A party happens when those who are far from God come to God...

This week we have been looking at an event from history that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. In this section of the gospel of Matthew, Matthew has been sharing his story.  

In Matthew’s story when Jesus saw him sitting at the tax collector booth, where he worked as a tax collector for the Roman Empire, Jesus invited him to follow Him. Matthew responded to Jesus invitation by leaving his tax booth and job to follow Jesus. Matthew tells us that after receiving the invitation to follow Jesus as His disciple, he not only responded by leaving his tax collector booth to follow Him.

In addition, Matthew responded by inviting all of his tax collector and sinner friends over to his house for a dinner party to meet and hang out with Jesus. Matthew responded to Jesus invitation to follow Him by throwing a party so that He could invite all of his tax collector and sinner friends to meet and hang out with Jesus. And what is interesting is that all of Matthew's tax collector and sinner friend actually accepted the invitation to the party.

You see, there was something about Jesus that made people who were far from God feel comfortable enough to want to hang out with Son of God. While Jesus never lived a life that was marked by selfishness and sin, people who were far from God felt comfortable enough to engage and interact with Him. This morning, if you are a follower of Jesus, could the same be said of you?

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine the scene that was occurring at the party at Matthew’s house. Imagine watching as Matthew’s house began to fill up with all his tax collector and sinner friends and their girlfriends. Imagine the sounds of salty language and music filling the room as Matthew’s tax collector and sinner friends began to engage in conversations. Imagine the smells of food and drink wafting through the home. Imagine Jesus engaging in conversation with Matthew and his friends.

Can you picture the scene? Matthew then explains that as his house began to fill with all of his tax collector and sinner friends who were far from God, others were attracted to what was happening. We see this in Matthew 9:11:

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?"

While the tax collectors and sinners were drawn to and felt comfortable hanging out with Jesus at the party, there were others who were not quite as comfortable about Jesus being at this party. Another group of people, called the Pharisees, responded to what was happening between Jesus and Matthew and his tax collector and sinner friends at the party by disengaging.

And so often that is what religious people do, isn’t it? As religious people so often do, the Pharisees viewed these tax collectors and sinners who were far from God as “unclean”. And just like religious people, the Pharisees would not enter into the house and engage those who were far from God; instead, they called Jesus disciples out of the house to ask why Jesus would consider associating with such people. “Why is your teacher hanging out and partying with tax collectors and sinners? Doesn’t he know who they are? Doesn’t he know who is throwing this party? Doesn’t he know what kind of guy Matthew is?”

What I find so fascinating is that while those who were far from God felt comfortable hanging out with the Son of God, those who thought that they were close to God often felt totally uncomfortable hanging out with the Son of God. You see, Jesus made insiders feel like outsiders while making outsiders feel like insiders when it came to how He related and engaged them.

Jesus, however, overheard the conversation between His disciples and the Pharisees and responded with a timeless statement provides a timeless truth about what would cause Jesus to party and celebrate something that He viewed as being significant and worthy of celebration. So let’s look at Jesus response together in Matthew 9:12-13:

But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. "But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Jesus responded to the religious people of His day and their criticism with a metaphor to explain his reasons for attending the party: “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick”. You see, a physician, whose whole purpose is to cure physical ailments, does not spend a lot of time while he is at work seeing healthy people. And we intuitively know this, don’t we?

I mean, you usually do not go to the doctor because you want to, do you? You usually don’t say “I know what I’ll do today; I like going to the doctor so much that I’ll make an appointment to go today, even though I am healthy”. No, almost always, we go to the doctor because we have to. We have to go because we are ill, or have been ill, or need a check up to prove we are not ill.

Jesus then took this metaphor and applied it to his actions and to the Pharisees religious lack of action when it came to those who were far from God. Jesus entered into this conversation and commanded these religious people to read their Bibles again. Jesus quoted a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Hosea. In Hosea 6:6, God, through the prophet Hosea, condemned the Jewish people for focusing on religious rituals instead of focusing on displaying a faithful devotion to God and to those around them who were far from God and who were lost, hurting, and broken.

Jesus then explained that just like a physician, His focus was for those who were far from God and were separated from Him. When Jesus states that He did not come to call the righteous, He is explaining that He did not come to invite those who were insiders who were right before God. Instead Jesus states that He came to earth to call sinners. Jesus entered into humanity to call those who were far from God and were outsiders back to God.

You see, Jesus did not enter into humanity to see those who were close to Him; Jesus entered into humanity to rescue what was furthest from Him, the outsiders. And as Matthew looked back on his encounter with Jesus; as Matthew sat down to write, by God’s inspiration, this letter that is now a part of our Bibles, Matthew recognized that Jesus celebrated something that was significant his life with the people who were significant in his lives.

And it is here, in this event from history from the life of Jesus involving a traitor tax collector, that we see revealed for us a timeless truth about what would cause Jesus to party and celebrate something that He viewed as being significant and worthy of celebration. And that timeless answer is this: A party happens when those who are far from God come to God. Just as it was for Matthew the traitor tax collector, just as it has been throughout history, A party happens when those who are far from God come to God.

You see, as Matthew sat down to write the divinely inspired account of Jesus life that we have in our Bibles today, Matthew wanted to communicate to us today the reality he was not simply a part of what Jesus did when He entered into humanity; instead  he was the point of why Jesus did what He did when He entered into humanity. And to prove to the Jewish people that they were the point of why Jesus did what He did when He entered into humanity, Matthew shared with us his story. Matthew shared with us his story because Matthew wanted us to understand that Jesus came to seek people who were flawed, broken, and far from God.

And that is who we are aren’t we? That is who I was before Jesus sought and rescued me. And that is who we all are before Jesus came to seek us. Jesus came to seek those who were far from God so that He could bring them back to God.

And just as it was for Matthew, Jesus entered into humanity to seek those who were outsiders and who were furthest from Him. Just as it was for traitor Matthew, Jesus entered into humanity to provide an opportunity for the traitor race of humanity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for. 

You see, we are not just a part of what Jesus desires to do in the world today; we are the point of what Jesus desires to do in the world today. Jesus views those who are far from God as significant. And when a person who is far from God comes to God, Jesus views that as being worthy of celebration. And for Jesus a party happens when someone who is far from God comes to know God and experience the forgiveness and relationship with God that they were created for.

So how are you responding to Jesus coming to earth to seek those who were far from God so that He could bring them back to God? How are you responding to Jesus coming to earth to invite those who were far from God to come back to God?

And how have you responded when a person who was far from God comes to God? When a person who is far from God comes to God, do you view that as being worthy of celebration. Do you have a party happens when someone who is far from God comes to know God and experience the forgiveness and relationship with God that they were created for? 

And are you doing what you can do to let those around you who are far from God know that they are significant to God? Are you doing what you can do to help those around you who are far from God come to the place where a party can happen because they have come to God?

Because, as we see from Matthew’s encounter with Jesus, A party happens when those who are far from God come to God.