Who to Follow?

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Matthew 9: 9-13

A guilty pleasure of mine is to read the annual "What People Earn" issue of Parade Magazine. It's a listing of the yearly income of average joes and Hollywood A-listers alike.

This year's listing uncovered such gems as Glen Heroy, a hospital clown in New York, makes $28,000 per year, while Jeff Foxworthy (aka: Redneck Clown) made $10 Million last year. Is there really that much of a difference in what these two guys do? Even a 5th grader knows, probably not.

"Trouble" whis was Leona Helmsley's 8 year old dog somehow got by on $12 MILLION last year. (that was not a typo)

And Elieen Welsh, a preschool teacher in Pennsylvania made $15,000 last year while Tiger Woods got by on $115 Million.

This list is just more proof in the collective pudding of how our culture is obsessed by economic value. And the same was true back in Jesus' day. Before Matthew became the author of one of the four gospels and one of Jesus' 12 hand picked disciples, he was a tax collector. A very profitable position in first-Century Rome. It needed to pay well because you certainly wouldn't win any popularity contests doing this job. Tax Collectors weren't government employees to Rome, but rather kinda like someone who had bought into a franchise, like a modern day McDonalds or Holiday Inn. As long as Rome got its cut, it didn't care what extra taxes got issued. So the tax collectors got plenty. My friend Phil made an awesome analogy that the tax collectors were like the "Sopranos" of their day - middle men that were going to collect for "The Godfather" (Rome) and weren't afraid to get their hands dirty in the process.

In modern terms, Matthew has a solid, secure job with great benefits. His portfolio is diversified and he's fully vested. He has absolutely no reason to take another job. Until he meets Jesus.

There's no more explanation from Matthew about what Jesus did to convince him to leave his life of comfort other than the two words "Follow Me." I've gotta think that Matthew was well aware of the work that Jesus had been doing, and something clicked inside of him that said "there's got to be more."

Sure he had money, but he wasn't content. Sure he had comfort, but he didn't have true friendships or a sense of purpose. And while his pockets were full, his life was empty. Something in the clairity of Jesus' words and mission told Matthew to give up what he knew and follow this poor, homeless Jewish rabbi. And thanks to that decision, Matthew's world, or ours, was never the same.

It was a tremendous decision. While the Bible doesn't have details on Matthew's death, other sources say that Matthew most likely died a phsically brutal death because of his decision to follow Jesus. But despite that grim ending, Matthew's decision to follow Jesus filled his life with a sense of meaning. Jesus reached out and said that despite Matthew's sins and failures in the past, he forgave him and wanted him to be a part of his inner circle. Jesus said that he wasn't impressed by Matthew's economic worth, but would die to prove his eternal worth.

And praise be that still holds true today. Becuase I have a feeling that you or I aren't in danger of cracking the Forbes Wealthiest People in the World list anytime soon. But part of the good news is that because Jesus asks us to follow him, we don't have to be on that list. Jesus could care less about our earthly bank account. Only our Heavenly one.