(To set the stage for this message, I bought several helium balloons and placed them in clusters strategically in our foyer and on stage to simulate a "party" atmosphere. We also designed the cover of our bulletin to look like a party invitation, had our greeters/ushers wear party hats, and played party type pre-service music.)
Introduction
Who doesn't love a party? I do. Toward the end of every year, there's a wonderful season of parties: Christmas parties and New Year's parties. Then a few weeks later people throw Super Bowl parties - it's a magical "partying" time of year.
I love the story about Alexander Sanders, who was the Chief Justice of the South Carolina Court of Appeals, and his daughter Zoe, and what happened when she was just three years old. Sanders came home from work one day to find his home - and especially his young daughter - in a state of turmoil. Zoe's pet turtle had died, and she was crying as if her heart would break. Zoe's mother had been dealing with the situation all day and declared that it was now Dad's turn to try and make things better.
Although he was successful both as a lawyer and a politician, who confidently faced all kinds of complex issues and problems every day, this seemed out of his league. The mysteries of life and death are difficult, if not impossible for the mature mind to fathom. The task of explaining them to a three-year-old was completely beyond either his confidence or experience.
But he tried. First, he told Zoe that they could go to the pet store and buy another one just like the one who had died. Even at three years old, Zoe was smart enough to know that a turtle is not a toy. There's really no such thing as getting another one just like the one who died. And so Zoe's tears continued.
Desperate to quiet his little girl's tears, he said, "I tell you what, we'll have a funeral for the turtle." Being three years old, she didn't know what a funeral was. Scrambling to come up with an explanation - as well as something that would get her mind off the turtle's demise; he said "A funeral is like a birthday party. We'll have ice cream and cake and lemonade and balloons, and all the children in the neighborhood will come over to our house to play, all because the turtle died."
Well, the prospect of a turtle funeral did the trick. Instantly, Zoe was her happy, smiling self. The turtle's death was no longer cause for tears, but reason to rejoice! So, with visions of cake and ice cream in their heads, the two beamed down on the deceased turtle lying at their feet. As they did, the turtle began to move. And a few seconds later, he was crawling away as lively as - well, as lively as a turtle, but an undeniably LIVE turtle.
Then an even stranger thing happened. Sanders, a politician and a lawyer, was speechless. Little Zoe had no such problem. After considering her options, she looked up at her father with her big beautiful eyes and - with all the innocence of her tender years - she said quietly, "Daddy, LET'S KILL IT."
I love three year olds. Like Zoe I think most of us are looking for a reason to party, especially with this economy and the seeming negative tone of our country. I'm so excited about the NBA playoffs and coming now . . . wait for it . . . FIFA World Cup Soccer is here . . . hur-ray!
There's an old expression, "Good news is for sharing." Don't you do that? When one of your kids does something good you want to let someone know: makes honor roll, hits a home run, wakes up before noon. When you drop a couple of pounds you want to share that with someone - post it on Facebook or something. You post a new profile picture with you suck-ing in your cheeks so people think you're really getting thin. You're hoping they'll write something on your wall about how skinny you've become.
When we had such a great service Christmas Eve, I called up a couple of my Kentucky preacher friends and asked if they had Christmas Eve services. I asked "So was your at-tendance about three times what you're accustomed to, and was your building packed out?" One guy said, "Why, yes it was." Preachers sometimes embellish, so I said, "So did we, and we had 18 inches of snow on the ground here in Michigan." That whole snow thing gets them every time; you drop an ice cube on the ground in Kentucky and the state shuts down.
Why would Matthew throw a party for Jesus? I don't see Jesus particularly as a party animal. Allow me to explain. I was introduced to a concept a couple of months ago called branding. We all know about it intuitively but maybe haven't really studied it. It's the notion that certain things are branded - sort of like cattle. You get a feeling about things because of what you observe.
We brand things in our minds. People have brands as well. I'm branded. I occasionally yell at the referees at my girls' ballgames. My brand in the stands has become, "He's the psycho yelling dad." People won't sit near me and by "people" I mean my wife and kids. There are two characters in today's story and both have a brand identity. Jesus had one and Matthew had one. Let's take a few minutes to examine each.
I. The Jesus brand
In this story we find Jesus offering a man named Matthew a position as disciple - it was sort of a job offer. In that day, to become a follower of a rabbi was about as awesome a job as you could have in life. Every mother wanted their son to grow up and be a rabbi - it was very exclusive. You'd go to the beauty parlor and let everyone know your son was a rabbi. "Did I mention my son's training to be a rabbi now?" And the way you became a rabbi was to study with a rabbi. That's the offer Jesus was making to Matthew.
