I’m Sickly and I Know It

Tim Ross | June 6, 2021

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Transcription

I am doing a series this month just call Discipleship 101. I want to talk to you all about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. The perspective that I want you to have is from the disciples themselves. If you have your Bibles I want you to go to the Book of Matthew chapter number 9. The book of Matthew chapter number 9. Let me calibrate your expectations for this sermon and all my sermons this month. I want to tell you the stories that we find in scripture and I want you to come up with your own notes. I want you to come up with your own points. I won't have the classic one, two, three points, the second passage to turn to, I'm just going to tell stories. If God don't speak to you through these stories, you won't be spoken to.

I think He is going to speak to you through these stories, these passages, that we have in scripture, so whatever you're catching, write it down. Is that good? If it's real, real good, I'll tell you to write it down, but I want you to get these. The last thing I will say is that Embassy City Church is a little bit louder when it comes to the Word of God being expressed than you are.

For the next four weeks, when they watch this on the screen, I don't need this church to be quiet. When something is good, you all need to holler back.

I'm going to rely on you 83 people for the next four weeks.

Matthew chapter number 9 starting at the ninth verse, here's what it says: As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. Mathew got up and followed Him. Later Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with such scum?"

When Jesus heard this- can you imagine Jesus overhearing you throw some shade like this? When Jesus heard this, He said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do." Then he added, "Now, go and learn the meaning of this scripture. I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices, for I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they're sinners."

I want you to pay close attention to the 12th verse. When Jesus heard this. He said. "Healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do." I want to teach to you on this opening weekend of this series on discipleship. "I'm sickly and I know it." I'm sickly and I know it. Bow your heads. Let's pray over the Word, shall we? Holy Spirit, show us where we're sick. Amen.

You're welcome. Matthew's gospel is rightfully first in the canonized gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John because the gospel is to the Jew first and then to the gentiles. Matthew starts his gospel with the genealogy because he wants to prove to those that have a covenant with God through Abraham that He is indeed Savior and Lord, that this Jesus that he is writing about is actually Yeshua, the Messiah, who was promised to Abraham, born through the womb of a virgin, and now He is present with us.

Matthews Gospel is full of Jewish references and things that point to the validity of Jesus being their savior, their Messiah, but what I love about Matthew's gospel is that in this particular passage, chapter 9:9-13, it gets very autobiographical. He decides to talk about himself. I don't know if it's in the third person, maybe when they found the letter, it said "I", but because they wanted you to know that it was Matthew, they changed it to like this is about Matthew, but Matthew actually tells the story of his own conversion experience and his own opportunity to make a decision to follow Jesus. [phone rings] That's him calling right now.

Will you answer?

Matthew is a tax collector, a Jewish man collecting taxes from Jewish people on behalf of the Roman government. This is not a person who was liked. This is not a person that's revered in his own community, quite the opposite. Matthew would be viewed by his own people as a low-down dirty scoundrel of a thing that you would even side with the people that are occupying our territory, that you would collect taxes from us on behalf of a government that doesn't even line up with the prophecies to our people, it's completely egregious and deplorable.

Here Matthew is. "You owe me 1200? Thank you. You want me 800? Appreciate that. Cough that up. I remember what you said about me last week. You owe me about 27,000. Go ahead and cough that up." "27,000 on my taxes last year with $250?" He's like, "Yes, but get to make them up as I go along, line my pockets." Matthew, by all estimations, should be enjoying his life. Even though he's rejected by some in his community, he's making a lot of money. He seems to be on the right side governmentally. They're not bothering him.

How come he's not enjoying his life? I believe he's not enjoying his life because even though he has money flowing, and even though he has some status, even though he has some clout, Matthew knows something that it doesn't seem like he has shared with his peers around him.

I'm sick. You may not know I'm sick, but I know that I am sick. I got money in my pocket and I'm sick. I live in the right neighborhood, but I'm sick. My marriage is going okay, but I'm sick. I got the car that I wanted to drive in the driveway, but I'm still sick. Is there anybody besides me that is seemingly had everything that you wanted, and you still feel a little sick? It just seems like something's off, everything's not lining up, and I don't know what to do about it. Matthew is in the same situation.

One day, while he's at work- God, I love you, Jesus, I love the fact that Jesus can come get you wherever you are right now.  He doesn't have to wait for you to get to 777 Blessed Way. He doesn't have to wait till you pick one of the services. He doesn't care if you're watching online. Jesus will come and get you wherever you choose to be at the time because he is not blocked by the four walls of the church. He is not waiting for presbytery. He is not waiting for revival. When your time is up from being sick, he will come and find you right where you are and say, "Come."

