Rev. Dr. Gavin R. Helms preaches on Matthew 9:9, where Jesus calls the tax collector Matthew to follow Him. God unlocks grace when He sees us without pretense, just as an iPhone unlocks when it recognizes your face before makeup. Jesus didn't wait for Matthew to be clean before offering fellowship.
Chapters
Hey, there is an exegetical invitation I want to extend to you. I pray that you accept. You've been invited to fellowship with me this morning in the 9th chapter, the Gospel of Saint Matthew. Saint Matthew. Chapter number 9. St. Matthew chapter number 9. We want to go down to verse number 9. You like standing up? Matthew 9 verse 9. The word of God reads, as Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, follow me. He got up and followed. You may be seated. We thank God for his word. And for the perpetual nature that lies there within. As Jesus went up from there, he saw a man. For just a few moments, I want to have a Christological conversation around the subject: victory in visibility. Victory Invisibility. This morning I woke up after my prayer time and everything. That's very impressive. In my prayer time, I unlocked my phone. When I unlocked my phone, I didn't use my fingers. As an iPhone user, you have access to this feature called Face ID. And so I have things on my phone, but in order for those things to be unlocked, the phone has to see me. Just as I am. I have a mask on, the Face ID may not recognize me right off, but when my phone sees me, it unlocks what is stored for me. I told you that it was this morning, which means and suggests that it was before I was fully dressed, before I had went through all of my grooming processes, before I put my moisturizer and toner on my face. Because my phone saw me as I was, it unlocked everything it had for me just by seeing me. And I'm challenging someone this morning that there are some things in store for you. There are some things prepared for you. And certain things will be unlocked for you when you allow God to see you as you are. In other words, you don't have to put on makeup for God to see you. You don't have to brush your hair forward to get your waves all straight in order for God to unlock things for you. But all of us who are sitting here this morning are the recipients of God's grace only because God saw you as you were in raw form, before you got your makeup on, before you got your braids and wigs straight, before you picked your outfit, before you put on your perfume. God saw you in your raw state and said, here, I got life for you. Now why are y'all sitting there looking at me like that in your church clothes? Because you may have us fooled in your church clothes, but God knows the truth about us. He knows the origin of our life, and yet and still God didn't wait on us to get in here before he start pouring grace upon us. But when we were in our sin, when we were in our iniquity, God was God enough to see us and unlock blessings in our life. And I want to ask the house this morning Has God ever seen you without your makeup on? Has God ever seen you before you brushed your teeth? Has God ever seen you with the durag still around your head? Has he ever seen you with your bonnet on? And in that spiritual condition, before you can apply the liner and before you can apply the foundation, God was already working in your favor. And I want to encourage you today that you don't have to hide from God. You don't have to try to pretend to God, but just as you are, let yourself be visible to God and watch how he changed your life. I came to serve somebody. Notice today that you serve a God who has 20/20 vision. He knows about you. He sees you. He sees where you are. He sees your condition. He sees your tears. He sees your pain. And while you're trying to hide from your neighbor in here, God says, forget about them and let me see you just as you are, and watch how I can turn your life around. And God is still in the seeing business, and you can have victory by being visible. Not by being perfect, not by having it together, not by following your own standards, not by following your own guidelines, but be open to God and say, God, just see me and bring me closer to you. St. Matthew's Gospel. In this Mathian text, are y'all gonna help me this morning? Chapter 9. Jesus is walking, sees a tax collector by the name of Matthew. A tax collector is the scum of scum, 'cause in this society they were considered traitors or sellouts to their own people, 'cause they served the Roman government. And not only did they collect taxes, they took— they overcharged the people. And kept the overage for themselves. They were not allowed in a synagogue because they were considered the scum of the scum. They were people who were outcasts, the sinners of the sinners, the ugliest of the ugliest, and the evilest of the evilest. Jesus walked by a tax collector outside of the synagogue. He saw Matthew on his post while he was collecting taxes, while he was in his evil, while he was in his mess, while he was in his junk. And right there Jesus saw Matthew and didn't say, Matthew, get it together. Didn't say, Matthew, why you act like that? Right there as he was, Jesus said, not only I see you, but tell— let me tell