November 6, 2005

Twelve Ordinary Men

The Publican

Matthew 9:9-13

Opening Words: They were not saints. They were not scholars. They were not even religious sages. Among them there were fishermen. There was a hated tax collector and a political zealot. Let me say this clearly. They were common men with an uncommon calling. They were hopelessly human and that is exactly why they speak to us! Today, you are going to hear sermon number eight in a ten part sermon series I have called Twelve Ordinary Men.

Even the most casual Bible student knows that tax collectors or Publicans were hated in the time of Jesus. Employed by the Roman government they were required to collect a base figure for the occupying country. Any funds above that figure were theirs to keep. They often strong-armed money out of people by the use of thugs. In many ways the tax collectors were more hated than the Romans. Matthew was a tax collector yet Jesus invited him to become one of the twelve. When the world looked at Matthew they saw a tax collector, but Jesus saw a child of God. When you look at someone for the first time, what do you see? Let me call this sermon today, The Publican.

Introduction

In 1986 The PTL Club boasted an income of $129 million and included Heritage USA - a 2300-acre religious theme park, with a hotel and a shopping mall in North Carolina. The PTL Club television show was syndicated to more than 1200 channels around the world. The PTL Empire was built and managed by Jim Bakker. He had the world by the tail. Then, it happened.

In 1987 Jim Bakker resigned as president of the PTL Club. The reason was simple. It was discovered that Bakker had an affair with the church secretary Jessica Hahn in 1980. He had paid $265,000 in blackmail money to keep the affair quiet. Upon his resignation, the books were audited. It was discovered that Jim Bakker and his wife, Tammy Faye, had been taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the ministry’s fund. The IRS investigated the accounts and they discovered that the couple had diverted a total of $4.8 million for personal use. Jim Bakker was indicted for fraud in 1988 and sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $500,000. When the scandal broke, Bakker’s Christian friends quickly deserted him and his wife divorced him. If you can remember the emotions of those days toward Jim Bakker, then maybe you can understand the hatred that people had for tax collectors in Jesus’ day.

Body

Matthew was a tax collector. There is nothing nice to say about him. Even the most casual Bible student knows that tax collectors were hated in Jesus’ day. The reason was twofold. First, they were seen as traitors. They were working for the conquering Romans. Second, they were seen as thieves. They prospered in life at the expense of the poor. In many ways tax collectors were hated and they had no friends, except other tax collectors. When people saw a tax collector the emotions of hatred and disgust boiled to the top. That is why Jesus was so different. When he saw the tax collector he didn’t see a traitor or a thief. When Jesus saw Matthew for the first time he saw a child of God.

When you look at someone for the first time, what do you see? Do you see the color of their skin, black or white? Do you see their clothes, a pair of jeans or an expensive suit? Do you look at their eyes or smile? Do you see their weight or a scar?  Do you see a tattoo or a body piercing? When you look at someone for the first time, what do you see?

When Jesus saw Matthew for the first time he didn’t see a tax collector he saw a child of God. We are in the disciple making business so we should train ourselves to see what Jesus saw. We are ambassadors for Jesus in this world. We cannot sink to the world’s standards. We must see what Jesus saw. To help you do this I am going to give you three words. I hope you will remember these three words the next time you see someone for the first time. I want you to be like Jesus. If you would like to be like Jesus then say, “Amen!”

Word Number One: Positive

On one of his European tours, the master magician and locksmith Harry Houdini found himself locked in by his own thinking. After he had been searched and manacled in a Scottish town jail, the old turnkey shut him in a cell and walked away. Houdini quickly freed himself from his shackles and then tackled the cell lock. But despite all his efforts, the lock wouldn't open. Finally, ever more desperate but completely exhausted, he leaned against the door--and it swung open so unexpectedly that he nearly fell headlong into the corridor. The turnkey had not locked it. He assumed that he was locked in but he was wrong. How many times have we locked ourselves in by our own thinking? How many times do we assume something and we are wrong?

