It’s such a privilege for me to reflect with you on today’s passage from Matthew’s Gospel.

Before we turn to Matthew’s story, I’d like to share one of the strangest experiences of my life. It happened years ago when I was living in Beijing. It was a cold winter day. I went back to my hometown to attend my grandmother’s memorial service. When the service was over, I started a long drive to Beijing. But as I was crossing the Yellow River Bridge, a thick fog rolled in out of nowhere. It was like the road had just disappeared. So I stopped. I couldn’t move forward. There I sat. Alone in the car. The fog surrounded me. Darkness was falling. There was no one else around. The world was as quiet as a tomb. Fear gripped my heart. I was worried, anxious, and completely helpless. I was stuck there, For three hours. So you can imagine how much soul-searching happened during those three hours.

Fifteen years later, I was baptized in this church and became a Christian. My family and friends were so confused. They all asked me, “What happened?” “How did you become a Christian?” Every time I was asked, that strange experience of being stuck came back to my mind. But I didn’t know how to explain these. Until one day, I read the story of the Calling of Matthew, the very passage we heard today. And I said to myself: That’s it! Now I understand what happened!

Matthew 9:9 tells the whole story in a single verse:
“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.”

It is how Matthew became a disciple of Jesus. So now if you ask me, “What is a Christian?” My answer would be this: A Christian is someone who has been called out by God. We have been stuck somewhere. We have been called out. This is how one becomes a Christian.

But What does it mean to be called? Why do some people respond while others walk away? And where, exactly, are we being called to? Well, let’s read this story closer and see what Matthew might teach us.

Matthew was one of the Twelve. Before meeting Jesus, he was a tax collector. Tax collectors worked for the Roman Empire, collecting taxes from their own people. So, they were often despised and rejected by the Jewish community. Yet by the standards of this world, Matthew was a successful man. He was educated, wealthy, and worked for the empire. In many ways, he belonged to the social elites.

However, The Gospel gives us a very striking image: Matthew was sitting at the tax booth. A tax booth is very small. It is built for one person. It has a window, not for conversation or communication, but for collecting money. Day after day, Matthew sat inside alone. The tax booth is more than a place of work. It is a symbol. It represents something in life that hold us captive.

We may not be sitting in a tax booth, but many of us know what it is like to be stuck somewhere, unable to move forward, unable to imagine another way of living. We all are locked in something. We’re anxious about the present. We’re grieving losses. We’re fearful of what lies ahead. In one way or another, We all have our own tax booth.

So Jesus comes along. “He saw a man called Matthew.” This sentence has two layers of meaning. The first one is, Jesus did not see a tax collector. He saw Matthew. He saw Matthew as he was. And that is how Jesus sees us. He sees us individually. And He sees us as we are, not as what we have, not as what we have achieved in this world. The second layer is, before we ever look for God, God has already seen us. Before we ever call upon God, God has already called us. Jesus is the one who takes the initiative, not us.

I know, Some believe that becoming a Christian begins with their own decisions and their efforts. We go to church. We attend seminaries. We volunteer more hours. We work harder. We search for God. But here the Gospel tells a different story: The Christian life does not begin with our search for Jesus. It begins, and only begins with Jesus seeing us, and calling us. It’s because everything begins with grace. This is one of the most beautiful truths of the Gospel.

Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus repeatedly calls people out, “Follow me”. In Matthew 4:18–22, Jesus called his first four disciples. Jesus called Peter and Andrew, James and John. Jesus called them. They immediately left the boat, their nets, even their father behind, and followed him. So here, once again, Jesus saw Matthew and called, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed him.

This is the same voice we hear throughout the Scripture. Isaiah 43:1, Yahwe says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. This is God’s call. The God who called Israel is now calling through Jesus Christ.

The disciples heard his call. The apostles heard this call. And that same call comes to us today. Brothers and sisters, lost sheep of God, I want you to know that Jesus Christ sees us and is calling us too. This call is personal. Jesus calls us by name. He knows who we are. He sees our weariness, our shame, our failures, and our fears. He knows where we are trapped, like sheep that have gone astray.

And Jesus is calling, “follow me!” This is a life-saving call. This is a life-changing call. This is a homecoming call. Come home, lost sheep! Jesus is calling you. because he loves you. Because he has redeemed you. Because you are beloved child of God.

To follow Jesus does not simply mean to walk behind him physically. More often, it means following him into a new life. In the Gospel, after Matthew is called, Jesus sits at table with tax collectors and sinners. This is a very important event. In Jesus’ time, eating together at the same table and sharing a meal was a powerful sign of fellowship and belonging. Jesus does not call people to become individualism heroes. He calls people into a new table, a new community, and a new life. Here, sinners are forgiven and welcomed. Here, we witness the sick being healed, the blind receiving sight, the lame walking, lepers being cleansed, and even the dead being raised to life. So we gather together in joy. We worship, give thanks, sing praises, and cry out, “Alleluia!”

At last, I want to emphasize one thing. When we share our testimony, we must remember that Jesus does not call us to power. He does not call us to dominate others or conquer the world by force. He calls us to follow him on the way of the cross, the way of humility, the way of self-giving love.

So perhaps the church’s place is not to judge, but a place where we are called to forgive, and then to hold fast, to hold tight, caring for one another in community. Only the Pharisees regarded themselves as righteous and others as sinners. The word “sinner” means far more than a social category. Karl Barth said, sinners are those who stand under the judgment of God rather than the judgment of other human beings. In that sense, we are all sinners. Every one of us. But, the Gospel tells us that Jesus comes for sinners. He comes for us. Jesus calls sinners to his feast of grace and joy. That is why we follow him. That is why we gather as the church.

The church must be a safe place. It must be a refuge for the vulnerable, the broken, and the suffering, for all of us. And each of us shares responsibility to take care of each other. Today, I want you to remember that before we belong to any social category, we belong to God; You are loved by our merciful Creator. You are known by name. And you are called to God’s table of grace and joy.

“Follow me,” Jesus says.
This, I think, is brief and loud enough, if it be God’s will, to be heard today.

Amen.