Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
It started in 2007 with an air mattress in a lousy San Francisco apartment.
- The rent was due…hotels were booked up for a design conference…
- And two roommates had an idea.
- What if they charged guests to sleep on the floor?
- That weekend three strangers stayed in their living room and an industry was quietly born.
Those words were the beginning of a podcast with one of the founders of Airbnb.
- Their idea has redefined lodging while traveling.
- That small beginning has since grown into a global network with over 8 million active listings and 5 million hosts…
- Spanning more than 150,000 cities in 220 countries.
- It has welcomed over 2 billion guests…
- And in the process has upended the traditional hospitality industry…
- And reshaped how people experience new places.
Airbnb welcomes people from all walks of life into other people’s homes to stay for a defined period.
- It’s a great idea that has obviously blossomed.
- But not without problems.
- Google…Airbnb horror stories…and you will find no shortage of incidents where things got way out of hand.
- Property damage…fights…police being called…arrests made…
- And all sorts of people with less-than-stellar behavior.
- Our scripture today hints at the problem of people welcomed by Jesus but quickly judged by others.
- All that helps us to think about the dynamics of welcome in the kingdom of God!
- The Lord be with you…
The call of Matthew is described in one sentence.
- The response is also one sentence.
- Jesus called…Matthew followed.
- That’s it. Jesus said…Follow me…
- And he got up and followed him.
- But wait! There’s more!
- The first twist is that Jesus ends up at Matthew’s house.
- The inviter becomes the invited.
And that’s where the story gets interesting.
- Jesus and his disciples are at the table with Matthew…and some Pharisees complain about it.
- Many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples…the text says.
- How did these people get there?
- They were invited by Matthew…we assume.
- And Jesus and his disciples were sitting with those people as if there was nothing wrong.
Now…it is not clear how the Pharisees happened to witness this meal…
- Because their scruples would have kept them from accepting an invitation to a tax collector’s house…
- Since people in the tax collecting profession…working as they did for the occupying Romans…
- Were considered sinners.
- And the Pharisees’ judgmentalism would likely have kept Matthew from inviting them in any case.
But…the Pharisees somehow…saw these people eating together…
- And engaged in what is known in system theory of triangulation.
- Rather than question Jesus himself about his eating with shady companions…
- They approached his disciples and questioned them…
- Expecting them to tell Jesus he was in trouble.
- Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners…the text says.
- Then…the disciples would come back to the Pharisees with Jesus’ comments.
- Triangulating was a thing long before it was ever named in system theory.
But here’s the thing: It’s impossible to get anything over on Jesus.
- In our text today…Jesus heard what the Pharisees said to his disciples.
- Jesus broke the triangle by speaking directly to the Pharisees.
- Jesus 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…not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.
Jesus was alluding to Hosea 6:6…where that prophet talked about mercy being the thing God desires.
- Did the Pharisees sense that Jesus was including them among the sick who needed a physician?
- Did it occur to them that Jesus might be including them among the sinners?
Jesus seemed to seek out people that were typically shunned and ignored by the religious leaders.
- The Pharisees overlooked people most in need…but Jesus did not!
- He not only saw them…but he was drawn to those who were used to being ignored…
- Outcasts…lepers…demoniacs…
paralytics…the blind…the shunned…
- Well…you get the idea.
- Jesus had the ability to not only see them…but to help them and to love them.
- This was not the ordinary crowd you would find at synagogue on a Friday evening.
- They were mostly forbidden from worship for one reason or another…
- And were often assumed to be sinners.
- Yet…Jesus consistently loved and sought them out.
I previously mentioned the early days of Airbnb and the amazing growth it has experienced over the years.
- The cautionary tale in that venture is sometimes you get guests who do not abide by the rules and who do not live up to your expectations.
- That can also be true when we say yes to God’s call.
- Look at the calls of Abraham…Moses…Joshua…David…Paul…Timothy…Mary Magdaline…Peter…Dorcus and today the call of Matthew.
- All of them had unexpected things (both good and bad things) happen while following God’s intention for their lives.
There is a misconception that when God calls someone it is usually into some type of formal ministry in the church.
- That can be…but certainly not always.
- Another misconception is the idea that if a person has chosen a clear path to a secular vocation…
- They have decided that God has no place in their plans.
I invited Allen Nelson to be our guest presenter at Camp Lutherlyn (Western PA) during Family Week in the summer of 1983.
- He was the Vise President of Connecticut General Insurance Company.
- And in that position…it was his responsibility (as their proxy representative) to vote on behalf of the companies’ shares of stock world-wide.
- And he considered that huge ethical responsibility…a ministry.
And here is a list of activities he also thought of as ministry during his professional career:
- He served on the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America Pension Board.
- He was a professional tenor and offered his talents to congregations as well as being a cantor in a local Jewish Synagogue near his home in Cromwell Connecticut.
- He worked extensively in South Africa wrestling with issues of investment and divestment for the ELCA and his company.
- He served as the chair of the ELCA committee on corporate responsibility.
- He served as the chairperson of the ELCA’s committee on social justice.
- He wrote to me in 1994 saying: After the long debate on divestment…we have begun what has become a successful campaign to get companies back into South Africa again.
While with Connecticut General…Allan was offered the CEO position with Lutheran Brotherhood…our Lutheran Fraternal Insurance Company at the time.
- While with me at Camp Lutherlyn we walked together up to Chapel Hill where there stands a huge very tall concrete cross.
- He was struggling with his decision whether to take the position.
- We prayer together about it.
- And eventually he decided that he was doing ministry in his current position with Connecticut General…
- Working with issues of apartheid in Namibia South Africa.
- (Britany Point).
When asked whether he thought God had placed him where he was working with his company…
- Allan answered with a resounding…Yes!
- He took God to his place of vocation every day…
- And God worked through him in countless ways during those years.
So…here’s the thing…what is God calling us to do or be in this season of our vocations.