The Calling of Saint Matthew (Levi) 

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022920.cfm
Isaiah 58:9B-14
Luke 5:27-32

The Calling of Saint Matthew (Levi) - An Example of "HOW GOD CAN WORK THRU US" to Evangelize

No Matter Our Occupation (Tax Collector or Fisherman), Are You Ready to DO LENT?

Today's Gospel (Luke 5:27-32) presents the same storyline that we reflected upon in January in the Gospel of Mark. This time, I wish to explore what could have been going on within Levi during his conversion call by Jesus to "Follow me", and, then events at the great celebration banquet that occurred later at his house.

Lastly, I would like to make some short remarks about how some of Jesus' remarks might apply to us as we today, on Ash Wednesday, enter into our journey of Lent.

So - let's get ready to RUMBLE and DO LENT!

What has been your reaction when you got a letter in your mail today from the IRS? Would your heart skip a beat, and your stomach jumps into your throat? Mine would!

Oh, it’s not because we're scared - But - just the thought of getting audited, or getting some sort of official document from the most dreaded government agency of all time is enough to raise one's stress level several notches.

Now, what if the IRS did not have the governmental control over it that it does? What if you were to mix the Mafia with the IRS? Imagine if the IRS not only collected taxes but did so with Mafia-like techniques? They just show up one day with their two shady, beefed up hitmen, and in that gravelly, Godfather type voice, say “Pay me an Extra $5,000 or else."

Well, I don’t need to carry this out much further here, but if that were to happen, people would dislike the IRS much more than they already do. They would be seen as licensed crooks. They would be hated. They would be despised. They would be feared. People would shun them, avoid them, stay away from them. But this, you may already know is very close to the way tax gathering was done in the time of Christ.

Jews who were Tax gatherers were therefore considered to be traitors.

All of this brings us to our text today where we encounter a man named Levi. He was an outcast Jewish guy who collected taxes for the government using these Mafia-like techniques. Not the kind of man you would expect to convert, abandon everything & walk away with Jesus to an unsure future.

What happened here then? How did this come to be? To that end - I ran across Alfred Edersheim, a Biblical scholar and historian, who thinks that Levi started following Jesus about to tax the crowds that came to hear Him teach. What a buzz-kill he must have been initially - hanging around Jesus' outdoor revival meetings. This Tax Collector, Levi, is hereafter called Matthew in the Gospels. He is the one who eventually writes the first of the four Gospels.

Many people in the Bible have two names – one for before they met Jesus, and one for after. Simon became Peter. Saul became Paul. And Levi becomes Matthew. Levi means “joined” whereas Matthew means “gift of God.” And later, we do see that Levi receives the greatest gift that there is: a healing visit from the Divine Physician.

Imagine if you came to church next Sunday and that an IRS agent had set up a booth/Kiosk inside the church's front door and was taking down names and social security numbers to see if you have paid your taxes (and could you be charged more!). It would probably dampen your desire to come to church.

That’s kind of what Levi might have been doing (per Alfred Edersheim). He followed Jesus around (to get the "foot traffic" - just like the Kiosks you find in a mall) and taxed the crowds who came to hear Jesus teach. BUT - as Levi sat there with his booth, taxing people who came to hear Jesus teach, he also got to hear the teaching of Jesus for Himself. This was probably like water to his dusty soul.

You see, tax-gatherers were not allowed to come into the synagogue to hear the Word of God taught. So Levi was able to hear truths from Jesus that he had never heard before. All his professional life, he had been told that he was headed for hell. All his life, he had been told that God couldn't forgive him. But Jesus taught the exact opposite.

Levi kept showing up – to hear the words of Jesus. I doubt Levi’s presence bothered Jesus. But, it certainly bothered the crowds. They didn’t like tax-gatherers, and they didn’t like to get taxed.

Then Jesus does the unexpected thing. Rather than asking Levi to stop coming around, He asks Levi to become one of his disciples! Incredible! Technically, if Levi had been following Jesus about, you could say that he had long ago become one of Christ’s disciples (followers), but he never dared dream that Christ would recognize him as such. He never dared dream that Christ would speak to him directly. He never dared dream that Christ would invite him to become a follower.

