1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:05,720 Well, last week we talked about the path to following Jesus 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,800 and the steps that that takes. 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,720 And I hope that was helpful to set the stage for us looking at very 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:17,000 specific people and their path of following Jesus. 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,520 And today we're going to start with Matthew. 6 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:24,080 Matthew wrote the first gospel in the New Testament, so you know 7 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:24,680 that name. 8 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,570 Well, if you read the Christmas story at your church or 9 00:00:29,570 --> 00:00:34,170 your home at Christmas time, you probably read Matthew's account 10 00:00:34,250 --> 00:00:38,010 of the Christmas stories that's told about the birth of Christ. 11 00:00:38,890 --> 00:00:42,810 But Matthew didn't start out as the kind of person you would want 12 00:00:42,970 --> 00:00:45,450 telling the story of Jesus. 13 00:00:45,850 --> 00:00:49,610 In fact, he might be the last person you'd pick out of a crowd 14 00:00:50,090 --> 00:00:54,410 that you would expect to become a disciple and a writer of 15 00:00:54,410 --> 00:00:55,090 the gospel. 16 00:00:55,890 --> 00:01:01,010 Here's how Matthew became a new person in Christ. 17 00:01:02,530 --> 00:01:06,810 When Jesus changes you, he changes you dramatically. 18 00:01:06,810 --> 00:01:09,330 And when Jesus calls us to follow him. 19 00:01:11,170 --> 00:01:17,290 Our past may explain where we've been, but our past no longer 20 00:01:17,290 --> 00:01:19,360 defines who we are. 21 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,800 Now all of us have labels that people use to define who we are. 22 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,360 Maybe it's your family, maybe it's your hometown. 23 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:28,320 Maybe it's your abilities. 24 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:30,200 Maybe it's your appearance. 25 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:31,200 Maybe it's your success. 26 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:33,440 Maybe you're happy. 27 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:34,639 Maybe you're grumpy. 28 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,480 Maybe you're hard to get along with. 29 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:42,720 Whatever it may be, labels get assigned to us by the people as shorthand 30 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:47,780 to identify who they think we are. 31 00:01:49,140 --> 00:01:51,140 And that's what happened with Matthew. 32 00:01:51,700 --> 00:01:53,700 Some come from the career we pursue. 33 00:01:54,180 --> 00:01:58,460 You know, I can take off my college president uniform and put 34 00:01:58,460 --> 00:02:02,500 on jeans and a T shirt, but I'm still president of Bellevue University. 35 00:02:02,580 --> 00:02:04,420 Wherever I go, I can't get rid of it. 36 00:02:04,580 --> 00:02:05,860 It's my identity. 37 00:02:07,380 --> 00:02:11,639 Maybe your identity comes from the people you associate with instead 38 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:12,239 of a career. 39 00:02:12,239 --> 00:02:14,359 Maybe it comes from the reputation you develop. 40 00:02:14,599 --> 00:02:17,319 Maybe the identity comes from the mistakes we've made. 41 00:02:17,319 --> 00:02:21,159 And for too many people, that has become their identity. 42 00:02:22,279 --> 00:02:27,519 And some labels get attached to us so strongly that we begin to 43 00:02:27,519 --> 00:02:30,679 believe they're permanent and we can't change. 44 00:02:31,159 --> 00:02:34,599 And we're stuck in what that identity is. 45 00:02:36,199 --> 00:02:38,360 What defines you right now? 46 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:40,520 What are you known to be? 47 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:45,320 What are the defining characteristics that identify you? 48 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:48,600 Well, I have a confession to make. 49 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:50,520 When I was sitting in your chair. 50 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,480 That was a lot of years ago, when I was sitting in your chair. 51 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,480 I was a good, solid C student. 52 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,000 Man, I could nail a C. I was good at it. 53 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,345 Once in a while, I'd sneak into the B category and I'd think, 54 00:03:06,345 --> 00:03:07,440 I, I got this thing. 55 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:08,720 It's really going now. 56 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:11,600 I wasn't a good student. 