continued surrender
and giving up to God daily and putting his teachings
into practice. But I know this, church, if we
follow Christ daily, putting him first at the
beginning of our days and our minds, and then
we continue to be taught by him, reading his
word, listening to sermons, devotionals, and
being in Christian community like you are today,
and receive his grace and his mercy, remembering
what he did on the cross for us and how he constantly
forgives us as we continue to fail, we get mercy.
And then allowing his mercy to teach us to bear
with the flaws and failures of other people with
grace, kindness, love, forgiveness, and patience.
In doing this, we become more like Christ and
less like ourselves. The kingdom of God is actively
breaking into this world through healing the
lives of flawed and broken people. To those who
answer his call, follow me. We follow God not
only for his glory, our king, but we follow God
For our own good. And for the good of those we
love. We need his changing power. We need his
mercy. And we need to become people who show
that same mercy to others. Amen. The Bible tells
us this truth. God utilizes weak, flawed, and
broken, repented individuals. to accomplish his
will. Moses said this about himself in Exodus
4 .10. Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent
either in the past or recently or since you have
been speaking to your servant because my mouth
and my tongue are sluggish. Still, God used Moses
in a mighty way. He went up to Pharaoh. And freed
the Hebrews from slavery. He established the
law to show them how to live. And to point to
the realities of heaven and to our Lord Jesus.
Paul, initially a man of great zeal and passion
for the law. And he used that same zeal to destroy
churches. Christ's new church all over the Roman
Empire. Then God got into Paul's heart. And used
that man to plant churches all over the Roman
Empire, which he was destroying. And to write
13 to 14 books of the New Testament. 14 if you
count the book of Hebrews. Why does God use imperfect
people to do his will? Because there is no perfect
people. There are no perfect churches either,
unfortunately. If you find one and join it, it's
going to become imperfect. Yet, he loves us.
And he chooses to reveal his power through those
who are wrecked and imperfect. Demonstrating
his power and his desire for his children to
participate in his work. As a father wants his
sons to be part of his business, our Lord in
heaven wants you to be part of his business.
The business of change, repentance, redemption,
and saving the world and demonstrating Christ's
love. He loves to make our weakness the very
stage for his strength. First Corinthians 127
through 29. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish
in the world to shame the wise. God has chosen
what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
God has chosen what is insignificant and despised
in the world so that no one will boast in his
presence. If you feel like you have nothing to
offer, you are completely wrong. You have a place
in God's church today. You are uniquely and wonderfully
made. The psalmist said, God uses the broken,
the foolish, and the weak to demonstrate his
power to this lost world. God does not leave
us where we are, but he empowers us to move forward,
leaving our brokenness and sin behind. I love
this definition from Titus. It's a great definition
of grace and what it does in our lives. Titus
2 .11 says, for the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all the people, instructing
us to deny godlessness, worldly lust, and to
live sensible, righteous, and godly way in this
present age. Grace isn't about just keeping rules,
but loving our savior in response to the grace
that he showed us. And when you love someone,
You don't deliberately try to offend them. So
how does God accomplish his work through sinful
people and our broken lives? If you're taking
notes, point one, the call to follow. The call
of Matthew 9 .9. As Jesus went on from there,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax
office. And he said to him, follow me. And he
got up and followed him. Like us, Matthew was
one of these broken stones that God uses to build
his kingdom. Few people are more despised in
those days than a man like Matthew, a tax collector.
Matthew chose a life of betraying his own people
by collecting tax revenue on behalf of the Roman
Empire. They were the great oppressors of the
Jews. He was an outcast in society, a collaborator,
and one of the most hated figures in that era.
Yet, Jesus called him. The Bible is frank, church.
It records the mistakes and failures of its greatest
heroes. While God's people performed mighty deeds
by his power, they also committed murder, adultery,
they lied, they ran from God, they acted traitorously.
Consider Peter even denied knowing his Lord,
the chief among all the apostles. The point isn't
their perfection, but God's grace working through
them. And repentance, as they fail, he uses us,
he uses the lowly, he uses the flawed, and he
uses us people, and he uses us flawed people
who are redempted to shame the wise through his
abundant grace. As 2 Corinthians 4 declares,
now we have this treasure in jars of clay so
that this extraordinary power may be from God
and not from us. I want to give you a parallel
of a more modern day tax collector, a man named
John Newton. John Newton was the iconic author.
Of the wonderful song Amazing Grace. John Newton
initially was a profane man. Rebellious. And
he became. He became entangled in a brutal 18th
century slave trade. As a slave ship captain.
The turning point came when a violent storm.
Came upon him at sea. where he had a life -altering
conversion and cried out to God. After his conversion,
he penned Amazing Grace as a personal testimony
reflecting on a wretch who was lost but now is
found. Many of us know this famous hymn. I would
like us to sing a few lines together. Singers,
sing as loud as you can. Especially John. Here
we go. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that
saved a wretch like me. Twas grace that taught
us all. You guys feel that? You feel that power?