you what I want you to do, Matthew. I want you to follow me. And Matthew got up from that place and followed a perfect Jesus. A far from perfect man. His life changed not because he was perfect, but because he followed a perfect Jesus. Now, why are you judging Matthew today? Because you have been in church for 5 days. But let me tell you the truth about yourself. You look good this morning, and you are in Pilgrim Rest, and y'all know what we say. We are a loving church. But let me tell you, Matthew, let me tell you, Matthewette, you ain't always been a loving purpose. You ain't always been a loving church. The only reason we are able to brag about that today is because God takes trips to tax collector booths. And when he goes to the tax collecting booth He does not condemn you. He does not cast you to hell. But Jesus said, I see you, and now I want you, and I want to have fellowship with you. I want to have relationship with you. And when the world doesn't want to have anything to do with you, I want everything to do with you. So this man named Matthew, others call him Levi, this same man, when Jesus saw him, Jesus saw his worth. Jesus saw the value in his life after he followed him. So therefore, child of God, What is stopping you from seeing yourself in the same condition that, yes, I have my problems, but if Jesus is in my life and if he's forgotten about my past, if he's forgotten about my mistakes, if he's forgotten about my issues, who am I to still look at myself and others through my used-to-be days. And here's what I came to preach. I ain't got all the time to wrestle with y'all today. The fact that Jesus saw me and called me at my worst gives me the authority to see me at my best. Gavin R. Helms, you better preach if you got to do it by yourself. If Jesus saw me at my worst and called me at my worst, then that should challenge me to see me as my best. In other words, get over your past. Get over your issues, get over your sin, get over your mistakes, get over how you view yourself and say, if God saw me and wants to fellowship with me, then I might as well see myself as the righteousness of God. I might as well see myself as fearfully and marvelously made. And I don't care who thinks I'm arrogant. I don't care who thinks I'm uppity. I don't care who thinks I don't deserve it. Take that up with my Jesus because he's the one who saw me. He's the one who died for me. He's the one who know my past. He's the one who saw me while I was in my sin and died for me and rose for me and justified me and sanctifying me. Forgiven me and saved me, and I'm gonna hold my head up. I don't care how much money in my bank account, I don't care what my credit score is, I got my chest stuck out. I'm gonna have a little glide to my step because I've been chosen by my God, I've been called by my God. Who do you think you are? I'm the righteousness of God. Who do you think you are? I'm the head and not the tail. I'm above and not beneath. I'm the lender and not the borrower. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I'm heaven going. I got my ticket. I'm justified. I'm anointed. I'm touched. And I look pretty doggone good, if I do say so myself. Why you think you all that? I don't think I'm all that, but the one who is all that thought enough of me to see me and call me, and I don't care what you got to say. That's it. That's it. That big hand on the 5. I told you what I came to preach. Let me see if I have some hermeneutic highlights that can help us unpack this text and see this tension. Once I do my best, I'm headed up 167. Y'all waiting on me? This text teaches us— big word alert— that we have been inexplicably drafted. You've been— I've been inexplicably are unexplainably drafted. In other words, I got picked, I don't know why. Uh, it's mighty funny that Jesus saw Matthew on the booth and not the synagogue. And I'm glad that his eyes are not just sanctuary-activated eyes, but my God, has sanctification activated. God, in other words, I'm glad to see you this morning, but you better be glad that his eyes don't just work in here, because sometimes I don't have sanctuary behavior. But because his eyes work everywhere, no matter where I'm at, I'm in reach to receive the call of God. Let me tell you, I'm upset some church folk here today. Let me tell you why we better be glad he doesn't just have sanctuary-activated eyes. Because if he just had sanctuary and synagogue activated eyes, then Matthew would have never got caught. And Jesus's reach is well beyond here, because how else would here grow unless his eyes work there? Did— okay. Okay, Gavin. Okay, Gavin, here it is. Know your people. Okay, okay. Your people have been saved for a long time, and they think that their life is all about here, and because they're here, then they got it all together. So now, Gavin, it's your job to explain that even though our bodies are always here, even when we in here, we got some Booth inside of us even right now. God just told me to tell you, put your halo off, because even though you've been in here for 50 years, you still got some boof behavior while you even in here. So I guess what I'm saying is, when God sees some of us in here, he's actually saying boofed