November 8, 2025 • 47 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Happy Sabbath to you.
I thought I would introduce you to uh my family a little bit.
This is my eldest daughter, Jessica.
She is married to Jason.
Their last name is Warren.
Some of you may know the Warren name.
(00:20):
Uh Jay Warren worked here in the Arizona Conference for many years.
Our daughter Jessica and Jason just moved back to the Phoenix area.
Uh five months in May, whatever that was.
Six months ago.
(00:40):
And uh after she was coming this way, she said, Dad, why don't you send a resume here?
Come live close to me.
She's never asked us to do something like that before.
She is the one that was independent all her life.
And when she suggested it, we said.
Maybe God wants us to move that direction.
(01:02):
So we sent a resume this direction.
And uh
So you can blame her or curse her or say thank you to her for such a suggestion.
Uh it wa Arizona was not on my radar until she came
this direction and suggested such.
(01:23):
But that's our oldest daughter, Jessica.
Uh tomorrow is her birthday.
And she is on an island vacation with her husband and some friends, so I will not get to celebrate with her
But uh we celebrated earlier in the week her birthday.
Um let's see, this is our youngest daughter there in the middle, uh Ashley and Alan Berth.
(01:50):
They are the ones with grandchildren.
They have three grandchildren, Michael, Joshua, and Abigail.
Michael is 13.
Joshua is 10 and Abigail is 9, and they are fun grandchildren.
Um we thought that we would be moving when we came back from Vietnam that we would live close to the grandchildren.
(02:17):
But they live in Kentucky.
It's cold there.
Cheryl wasn't too excited about living in the cold.
So we will see the grandchildren when we can.
But this is our family.
(02:38):
Jessica and Ashley are our daughters.
And uh
Hopefully, our grandchildren will get to come and visit you sometime.
I thought it was going to happen at Christmas, but now it doesn't sound like it's going to happen this Christmas.
So I'm a little disappointed by that.
(03:04):
Before we open God's word, let's have an added word of prayer.
Our gracious Heavenly Father.
I want to say thank you for being our God.
Thank you for leading us safely through another week.
Thank you for providing the Sabbath, time that you have set apart so that we can come and commune with you.
And fellowship with one another.
(03:27):
Thank you for the joy that you place inside our hearts, Lord.
It is a joy to be here in this place at this time
We ask, Lord, that you would speak to us today and that you would draw us closer to you.
We want to be able, Lord, to exemplify your character to those around us.
(03:51):
We want to be able to exemplify your character to the angels that are in heaven.
So I pray that you would do your mysterious work in our hearts, in our lives, today.
I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
(04:13):
Children's story, wasn't that nice?
Children's story talking about the holidays.
But the next biggest holiday after that is only five months and seven days away.
Are you ready for it?
Are you preparing yourself for it?
Do you have a calendar set up and you're marking off the days in preparation?
(04:34):
It's just five months and seven days away, so it's coming pretty fast.
I know people get excited about days like this.
They just love tax day
You have tax decorations.
You're already thinking about the snacks you're going to serve on tax day.
(04:56):
You're thinking about the music that you're going to sing in tax time.
You're thinking about the party that you're going to give with the figures and the numbers all like you're getting excited, just me talking about it, aren't you?
The anticipation that we have for for tax day.
I mean, how many of us love tax season?
(05:17):
And it's even more exciting, should we get a letter in the mail from the IRS that says you're going to be audited?
Eager anticipation for us to actually get to meet an IRS agent in person.
(05:38):
Oh man, we're looking forward to taking our shoebox to their office and showing them the receipts that we have.
Or maybe you're like most people.
You don't like tax season at all
In fact, ever since it's got so it's a little bit more automated, and you have to fill out the things online and you just hit submit, the excitement just drains from you.
(06:10):
There's no excitement, no anticipation.
Tax season is terrible.
And should there be an audit, you hate that even worse.
We don't want to come face to face with an IRS agent.
We don't want to talk with them.
We don't want to interact with them.
(06:32):
They are
Well, on our list, they may be on the the lower scale of our list of people that we want to associate with.
It was the same way or similar way, or maybe I should say, it was even worse at the time of Jesus
(06:53):
At the time of Jesus, when they thought about the person collecting taxes, it was lower down on the scale.
