Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (Matthew 9:37 ESV)
My sweet husband had the opportunity to preach from the
pulpit in place of our pastor over Labor Day weekend. By God’s grace, he was
able to prepare and deliver the message the Lord put on his heart with
confidence and peace. Since our church has been promoting Billy Graham’s “My
Hope America” and discussing what it looks like to be a “Matthew” in our community;
Ryan challenged us with a sermon based on this concept entitled “Who Will Speak.”
Matthew was a former tax collector and called by Jesus to be
one of his twelve disciples. Tax collectors did not have the best reputation
back in the day. They were notorious for taking more than required of people
and pocketing the extra money for themselves. Understand the shock of those
watching when Jesus asked Matthew to be in his inner circle. Matthew 9:9 tells
us, “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.”
So -no
questions asked- Matthew left what he knew of his former life and began his
journey as one of the apostles. What he did next is my favorite part: He
invited Jesus and other “tax collectors and sinners” to his home and prepared a
feast.
That is what the “Matthew” challenge is all about. Inviting
people into your home (or taking them to lunch, praying for them, encouraging
them to walk worthy in the faith, etc.) and sharing the Good News with those
who may not yet be changed by the life changing message of Jesus.
This is not a new concept. In fact, this is one of main
reasons we exist on planet earth. Those who have trusted Christ as Savior and
Lord are CALLED in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples.” This is not an “if”
statement. It is not if or when we feel
like it or if or when we’ve mastered our
testimony or if or when we get up the
nerve. It is simply: Go.
Because if we don’t…
then who will?
I’ve been trying to process and apply that thought (among
other things) for the last several weeks and have wondered, do we not actively ‘go
and tell’ or have people ‘come and see’ because
we are the Matthew sitting at the tax booth instead of the Matthew sitting at
the table with King Jesus?
We are a broken, selfish, idol-worshipping (Instagram,
Facebook, Pinterest anyone?) culture that must be constantly reminded of why
the Good News is such great news for us: Jesus “came not to call the righteous,
but sinners.”
If we waited until we
were sinless to share the gospel then we’d never be able to go… spotless
perfection ain’t gonna happen this side of heaven. But we are clothed in Jesus’
righteousness and that is what qualifies us. Ryan graciously reminded us of
that on Sunday: Jesus does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called.
As Believers, we are
called to challenge others with His message but we must be changed by it first. We can’t make disciples until we become disciples. We can’t
“shine light” until we are equipped by the
Holy Spirit just like the disciples were in Acts 1:8. Just before Jesus
ascended into heaven, He told His disciples, “But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Just as it was for the Twelve, our witness is nothing without the power of the Holy
Spirit within us.
Without that power as our motive and guiding force, I’ve noticed that it is far too easy for 1.)
our hearts to be hardened by cynicism for 2.) our focus to be about acquiring
more (or bigger and better) stuff or for 3.) the object of our affection to be
someone we follow on Instagram.
In order to be effective witnesses, Jesus must
be in His rightful place on the throne of our lives so WHEN WE DO go and tell
others about Jesus, they will encounter Matthew the disciple instead of Matthew the tax collector.
Jesus is the One who will bring about the harvest. Our job
is simply: Go.
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