in here, because when we're in here, we're not always in a proper spirit. So you may be clapping your hands, you may be stomping your feet, you may have gone through your devotion, you may have gone through your welcome, you may have gone through all the church ritual, but your heart still got a ways to go. You still got some things you need God to fix. You still got some ugly ways on the inside. But I got good news for you: he'll see you right there when you're broke down. Down in here and lift you up. This whole time, thank you. I just figured it out because we have to remember that we do not have a monopoly on Christ. Can I push it? Jesus had to go outside the synagogue because the ones in the synagogue wasn't acting right. They knew all the Torah, they knew Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, and Deuteronomy, but they still had no revelation. And Jesus said, I tell you what I'll do, even if the ones in here won't get it, my will will be done. I will show you that my power is not just bound in what people have put. I'm not just bound in traditions. I'm not just bound in buildings. I'll get out of here and still preach this world crazy. So he's teaching us this morning— hear me well, hear me well— Jesus goes finds and calls those who are out of place. Jesus— I'm having fun— Jesus places himself out of place so he can bring us to the right place. And the reason we have an opportunity to get to the right place is because he goes out of place and don't leave us in that place but brings us to a right place. Can anybody testify today? I ain't quite there yet, but I'm in a better place today than I've ever been in my life. I have some hang-ups, I have some mess-ups, but I still know that my soul is secure because he went to the wrong place to bring me to a better place. Lord, help me help somebody this morning. Kevin, why would God give you this word in a church of people who, for a countable part, are familiar with you and know you? Pilgrims, visitors, friends, y'all want to hear? Here's why. Matthew was called when he was not there yet. I should have got my haircut this week. He, he called Matthew when he was not there yet. Don't raise your hand because I don't want you to accuse me of putting other people in your business. How many of us— I'm gonna look this way— can confess that I'm not quite there yet? Been teaching Sunday school for 70 years. I ain't there yet. I got 10 Vacation Bible School skirts right now, but I'm still not there yet. I wrote one of the hymns in the National Baptist hymn book, but I'm not quite there yet. I taught Dr. Watts the song he need to learn, but I'm not quite there yet. I got every color choir robe that you can imagine, but I'm still not quite there yet. I know how to not just take those little Lord's Supper kits. I know how to make the bread, and I know how to crush the wine to make some real communion, but I'm still not quite there yet. And God teaches us today that not there yet is the place where you can be found. So stop thinking that you got to fool folks to make them believe that you got it there. God says your blessing can come when you are big and bold enough to say, I'm not there, but he gonna take me there. And I'm trying to teach somebody, you got some not there— I feel like preaching today— you got some not there situations in your life. Somebody's not there in their body. Somebody's not there in their finances. Somebody's not there, and it's evident because you can just flip folks off and cuss folks out without even thinking about it. Not Pilgrim Risk, of course. But can I encourage your heart this morning? With our sanctimonious selves God says you will never go anywhere in life until you admit to yourself that you are not there yet. Stop trying to act like it, because we will never grow as a Church of God until we remember that I'm not quite there, but I know a Jesus who will come to where I'm at and take me to where I'm not. And I believe by faith that if he's still doing it for me, he can do it for somebody else. Where are you going to go in life is not going to be based upon where you can go in life. What about where you can be visible? Y'all didn't get it. Let me unpack it for you. I, I sometimes, if I'm wasting time, I'll go look at stuff that either one, I can't afford, or two, I can afford it, I'm just not about to pay that. I found myself in a jewelry store one day, and sometimes I just get amazed, Mims, about how much stuff costs. I saw a diamond that was no bigger than the size of a mustard seed. They had a price tag of big faith. I had to have an interview with that diamond. Mr. Diamond, how did you get here and cost so much? I must confess, Mr. Diamond, You do look good sitting in this display case, but my question for you: if I wanted to take you home, why would I have to take out a second mortgage? Gavin is quite simple, sir. You see me here But this is not where I started, Gavin. I don't know how I got to this jewelry store. All I know, Gavin, is that I used to be in some dirt in my rawest form. I wasn't in this display case. Somebody found me in the dirt, and when they found me in the dirt, they picked me up, they cleaned me, they cut me, they signed me and put me on