I mean, open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 9.
Matthew chapter 9 is where we're going to look at scripture today.
But this story is recorded in Matthew 9, verses 9 through 17.
(07:14):
It's also there in Mark 2:14 through 22.
Also in Luke 5, 27 through 29, similar story.
In fact, all the details are exactly the same.
It is told very succinctly.
And not a lot of details, not a lot of change in what happens or what is told in this story.
(07:38):
Regarding the tax person, though, Pastor John MacArthur, who is not just a pastor, but he's also an author.
He also was a radio personality.
Had a radio program.
He writes this about the tax collectors.
He says tax collectors were the most despised people in Israel.
(07:59):
They were hated, they were vilified by all of Jewish society.
They were deemed lower than Herodians and more worthy of scorn than the occupying Roman soldiers.
At the time of Jesus, when he walked on this earth, the tax collector was despised.
(08:28):
Ellen White, in her book on the life of Christ, entitled Desire of Ages, which by the way is stated by the Library of Congress, is the best on the life of Jesus.
She writes this way.
She says, Of the Roman officials in Palestine, none were more hated than the publicans.
(08:49):
That's tax collectors.
The fact that the taxes were imposed by a foreign power was a continual irritation to the Jews.
What's irritation mean?
Annoyance, yeah.
Being a reminder that their independence had departed.
(09:10):
And the tax gatherers were not merely instruments of Roman oppression.
They were extortioners on their own account, enriching themselves at the expense of the people.
A Jew who accepted the office at the hands of the Romans.
was looked upon as betraying the honor of his nation.
(09:30):
He was despised as an apostate and was classed with the vilest of society.
After we have looked at those words, I mean, who would aspire to be a tax collector?
It is not something that people grew up wanting to be.
(09:51):
It's not, I want to be a tax collector.
I want to be hated by everybody.
There is only one thing that might prompt a person to desire to be a tax collector.
Or maybe two things.
One is you might be good at it.
You might be good at numbers, and it's an easy profession to get into.
(10:11):
The second thing is you like the lifestyle that they have.
And you decide that you want that kind of lifestyle and you're willing to pay the price for it.
Our story today is talking about Levi Matthew.
As a tax collector.
(10:33):
You've opened your Bible to Matthew chapter 9.
These are the words that Matthew
Levi Matthew, the one we are going to be talking about, he is writing here this gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 9.
It simply says, as
Verse nine As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me.
(11:00):
So he arose and followed.
Him not much there.
I read those those words there and
I wish that Matthew had simply opened up and written a little bit more on his autobiography.
(11:24):
This would have been a nice time for him to expound a little bit, to explain a little bit more.
I mean, I have these things that Cheryl and I have gotten to the place where we call them wondering questions.
How many times had Matthew heard Jesus speak?
(11:46):
Did Matthew even know who Jesus was at this time?
Did Jesus know who Matthew was?
Before walking up to the tax office.
How was Matthew's business going?
Had it just started?
Was he in debt up to his ears?
Was he tired of having no friends?
(12:08):
Was he looking forward to the possibility of giving up this lucrative job that he had to follow an itinerant rabbi around the country?
I wonder what he was thinking that day.
(12:32):
If you read the New Testament, if you read the Gospels, you can kind of read the stories and you get a little bit of feel of
of what was going on at the time.
You kind of come to an understanding of of of of what was happening and and w what people's motivation was and and why people were making the decisions they were making.
(12:58):
And you can go back and you can kind of read into the story the things that aren't stated.
Directly, but you begin to get the feel of what's happening.
And so you can kind of put into the story what you sense is there in the story that has not been said.
(13:23):
Desire of ages continues on, writing about Levi Matthew and says
To this class belonged Levi Matthew, who, after the four disciples at Ganesareth, was the next to be called to Christ's service.
The Pharisees had judged Matthew according to his employment.
(13:46):
Oh my.
Do we do that today?
Judge people according to their employment.
We have blue-collar workers and white-collar workers.
We have people that work on the streets.
We have purp people that sit in corner offices.
(14:08):
Do we judge people according to their employment?
She goes on and says, but Jesus saw in this man a heart open for the reception of truth.