Sociologists tell us we make assumptions or stereotype people so we know how to handle them. If we didn’t make those assumptions then we would feel out of control. Let me tell you something that you already know. People like to feel in control. That is why we assume all doctors are in it for the money. That is why everyone in Canfield is a rich snob. That is why everyone in Austintown is a hillbilly and everyone in Youngstown is uneducated. That is why everyone from Warren is better looking and a little smarter. That is why all Jews are cheap and all blacks are lazy. That is why all preachers are handsome. We assume these things because we want to feel in control.

When Jesus saw Matthew for the first time he didn’t see a tax collector. He saw a child of God. He didn’t assume that he was an unpatriotic thief. Jesus saw Matthew and saw a child of God. Jesus saw him as an individual and was positive about that individuality. Can you say the same? When you look at someone for the first time, what do you see? If you think you can be a little more positive say, “Amen!”

Word Number Two: Potential

When 16-year old Eliza married the 20-year old tailor, he had never been to school. He couldn’t read or write. Eliza saw potential in him so she taught him to read and write. Those were hard days in their marriage but he learned fast. In time that 20-yewar old uneducated tailor became the seventeenth president of the United States, Andrew Johnson. Potential deals more with the future than it does the present. It is much easier to see potential in others than ourselves.

I have told this story before and I am going to tell you again because this woman saw some potential in me. She changed my life! About half way through seminary I almost gave up. Life was hard. There was no money. I had fallen behind in my studies and there was illness at home. I went to a church member’s home to tell her I was going to quit school. Her name was Norma Marcum. When I told her I was quitting she gave me something to eat and we just talked. When the food was gone she took my hand and looked at me square in the face. She said, “Russ, someday you are going to be a great man. I want you to promise me you will go home and try again.” I do not tell you that story to tell you that I am a great man. You know better. I tell you that story because Norma Marcum saw potential in me and changed my life. When you look at someone for the first time, what do you see?

When Jesus saw Matthew he saw a child of God. He saw potential. Matthew went on to preach the gospel to countless people and he wrote the gospel that carries his name because Jesus didn’t just see a tax collector. Jesus saw a person of potential. Matthew was a child of God! If you think you can look for potential in others then say, “Amen!”

Word Number Three: Metaphysical

The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. The winner was the runner or runners who finished with his torch still lit. That is the stories of our lives.

Life is hard. Does anyone here not know of someone who doesn’t have a problem? Within the life of this congregation, just think of the issues that we are facing. How many people do you know have cancer? How many people do you know are recovering from surgery or waiting for surgery? How many people do you know are going through a divorce? How many people do you know that have a drug or alcohol addiction? How many people do you know that are struggling financially? How many people are struggling with depression or anxieties? How many are up at night worrying about their aging parents or out of control forty year olds? How many people are concerned about a loved one in the military? To keep that torch burning is not easy because life is hard. Satan has thrown all these things our way so our torch will go out but we won’t let it happen. We need that torch for some dark days.

Matthew needed that torch, also. Jesus knew Matthew had expensive clothes and a big house but Jesus also knew Matthew had a spiritual void. He was not just a physical being. He was a metaphysical being. He had a hunger for God and so do you. So does everyone that you meet. I don’t care what the outside cover says. We are all children of God. When you look at someone for the first time, what do you see? If you think you can remember that then say, “Amen!”

Conclusion

Six months into his sentence, Jim Baaker was surprised one afternoon when the prison governor called him into his office. Baaker had a visitor: Billy Graham. When Graham came in, Bakker asked him why he had come to visit – because he knew that any association with him would tarnish Graham’s reputation.
Graham replied that Baaker was his friend in good and in bad times – and now when things were bad; he would stand by his side. And Billy Graham was true to his word.

In time, Bakker’s sentence was eventually reduced to ten years and when he came out of prison on parole, he had nowhere to stay. So the Grahams invited him to stay with them. On the Sunday following Bakker’s release, Ruth Graham took him to church with her. Disregarding what people would think about her, she stood up in church and introduced Jim Bakker to the congregation as her friend Jim. The rest of the world saw a liar; a fraud and a cheat but Billy and Ruth Graham saw a child of God. They looked at Jim Bakker with positive eyes. They saw the potential that still beat within his heart. They saw a man who still needed God and a man who desperately needed grace. That is what Billy and Ruth Graham saw in Jim Bakker. When you look at someone for the first time, what do you see? When people look at you, what do they see?