Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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I’m going to ask you this morning to step out of your comfort zone, just as I’m asking myself to step out of my own comfort zone. I’m going to say some things that may upset you. But I hope that it also excites you and gives you such an awe of God.

“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 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.’ ” (Matthew 9:9-13)

God Forgives Sinners

We all come from very different walks. I’m amazed at just how much diversity is in our church. I mean, look around you! Look at who’s sitting a couple rows in front and behind you. We’ve got farmers and beauticians, retired people and young couples. We have people who send their kids private school, public school, and some who home school. We have moms who give birth in hospitals, and at least one crazy family that’s had all their kids at home! If it weren’t for our common faith in Christ, we wouldn’t be in this room together!

And some churches are even more diverse! I’ve been in churches where blacks, white, yellows, and purples have all worshiped together with not a hint of animosity. And all this diversity is extremely pleasing to God. Because one of the beautiful things about the gospel is that it makes us all one body in Christ. God doesn’t care what your background is, He invites you to join His family.

Jesus sees you where you are, and calls you to follow Him (v. 9). Now, Matthew was a tax collector. He was an outcast. Yet Jesus invited Matthew to follow Him.

God invites all sinners to follow Him. Someone might feel that they are beyond forgiveness. And usually we tell such a person, “Oh, no, you’re not beyond forgiveness. God loves you and will forgive you.” And that’s a fair response, but I’m going to approach it from a slightly different way this morning. To say that no one is beyond forgiveness seems to minimize the effect of sin. Sin separates us from God. Our sin is terrible. We are all beyond forgiveness. Yet God forgives even the worst of sinners when they trust in Christ. That’s why grace is so great. Because it’s undeserved. And grace is so great because it changes the sinner into a follower of Christ (v. 10).

God Changes Sinners

Matthew was changed by Christ! He experienced God’s grace and wanted to share it with all of his friends. So he invited them all over to his house so that they could also meet Jesus. When a person receives God’s grace, he desires to share that grace with others. Grace isn’t meant to be hidden, but openly shared and rejoiced in.

I’m going to challenge us all to be like Matthew. In November, Billy Graham will be turning 95 years old. He’s asking that Christian homes all over America invite their lost friends into their homes for perhaps his last Crusade in America. I’m praying that we would have at least 10 families in our church who are willing to be like Matthew and host a game night, or a movie night, or finger foods and dessert, and then would show a video from Billy Graham.

Why? Because we have a grace worth sharing! The more we realize the grace we’ve been given, the more we’ll extend it to a lost world. But if we haven’t been changed by grace, we’ll neither understand it or share it (v. 11).

Don’t be like the Pharisees. They criticized Jesus, criticized His disciples, and criticized the people Jesus sought to reach. The Pharisees had very specific ideas about who they were to associate with, and how their worship was to be conducted, and where they could and couldn’t eat a meal. Listen, how we live is important. And what we believe is important. But we’re never going to reach people unless we humble ourselves and love people where they’re at (v. 12-13).

When Jesus said, “Go and learn what this means,” He then quoted from the book of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They were a very religious people. They sacrificed to God. They talked about God. They prayed to God. But they also sacrificed to false gods, and prayed to false gods. Specifically, to Baal, because Baal was supposedly a fertility god. And part of worshiping Baal was practicing sexual promiscuity, to put it lightly. Sure, they were still sacrificing to God, but they didn’t really care about God. They wanted to do whatever gave them pleasure.

Does that sound familiar? There are millions of people who confess to be Christians today, but don’t follow Christ in their daily lives. Sure, they still make it their habit to go to church twice a year, or maybe even every Sunday, but when it comes to living their daily lives, they do what they want to do, because in the end, they don’t care about pleasing God, they want to do what makes themselves happy.

And while we might think of a few people we know that fit that category, we shouldn’t go down that road too long before we realize that we ourselves fall into that category more often than we want to admit. Every time we sin, we’re just like those Israelites who thought their rituals were what mattered most to God.