Don't you love this about Jesus? Some people think they have sinned too much to have Him love them. But He does. Some people think they have made too many mistakes to have Jesus notice them or care about them. But He does. Jesus doesn’t care that society hates Levi. Jesus doesn’t care that Levi is a wretched sinner. He just wants Levi to follow him. And look how Levi responds in Luke 5:28 - So he left all, rose, and followed Him.

This is nearly identical to what we saw Peter do when Jesus called him to be a fisher of men. Back in Luke 5:11, Peter, James, and John left all and followed Jesus. Levi does the same thing here. He left his street thugs collection buddies behind. He left his tax gathering booth. He left all the money, rose and followed Jesus.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Levi, and I think that he knew a good investment when he saw one.

On the one hand, he could continue to be a tax collector, earning piles of money, but continue to have everybody hate him and despise him. Or, he could leave all his money plus Kiosk behind, and follow Jesus, where there was love, and acceptance, and most of all, FORGIVENESS! It’s not even a choice he had to think about. He just got, left all, and followed Jesus.

That's what I think went through his mind at this time.

Very likely, the tax gathering Kiosk booth did not stay empty for long. Although being a tax-gatherer cost you your friends and family and the respect of your neighbors, it gave you great wealth, and there are always people who will do almost anything for money. In that society, just like in ours, some men were willing to be seen as a traitor if they could just become rich. Though tax collectors were hated, there were always people ready and waiting to become a tax collector. Once Levi left his booth, he knew that was like turning in his resignation but he did not care - AS - he finally found in Jesus what he had been searching for. Whereas money could never fill the hole in his life, Jesus could.

I believe that is why - in an instant, he was able to decide that the cost of leaving everything behind to follow Jesus was an action well worth taking.

Now, moving on to Luke 5:29: Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.

Although Levi had quit his job, he hadn’t left his house or all of his money. He had simply stopped working at his sinful profession. And now, one of the first things he does is have a party for Jesus and invites a bunch of other fellow tax collectors. Why tax collectors? Because these were the only people he knew. He didn’t know any religious people. He didn’t know any of the social elite. He didn’t know any upright and socially acceptable people. They would never want him for a friend. So Levi just got together those friends he did have and invited Jesus over for a meal. Levi has found what he was looking for in Jesus, and he wants to share Jesus with as many of the friends that he had (be it of this limited scope).

By the way, studies tell us that generally, those who are most effective in evangelism are those who have just started following Jesus (like Levi). Why is that? Because they still have friends who are not yet Christians. This is why it is so important to make sure that we maintain contact with our non-Christians friends and continually show compassion for them like Levi. Jesus wants to follow us into our homes, and workplaces and among our friends. He has no qualms about sitting down for a meal and having a good time with those whom society considers “sinful people.” Look who is at this great feast. Luke says that there were a great number of tax collectors and others. Can you imagine Levi introducing his closest friends to his newest friend, and talking about now being ready to join and follow the growing band of disciples -- Peter Andrew, James, and John -- who have despised him for collecting taxes on the fish they previously had caught may have been stand-offish at first. But when they see Jesus warmly accept him, they accept him, too, into this strange new fellowship of disciples called from all walks of life to walk with Jesus and learn his ways.

It is giddy and glorious, and deeply moving to Levi, as he cleans up after the party. He is no longer Levi the Tax Collector but he is Matthew the Disciple, and it feels very good. Very good indeed.

I imagine that Jesus is comfortable and enjoying the occasion, getting acquainted with people who have been afraid to approach him before, now enchanted in his presence. He is thoroughly enjoying himself. His joy before them lights up this party of outcasts into an occasion that they will remember to their dying day. The afternoon when Jesus the Messiah ate dinner at the same table, shook their hand, put his arm on their shoulder, and embraced them in warmth and friendship. They will always thank Levi and never forgot, nor will Levi.

