First Baptist Church Litchfield
December 1, 2024

      • 1 John 3:1–3ESV

  • O Come All Ye Faithful
  • For Unto Us A Child Is Born / Open The Eyes Of My Heart
  • O Come O Come Emmanuel

      • Luke 1:46–50ESV

  • He Who Is Mighty
  • O Come All You Unfaithful

  • David McAllister

    David McAllister was hired to work as a nurse for an ailing man. The man’s brother caught McAllister drinking on the job and fired him. In an act of vengeance, McAllister kidnapped and attacked ten-year-old Christopher Carrier, the man’s brother son.
    Five days before Christmas, David approached ten-year-old Christopher Carrier, claiming to be a friend of his father. “I want to buy him a gift, and I need your help,” said the stranger. Eager to do something good for his dad, Chris climbed aboard a motor home parked up the street.
    David took Chris to a remote field, claiming to be lost, and asked Chris to look at a map. Suddenly, Chris felt a sharp pain in his back. The stranger had stabbed him with an ice pick. The man drove the wounded boy down a dirt road, shot him in the left temple, and left him for dead in the alligator-infested Florida Everglades.
    Chris lay unconscious for six days until a driver found him. Chris miraculously survived his injuries, though he was blind in his left eye. Because he was unable to identify his attacker, police could not make an arrest.
    For the next three years of young Chris’s life, he suffered from fear and anxiety. Three years after the kidnapping, Christ heard the gospel and accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. He recalls, “I was overwhelmed with emotion … because I knew I had never really accepted and personally met the Savior.” Jesus transformed Chris’ heart from fear and anxiety to love and mercy. God called him to ministry, helping others find the peace he had discovered in Christ.‌
    By the providence of God, in 1996 a detective told Chris over the phone that a man had confessed to kidnapping and trying to kill Chris. The man’s name was David McAllister. Chris made plans to visit the feeble and now blind man, living in a nursing home. The strong young man Chris remembered was now a broken, humbled 77-year-old.
    As Chris now talked to the old man, at first, McAllister denied knowing anything about the kidnapping. As Chris revealed more about himself, the old man softened and eventually apologized. Chris said, “I told him, ‘What you meant for evil, God has turned into a wonderful blessing.’ ” Chris told his attacker how God had allowed his wounds to become open doors to share the good news of Christ. Behold, the power of Jesus’ transformative grace.
    Chris was undeniably changed by the grace of Jesus. Not only did he become one of Jesus' disciples, but he also received healing in his heart to the extent that he could extend mercy and forgiveness to the man who had once tried to kill him as a boy. Essentially, where justice cried condemn the murderer, Chris, transformed by the grace of Jesus, offered his would-be killer the chance to experience the same grace of mercy and forgiveness as he did.
    David McAllister exemplifies the kind of person Jesus calls into His kingdom. Chris exemplifies the type of disciple Jesus desires all of us to be in His kingdom. In our text this morning, we will learn.

    Jesus invites sinners to experience His transformative grace, and calls his disciples to do the same.

    In verse nine, we are introduced to Matthew. What do we know about this man Jesus would call to be his disciple?

    Matthew was a Jewish man.

    Matthew is a Jewish man whose name translates to "Gift to Yahweh.” In the accounts provided by Mark and Luke, he is referred to as "Levi" (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27–29), which suggests that Matthew may have been a nickname given to him by Jesus. He was not the only apostle with two names; Simon was called Peter, and James and John were known as the “Sons of Thunder.”
    Matthew was a knowledgeable Jewish man well-versed in the Old Testament. His gospel is rich with references to Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillments, linking them eleven times with the phrase, “This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet ..." (21:4). He also writes his gospel targeting a Jewish audience, evident in his narrative style and his frequent critiques of the Pharisees through the “woe” statements.