So Jesus was saying to the Pharisees and to us that God doesn’t care about our rituals, He doesn’t care about our mindless habits, He cares that we receive and show His mercy. All the rituals of the Old Testament were worthless unless the worshipers had right hearts. Going to church is meaningless unless you have a heart changed by God, so that you not only make it your habit to come here and worship, but that you make it your habit to love people, as God loves people, when you leave this place.

One thing I’m learning is that ministry is messy. People don’t come to Christ with perfect lives. They come with all their problems. We need to be okay with that. We need to be willing to help the sick. To reach out to sinners. Because Christ reached out to us. We are all sinners in need of the grace of God. And because Christ showed us mercy, we ought to extend His mercy to others. We get grace, and we give grace.

We Have Nothing Without Christ

We won’t move until we’re desperate for God to move. We need to face the reality of our church and ourselves. One reality that we need to face is that if we’re not growing, we’re dying. But someone might say, “I like being a part of a small church.” But I would respond, “How small would you like it, because wait long enough and we’ll get there.” The reality is, people grow older, and unless we’re growing, we’re dying. Pretty soon, the faithful 50 will be a faithful 45. Then it will be the faithful 40. And before you even know it, it will be the faithful 4. I’m not saying that numbers are the most important aspect of the church, only that if we don’t want to die, we need to reach people with the gospel.

Another reality we need to face is that we’re not the perfect church. As long as we think we’re God’s gift to people, we’re never going to be the witnesses God is calling us to be. If we think of ourselves as such an awesome church, then naturally we’ll expect people to flock to us, and we’ll put all the blame on others if they fail to do so.

But the truth is, we have nothing without Christ. People are not going to flock to our church because of how great we are. We need to point people not to our great church, but our great Savior! Our message shouldn’t be, “Look how great we are,” but, “Look how great Jesus is!” We’re going to offend you, we’re not going to appreciate you the way we should, our worship services aren’t going to meet your expectations, and sometimes we’re going to make you angry, but one thing we all have in common is that we all need God’s grace! Isn’t God beautiful? Isn’t He awesome? He gives us grace! Don’t look at our church for hope or love, look to Christ!

We need to be desperate for God’s grace. And this isn’t a one time deal. We need God’s grace to change us from unholy, ungodly, unclean, disobedient sinners to holy, godly, pure, obedient saints. And God does that, if you trust in Christ, and if you choose to follow Him. That’s what Matthew did, and God used Matthew to bring sinners like you and me to Christ.

Be Like Matthew

I’m praying that 10 of you will commit this morning to be like Matthew. I’m praying that 10 of you would be willing in November to open your home to your friends so that you can share the gospel with them. Though we’re all from various walks of life, we as God’s church all have the same commission from Christ: to go and make disciples.

A recent study by Lifeway shows that the majority of churchgoers never share their faith. But I’m convinced it’s not because you don’t want to, but because you just don’t know how. I’m going to be sharing on the Wednesday nights leading up to the My Hope Crusade exactly how to invite people, host a party, and share your faith. I want you to be equipped every step of the way. So if God is stirring you to make this commitment this morning, pray for God to give you a burden for the lost. Pray for boldness to invite your friends, your coworkers, your families that don’t know Christ. And tell others of your commitment, so that they can pray for you as well.

I’m not asking a small thing from you. I’m asking that you put your reputation on the line, and that you step out of your comfort zone for the sake of the gospel. But I’m also asking you to trust Christ to give you the power to do so. You’re not boasting about your power or spirituality, you’re acknowledging the power of God. You’re acknowledging that God can still change lives, and that God can use you, even you, to bring people to Christ, and that you want to be a part of what God’s going to do. Maybe you don’t know how you’re going to do it, or how you’re going to have the boldness, but you just know that God wants you to make this commitment this morning. Take a step of faith and see God move in your life!

Whether you’re ready to commit to being a Matthew yet or not, I encourage you to come on Wednesday nights. We’re going to be going through some training materials from Billy Graham on how to prepare for the Crusade in November. Even if you don’t end up being a host family, this information will greatly help you in reaching your friends with the gospel.