57 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:13,680 I fell asleep in class. 58 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,120 I'd sit in the back, not pay attention, watch the clock till it 59 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:19,520 was over. 60 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:22,400 I was an athlete. 61 00:03:22,559 --> 00:03:23,760 That's what I cared about. 62 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:26,120 But I wasn't all that great either. 63 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,600 I was second string goalkeeper on the soccer team and I played number 64 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:34,570 three or four singles in tennis and number two, doubles. 65 00:03:35,290 --> 00:03:36,250 Never that great. 66 00:03:36,650 --> 00:03:39,530 I was destined for mediocrity. 67 00:03:39,850 --> 00:03:41,530 I was going to hit the bullseye. 68 00:03:44,330 --> 00:03:45,570 I found out years later. 69 00:03:45,570 --> 00:03:47,890 My dad had told one of his closest friends. 70 00:03:47,890 --> 00:03:51,370 He said, you know, I don't think Roger's going to amount to 71 00:03:51,370 --> 00:03:51,930 anything. 72 00:03:52,650 --> 00:03:54,250 I'm really worried about him. 73 00:03:56,010 --> 00:03:58,330 Well, something happened. 74 00:03:58,830 --> 00:03:59,870 Two things happened. 75 00:04:00,270 --> 00:04:05,790 One is I met and started dating a girl who later became my 76 00:04:05,790 --> 00:04:05,990 wife. 77 00:04:05,990 --> 00:04:08,110 We just had our 52nd anniversary. 78 00:04:08,110 --> 00:04:08,910 That's pretty good. 79 00:04:09,470 --> 00:04:10,270 52. 80 00:04:11,950 --> 00:04:15,870 I mean, that's for old people. 81 00:04:15,870 --> 00:04:16,790 I don't get that. 82 00:04:16,790 --> 00:04:17,470 That's weird. 83 00:04:17,470 --> 00:04:18,190 That's weird. 84 00:04:18,430 --> 00:04:18,990 52. 85 00:04:18,990 --> 00:04:20,830 We've been together a long, long time. 86 00:04:21,710 --> 00:04:23,470 And she was a brilliant student. 87 00:04:23,470 --> 00:04:24,670 She was valedictorian. 88 00:04:25,230 --> 00:04:26,430 She was a brilliant student. 89 00:04:26,830 --> 00:04:29,550 If I wanted to date her, I had to go to the library and study. 90 00:04:29,870 --> 00:04:33,230 And unless we studied seriously, we weren't going for a 91 00:04:33,230 --> 00:04:33,670 milkshake. 92 00:04:33,670 --> 00:04:34,590 It wasn't going to happen. 93 00:04:35,070 --> 00:04:36,430 We were studying first. 94 00:04:37,150 --> 00:04:38,790 She started to change my pattern. 95 00:04:38,790 --> 00:04:43,230 Somehow she saw some potential in me that I sure didn't see in me. 96 00:04:44,030 --> 00:04:47,190 But then I began to look around at the school where I was 97 00:04:47,190 --> 00:04:49,590 going and my dad was the president at the time. 98 00:04:49,590 --> 00:04:53,000 And I began to see the people who cared about me. 99 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,160 Not because I was a college president's son, not because I was 100 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,160 a mediocre student, they just cared about me. 101 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:01,840 And faculty members who have put energy into me. 102 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:04,600 And a coach, a tennis coach who cared about me. 103 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:09,240 My soccer coach, he was creep, but a tennis coach. 104 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,400 And I thought, you know, if I could do some of what they could 105 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,240 do, I could help people. 106 00:05:18,580 --> 00:05:24,900 And God began asking me to prepare for that kind of life and 107 00:05:24,980 --> 00:05:26,820 follow him into that. 108 00:05:27,220 --> 00:05:31,780 And so I went from a C student to getting a PhD and I really took 109 00:05:31,780 --> 00:05:35,460 off in academics probably my junior, late junior year, senior 110 00:05:35,460 --> 00:05:38,180 year, and off from then. 111 00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:42,900 And I hope there's some good C student out here right now who God's 112 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:44,820 going to touch to become president of Belhaven University 113 00:05:44,820 --> 00:05:45,340 someday. 114 00:05:45,340 --> 00:05:46,170 I. I'd love that. 115 00:05:47,930 --> 00:05:52,330 You see, the identity you have isn't the identity you have to keep. 116 00:05:52,570 --> 00:05:56,970 When God gives you a new vision and calls you into something 117 00:05:57,050 --> 00:05:57,530 else. 118 00:05:58,490 --> 00:06:05,490 And he used my wife to be that voice to speak into my life and to 119 00:06:05,490 --> 00:06:06,090 change It. 120 00:06:06,970 --> 00:06:14,150 Well, some people have a calling that just labels them so 121 00:06:14,150 --> 00:06:15,950 deeply they can't get away from it. 122 00:06:15,950 --> 00:06:17,110 And that was Matthew. 