Sermon for Sunday, Aug 17th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Psa 147:1-11 ESV] 1 Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. 2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. 6 The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! 8 He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. 10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, 11 but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
New Testament Reading:
[Rev 3:15-22 ESV] 15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”
Gospel Reading:
[Luk 5:27-38 ESV] 27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” 33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
Sermon Text:
[Mat 9:9-13 ESV] 9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Introduction
Do you remember this song?
Following the leader, the leader, leader.
We’re following the leader, wherever he will go.
We used to sing that in elementary school, especially as we walked single-file from one classroom to another.
I didn’t realize until looking it up this week that the song comes from Disney’s 1953 movie version of Peter Pan. It is sung by the Lost Boys of Neverland as they follow the London-transplants John and Michael.
In our culture today we are apt to say “I ain’t following anybody. I can chose my own path!” But the in grand scheme of themes ALL PEOPLE ultimately follow someone or something; and you ought to choose wisely what or whom you follow. You ought to follow the Lord Jesus Christ who calls out saying “Follow me.”
We are to follow the leader, Jesus Christ.
There are two major points that I want to look at this morning as we consider following Christ.
First, we must understand that “follow me” is a COMMAND of the Lord.
Then, we must understand that it is a command for EVERYONE. All must follow the Lord.
So, it is a command, it is for everyone.
I. Follow Me, A Command (v. 9)
“Follow me” is a command of the Lord.
The standard Christian evangelistic appeal to others is too weak.
Many do error in saying “Christ has done 99% of the work, now you need to do the remaining 1%.”
Others error in saying “God WISHES that you would come to him.”
Now, I’m here to tell you, God GETS what he WISHES. He’s not sitting back HOPING that His people will come to Him and forever disappointed that he doesn’t get what he wants; Instead He ACTIVELY converts His people through the Holy Spirit BRINGING them to faith, so that we may give all the glory to God and not say “Look at what I did” but say “Look at what HE did.”
So we are not to envision a weak God hoping that some might come to him, but we are to envision a powerful God drawing to Him all who are His own and COMMANDING with the words “follow me.”
The failure to abide by that command, the failure to have faith in Jesus Christ, bring condemnation upon the opponent of the Lord.
And there is no neutrality. You either follow Him, or you don’t. You either have faith in Jesus Christ or you do not.
This idea of God COMMANDING faith is common in the Scriptures.
What do we find so frequently, starting with John the Baptist, but that phrase “REPENT AND BELIEVE” in the Gospel. That is a command.
And Peter says in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized, everyone one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”
So Jesus COMMANDS Matthew — a tax collector sitting in his booth — “Follow me.”
Here in Matthew’s own Gospel the author is speaking of himself and gives the name Matthew. In Mark’s Gospel and in Luke’s Gospel the same man is called Levi. He has two names.
Matthew wasn’t doing holy things. He wasn’t following the Lord. He wasn’t the top candidate for the job of an apostle. He was a tax collector. In that day, and in ours, the tax collector, the IRS agent, is the lowest of the low. The reason they were so disliked was not simply that they were “from the government and here to help.” The problem is not that they did their duty, but that Tax Collectors essentially had the right to extortion and used that right. He’d collect as much as he could, to pay Caesar and pay himself. The more aggressive he was, the wealthier he could get. But this wasn’t an occupation for honest men.
And yet God called Matthew saying “Follow me.” God is likewise calling, COMMANDING, you, even if you are a great and grave sinner, he is calling you saying “Follow me.” God is not looking for the holiest on the earth in order to call them to be his disciples. In fact, the opposite is somewhat closer to the truth. God is finding sinners so that in giving them grace His love and mercy will be on greater display and we will praise and glorify Him all the more.
Matthew’s following of Jesus was very much in a literal since. He would walk with Jesus for the next three years. But it was also a spiritual sense. He followed Jesus in that he followed his teaching as a disciple of the master; and he came in time to know that Jesus was the Messiah, chosen of God, and himself “very God of very God.”
There is no indication that Jesus and Matthew had ever spoken before. But the word about Jesus must have been getting out. So perhaps Matthew had some idea of who Jesus was. He had heard of the miracles and the teachings of Jesus.
The text doesn’t tell us why, but we read, “And he [Matthew] rose and followed him.” IMMEDIATELY. There was no delay. That is our calling as well. “Let the dead bury their dead., Jesus said” And, he said, “Follow me.”
That is the simplicity of it all. No barriers to entry, no complex challenges to overcome to become a Christian. It is simple “Follow me.” Trust in Christ, go where he goes.
