Matthew records his call. God comes into his life uncalled for and does the unimaginable.
If there is one thing we learn from the stories of Scripture, it is that God comes into our lives uncalled for and does the unimaginable.
Consider Jacob. After stealing Esau’s blessing, Jacob needs to escape his brother’s wrath. He flees to Haran, where he intends to live with Rebekah’s brother. As he departs from Canaan, however, God comes to him. That night, in a dream, he sees a ladder reaching into the heavens with angels ascending and descending on that ladder. It is not only what he sees, however, that is important. It is what God says. God tells him that the promises God made to Abraham will come true through him. When Jacob awakens, he rubs his eyes and scratches his head. He looks around him and says, “This is the gate of Heaven.” Imagine that. A stone on which he laid his head becomes a doorway into the Kingdom of God. Here, this man who has stolen a blessing receives God’s blessing. This man who is the object of his brother’s hatred is the object of God’s love.
Because our heavenly Father is a God of loving promise, because He works out our salvation through the death and resurrection of His Son, He can enter any place, any time, uncalled for and do the unimaginable. Because Christ has born the punishment of all sin and because Christ has defeated death and Hell itself, there is nothing that can separate us from the loving, forgiving, life transforming presence of God.
History is a remarkable witness to the many ways in which God enters our lives through His Word and work. The one who spoke creation into being speaks and something is created once again; or recreated, we should say. A tax collector becomes a disciple. A disciple becomes an apostle. An apostle becomes an evangelist writing one of the four gospels for the Church. Our world is filled with acts of trust, labors of love. The unimaginable happens because of the power of God’s loving Word at work in His world.
This is the beauty of our text from Matthew this morning. Matthew records his call. God comes into his life uncalled for and does the unimaginable.
Unlike Andrew (John 1:35-39), Matthew was not looking for Jesus. Matthew had not been present when John the Baptizer was troubling the waters of the Jordan. He had not been looking for Jesus, and he had not heard John say, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 35). Unlike the fishermen, Matthew saw no miracle on his boat, no dramatic reversal of a hard night and an empty boat (Luke 5:1-11). No, Matthew was simply at his tax collector’s booth, doing what he normally did: Daily business. When suddenly, Jesus came into his life uncalled for and said, “Follow Me.”
No, Matthew was simply at his tax collector’s booth, doing what he normally did: Daily business. When suddenly, Jesus came into his life uncalled for and said, “Follow Me.”
The vocation of Matthew, his collection of revenue for those who were oppressing God’s people, troubled the religious leaders more than it did Jesus. Jesus came to call the sick. He came to call the hurting. Jesus came to bring the Kingdom to the ends of the earth. This sometimes means God’s work happens in the margins, among the people who are shamed, the ones who are pushed to the side to make room for God to do the works we want Him to do in the places we think He should do them.
But God’s ways are not our ways, and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. He can call a tax collector to leave his job and follow Him. And He can then dine in the midst of tax collectors and sinners because He is a God who desires mercy and has come to bring healing to the sin sick and broken hearted.
Matthew’s account of God’s work is wonderfully troubling. It is troubling because it means the Lord of all creation still visits His people in unexpected ways. We have rightly learned to seek God where He has promised to be and to hear God in the Church where His Word is read and sermons are preached. Yet, as the reference to Hosea reminds us, God is not satisfied when we turn His promised presence into our mundane routine. When we go to church and go through the motions, believing that because we came to church and sat through the service all is right with the world.
No, all is not right with the world, and God knows that. Which is why His ability to come uncalled for is not only troubling but wonderfully troubling. When God comes, He comes to save. He desires mercy and not sacrifice. And He will bring about mercy by entering the strangest of places and working through His Word and according to His promise. He can call us to acts of justice by seeing the injustice in our streets. He can call us to care for creation by the eyes of a dog in a shelter recovering from abuse. He can awaken mothers to their vocation by the cries of infants at their breasts. He can bring healing to a broken family by gathering brothers and sisters around a dying father on life-support.
Jesus is the Lord of life. He desires mercy and not sacrifice because He has made the merciful sacrifice which redeems this world with the power of His recreating love. So, keep your eyes open, at home, at work. Any place, any time, you can be called and you will awaken, rub your eyes, scratch your head, and say, “Surely, the Lord was in this place... and this is the gate of Heaven.”
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Matthew 9:9-13.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Matthew 9:9-13.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