123 00:06:17,590 --> 00:06:20,550 Matthew had the identity that defined him. 124 00:06:20,550 --> 00:06:22,870 Well, he was a tax collector. 125 00:06:24,390 --> 00:06:29,670 Everybody in his city knew the shorthand label of what that meant. 126 00:06:30,630 --> 00:06:35,350 And it all set the limits and the opportunities for Matthew's life. 127 00:06:35,350 --> 00:06:39,410 He couldn't be anything but that because that was his identity. 128 00:06:39,810 --> 00:06:44,330 Then Jesus walked up to his tack booth and with two words, opened 129 00:06:44,330 --> 00:06:48,530 the door to a completely new identity for Matthew. 130 00:06:49,890 --> 00:06:54,210 He said, follow me, Follow me. 131 00:06:54,850 --> 00:07:01,810 And it's a fascinating story about how Matthew went from tax collector 132 00:07:02,450 --> 00:07:05,390 to writer of the gospel and a disciple of Christ. 133 00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:08,470 And there's much to learn about following Jesus from the life 134 00:07:08,470 --> 00:07:08,990 of Matthew. 135 00:07:08,990 --> 00:07:09,950 So let's look at it. 136 00:07:13,710 --> 00:07:18,510 Jesus calls Matthew while he's sitting at his tax booth. 137 00:07:19,950 --> 00:07:23,950 The label everybody knew about him was tax collector. 138 00:07:24,110 --> 00:07:28,750 And in those days, the tax booth was in the city, and the taxes 139 00:07:28,830 --> 00:07:30,430 were collected by an individual. 140 00:07:30,430 --> 00:07:31,950 You didn't have a form you sent in. 141 00:07:32,260 --> 00:07:38,500 The tax collector was given that role by the Roman Empire, who 142 00:07:38,500 --> 00:07:42,580 had suppressed the Jewish people and had taken over the land. 143 00:07:43,300 --> 00:07:46,580 And so the tax collector was a Jew. 144 00:07:46,580 --> 00:07:47,580 We know that about him. 145 00:07:47,580 --> 00:07:49,940 We know he was educated or he wouldn't get the job. 146 00:07:50,020 --> 00:07:53,340 We know he had stature in the community, and we know financially 147 00:07:53,340 --> 00:07:54,420 he made a lot of money. 148 00:07:55,060 --> 00:07:59,120 But he was also a traitor because he was Jewish, but he was 149 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,480 collecting money for the Romans. 150 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,400 We know he was sophisticated to somehow get into that role and 151 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:07,160 to get a very prized position. 152 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:10,240 But we also know he was dishonest because that's how tax 153 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:11,160 collectors were. 154 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,840 Tax collectors were told, you raised so much from this person and 155 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,560 they would raise that amount and they'd keep the difference, and 156 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:20,760 whatever they could squeeze out of you is what they got. 157 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,040 They were essentially mafia in many ways. 158 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,120 That was the label Matthew was known for. 159 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,560 And when people saw Matthew, they didn't see a man. 160 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:33,000 They saw a tax collector. 161 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:36,200 Now, Matthew knew how he was seen. 162 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:38,360 He knew what he signed up for. 163 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,960 And I'm sure he put up defenses to deal with the label they 164 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:42,520 put on him. 165 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:43,800 I'm sure he played the role. 166 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:49,360 He may have leaned into it because he had a lot of power and 167 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:54,080 control over people, or maybe just resigned to the label. 168 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:56,560 What's your label? 169 00:08:57,600 --> 00:08:58,640 What's your label? 170 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:00,800 Smart, Athlete. 171 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:02,160 Performer. 172 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:03,840 Successful. 173 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:05,920 Disappointing. 174 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:07,440 Difficult. 175 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:08,880 Mediocre. 176 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:10,720 Outsider. 177 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:11,520 Failure. 178 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,320 Maybe the person nobody knows. 179 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,050 Some labels are positive and some labels are negative. 