But Levi's joy is short-lived. Because he is the occasion for drawing more criticism to Jesus from the Pharisees and their scribes. It must hurt to hear his new fellow disciples being put down with the question, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

Jesus, who is no doubt intended to hear this loudly spoken put down addressed to his Disciples, chooses to respond - instead of letting it pass. He turns to the scribes & Pharisees with a comment of his own: "It is not healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance".

With this answer, Jesus tries to explain why He was treating them as brothers of the same family of God. His consciousness of His mission helps Jesus to find the response to indicate the way for the announcement of the Good News of the Kingdom God. He has come to unite the dispersed people, to reintegrate those who are excluded, to reveal that God, His Father, is not a severe judge who condemns and expels, but rather a Father who forgives, accepts, and embraces the penitent (think of the Prodigal Son parable).

Jesus draws an analogy here between the sick and sinners. When you are sick, what is it you do? You go to the doctor. You seek out help. You expect him to give you medicine or tell you something to change in your lifestyle that will help your health improve.

Did you catch the contrasting attitude in the grumblings among Jewish leaders? Their commitment to purity, their sense of what God requires of them and their fear of risking exposure to the world causes them to shun outsiders and criticize those who try to relate healthily and engagingly to sinners. Table fellowship in the ancient world meant mutual acceptance.

So at stake in the Pharisees and scribes' response is a worldview question. Should we get close to the socially objectionable? How should we act towards people like tax collectors and sinners?

Jesus' reply makes it clear (and Teaches us): Recovery, not Quarantine, should be the response. Jesus pictures himself as a Doctor who treats the Sick, not the Strong. His is in accord with the Pharisees' correct judgment on the conduct of the Tax Collecters, but He does not endorse the Pharisees' self-righteousness.

Here Jesus teaches us: Those who know they need help will respond to Him, the Physician. Very often the unrighteousness is aware of their need for help, whereas the unrighteous "righteous" is not. The unrighteous need a Breath of Potential Acceptance and a Whiff of God's grace to open up to His work. This appeal by Jesus to physician imagery is commonly found in the Old Testament.

Jesus' second point is in the form of a mission statement that explains why he seeks the outsider. This is one of several such mission statements found in Luke's Gospel: Jesus has come to minister to those who need repentance. Here Jesus offers a picture of true repentance: it is like going to a doctor for help. The "cure," if it is to come, must come from outside of oneself.

A repentant heart is open to God and to his administering the necessary medicine for life. God graciously gives this medicine to those who seek forgiveness through him. Jesus seeks the opportunity for restoration for sinners and works to achieve a relationship with them so they can experience the healing they need. When tax collectors and sinners come to the table in the clinic, Jesus, the Great Physician, is not about to turn them away. All of us can benefit from the power of his healing presence.

Lessons for we modern-day Disciples

I see four clear lessons for us in this reading:
Jesus doesn't care what others think about a person, or how others value a person. He will always extend love to the outcasts and the unloved upon meeting them. Jesus didn't concentrate on polishing the already righteous, but on rescuing the perishing. His mission is to the poor, the sin-sick, the oppressed, and the brokenhearted. Jesus wants us to invite him to the banquets we throw. He loves spending time with us and our friends especially those that society and “religious” people reject. Here Christ is teaching his disciples (and us) how to be fishers of men. The fishing tip he gives here is: If you want to catch fish (sinners), go to (parties) where those fish are at.

AND REMEMBER: We are ALL called to be Fishers-Of-Men!

I would like to wrap-up with one more SHORT ITEM for you: So - Starting today - Its Lent. And how long has it been since you've made an appointment to see your Soul's Doctor, Jesus? To talk to him about the things that are weighing you down? To risk him identifying the sins that you are all too aware of - like maybe Matthew initially was? Sometimes we resist going to the doctor because we're afraid he'll confirm what we already know. And so in our fear we try to avoid what we know is true about our condition. That's how I am. How about you?

Isn't it about time for each of us to make an appointment with the Doctor? Don't miss the upcoming 40 days of open season/window at Church to visit/spend-some-time with the Great Physician!