display, and then put a price tag on me. I say, how did the one who cleaned you, cut you, and signed you determine what price tag to put on you? Well, it's simple, Gavin. They valued me how they wanted to value me, not based upon a place and where they found me. Come on, who am I talking to? God says he's looking for some diamonds today. You got some dirt on you, you got some ugly on you, but your value isn't how you can be found and not how you can go there by yourself. Is there anybody in here today who wants to pray to God and say, God, find me, cut me, shine me, put me on display, and give me a value that's what you see me and not as how I see myself. Don't you let nobody devalue you. Put your value based on the one who found you, who cut you, who cleans you, who still got his hands on you now. I wish I had time this morning, but all of us in here, only favor we got, the favor is that we've been found. I didn't get here by myself, and quite frankly, I'm not all that right now, but God makes sure you see my shine up and he don't see my dirt. God gave me this this morning. This wasn't a part of where I really wanted to go, but I was talking to somebody. I'm a little bit off schedule. I was talking to somebody the other day and it was kind of questioning something that was going on, and they said such and such must got some dirt on him. Deaconess, I heard that term in a way that preached me such and such must got some dirt on them. And so people form opinions about other people because they got some dirt on them. But can I help somebody this morning? I'm not worried about who got dirt on me because my life is in the one who can get the dirt up off me. Preach, Gavin Robert Hills, PhD! Let anybody have dirt on you, but I got a savior who can get the dirt up off me. And when you see me elevated, it's because you may have had some dirt on me, But he got the dirt up off me with the blood that was shed on Calvary. I'm done, I'm done. I'm about to preach my favorite part of the sermon, so I got to warn myself because typically my favorite parts of the sermon are the parts y'all don't like. So I'm gonna zone y'all out for about 10 minutes and see if I can have fun and get up 167. This text teaches us that we've been inexplicably drafted. I don't know why he picked me, he just picked me. But God is also giving us an illuminating designation. There you go, having fun again. An illuminating designation. In other words, the designation or a name that's illuminating. Uh, I read this morning, God didn't reveal to me late why Matthew's account was the one that just kept tickling my homiletical ear. But I had to investigate a little bit further. This record is found in all of these synoptic gospels. Can I teach for just a second? And you and I know— perhaps you don't, but you're about to know— that the synoptic gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This same account is in Mark 2, and in Luke chapter 5. I read this story from Matthew chapter 9. Good job, class. Matthew does something different than his synoptic colleagues. If you read Mark and Luke Mark and Luke call him Levi. Matthew calls him Matthew. That really bothered me. I gotta dig into this and figure this out. Levi is actually a noble name because it derived from his godly lineage, from the tribe of Levi. Perhaps we believe that he may have been named Levi. Matthew, the same name, same man, two different names. Levi, noble start, but somehow, somewhere he went off course. And start collecting taxes. And all of us— and that's why I kind of— I don't fuss at us, but I tell us to be careful about— we was raised right in church. When we grew up, no matter how long you club that night, we was going to be up at Sunday morning. And it makes us sound like we're better than other people. But if you was in the club last night, even though you had a good start, somewhere, somehow, you too got off course. Y'all get mad at me every time I say stuff like this, so let me just move on. But Matthew is Matthew, same man. All right, so Matthew's name means gift of God. All right, gift of the Lord, or some say gift from the Lord, some say both ways. Did I mention to you that the Matthew, that the Matthew that wrote this text is talking about is him? So Matthew is really giving us an autobiography of his call to discipleship. I told you that Mark and Luke called him Levi. Matthew saying, I ain't gonna call y'all— I ain't gonna let y'all call me Levi. My name is Matthew. Two interpretations. We see— we saw him believe that Matthew's name was given to him post-call by Jesus. We don't know, but theologians argue over that. I like that because if Matthew's name means— follow me, class— gift of God, Matthew's saying, let me tell you about the time I was called. I was on the tax collector's booth. I was in a place I had no worth being. But let me tell you about a gift I got. Why you want to call me Levi? Let me call you— let me call myself Grace, because that's my story. Don't call me what I used to be. Don't call me what I can't be now. From this day forward, Mark and Luke, my name is Grace. Who in Pilgrim Rest today, you're not gonna let nobody call you out your name? You're not gonna let nobody devalue you. But