180 00:09:19,930 --> 00:09:26,410 But either kind can be a prison when we allow it to define 181 00:09:26,650 --> 00:09:27,850 who we are. 182 00:09:29,130 --> 00:09:34,810 And Matthew's whole Identity was wrapped up in that tax booth. 183 00:09:36,490 --> 00:09:39,610 Well, Jesus said two other words. 184 00:09:42,170 --> 00:09:44,880 It said in the scripture, Jesus saw. 185 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:47,680 Jesus saw Matthew. 186 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:52,000 Two words that changed his identity completely from one of the 187 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:59,040 most despised people in that city to one of the people we admire 188 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,360 most as we read the New Testament. 189 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,120 Everyone saw Matthew as a tax collector. 190 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,120 Jesus saw Matthew. 191 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:10,480 Everybody saw what Matthew had done. 192 00:10:11,420 --> 00:10:13,740 Jesus saw what Matthew could become. 193 00:10:15,420 --> 00:10:20,380 Everybody saw Matthew in a category of a person to avoid. 194 00:10:21,740 --> 00:10:25,820 Jesus saw Matthew as a person to be loved. 195 00:10:27,180 --> 00:10:29,900 Jesus sees everything about us. 196 00:10:30,220 --> 00:10:32,740 I think it's funny when people try to live their life and think, 197 00:10:32,740 --> 00:10:35,820 well, you're not going to get close to God because I don't want 198 00:10:35,820 --> 00:10:36,580 him to know about this. 199 00:10:36,580 --> 00:10:37,420 Are you kidding me? 200 00:10:37,770 --> 00:10:38,570 God knows everything. 201 00:10:39,450 --> 00:10:44,930 And Jesus could see past all that, walked up to him, had never 202 00:10:44,930 --> 00:10:49,050 spoken to him in his life, walked up to him and could see all 203 00:10:49,050 --> 00:10:54,250 that in Matthew and said, follow me, because he could see Matthew. 204 00:10:56,090 --> 00:11:00,810 Now it's important that Jesus saw Matthew's sin again. 205 00:11:00,890 --> 00:11:03,290 Tax collectors were sinners, really bad ones. 206 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:04,600 They did it in public. 207 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,640 And Jesus never minimizes sin. 208 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,640 We know that because he came to die on a cross for our sin. 209 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:18,760 But we're never reduced to the identity of our sin in Christ. 210 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:21,080 And that's what grace does. 211 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,840 Grace doesn't remove the sin, it redeems the sin. 212 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,210 Matthew never pretended his old life didn't exist, but grace 213 00:11:32,690 --> 00:11:35,810 gave him the possibility of a new life. 214 00:11:36,210 --> 00:11:45,090 When Jesus saw him as a person, two words that changed his 215 00:11:45,090 --> 00:11:48,450 identity, he said, follow me. 216 00:11:49,570 --> 00:11:50,370 Follow me. 217 00:11:51,650 --> 00:11:54,530 Not only changed his identity, but changed his direction. 218 00:11:55,250 --> 00:11:58,900 He doesn't say, you know, Matthew, you're really a bad guy. 219 00:11:58,980 --> 00:12:03,580 Why don't you clean yourself up and see if you got the desire 220 00:12:03,580 --> 00:12:04,700 to be better than who you are? 221 00:12:04,700 --> 00:12:07,940 And so we'll talk, we'll have a cup of tea, and we'll visit. 222 00:12:07,940 --> 00:12:09,140 About this, he didn't say that. 223 00:12:09,860 --> 00:12:12,460 He didn't say, matthew, if you really want to change your life, 224 00:12:12,460 --> 00:12:15,660 prove you're serious, and then, and then we'll see if you can 225 00:12:15,660 --> 00:12:16,100 measure up. 226 00:12:16,100 --> 00:12:16,900 He didn't say that. 227 00:12:18,500 --> 00:12:21,300 He didn't say, matthew, go make up for everything bad you've 228 00:12:21,300 --> 00:12:24,100 ever done, and then come to me and then we'll be ready. 229 00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:25,250 No, he didn't say that. 230 00:12:26,370 --> 00:12:30,770 He didn't say, matthew, become responsible, and then I might take 231 00:12:30,770 --> 00:12:31,250 you in. 232 00:12:31,250 --> 00:12:32,370 He didn't say that. 233 00:12:32,690 --> 00:12:38,610 He just said, follow me, knowing exactly who Matthew was. 234 00:12:38,770 --> 00:12:39,890 Just follow me. 235 00:12:40,050 --> 00:12:41,890 Christianity begins there. 236 00:12:42,530 --> 00:12:46,410 Not with becoming good enough for Christ, not with creating a better 237 00:12:46,410 --> 00:12:48,690 version of yourself before you can come to Christ. 238 00:12:49,010 --> 00:12:52,890 Not with having some religious achievement before God will accept 239 00:12:52,890 --> 00:12:57,260 you, not with inventing a new identity. 