Six words changed Matthew's life. At work--  This person owed back taxes.  Six words changed his life. Jesus walks up to a tax collector booth while a man, a grown man is at work, and says, "Follow me and be my disciple." This is what's stellar to me. Matthew doesn't say, "Who are you, sir? I'm at work. If you would like to talk about this discipleship opportunity on my lunch break,  I have 90 more minutes and then we can chat."

Matthew knew he was sick and there had never been an invitation that made him feel better until this one. Is there anybody besides me that can honestly say that you've been invited to some stuff, but it wasn't until you were invited into the presence of God, that things really started to change in your life? Nothing changed externally, but something started to change internally.

The thing that blows my mind about Matthew's story of discipleship is that he didn't even make a response to Jesus. He just says nothing and leaves work. He didn't say, "I quit. I'm sick of y'all anyway." He didn't go tell off the manager. He gets six words and he just leaves. Jesus walks to his test collector booth. He says, "Follow me and be my disciple," and Matthew just--

I don't know about you, but I'm looking for people who will leave everything to follow Jesus, that there is nothing you are so tied to that if you hear his voice you wouldn't walk away from it at the drop of a dime. I'm looking for some people that say, "I don't just want to be a believer in Jesus Christ. I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and when you call, I will follow." He did not ask him on the way. "So where are we going?" He did not ask him on the way. "So I'm going to get a bonus, right?" He did not ask him on the way. "So I'll be happy for the rest of my days?" He did not ask him on the way. "You're going to make me a preacher like you, right?" He did not ask him on the way, "So, will my spouse come this year?" He did not ask him on the way anything. He just followed.

This is what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus. It's just following Jesus. "Where are we going today, Jesus? Jesus, are you going to answer me?" Anybody besides me been following Jesus through a season where you wanted answers and didn't get them? He right in front of you, so you know He hears you.

You're not at the end of the line, you're right at the back of it. You're the first one to write your gospel. "Jesus, you know you hear me? When will this storm be over?" Jesus is just like,  "Just follow, and wherever I go, you go because whatever I see, you'll see. Whatever I'll do, you will do. Wherever I go, you go. Just follow, son."

The sickly part of him knew that it wasn't going to happen at the tax collector's booth. The sickly part of him knew that there was never going to be enough money in the account to change the sickness in his heart. The sickly part of him knew that he needed something other than what he had already obtained, so he followed. What's amazing is, Scripture says later, Matthew throws a dinner party. This gets me every time. This dude quits work. Then later on, says, "Hey, y'all, want to come to dinner at my house?" He just invites Jesus over. He says, "Yes, we'll come, me and the disciples, we'll come and you're one of my new disciples. We'll come eat dinner at your house."

He's like, "Great, great. I'm so glad y'all are coming because I know I'm sick, but I got some friends.  They sicker than me.  Some of them are is sick and detestable. You thought I did some stuff. These people, they've done five times worse than anything I've ever done. I'm going to call them to the house too." Jesus goes, "Sweet." Isn't it amazing that Matthew turns into an evangelist and the only person he can evangelize are other sick people like him?

See, the misconception that we have is that Jesus is trying to fill his church with people that are already well. [sings] It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul, it is well with my soul. No, it's not. You are sick. You are so, so, so sick.

Matthew goes to get everybody he knows that's sick and he invites them to his house. The house is jam-packed with a bunch of other sick dudes like Matthew. This is where Jesus wants to be. Jesus wants to be in a room full of people that know they're sick. Jesus wants to be in a room with a bunch of people that know that, without Him, they will not be all okay.

I'm pretty sure that this guest list had to be meticulous, right? Matthew knows who his friends are. He knows he's calling John over. He knows he's calling Curtis over. He knows he's calling his coworker Michelle over. He's calling everybody over. That's sick. Where does the Pharisees come from? How did they get to his house? How did they even know a dinner party was happening? I'm reading this verse. I'm looking right there. When the Pharisees saw this, how come church people so nosy?

How did you-- This seems like it's a private dinner. I don't think a corrupt tax collector would invite Pharisees to his house. Were they just walking by? How come they just came? When the Pharisees saw this, it's always some really deep religious person who's forgot they're sick that has commentary about everybody else.