anytime somebody want to bring up your flaws, say, my name is still Grace, my name is still Holy, my name is still Righteous, my name is still Anointed. He's called to be a preacher. I am Reverend Dr. Gavin R. Hales, and that's who you refer to me as. He's so arrogant, you gonna call me by my name? Because God gave me a name that's above my name I got on earth, and I gotta see myself and what God has done in my life. And when you walk out of this door, don't you let yourself or nobody else refer to you by your flaws. Say, I'm his child. I don't mean that literally. I ain't saying I gotta walk around with a title on my head. That's not what I'm saying. But my point is, no matter what somebody else thinks about you, you better know that you know that you know that you are not that, but you are what God has made you to be because he's given you a new lease on life. Matthew, say my name. Gift of God. Because I remember who I used to be, but God gave me a new lease on life. That's one explanation of Matthew meaning gift of God. Can I tell you another interpretation of what Matthew means? We read the gospel key word of Matthew, written by Matthew here in this text. Matthew and other gospels are designed to prove that Jesus Christ came as a sinless sacrifice, died, rose again, coming back again, which leads us to salvation. Y'all know the gospel is the good news. Who wrote the Gospel of Saint Matthew? Matthew, the same man who's a tax collector. He said, don't call me Levi, call me Matthew, which means gift of God. Another interpretation of it means that no matter who I used to be, Mark and Luke, I'm a gift. And you better be careful about how you look at me, because no matter what you think about me, God says I'm a gift. Who in here today is bold enough to realize that your feelings aside, no matter what you've been through, No matter where you've gone, God says you are still a gift because you got God on the inside of you. I want you to look in your mirror today and say, boy, you a gift. I want you to look in your mirror today and say, girl, you a gift. Yes, you have some flaws. Yes, you got some issues, but because God is in you, you are a gift. I told y'all y'all weren't gonna like it because we think we got to be a poor, weak, humble servant on the battlefield for the Lord. You'll be on the battlefield for the Lord, but you better know you're a gift. And who gave him the name Jesus? So if Jesus saw him as a gift, then who are you to think that you still a nobody? I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. This is— this, this, this, this, this, this, this house, we need to see ourselves by the way Jesus sees us. Can I close? Year 1991-ish, '94. You all know by now, after all these years, I'm a fan of the '90s era Bulls. Michael Jeffrey Jordan, born February 17th, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York. Played— me and Tamell used to always watch— it was Channel 11 in Winfield. We used to watch the station called WGE because we wanted to make sure that we never missed the starting lineup. We always want to tune in to watch the starting lineups and see our Bulls play. And they would always say, live from Chicago Stadium, New York Knicks versus the Chicago Bulls. That was during the early '90s, '91-ish to around '94, because the Bulls played in Chicago Stadium. We all know that Mike took a hiatus to go play baseball, and when Mike got back, we would still watch WGN on Channel 11. But something happened in '94 on WGN. They didn't just say live from Chicago Stadium, they said live from the United Center. Because in '94 they built a new stadium, and they built the stadium across the street, kind of in the same area, and they now call it the United Center. So little inquisitive Gavin asked his big brother Tameka, why they don't call it Chicago Stadium no more? He said, well, it's the United Center now. I said, I know that, but why they call it the United Center? He said, the reason they call it the United Center now is because United Airways paid United for the building. And since United Airlines paid for the building, no matter what you want to call it, it's called based upon who paid for it. 2,000 years ago on a hill called Calvary, they tell me it was one Friday afternoon, a man named Jesus paid the ultimate price for you and our life. So no matter what you call me today, I'm gonna go by the one who paid the price for my life. Are there any other United Centers in the house this morning who know who you can be? But God says today, you are who I called you to be because I paid it all. I'm done. It's a simple concept. Whoever paid for it can call it whatever he or she wants to call it. And no matter how bad I want it to be Chicago Stadium, I can't call it that no more because somebody else paid for it. We offer Jesus to you this morning. I don't care what Mark and Luke call you. Mark or Luke ain't paid for you, but since Jesus paid it all and all to him we owe, I'm gonna know, God, what are you calling me for? Because that's what I'm gonna go by. And here's the thing, the Chicago Stadium and the United Center right there in the same area just got a new name. Because somebody else paid the price. Come, come, come today.