240 00:12:57,420 --> 00:13:04,220 It's receiving the identity of Christ when he says, follow me. 241 00:13:06,140 --> 00:13:09,420 So Matthew stood up and followed. 242 00:13:09,980 --> 00:13:11,420 He stood up and followed. 243 00:13:13,660 --> 00:13:18,060 He couldn't follow Christ, remain seated at that text booth. 244 00:13:19,030 --> 00:13:19,990 He left everything. 245 00:13:21,030 --> 00:13:22,630 That was his full identity. 246 00:13:22,790 --> 00:13:28,310 That was his fortune, that was his power, that was his stature. 247 00:13:30,710 --> 00:13:36,070 You know, in ancient times, in those times, if you had something 248 00:13:36,310 --> 00:13:41,710 serious that you were in charge of and sharing, you would 249 00:13:41,710 --> 00:13:43,590 sit down, you wouldn't stand up like this. 250 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,280 We read often, Jesus sat down to preach. 251 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:52,040 Matthew was sitting at that booth, which meant he had stature 252 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:52,640 and power. 253 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:53,760 And what did he do? 254 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:54,880 He stood up. 255 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,160 He stood up and he followed. 256 00:14:00,079 --> 00:14:03,520 If we're going to follow Jesus, sometimes it requires a very 257 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:04,400 serious break. 258 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:08,960 We have to be standing up, and when we stand up, we're going to 259 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:09,440 be seen. 260 00:14:10,250 --> 00:14:12,650 We have to leave the tax booth. 261 00:14:12,890 --> 00:14:14,090 It requires action. 262 00:14:14,970 --> 00:14:18,410 We have to go have a new direction to follow him. 263 00:14:18,810 --> 00:14:22,450 Sometimes following Christ requires us to walk away from the 264 00:14:22,450 --> 00:14:25,929 very thing that defines us, the tax booth. 265 00:14:26,730 --> 00:14:28,570 Sometimes it's less visible than that. 266 00:14:30,170 --> 00:14:34,090 Maybe it's for you ambition that doesn't leave any room for God. 267 00:14:35,380 --> 00:14:39,220 Maybe it's a relationship that is not bringing you closer to God. 268 00:14:39,220 --> 00:14:41,700 It's deteriorating your relationship with God. 269 00:14:43,300 --> 00:14:48,900 Maybe it's a sin pattern that takes off every weekend and you think, 270 00:14:49,060 --> 00:14:51,060 I'm going to do better next week, but you don't. 271 00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:54,260 Maybe it's a need for approval. 272 00:14:55,380 --> 00:14:58,020 Maybe it's resentment that hasn't been released. 273 00:14:59,860 --> 00:15:03,780 Maybe it's a private life that doesn't match the person everybody 274 00:15:03,780 --> 00:15:04,460 else sees. 275 00:15:06,620 --> 00:15:08,220 You have to stand up and follow. 276 00:15:08,220 --> 00:15:12,460 You can't follow without leaving behind something you now 277 00:15:12,460 --> 00:15:12,860 value. 278 00:15:13,980 --> 00:15:18,540 It means Jesus becomes the one who decides what stays in our life 279 00:15:18,620 --> 00:15:19,820 and what goes. 280 00:15:20,860 --> 00:15:22,820 You see, it's interesting to me. 281 00:15:22,820 --> 00:15:24,220 Matthew didn't negotiate. 282 00:15:25,020 --> 00:15:26,620 Again, Matthew made a lot of money. 283 00:15:27,270 --> 00:15:28,470 He had a lot of stature and power. 284 00:15:28,550 --> 00:15:31,750 He could have said, well, Lord, I'm going to play by the rules. 285 00:15:31,750 --> 00:15:35,470 I'll do this by the rules, but I'll just keep this job and I'll 286 00:15:35,470 --> 00:15:38,390 do better and I'll be really interested in what you. 287 00:15:38,390 --> 00:15:39,190 He didn't do that. 288 00:15:40,230 --> 00:15:42,070 He didn't negotiate in any way. 289 00:15:42,070 --> 00:15:45,350 He left it all behind and he got up and he walked away. 290 00:15:47,590 --> 00:15:49,510 And here's an important part of this story. 291 00:15:50,550 --> 00:15:52,790 That job was not waiting for him. 292 00:15:53,230 --> 00:15:56,190 If he got away and changed his mind, decided, wanted to come back, 293 00:15:56,670 --> 00:15:58,110 he burned those bridges. 294 00:15:58,750 --> 00:15:59,710 They were gone. 295 00:16:01,150 --> 00:16:04,710 And sometimes, if you're going to follow Christ, you might Be in 296 00:16:04,710 --> 00:16:09,470 a position where you got to burn the bridges all the way in order 297 00:16:09,470 --> 00:16:11,070 to get up and follow him. 298 00:16:11,070 --> 00:16:13,790 He was staking his future on Jesus. 299 00:16:14,110 --> 00:16:18,910 Following Christ always involves trust because we do not 300 00:16:18,910 --> 00:16:20,770 know everything that comes after. 301 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,440 After we walk away from our identity. 