Every rabbi had a way of teaching - a brand if you will. It was called his yoke. Jesus said, "All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Mat-thew 11:29-30). Now let that soak in. Jesus' brand is relief from burdens, gentleness of heart, and rest for your soul. The bottom line: The Jesus brand is about living a life of peace.
You live at peace with people and at peace with God. How's that not the most appealing thing you've ever heard? Say it, peace. Matthew probably wouldn't have simply walked away from a lucrative business without knowing this Jesus' yoke - his brand. I suppose the allure of becoming a rabbi might have been strong enough.
Matthew was a man who had already turned his back on the Jewish religion by becoming a tax collector - this wasn't about joining a religion - this was about joining a movement. Matthew was diggin' the Jesus brand. This was an offer to work for peace.
I suspect Matthew had heard Jesus' incredible ethical teaching known as The Sermon on the Mount. After all, he recorded it in Matthew 5-7. In that teaching Jesus claimed, "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs" (Matthew 5:3, NLT). Matthew was complicit in making people financially poor. Can't you imagine those words piercing Matthew's heart?
And Jesus had said, "God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy" (Matthew 5:7, NLT). A guy like Matthew wouldn't have been in the mercy showing business - he had to collect those taxes . . . more on that later. I suspect there wasn't much mercy going on at the tax collection booth, much like today's IRS.
Did you hear about the IRS inspector who walks into a church and asks to see the pastor? He's shown to the pastor's office and is offered a seat. "Pastor," he says, "a member of your church, Mr. James Jones, has stated on his tax return that he has donated $50,000 to the church recently . . . can you tell me if that's correct?" The pastor answers, "I'm sure it will be."
Jesus continued, "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. 9God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:8-9, NLT). There's that concept again: "working for peace." However, when this offer was made, Mat-thew had a different sort of brand.
II. Matthew's brand
The Pharisees nailed the Matthew brand when they asked, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" (Matthew 9:11). This was a man who ran with a rough crowd: one translation calls them "disreputable sinners." Some of the guests may well have been prostitutes and other religious outcasts.
Matthew worked for an oppressive government who occupied the Jewish nation and he col-lected taxes for them. He was in the hip pocket of the occupiers. And these tax collectors were far from peace promoters - they were brutish thugs.
Matthew wasn't a stereotypical, pocket-protector wearing, geeky, numbers crunching ac-countant type. This guy's job was to separate you from your money. This wasn't Pee Wee Herman sheepishly saying, "Uh, could you pay your taxes please . . . I mean if you get around to it sometime . . . okay?" It's more likely he looked like a bouncer than a nerd; like Tony Sopranos, "You gonna pay what yous owes or am I's gonna has to get physicals wif yous?" I bet Matthew was one bad boy: tats, packin heat, bustin heads, wearing a do rag.
He had traded his religion and respectability in the community for wealth. Think about that! It would be like a drug dealer today. He gives up religion and respectability in the community for wealth. Nobody would have anything to do with this cat, except people just like him: Scum . . . Disreputable Sinner. Not a very nice brand is it? I think that's what makes the Jesus offer even more amazing. Jesus, knowing who this man was, offers to re-make Matthew's brand.
Jesus didn't stumble upon this man as he was walking down the road; He knew Matthew was disreputable. The Bible tells us that Jesus prayerfully considered the people he was going to pick to be His closest associates. Jesus intentionally picked scum. He picked a disreputable sinner. He picked the guy nobody would even let in the church . . . which brings me to the rebranding of Matthew.
The college I mentioned earlier with the bad brand, well my relative, who was a graduate, was on the tour with us and she too was less than impressed, so she made a phone call . . . to the president of the university. She raised some cane. He had a meeting with the admis-sions office - things changed, they rebranded.
III. Matthew's new and improved brand
I think one of the coolest things about an encounter with Jesus is that it can change your brand. Matthew went from ruthless to generous. He went from a man of power and pos-sessions to a man of peace.
Luke calls the party Matthew throws a "mega" party. That would have cost big bucks. What's he doing? - investing in his friends. He invites fellow scummies to meet Jesus be-cause I guarantee you, when he told his boys he was "going rabbi" they freaked. His friends probably said, "Tony Soprano's becoming a choir boy - this I've got to see." I loved it when Jesus said, "I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:13).
Peace really has nothing to do with circumstances or wealth. Some of the most peaceful people you'll ever meet don't have much. Matthew gave up a fortune in order to follow Je-sus, though you don't always have to. When John the Baptist was approached by tax collec-tors, he didn't tell them to stop collecting taxes, he advised them to be honest in their tax assessments.
Galatians 5:22-23 is reflective of the Jesus brand: . . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23gentleness, self-control. The real question: Does your brand reflect the peace that should accompany the life of Christ? If not, here are a couple of simple things Matthew did that we can do, too.
He determined peace was worth investing his life in.
He determined his friends were worth investing in.
He spent time with Jesus.