Follow the leader. Follow Jesus Christ. That is the command, and it is for everyone.
II. The command is for everyone. (v. 10-13)
We see this point in the second part of our passage.
We find that “many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.”
There were at Matthew’s own house according to the other Gospels and Matthew had put on a big feast. But in our account, written by Matthew, he modestly downplays those facts.
And there were tax collectors and sinners there.
This isn’t a surprise to we who believe because we know that Jesus came to save sinners.
And we see that he called EVERYONE to repentance and faith.
It didn’t matter that one was a tax collector.
It didn’t matter if they were a lowly fisherman,
or a serial adulterer
or a thief on the cross.
The command of the Gospel is for all sorts of people.
And that’s where the religious leaders get upset.
Isn’t religion for the holy!, they must think.
How can Jesus associate with riffraff and rabble?
It is because those at the bottom are more likely to recognize their sin.
The rich and powerful think they have no need for the Lord.
But the broken and clamoring for a doctor to heal them.
They are aware of their need for a leader to lead them.
They are willing to follow the leader.
And Jesus is not just “a leader,” he is “THE leader.”
The King of kings, and the leader of leaders.
We may follow professional tennis, or the career of our favorite author, but above all we follow Jesus Christ, for He ALONE leads us to eternal life.
The Pharisees talk first:
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
But the disciples don’t respond, Jesus does:
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Is this perhaps because the disciples aren’t yet ready to answer the question?
It is as if the religious leaders were afraid to ask Christ directly, so they went to his disciples, essentially behind his back.
But Jesus steps in because it really is a question that should be addressed to him.
This phrase – I desire mercy, and not sacrifice — points to the great truth of the Gospel. Salvation is not from following the law, but we are to live with a view towards mercy reflecting our our salvation which is from the grace of God.
These two points remind me of the verse: “Many are called, few are chosen.”
The many is “everyone,” for all are command to have faith.
But “few are chosen,” those are the people of God to whom he has given faith by the Holy Spirit; those like Matthew who have heeded the command to follow Christ.
APPLICATION: Reaching out to all.
We can “follow the leader,” by reaching out to all who come across our path.
As Christians we are not to be “of the world” but we are to be “in the world.”
We don’t join in the practices of the ungodly, but we do reach out to them.
While it is true that “bad company corrupts good morals,” we are to be strong in the faith so as not to fall into error. We shouldn’t send our children untrained into the den of evil of this world, but we who are mature in the faith can and should do what Jesus did: sit among the sinners and talk with them. How else will they learn of the grace of God?
How can we do that?
What opportunities are there to interact with “sinners?”; with people who do are not following Christ.
Probably the biggest opportunity is the everyday opportunity to LISTEN TO OTHERS. The person you run into at the Post Office, the person who talks to you on the street, the friend of a friend you meet while out at an event. Be known for listening, and they will be more apt to listen to you when you tell them about the reason for the hope you have in Jesus Christ.
I still have hundreds — thousands — of these little church invite cards. Use them. Write your number on them when you’ve made a new contact.
Reaching out to all. Who are the outcasts in our society? Where can you risk your reputation in meeting with others? Each will need to answer that question for their own lives. Each should look for opportunities to “sit at the table with sinner” though never walking in the way of the wicked.
Conclusion: Recognizing a true sinner (yourself), and a true savior (Jesus).
Now, an important point, hen Jesus sits with sinners, they don’t cease to be sinners. So this account doesn’t end the idea of sin. And it is a misuse of this passage to treat it as if it did. It would be wrong to say “Jesus sat with sinners, therefore that sin or this sin is ok.”
The sin is still sin, but Jesus isn’t afraid to be “infected” by it. He instead comes with the purpose of bringing salvation from that sin. And that requires actually acknowledging our sin and our need for a savior.
That is what the call to follow Christ is: a call to recognize our sinfulness and need for a savior.
Is that something you recognize? Is that something you’ve done? Do you recognize your sin? And do you recognize your savior?
The Pharisees regard others as sinner, and not themselves.
That is spiritual blindness.
But Christians think more about their own sins than the sins of others, and Christians praise God for saving us despite our sins.
Ultimately, if Jesus didn’t dine with sinners, he’d be dinning alone.
Be He came to save sinners.
Let us forever follow Christ.
And let us forever take the opportunity to sit even with sinners that they might also know of Christ’s saving power.
Look for those opportunities.
Let us pray.
Amen.