    Matthew was a tax collector

    The term telōnēs is the Greek word for tax collector, appearing 21 times in the gospels to refer to individuals like Matthew. During Jesus’ era, the government circumvented the expense of hiring a workforce for tax collection by auctioning the rights to collect taxes. The highest bidder guaranteed the state's share and was tasked with fulfilling their quota while earning a profit. This approach created a hierarchical system, where chief tax collectors, such as Zacchaeus, managed lower agents like Matthew. Tax collectors played a crucial role in Jesus' time, as they gathered revenue for the Herods, who in turn paid tribute to Caesar. Moreover, tax collectors were seen as unscrupulous, exploiting their position for personal gain, which describes Matthew’s fallen nature. He exploited people fore personal gain. He was a government sanctioned liar and a thief.
    In Jewish communities, Jewish tax collectors were reviled as traitors for collaborating with the Roman regime. Rabbinic texts often compared them to robbers. They were often associated with dishonesty and were marginalized in society, lacking civic rights and credibility. Jews who were tax collectors are labeled as sinners and extortionists in the Gospels. The Pharisees condemned them for their ties to Gentiles and moral failings. John the Baptist urged tax collectors to act righteously. Ultimately, tax collectors represented the conflict between the Jewish community and Roman authority. For this reason, the Pharisees and Scribes grumble and criticize Jesus for hanging out with morally and socially reprobates such as Matthew (Luke 5:30).
    The world in which Matthew lived in viewed him as a moral and social reprobate, and to some degree the world was right. Matthew was a sinful man who did not love his neighbor. Knowing this about Matthew, Jesus, however, saw Matthew through a deeper lens of mercy and forgiveness.

    Jesus’ Transformative Grace Uses Mercy and Forgiveness to Transform Sinners (Matthew 9:9)

    Matthew 9:9 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.
    Verse 9:9, is not likely Matthews first encounter with the teaching of Jesus. With Matthew’s understanding of the Old Testament, he could’ve been influenced by John the Baptist’ ministry. On the other hand, Matthew records Jesus’ ministry in Galilee in Matthew 4:23
    Matthew 4:23 ESV
    23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
    Matthew may have heard Jesus teach on the shores of Galilee, or even had known some of the people Jesus healed. But this day was different. Matthew was not merely hearing about Jesus. Matthew was hearing Jesus call him to “follow me.” Jesus, the Son of God who came down from heaven, invited Matthew to be his disciple. How can this be?

    Matthew would know the mercy and forgiveness of God.

    One of the main themes in our text is Matthew 9:13
    Matthew 9:13 ESV
    13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
    Matthew is the proof that God desires mercy, not sacrifice, and that he has come to call sinners to himself. Being a morally and socially reprobate man, he is unclean, and a sinner who is not allowed to come into the temple, the place where God meets with His people. He has no opportunity for the atonement and forgiveness of his sins. According to the Pharisees, he is without mercy and forgiveness.
    God knew Matthew could not come to Him through the law, so God went to Matthew through His Son to offer him mercy and forgiveness. How sweet it must have been the moment he realized what Jesus was offering him, the moment he stepped away from the tax booth.
    As a tax collector, mercy and forgiveness would not have been realities in Matthew’s life. It would not have been financially lucrative to offer mercy or forgive debts, and it would’ve been just as likely that those who were indebted to him showed him no mercy forgiveness.
    I find it interesting that Matthew is the only Gospel writer to mention the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35). I wonder if Matthew could relate to the unforgiving servant in a way the other disciples were amiss. As a tax collector, how would he have handled someone who could not pay the debt owed to him? Would he have choked him, saying, "Pay what you owe?” And when the person could not pay him, would he have shown mercy or compassion, or would he have immediately thrown him into jail? (Matthew 18:28)
    Consider the parable of the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). John Stott observes that Matthew likely encountered complaints of unfairness repeatedly, possibly having acted unjustly at times as well. However, despite being treated unjustly and unfairly, Matthew has been granted the goodness of God, who does not demand unfairly but instead gives far more than we deserve (Matthew 20:15); mercy and forgiveness. What does this mean for Matthew? What is he new reality of following Jesus for Matthew?

    Matthew would be transformed by mercy and forgiveness.