302 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:27,160 And that's what Matthew did. 303 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,520 That's exactly what Matthew did. 304 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,560 But Matthew was still Matthew even after that. 305 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,200 Now, Matthew's identity changed before his circumstances 306 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:40,600 did. 307 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:43,720 But his past didn't disappear. 308 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:45,400 People knew what he'd done. 309 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,480 The consequences for choices he'd made earlier were still very 310 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:49,800 real. 311 00:16:50,980 --> 00:16:53,780 And others, Jesus might have given him grace, but other people 312 00:16:53,780 --> 00:16:54,260 didn't. 313 00:16:54,660 --> 00:16:57,420 They still identified him as the old Matthew that they didn't 314 00:16:57,420 --> 00:16:58,580 want to be any part of. 315 00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:02,820 But something fundamental had changed in Matthew. 316 00:17:02,900 --> 00:17:07,780 He was now a follower of Jesus who used to be a tax collector. 317 00:17:08,900 --> 00:17:13,460 A completely new identity because he belonged in Christ. 318 00:17:14,820 --> 00:17:19,830 If failure is part of your story, it's not your identity. 319 00:17:21,270 --> 00:17:26,070 If rejection is part of your story, it's not your identity. 320 00:17:27,110 --> 00:17:31,750 If success is part of your story, it's not your identity. 321 00:17:33,270 --> 00:17:37,910 If struggle is part of your story, it's not your identity. 322 00:17:41,910 --> 00:17:46,160 Those things do not have the final word on who you are. 323 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:47,840 Christ does. 324 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:49,840 Christ does. 325 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,040 Matthew had a new purpose. 326 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:00,040 You know, following Christ can't be private because it changes 327 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:00,320 you. 328 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,960 And so the first thing Matthew wanted to do that same day is for 329 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:12,640 the people that he knew best to know Jesus Christ, who was seeing 330 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:15,640 him as a person to be loved and cared for. 331 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,720 And so he invited his old network together for dinner that 332 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:20,040 night. 333 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:24,080 And the disciples came and Jesus came, and all the tax collectors 334 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:25,040 in the town came. 335 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:32,400 All the bad guys came and had dinner with Jesus and Matthew, who 336 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,840 got up from his tax table and walked away. 337 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,360 I'm sure Matthew felt like, man, these guys are going to think 338 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:41,040 I'm crazy and I'm not going to be accepted anymore. 339 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:46,280 He didn't care because he knew who Jesus was at that point, and 340 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:50,880 he wanted to follow him and he wanted them to know who Jesus was. 341 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,880 The very relationships associated with old life became his 342 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,880 best opportunities for his new life. 343 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:05,860 The experiences you wish you could erase may allow you to reach 344 00:19:06,340 --> 00:19:09,780 somebody else that nobody else can reach. 345 00:19:10,900 --> 00:19:14,860 See, because Jesus doesn't waste a consecrated life, even if 346 00:19:14,860 --> 00:19:18,820 there are things in our past that we wish we could forget. 347 00:19:21,140 --> 00:19:22,820 Matthew had this new purpose. 348 00:19:24,100 --> 00:19:27,780 And then it didn't change all the people around him. 349 00:19:27,860 --> 00:19:31,140 It changed Matthew, but it didn't change all people around him. 350 00:19:31,140 --> 00:19:33,140 People around him didn't see the immediate change. 351 00:19:33,940 --> 00:19:36,460 And the people who were the most judgmental Were the religious 352 00:19:36,460 --> 00:19:37,420 people the Pharisees? 353 00:19:37,420 --> 00:19:37,940 It says. 354 00:19:38,020 --> 00:19:40,100 It says, why are you having dinner? 355 00:19:40,340 --> 00:19:42,660 Why is your teacher having dinner with these scum? 356 00:19:44,260 --> 00:19:45,780 They saw the old label. 