Pharisees just in there, just nosy. [groans] "Who in there?" I put the Pharisees in the hood just now with that statement.

I don't know why I did that. It's just "Who in there? Who up in there?" Now, I put them in Cali. "Who up in there?" "There's a bunch of Matthew's friends." "Matthew? Tax collector? Dude in the tax booth?" "Yes, him." These cowards won't confront Jesus, so they find his disciples. They don't want to stand up to Jesus and ask the question. They asked one of the associate pastors. "Come here." "You want me to get Jesus?" "No, no, no. You, come here." "I don't have enough authority for him, but I think I can take you out." "Come here."

"Why is he eating with this scum?" Can you imagine this judgment? Jesus is in here with a bunch of people that need deliverance, that need salvation, that need a miracle, that need a breakthrough, and the Pharisees cannot reconcile this in their head. Instead of just asking the one, they decided to ask someone, "Why is he eating with such scum?" I don't know how deep Jesus is into the dinner party, "Hey, man. You good? All right. Yes, you good. All right. Yes, it's great."

"Hey, what's up? Curtis? Yes, come to see. Welcome, Matthew? Yes, okay."

"Piece of fish in your hand? I created that too. You should roll with me sometime." He overhears the Pharisees. I don't know if he heard the whole statement or if he just heard "scum". Jesus had sent it to David and they picked up on the slice like this. Remember, David just came to give his brother some cheese and bread and he heard Goliath defaming the name of God in front of the Israelite army and David turned around. He said, "Who is this that would defy God to my--" Jesus got David's blood running through his vein. "Scum." "Did you just-- What did you just--" He's much more polite than David.

David would cut off his hand. Jesus's words are polite, but they're also pointed. As politely and pointedly as he could, he said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor. Sick people do." In that moment, there was an indictment. For every Pharisee that stood before him, that one phrase told them who they were and who they were not. In that one phrase, they were both told who they were and who they were not. In that one phrase, Jesus told them who he was and who they could never be. "I'm the doctor. Contrary to your pharisaical beliefs, you are as sick as everyone in the room, but I can't do anything for you because you don't know it. Go back and read Hosea. Find out what it means to show mercy, for I have come to call not those who think they are righteous but those that know they are sinners."

I wasn't in the back of a tax collector booth like Matthew, but I was at the back of my parent's church, God's Way Holiness Fellowship in West Covina, California, January 14th of 1996, sitting on the back row right after Sunday school and right before praise and worship. I came to church to do what I did every Sunday. Write raps and laugh at the people that spoke in tongues.

On this day, the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear, "You are a sinner." There was no condemnation in the statement. It was as a matter of fact of me spotting mustard on your blouse. He said, "You're a sinner." For the very first time in my entire life, I had grown up in church, my parents were pastors, I had heard the gospel message, none of it penetrated until I heard the Holy Spirit say, "You're a sinner." In that moment, I could feel my disconnection from God. In that very moment, I began to weep. I said, "I need to give my life to Jesus right now," but this is a Pentecostal church. Praise and worship had just started. We were at least three hours away from an altar call.

What was I going to do? I stood up, during testimony service. 40 minutes into the service. They decided to have testimony service and I stood up during testimony service. I was the last one picked because I was on the last row. There were about four or five people in front of me and only 40% of them had actual testimonies.

Everybody else had complaints with a prayer request at the end. Pray for my strength in the Lord. My father finally got to me. My dad was officiating the service that day and he looked back with surprise. He said, "I think Tim has something to say." It's a small church, only 50 people. What is he going to say? My response was, "I give up. I need to give my life to Jesus right now." My mama, in that moment, who had been praying for all of her sons since they came out of her womb let out the biggest Tyler Perry-esque hallelujah you have ever heard in your life. "Hallelujah, Jesus."

On that day, over 25 years ago, I walked down to the front of an altar and I became a disciple of Jesus  and I've been following Him ever since. Will you follow Him at home? Will you follow Him at work? Will you follow Him through a storm? Will you follow Him through a divorce? Will you follow Him on a mountain and on a valley? When you are up or when you are down? All I know is I'm sickly, and I know it. He's the only doctor, that has my cure. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

Here's my hope and my prayer, my hope and my prayer is that today, for the rest of this month, people that find themselves stuck in a box like Matthew would break out to follow him wherever He leads you. Holy Spirit, thank you for identifying who is the doctor and who is the patient. Now, may we be patient as Jesus leads us through our life. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.