That song has been used to change the lives of
millions of people. And yet, that was through
a slave trader. The interesting thing about John
Newton, he devoted the rest of his life to abolishing
the slave trade. And he became a priest. serving
God for the rest of his life. If God could use
a despised tax collector, a evil slave trader,
he could use us today, great or small, to make
a difference and to bring the gospel to life
and the kingdom of God into this broken world.
He uses the weak, he uses me, and he uses you.
Amen. But it all starts with answering his call.
Jesus said to Matthew, follow me. What does it
look like to follow? It means putting your old
life behind us, turning your attentions and your
steps towards Christ and walking in his direction
in our daily lives. It's a lifelong process of
being taught. Being in Christian community like
you are today. Reading the Bible and putting
his commands into practice in our daily lives.
He's so good. As the theologian Soren Kierkegaard
said, Christianity is not a doctrine to be taught,
but rather a life to be lived. Becoming a Christian
isn't a one -time event or just a theological
belief. It's a process, a process of a lifetime
following Christ, being taught by him, learning
to obey him, and learning to obey his will for
our lives. he immediately enters into a relationship
to transform us and to change us for his glory.
After answering his call, he begins to teach
us. Point two, he teaches and transforms the
broken. After he calls us, he teaches us and
transforms us. Us, broken stones, are shaped
for a purpose. The Bible makes it clear. Jesus
spent time with all sorts of people, all types
of unsavory characters. In Matthew 9, 11, when
the Pharisees saw this, they asked the disciples,
why does your teacher eat with tax collectors
and sinners? What was Jesus doing eating with
the sinners? What was he doing eating with the
tax collectors? They were a rowdy bunch of people.
He was teaching them. He was spending time with
them. He was loving on them. And he was telling
them about the kingdom of God. Not in a condemning
way, but speaking the truth in love. Jesus makes
it clear his mission was to recognize His mission
is for those who recognize their need for him.
Matthew 9, 12 states. Now, when you heard this,
he said, it is not those who are well who need
a doctor, but those who are sick. What was Jesus
saying to the Pharisees here? He was saying.
He wasn't saying that the Pharisees were perfect
and they didn't need him. He was saying that
the sinners knew they were sick. But the religious
elite were in self -righteous denial. You see,
church, it starts with recognizing we have a
spiritual need for him. Not just one time, but
in our daily lives, our daily bread. And then
we have problems that we need to address that
get in the way of that. Let me ask you a question.
If your power goes out, who do you call? You
call an electrician or you check your cell phone
hoping it's the whole neighborhood and not your
house. When your car breaks down, Who do you
call? Mechanic. Or if you know our brother Zach,
he calls Zach. He's a handy guy around here.
If you're sick, don't you go to a doctor? If
you have a spiritual sickness, who do you go
to? Jesus. The first step is admitting Healing
is a myth that in order to be healed, you need
a doctor. But naturally, we are stubborn people.
We wait to the very end to go see that doctor
because of our stubbornness. I just realized
my finger's been hurting for a long time. I just
realized it was broken. and I heard it a year
ago. The point is we're stubborn, and please
don't say amen to that. How do you get healed
by a doctor? You follow his instructions. If
he tells you to take three pills a day, take
three pills a day. Some people in here would
be like, I'll just take one before bedtime. It
should still have the same effect. The problem
is we just don't like following directions sometimes.
Even when a sign says wet paint, do not touch.
Some of us can't help but touch that wet paint
to see if it might still be wet. Ain't that right,
Nate? We want to be healed by God's grace, but
often we want to do it in our own way. We want
to be healed by God's grace, but we want to do
it in our own way, our own terms, our own thinking.
To be part of God's kingdom, we first must do
things his way and recognize our need for him,
the great physician. We have a need for spiritual
change. Jesus comes to help those who are in
spiritual need, the poor in spirit. We need to
be changed by Jesus, but we have to do it his
way. and not in our own thinking. God's grace
heals us through repentance, which occurs by
encountering God, answering his call to follow
him, being taught by him, and being healed by
him, and embracing his grace and mercy, just
like Zacchaeus in the Bible. The story of Zacchaeus
in the Gospel of Luke is a perfect illustration
of this. In Luke 19, let me tell you a story
about Zacchaeus. He was a short, wee little man
and another rich tax collector like Matthew.
My wife is thinking of, I could hear her singing
that Sunday school song in her head right now.
Zacchaeus was, I don't know, I didn't go to church
as a kid. I just get bits and pieces of the song.
So we little man. All right. Zacchaeus was climbing
upon a tree because he was too short to see.
He couldn't see over the crowds when Jesus was
coming. Jesus walked by and said to him, Zacchaeus,
I am staying at your house tonight. Upon entering,
upon having an encounter with the God of the
universe, the gospel of Luke says in verse eight,
but Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
look, I have given half my possessions to the
poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from
anyone, I'll pay back four times as much. Today,
salvation has come to this house, Jesus told
him, because he too is a son of Abraham. For
the son of man has come to seek and save the
lost. He was called to follow Jesus. After encountering
Jesus, he was being taught by Jesus. And then
he began to be healed and transformed through
repentance. And then he begins to put mercy in
the practice to make restitution for those that
he harmed. The Bible says, blessed are the merciful
for they will be shown mercy. And how much mercy
do we need? Point three, a desire for mercy.