357 00:19:46,020 --> 00:19:49,780 They saw tax, they saw sinner, they saw crook in Matthew. 358 00:19:50,660 --> 00:19:54,740 And you know, that can be really painful when you're trying 359 00:19:54,740 --> 00:19:55,780 to follow Christ. 360 00:19:57,010 --> 00:20:01,290 It can be really painful that you're trying to become a new person 361 00:20:01,290 --> 00:20:06,090 in Christ and the people around you yet don't see it, but 362 00:20:06,090 --> 00:20:10,210 you don't need them to recognize it before you can live 363 00:20:10,210 --> 00:20:10,530 it. 364 00:20:11,570 --> 00:20:13,890 Jesus answered beautifully. 365 00:20:14,290 --> 00:20:16,210 Healthy people don't need a doctor. 366 00:20:17,650 --> 00:20:20,290 In fact, the scripture says it well. 367 00:20:21,170 --> 00:20:25,010 For I've come to call not those who think they are righteous, 368 00:20:25,090 --> 00:20:25,360 but. 369 00:20:25,830 --> 00:20:28,870 But those who know they are sinners. 370 00:20:30,550 --> 00:20:35,790 The greatest barrier between us and Jesus is not that we have 371 00:20:35,790 --> 00:20:38,950 sinned, because that's exactly what he died for. 372 00:20:38,950 --> 00:20:41,749 The danger is believing we do not need him. 373 00:20:44,150 --> 00:20:49,310 Jesus knew the Pharisees needed a physician too, but they 374 00:20:49,310 --> 00:20:52,770 simply didn't know they were sick and they felt like they didn't 375 00:20:52,770 --> 00:20:53,290 need him. 376 00:20:54,650 --> 00:20:58,890 Christian identity begins with a confession that we never outgrow. 377 00:20:59,450 --> 00:21:00,490 I need Jesus. 378 00:21:01,450 --> 00:21:03,130 I need his forgiveness. 379 00:21:03,370 --> 00:21:04,730 I need his wisdom. 380 00:21:04,890 --> 00:21:06,090 I need his strength. 381 00:21:06,889 --> 00:21:08,330 I need his correction. 382 00:21:08,570 --> 00:21:09,690 I need his grace. 383 00:21:10,170 --> 00:21:11,450 I need his spirit. 384 00:21:12,010 --> 00:21:13,290 That's not weakness. 385 00:21:13,530 --> 00:21:14,410 That's following. 386 00:21:18,580 --> 00:21:20,660 And that must be our constant prayer. 387 00:21:21,060 --> 00:21:22,740 Jesus, I need you. 388 00:21:24,500 --> 00:21:31,780 Well, the new identity does not mean pretending that the old 389 00:21:31,780 --> 00:21:32,980 life never happened. 390 00:21:33,540 --> 00:21:38,220 When Matthew writes about himself in his Gospel, this is how 391 00:21:38,220 --> 00:21:39,380 he describes himself. 392 00:21:40,180 --> 00:21:42,550 Matthew, the tax collector. 393 00:21:44,060 --> 00:21:45,340 It's fascinating to me. 394 00:21:45,340 --> 00:21:50,540 He's remembering who he'd been, but now he's seen that past 395 00:21:51,020 --> 00:21:53,180 viewed through the grace of Jesus. 396 00:21:55,180 --> 00:22:02,620 That grace transformed him and washed clean that past, although 397 00:22:02,620 --> 00:22:03,900 the past was still there. 398 00:22:04,940 --> 00:22:09,180 Matthew the tax collector, who's a follower of Jesus. 399 00:22:10,570 --> 00:22:11,290 Remarkable. 400 00:22:11,770 --> 00:22:15,690 There's great difference between remembering your past and 401 00:22:15,690 --> 00:22:17,450 letting your past control you. 402 00:22:18,410 --> 00:22:20,570 You do not have to deny what happened. 403 00:22:21,290 --> 00:22:23,250 You don't have to pretend you never failed. 404 00:22:23,250 --> 00:22:25,530 You don't have to act as though sin doesn't have consequences. 405 00:22:25,610 --> 00:22:26,170 It does. 406 00:22:27,050 --> 00:22:31,130 But you also do not have to keep paying for what Jesus has already 407 00:22:31,130 --> 00:22:31,770 forgiven. 408 00:22:33,130 --> 00:22:33,850 It's over. 409 00:22:35,620 --> 00:22:40,420 Matthew says, yes, that was me, the tax collector. 410 00:22:41,220 --> 00:22:42,980 And then Jesus. 411 00:22:44,340 --> 00:22:46,420 Then Jesus came into my life. 412 00:22:46,580 --> 00:22:54,420 I was going one direction as a crook, a mafia guy, a bad person. 413 00:22:55,060 --> 00:22:57,460 And then Jesus changed it. 414 00:22:57,780 --> 00:23:00,900 I was a sinner, and then Jesus. 415 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,120 I was building identity that was not sustainable because it was 416 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:06,600 corrupt. 417 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:08,760 Then Jesus. 418 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,440 I was carrying guilt I couldn't remove. 419 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:14,760 And then Jesus. 420 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:19,480 Well, Matthew's life leads us to ask three questions. 421 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:22,760 What defines your identity right now? 422 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:25,160 What's your identity right now? 423 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:26,860 Your identity. 424 00:23:27,090 --> 00:23:33,050 Identity can be, I belong to Jesus Christ, and everything else 425 00:23:33,050 --> 00:23:33,890 is secondary. 