    I often tell you that Jesus is the only person who could take people from all walks of life and unify them by his Spirit to be one people. As much as the world preaches tolerance and unity amid diversity, it cannot compare to Jesus and his church, primarily because of the power of his Spirit, along with his mercy and forgiveness. His disciples are evidence of His unity. Consider Matthew’s relationships with the other eleven disciples.
    Peter, Andrew, and James were all from Capernaum, as was Matthew, who served as their tax collector. It is likely that Matthew exploited these fisherman for his own personal gain. I would’ve liked to be a fly on the wall when Peter, Andrew, and James heard Jesus call their local tax collector to follow him.
    Furthermore, Simon the Zealot was a former member of the revolutionary movement that opposed submission to Rome through violence (Matthew 10:4). Apart from Jesus, Matthew and Simon the Zealot had nothing in common. Simon the Zealot would have hated Matthew enough to kill him, and Matthew would have avoided Simon at all costs with equal enthusiasm outside of Jesus’ circle. And yet, Jesus' transformative grace unites them as brothers who all have experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness.
    When the world looked at Matthew, it saw a morally and socially reprobate man who did not deserve mercy or forgiveness. However, when Jesus looked at Matthew, he saw potential. He saw a sinner worth saving. He saw a disciple in the making. He saw someone who would be empowered with His Spirit to write the gospel story for the Jewish people. Sin was not the lens through which Jesus viewed Matthew; it was his transformative grace.
    The world may see you as it sees Matthew, a reprobate not worth the time of day. Jesus sees you differently. He sees you as a sinner worth redeeming. He sees you as a disciple in the making. He sees someone he can empower to testify to the world of his redeeming mercy and forgiveness, and he calls you to follow him. He invites you to receive his transformative grace.

    Jesus’ Transformative Grace Gathers the Marginalized (Matthew 9:10-11)

    Matthew 9:10 ESV
    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.
    In light of his new found grace, Matthew holds a party at his house. He invites his friends to meet Jesus. Being that Matthew was a tax collector who was shunned by most of his society, Matthew’s friends were like him, tax collectors and sinners.
    Let there be no doubt: Jesus brought Matthew from the darkness into His light. No longer a tax collector, Matthew renounced his previous lifestyle. He is called to engage with the world, but not conform to it. This doesn’t mean he cuts off connections with his past; rather, those relationships evolve into his mission. Matthew shines like an uncovered lamp and acts as the salt that preserves and purifies truth. Inviting his former tax collecting and sinful friends to dine with Jesus exemplifies Matthew's new calling. This reflects the transformative grace of Jesus, as those touched by Christ’s grace naturally wish for others to experience the same, including society's outcasts like tax collectors and sinners.
    The religious leaders in our story did not understand how Jesus could roll with such people. Like my mother always told me, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Paul even says, “bad company corrupts good morals (1 Cor 15:33).
    In Jesus’ culture, sharing a meal was regarded as a way to strengthen significant social connections, reflecting a strong sense of fellowship and mutual approval. It suggested profound unity, friendship, and close ties. Dining together signified identification, revealing closeness and a sense of togetherness among individuals. To fellowship over a meal was to signal to the world you approved of the life style and ambitions of the your dinners guests. Why would a righteous Rabbi be seen at such an occasion as a dinner with sinners and tax collectors?
