We were once enemies of God.
And Jesus called us into relationship with himself.
Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
The very last drip of blood,
the very last drop of blood that Jesus shed on the cross
was shed for you and was shed for me.
And Jesus took those enemies
and turned them into sons and daughters.
He turned them into servants.
He turned them into his disciples and his friends.
Friend, this is amazing news.
This is profound news.
And if this doesn't excite you,
then I would check your pulse
because this is something that should excite you.
We were once enemies of God
and we are now friends of God.
Hey, welcome back.
Today, we're gonna be looking at Matthew chapter nine,
part two.
Today, we're actually gonna be reading verses nine
all the way down to verse 13.
Starting in verse nine, it says this,
and 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.
And as Jesus reclined at the table of the house,
behold, many tax collectors and sinners came
and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,
why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
And when he heard it, he said,
those who are well have no need for a physician,
but those who are sick, go and learn what this means.
I desire mercy and not sacrifice
for I came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners.
To give you a little bit of a historical context
of why this portion of scripture is so profound,
is because tax collectors in those days were hated.
You see, for many reasons, they not only overtaxed people,
but they were also on the side of the Roman government.
And so what that would look like today
is that would be a foreign nation who came into power
and they were oppressing the people of the land.
And they were only oppressing them,
but they were taking husbands and sons
and forcing them to fight in a battle
that they had no right to be in,
that they had no skin in the game in.
They were forcing them to fight.
And then when they died,
there was really nothing that was given for them.
So they were forcing these young men and these older men
and these husbands and these sons and these brothers
to fight in a war that wasn't theirs.
But not only that, they were forcing those families
to pay for these wars to be funded.
And so, and they were just paying like a small percentage.
They were actually taking a huge amount.
They were taking so much
that it was affecting the livelihood of these people.
And not only that,
but this government was actually coming in
and Rome at the time was actually known for pillaging,
raping and plundering whatever town
that they were conquering.
And so you had this government,
you have this world power coming in
and they were taking wives and they were taking sisters
and they were taking daughters
and they were doing terrible things to them.
And they were making them live there.
And they were basically there as these pets, as these toys,
as these people who were hated,
that were just kept around for a good time, if you will.
I'm not gonna go into detail what that means,
but I'm sure you can understand what I'm saying.
And then you have certain people that in your town,
in your village, in your neighborhood,
who were raised up and what their job was to do
was to tax you to be able to continue supporting
this kingdom, to be able to support this government
that is doing these things to you and your family.
And these people didn't just stop there.
They weren't just taxing you to support this government,
but they were overtaxing these people
so that way they could line their own pockets.
And so it's understandable why tax collectors were hated
and despised and considered enemies
and even worse than some of the Romans at this time.
And that's who Jesus runs into.
It says, as Jesus passed on from there,
he saw a man called Matthew sitting at a tax booth
and he said to him, follow me.
And he arose and followed him.
So for Jesus to call a tax collector into service
and into relationship was profound.
See, the amazing thing here is that Jesus has taken
an enemy and turned him into a disciple.
And that is the very testimony
of every single Christian today.
We were once enemies of God and Jesus called us
into relationship with himself.
Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
The very last drip of blood, the very last drop of blood
that Jesus shed on the cross was shed for you
and was shed for me.
And Jesus took those enemies and turned them into sons
and daughters.
He turned them into servants.
He turned them into his disciples and his friends.
Friend, this is amazing news.
This is profound news.
And if this doesn't excite you,
then I would check your pulse
because this is something that should excite you.
We were once enemies of God and we are now friends of God,
but it doesn't just stop there.
You see, it continues and we read on.
We read on that as Jesus reclined at the table in the house,
behold, many tax collectors and sinners came
and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
You see, from the kindness and mercy Jesus showed Matthew,
many other outcasts came to Jesus.
You see, word got out that Jesus is a friend of sinners.
He called them to be with him.
You see, Jesus having a meal with one
opens up an opportunity for him to have a meal with all.
So the question I have for you is,
what are you doing in your neighborhood?
Who are your neighbors?
Are you having meals with them?
Are you reclining at a table with them?
Are you watching football with them?
Whatever your hobbies are, is your home open to them?
Why, because if Jesus did it for you,
if the doors of his home are open to you,
then the doors of our home should be open to others.
So that way, when they come in,
they can have a face-to-face encounter with Jesus.
In church today, we talk a lot about revival.
We talk a lot about what revival will look like.
We look at revivals in the past.
And the thing we see is a lot of the revivals in the past
lasted for so many generations,
and you can actually trace it back to old women
actually staying up late and praying for years.
But if you also look at it, you can trace it back,
even in the book of Acts, even here in Matthew,
what you can trace it back is revival happened
when Christians opened their lives to others.
Now, I'm not saying that you have to have a kitchen table
in order to see revival, but it does help.
It does help.
You might be thinking,
Marcus, I don't know how to preach a sermon.
Marcus, I don't know how to lead a Bible study.
I don't know how to pray for people.
Well, do you know how to make
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?
Do you know how to sweep your floor?
Do you know how to vacuum?
Do you know how to invite people to come and eat with you?
If you wanna see revival, it starts with opening your door.
It starts with inviting people into your house,
and it starts with inviting people to live life with you.
Now, I know that is such a cheesy Christian term
to say we live life together,
but there is so much truth in that.
There is such a profound truth
in saying that we live life together,
because when you live life with a person,
you're inviting them into your mess.
You're inviting them into your, sorry,
you're inviting them into the Legos on the ground
if you have kids.
You're inviting them into dogs jumping everywhere
and dog hair everywhere.
You're inviting them into your life just as you are.
You're not trying to paint a pretty picture.
You're not trying to be someone you're not.
No, what you're saying is, hey, here's who I am.
I am Marcus.
You know, I live in Colorado Springs.
I have a wife.
I have two kids.
Our house is a mess because of our two kids.
We have two dogs,
and sometimes our grass gets a little long.
Would you wanna live life with me?
Would you come over to my house for dinner?
Would you come over and watch football with me?
Would you come over and have a barbecue with me?
Whatever it is, just inviting someone into your house,
just inviting people to come and dine with you,
to come hang out with you,
that is the catalyst for revival.
You see, if you wanna see revival,
if you wanna see lives transformed,
invite people, sinners, non-believers,
believers as a whole,
invite them into your life,
and it can be as easy as opening your home
and sharing a meal.
Here's the thing.
We've made revival so difficult.
We've made revival so mystic.
We've made revival so mysterious
in ways that we think,
oh man, maybe if I pray a certain way,
maybe if I fast for so long,
maybe if I say the right words,
maybe if I'm at the right place at the right time,
then I'll see revival.
If you wanna see revival, start with your neighbors.
Start at the end of your driveway,
and start with the friends at your church,
and let your home be a safe haven
and a safe place for everyone that you meet.
Well, my prayer and my hope is that this encourages you,
and it doesn't discourage you,
and my prayer and my hope
is that you feel encouraged and empowered
to be able to invite people over for dinner,
invite them over for a meal,
invite them over for coffee,
just to live life with one another.
God bless.