426 00:23:33,970 --> 00:23:37,170 It doesn't mean it's not important that you're an athlete, 427 00:23:37,170 --> 00:23:39,850 a performer, a good student, a bad student, whatever it may be. 428 00:23:39,850 --> 00:23:40,770 Those things still matter. 429 00:23:41,010 --> 00:23:45,170 But your primary identity is you belong to him first. 430 00:23:45,250 --> 00:23:48,210 And everything else is secondary. 431 00:23:49,570 --> 00:23:50,450 Second question. 432 00:23:51,170 --> 00:23:52,610 What do you need to leave behind? 433 00:23:54,850 --> 00:23:58,930 Standing up from that position where you have security? 434 00:23:59,170 --> 00:24:02,370 Matthew, I'm sure, felt very secure sitting at that table. 435 00:24:03,170 --> 00:24:04,890 It's a difficult action to take. 436 00:24:04,890 --> 00:24:05,490 It's hard. 437 00:24:06,050 --> 00:24:09,090 It takes risk, it takes commitment. 438 00:24:09,170 --> 00:24:13,890 Because Matthew couldn't go back and we need to be in that position. 439 00:24:14,130 --> 00:24:15,570 What do you need to leave behind? 440 00:24:16,690 --> 00:24:21,500 And then thirdly, who needs you to meet the Jesus that changed 441 00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:21,820 you? 442 00:24:22,300 --> 00:24:27,900 Who trusts you enough that you could help that person take a step 443 00:24:28,620 --> 00:24:30,380 closer to Jesus? 444 00:24:34,700 --> 00:24:39,860 Matthew had no idea, no idea what would happen that day. 445 00:24:39,860 --> 00:24:43,260 When he stood up, he didn't know where that life was going. 446 00:24:44,140 --> 00:24:47,820 He didn't know he'd become one of the 12 disciples who would walk 447 00:24:47,820 --> 00:24:52,050 with Jesus for three years and be there when he was crucified and 448 00:24:52,050 --> 00:24:55,450 when he rose from the grave and go on to preach and to share 449 00:24:55,450 --> 00:24:56,610 the good news of the world. 450 00:24:56,610 --> 00:24:58,090 He didn't know that was going to happen. 451 00:24:58,890 --> 00:25:02,530 He didn't know there would be generations of Christians who would 452 00:25:02,530 --> 00:25:08,450 read his Gospel and understand who Jesus was by what Matthew told 453 00:25:08,450 --> 00:25:09,130 about him. 454 00:25:10,250 --> 00:25:14,570 He didn't know that thousands of years later there'd be a chapel 455 00:25:14,570 --> 00:25:19,120 in Jackson, Mississippi, where we'd be talking about his life and 456 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:25,040 his courage to stand up that one day at that tax table so long 457 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:25,360 ago. 458 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:32,400 Matthew only knew that Jesus had looked beyond his identity and 459 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,720 said, follow me. 460 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:38,640 That's where new life begins. 461 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:40,480 And Jesus still does that. 462 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,000 He meets us in the places where we have settled into identities 463 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,190 that too small for what he intends for our lives. 464 00:25:48,710 --> 00:25:50,230 He meets us in our success. 465 00:25:51,270 --> 00:25:55,510 He meets us in our failure, in our guilt or ambition. 466 00:25:56,550 --> 00:26:02,030 He meets us in the life we've constructed for ourselves that's 467 00:26:02,030 --> 00:26:02,630 so limited. 468 00:26:03,190 --> 00:26:07,430 And he says, stand up and follow me. 469 00:26:09,190 --> 00:26:13,990 Years later, when Matthew wrote his gospel, he recorded the 470 00:26:13,990 --> 00:26:18,390 words from Jesus that could almost serve as a caption for Matthew's 471 00:26:18,390 --> 00:26:18,750 life. 472 00:26:19,070 --> 00:26:22,830 Here's what the scripture said that Matthew wrote Jesus words. 473 00:26:23,070 --> 00:26:26,030 If you cling to your life, you will lose it. 474 00:26:26,830 --> 00:26:30,590 But if you give up your life for me, you will find it. 475 00:26:32,030 --> 00:26:34,030 Matthew knew it was true. 476 00:26:34,670 --> 00:26:35,710 He'd lived it. 477 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:40,000 He walked away from the life he built for himself and discovered 478 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,000 an entirely new life in Christ. 479 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:50,440 And if today if today you are not following Jesus as you should, 480 00:26:51,959 --> 00:26:58,040 this is the day to stand up and walk and follow him. 481 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:00,800 Pray our prayer of benediction. 482 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,120 And might it be your prayer? 483 00:27:02,970 --> 00:27:07,770 No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what 484 00:27:07,770 --> 00:27:10,250 God has prepared for those who love. 485 00:27:10,730 --> 00:27:11,410 God bless. 486 00:27:11,410 --> 00:27:12,250 Have a great day.