Gary L. McIntosh - Growing Gods Church: How People Are Actually Coming to Faith Today

It is an old story that has been told many times before, but like many good stories, it warrants telling once again. Sometime in about the year 30 of the Christian era, a man was sitting at his work when he encountered a person who was about to change his life forever. Matthew, who also went by the name Levi, had painstakingly worked his way up to be the primary tax collector in the area of Capernaum, located in Palestine close to the Sea of Galilee. Matthew worked for the Roman government authorities, but he had grown up in the area and knew the local people and customs well.

The people of Galilee were not wealthy, and the tax revenue that Matthew collected for Herod Antipas was a heavy burden on them. The fact that Matthew added an extra fee to the taxes to provide for his own salary left a bitter taste in the mouths of the people, and most saw him as a traitor to his own people. Indeed, the people of Galilee refused to be friends with Matthew, and so he spent a great deal of time with other tax collectors.

Little did people know, because he never spoke of it, that Matthew felt a deep loneliness and did not like being hated by his own community. Like most people, Matthew wanted to enjoy love and respect from his neighbors and family. Deep in his heart, he longed for a life of meaning. Being a tax gatherer had made him wealthy, he lived in a beautiful home, and his family owned every material item they desired. Still, he was not happy. He longed for inner peace that the great wealth he had amassed could not provide. Most of all, he wanted to be accepted by the people.

Being an educated man, and with his tax booth located in a central place, he easily observed the impact the new teacher was having on the people of Galilee. He had met Jesus once or twice and was surprised to find that Jesus did not criticize or curse him for being a tax collector. Every time Jesus engaged him in conversation, he did so in a respectful and loving manner. Matthew was drawn to Jesus but was cautious, not wanting to open up to just any stranger who came along. The years of abuse he had suffered from the people of Galilee made him cynical about ever having friends, but quietly he hoped that someday he would be accepted and loved.

The new teacher had caught his attention, particularly due to the merciful way he dealt with the most marginalized people in the community. One day Matthew observed Jesus when a man with leprosy came and knelt before him. Most religious teachers of the day screamed out, telling lepers to get away from them because they did not want to make themselves impure. To Matthews astonishment, though, Jesus healed the man of his leprosy. A few days later, Matthew heard talk about how Jesus had healed a centurions servant who lived in Capernaum simply by declaring that the servant was free of disease. He also heard it whispered that Jesus had healed the fisherman Peters mother by simply touching her hand. What was most astonishing was when Matthew saw Jesus drive demons out of people with just his spoken word. These and other actions by Jesus were discussed all over town, and Matthew was beginning to believe that perhaps Jesus had the answers he was seeking.

Then one day as Matthew was seated at his booth collecting taxes, Jesus walked by, stopped for just a moment, looked Matthew squarely in the eyes, and said, Follow me. It was a crazy request. How could he leave his work at a moments notice and simply follow this itinerant preacher? Before he knew it, though, Matthew found himself standing up, walking away from his table, and moving in Jesuss direction. It was really an outrageous thing to do.

Peter had done a similar thing, but Peter could always go back to being a fisherman if it did not work out with Jesus. Matthew, on the other hand, would never be able to go back to being a tax collector. He could never return to his booth. Surely he would suffer the ridicule of the people who already detested him. However, there was something about Jesuss call on his life. Matthew knew deep inside that his life had been changed simply because he had accepted Jesuss invitation to follow.