The kingdom of God, In the Bible, mercy is a
major theme. It's referenced, what mercy really
means is giving forgiveness and withholding punishment.
The why behind that mercy is because our Christ
shows us mercy. Jesus provided the ultimate reason
for his action. And it's a key principle in the
kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. In
Matthew 9, 13, he says, go learn what this means.
He's telling them, go back and read the Bible.
I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I have
not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
Jesus is quoting Hosea 6 .6 here. The idea of
mercy goes way deep in the Old Testament. It's
all through the Bible. It's traced in the very
beginning first few chapters. He's telling the
Pharisees their worship and their Old Testament
sacrifices were disconnected from their heart's
posture of mercy and compassion. They were following
rules without having love for their brother.
A Christian with good deeds and who gives his
time and resources to the church but lacks mercy
and love for his brother is missing the heart
of Christ by merely just doing external things
but not showing love and kindness. A huge part
of our relationship with God is being merciful
to others, not because they deserve it, but because
he has done an extravagant mercy undeserved for
us. Mercy is mentioned over 280 times in the
Bible, affirming that it is God's nature to be
merciful and extend his mercy to his people.
Church, there is such a great need for mercy.
In the world, in our homes, with our spouses,
and in our church. Because the sad reality is
imperfect people hurt people. Tim Keller said
this. People are messy. Therefore, relationships
are messy. Relationships will be messy. Expect
messiness. We're just a bunch of messy people.
but redeemed and loved. Offenses and hurts are
inevitable. Wherever you find people, you'll
find hurts and failures and offenses. Especially
me. I've hurt people deeply that I loved unintentionally.
And I've been hurt by people unintentionally.
But the kingdom of God is a kingdom of mercy
and forgiveness because we are flawed and broken
people who need to be healed and forgiven. We
are also called to forgive others and to be merciful
to others. Church, please hear me out on this.
We're gonna get a lot of things wrong. As we're
growing, as we're doing life together, But please,
let's not let mercy to each other be one of those
things. Let's not let mercy be one of those problems.
Even us as leaders, as long as it's not biblically
disqualifying, we're going to make mistakes at
times. Because God is using imperfect people
to do his will. My point, Is all of us hurt one
another sometimes. And we need to be merciful
and forgiving. Because most of the time it's
accidentally. We didn't mean to do it. Or we
overlooked something. That's not always the case.
But often I found it is. So we must be people
of mercy. We need to be biblically minded. And
practice what it says. Especially regards to
mercy. Many of us, many of us are struggling
and have been deeply hurt by somebody. Perhaps
a spouse, family member, church member, church
friends, coworkers, someone you trusted and they
betrayed that trust. But we need to pray to the
Lord to help us with our anger, our bitterness,
and then put mercy in the practice. Not because
that other person deserves it, but because how
our God is merciful with us. And for those of
you who have been extremely hurt, It's not going
to happen overnight. But with the Lord's help,
you can start putting mercy in the practice and
praying for help, praying for the Holy Spirit
to guide you and continue to meditate on mercy.
Our God is a king of mercy. He calls us to follow
him and be co -partners and instruments of that
great mercy. In this world. And especially to
each other. And especially in his church. We
are called to become agents of his mercy. We
are the broken stones that God is reshaping.
The building blocks he is using to build his
kingdom today. A kingdom of merciful people.
So church, I plead with you to start following
God today, to answer his call for your life.
Whatever you've been through, whatever you're
going through, some of you are already called
and on the process. Some of the people are on
the fence, but please know that you are called.
You are called on a spiritual journey. You are
called on a lifelong process of following Christ
now and forever. And he is good. He is the good
shepherd. And he has a plan for you and he loves
you. And you are uniquely and wonderfully made.
And we all need to be better at answering his
call and following him. It's not a one -time
event, but a lifelong process. And then we need
to be taught by him. We need to feed our minds
with his word. We need to be in the church, not
for going to church for a trek. just to hit a
check mark, that when we leave these doors, we
will know him better. We need to get healed by
his grace. And then we need to do as best as
we can and become agents of that mercy to others.
I want you to hear this clearly today. God is
actively breaking in his kingdom through the
lives of broken people who have found his grace.
You and I, great or small, are agents of that
mercy and a light to this dark world, whether
to the one person or to the many. Will you recognize
you have been called by him? Would you recognize
you have a deep spiritual need for him? Will
you allow him to change you and to heal you?
Will you allow him to change your life? For his
glory and for your own good and for the benefit
of those you love. And for this lost world of
all these hurting people who don't know him yet.
Will you respond to that mercy that he shows
you and go likewise and be merciful to others?
Again, it's not because they deserve it. It's
because. what our God has done for us and his
mercy that he shows us every day. He's a God
that never gives up on us. He's a God that encouraged
us to the good. He's a God of mercy.