    The problem stems from how religious leaders viewed sinners and tax collectors as lacking God’s grace, considering them unclean. If these individuals were rejected in the temple, they were also seen as unsuitable guests at a meal. However, Jesus challenges this perspective by stating that he came to seek not the healthy but the sick. This means he focuses on those who recognize their need for righteousness, including the marginalized, sinners, and tax collectors, rather than those who see themselves as righteous.
    Matthew records the parable of the wedding feast Matthew 22:1-13. It was not he religious people who assumed they were justified who made it into the feast. They rejected the offer of the king the same way the Pharisees reject Jesus’ grace. The King told the servant to go into the highways and byways to find the good and the bad. Luke elaborates, “God quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in the poor the crippled and the blind and the lame (Luke 14:21)”. Yes, church, bring in the sinners, the tax collectors, the adulterers, the liars, and the thieves. Do not forget the sexually immoral and the murders as well. Bring in those people who know they are sick and in need of s doctor! Jesus says,
    Mark 2:17 (ESV)
    17 … “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
    Have you heard of William Booth? He was the founder of the Salvation Army, established on July 2, 1865, in East London. At that time, East London was a dismal place to live, often described as a cesspool within London. It was the poorest region in London, possibly even all of England. The community was plagued by high unemployment and widespread alcoholism. The streets were filled with filthy beggars and orphans, making it a place no sensible person would choose to reside. Even churches turned away tax collectors and sinners.
    William Booth was an English Methodist preacher who earnestly urged the church to reach out to East London, but to no avail. During this period in church history, many had lost sight of the Great Commission ethos, opting instead to remain within the church walls or merely finance missionaries abroad. They were unwilling to engage in the authentic, joyful kingdom-advancing ministry that makes much of Jesus. Booth rejected this approach.
    He relocated his wife to East London and began preaching on the streets. His first convert was a well-known boxer who physically assaulted him during his first message. However, over time, this boxer was transformed by God’s grace, leading tax collectors and sinners to experience the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus, eventually resulting in the birth of the Salvation Army. So much of the church missed out on the opportunity to experience not only the grace of God, but the glory of God in transforming sinners into saints through the ministry of the Salvation Army, all because they lost sight of the Great Commission. They lost sight of the transformative grace of Christ in their own life!
    Brothers and sisters, we must not remain confined within these walls, hoarding the grace of Jesus that has changed our sinful, tax-collecting hearts. The grace of Jesus urges those transformed by God's grace to reach out to the marginalized, the sinners, and tax collectors, inviting them to experience Christ's transformative grace.
    With the same passion and determination as our Lord to uplift those marginalized in society, can we express our conviction like Booth did?,
    “While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight. While little children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight. While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight. While there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight. I’ll fight to the very end!” William Booth

