Today we're slowly walking through the calling of Matthew. Jesus saw Matthew at the tax collector's booth; we have to understand some of tax collector culture to grasp why Matthew would have had a negative reputation amongst his people. He's basically an IRS agent working in collaboration with the Roman empire to extort money from his own people. So yeah, he wasn't liked. Yet Jesus calls him anyway. What did Jesus see in him? What did Jesus recognize that he hadn't yet recognized about himself? Jesus is always doing stuff like this because apparently, this is how grace works. Grace sees something in people before it fully exists. Grace recognizes the person you can become before you can see the person you can become.So let's talk about the booth, which is more than just a piece of furniture. What does it represent? Safety. Security. Predictability. Identity. And yet, he leaves it behind. Why? Who knows? But the call of Jesus into something new was stronger than the comfort he's known in his booth.We all have booths. Some of us are sitting in them now. The booth of bitterness. Of cynicism. Of Certainty. Of other peoples' expectations of us. Of our past wounds or failures. All kinds of booths. Here's the thing about booths: they can become so familiar that they begin to feel like home. Even when they shrink our souls and keep us from becoming the person we were made to be. Jesus says, "Follow me, I've got something better in store for you."Then the story gets interesting. He's at Matthew's home eating with tax collectors and sinners. This makes the religious people nervous. Who you eat with reveals who your people are. And Jesus keeps surprising people with who he eats with. He doesn't just preach grace, he practices it. Makes it visible. So the religious people question him.In response, he says, "It isn't the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Here's what's funny. No one questions a doctor for spending time in the hospital. Jesus being with these people doesn't mean he's a failure as a rabbi, it shows his purpose. Then he says the thing about God desiring mercy, not sacrifice. He's saying that when religion gets disconnected from compassion, it loses its heart. It stops looking like and revealing God.Then he says the thing about calling not the righteous, but the sinners. What's the difference between righteous people and sinners? The sinners know they're in need of healing. The righteous KNOW they DON'T need healing, which, of course, is the thing that makes them sick.This is an invitation to move toward transformation. The righteous don't want transformation because they don't think they need it. But the sick...they notice that Matthew doesn't stay in his booth. He leaves it behind and is transformed. Then he eventually writes it down. He's transformed and helps the generations that follow find healing, too. He becomes a witness. Because that's what grace does.Speaker: Aaron VisScripture: Matthew http://bible.com/events/49620456