    Jesus’ Transformative Grace Heals through Mercy (Matthew 9:12-13)

    Matthew 9:12–13 ESV
    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.”
    In verse twelve, Jesus uses an analogy. Just as those who are sick need a doctor, so sinners are sick and can only find healing through the transformative grace and mercy found in Jesus Christ.
    In verse thirteen, invokes a typical Rabbi teaching formula, “Go and learn what this means.” He then quotes Hosea 6:6
    Hosea 6:6 ESV
    6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

    What are the Pharisees supposed to learn?

    They are to learn of the worth of mercy! Jesus cites Hosea 6:6 twice in Matthew, stating, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” once in our passage and once more in Matthew 12:7. The original meaning of this verse conveyed that mere sacrifice could not earn atonement for those who sought God’s mercy yet failed to extend it to others. Matthew references the term eleos for mercy three times in his gospel. He employs this word to illustrate what Yahweh expected from his people regarding mercy. Jesus consistently emphasized that individuals seeking forgiveness from God must also be willing to forgive others (Matt 5:23–24; 6:14–15; 18:21–35). In our text, the Pharisees criticized Jesus for associating with social outcasts (Mt 9:11), but he reminded them that God expects his people to prioritize mercy before offering sacrifices.
    When says, “I did not come to call the righteous,” he is referring to those who define righteousness in terms of sacrifice and ritual, which is not the same as the righteousness of the kingdom. The Pharisees did not understand the worth of mercy because they assumed they were right before God, based on their sacrifices. Since they were right before God what need did they have for mercy?
    Luke recounts a time when Jesus was invited to eat dinner with a Pharisee. A known sinful woman entered the house and sits at Jesus’ feet. She begins to weep using her tears to wash his feet and her hair to wipe his feet. Then she anoints his feet with the alabaster ointment. The whole scene troubles the Pharisee. If this man were the Son of God, he thought, surely he would know what kind of sinner this woman is. Surely, the Son of God would not associate with the likes of her (Luke 7:38-39).
    Jesus, knowing his thoughts, addresses his heart. Jesus says,
    Luke 7:40–43 ESV
    40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
    Luke 7:44–47 ESV
    44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
    The Pharisees loved little because in their mind they were forgive little. They were the righteous. They felt no need for mercy. Just as the woman sins, which were many, were forgive, so Matthew’s sin were forgiven. From Jesus Matthew had received that mercy—not just in that Jesus had been willing to associate with him, but much more because, through Jesus, he knew that his enormous, unpayable debt had been cancelled. The years he had spent in disobedience and greed had been forgiven (John Stott). Matthew loved much, because he was forgiven much.
    All of us are sick. The Bible says that all have sinned against God. Our souls are morally bankrupt, dead in our trespasses and sins. All of us need spiritual healing from the Great Physician. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the medicinal mercy our souls need. His death atones for your sin. His resurrection offers you eternal life. His transformative grace is able to take those dead in their trespasses and sins, and make them alive by faith. Jesus is God’s lavishing mercy for sinners and tax collectors like you and me.
    Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV
    4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
    Ephesians 2:6–7 ESV
    6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
    Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV
    8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
    The resurrected Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the Father right now, is the healing mercy your soul needs, and He invites you to receive His mercy for the forgiveness of your sins, all of them. There is no sinner too evil for the love of God to overcome. There is no outcast too far gone for the hand of God to reach. There is no tax collector whose debts cannot be forgiven. Every sinner who calls upon the name of the Lord will receive His healing, transformative grace. Have you confessed your sin to the Lord? Have you repented of your sin? Have you asked Jesus for mercy, for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you accepted his free gift of salvation? Surrender to him today. Answer his call and receive his mercy and forgiveness. Confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart, that Jesus is Lord and God has raised him from the dead.
    Every sinner who has been transformed by the grace of God is called to a life of discipleship that, on the one hand, continues the transformation into the image of he Son, and, on the other hand, invites the lost and marginalized of society to experience the transformative grace of Jesus by being about the Great Commission.

    Brother, David McAllister

    The transformative grace of Jesus did not stop with Chris Carrier. Chris went home and told his wife and kids about meeting the man who had tried to kill him. The entire family began almost daily visits to McAllister’s nursing home. During one Sunday afternoon visit, Chris popped the most important question he had yet asked McAllister: “Do you want to know the Lord?” McAllister said yes. Both men basked in forgiveness as McAllister gave his heart to Christ. Both men were healed of their sin by the transformative power of the Jesus’ grace. A few days later, McAllister died—peacefully—in his sleep.
    Carrier says it is not a story of regret, but of redemption. “I saw the Lord give that man back his life, and so much more,” Chris said. “I can’t wait to see him again someday—in heaven.” That is the power of the transformative grace Jesus draws us into as his disciples.
    Church, let's remember that each of us is like Matthew. We were once broken, sinners, and tax collectors. However, just as Matthew experienced healing through Jesus' grace, we too are transformed and empowered by His Spirit to live out our redemption daily as His disciples. Our mission is to invite the lost to join this journey until we reach our eternal home with the Lord.
    With God’s help, may our church embody the fruit of our efforts to joyfully spread the kingdom of God, honoring Jesus among those who have sinned — murderers, liars, thieves, adulterers, blasphemers, and others — and witness their transformation into God-glorifying, Scripture-filled, Spirit-led followers of Christ.

      • Matthew 9:9–13ESV

      • Matthew 9:9ESV

      • Matthew 9:9ESV

      • Matthew 4:23ESV

      • Matthew 9:13ESV

      • Matthew 9:10ESV

      • Matthew 9:12–13ESV

      • Matthew 9:12–13ESV

      • Hosea 6:6ESV

      • Luke 7:40–43ESV

      • Luke 7:44–47ESV

      • Ephesians 2:4–5ESV

      • Ephesians 2:6–7ESV

      • Ephesians 2:8–9ESV

  • Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (Hyfrydol)
First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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