Matthew had listened to the Savior's teachings.
(14:29):
As the convicting Spirit of God revealed his sinfulness, he longed to seek help.
from Christ, but he was accustomed to the exclusiveness of the rabbis, and had no thought that this great teacher would notice him.
Matthew 9, verse 9.
(14:51):
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.
And he said to him, Follow me.
So he arose and followed him
How did it happen?
(15:14):
Wouldn't you have liked to to to see the movie of this?
To see what it was like as as Jesus left the Sea of Galilee, the calling of the fishermen, Andrew and Peter, James and John, as he was making his way down the streets of Capernaum, and how he comes to the
(15:35):
Tax collector's office.
You wonder what it was like for Matthew as he he looked up and he he he saw Jesus heading his way and
Maybe he had had heard Jesus before.
Maybe Matthew was the one that was setting over in the back of the crowd.
He didn't want to get into the crowd because every time he went out in the community, people just shunned him.
(16:00):
They had labeled him.
They wanted to be away from him.
And so he kind of sat in the back.
You know the kind of people that maybe we don't have them here.
I had a church in one place that we had people that they they seemed to know when the special music was.
(16:21):
And they would show up at special music time and come into the church.
Or they would show up when the scripture reading, or they would show up just as the pastor was getting up to preach.
And they would sit.
The furthest place from the front that they could find that was available for them, and then as soon as the pastor quit talking, they were gone.
(16:47):
I noticed this and I stationed some elders out in the lobby.
I said, we need to find out who these people are.
We need to greet them.
We need to welcome them.
We need to say thank you for coming and let them know that they had been noticed.
They were appreciated.
(17:08):
It was okay for them to show up in time for the offering.
They didn't have to put anything in, even if they were here.
We wanted to encourage them.
Maybe Matthew was was one of those people that showed up late and
And sat in the back and and left her.
(17:30):
You wonder what he knew about, you wonder what he had heard about Jesus.
Maybe he saw Jesus coming down the street, and yeah, Jesus.
Okay.
And he went back to his work and
Was not even realizing the fact that Jesus was coming directly towards his booth, his office.
(17:55):
The place where he called work, the place where he imposed taxes upon people.
But he sends seemed to sense at some point that someone was looking at him.
And he looks up and
There's Jesus.
Eyes trained upon him
(18:18):
There are Jesus' few disciples around him.
There a crowd of people that have been listening or talking with Jesus that are also looking in his direction.
As Jesus looks at Matthew and Matthew looks at Jesus, Jesus simply says, according to Scripture, in all three places.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
What's it say?
Follow me.
Or come follow me
How long did it take?
(19:02):
For Matthew to make that decision.
Was that instant?
Had he already made it?
Had he been sitting there hoping and wishing, oh man, if he called me to be one of his disciples, I would be out of here in a heartbeat?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Had he already contemplated this ahead of time?
I mean, how fast do you make decisions?
I mean, I can go, we had to buy a new vehicle when we came back from Vietnam and and we we go to the dealership.
I hate doing such things.
Despise it.
Talking to people about how much money you want to pay, trying to figure out a price and what it what are you willing to pay.
(19:50):
But even after I do that,
Even after I've had that conversation, I tell him, I'm not gonna buy it right now.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I'm gonna go home and pray about it.
And they're like, we just wasted how many hours on you?
You know what happens if you leave?
The chance of you coming back is slim.
I mean that's what they're thinking.
(20:22):
But I'm just slow
At making decisions.
I wonder how long it took for Matthew.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I don't even I mean it's not recorded here in in the scriptures.
Did they they sit down and talk about
A job application?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Benefits?
Vacation time?
What was required of being a follower of Jesus?
Am I going to be able to keep my current lifestyle?
How do I get paid?
You need my bank account for direct deposits?
I mean those things are not not recorded here
(21:20):
I'd like some more details of the conversation that went on, the dialogue that took place.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
When I read this in the scriptures,
Speaker 2 (21:31):
It says, Jesus said to him, Follow me.
And so he arose and followed him.
I mean, that was.
That was fast.
That was quick.
There must have been something about Jesus, something that was that was different.
(21:59):
You wonder what was going on in the mind of of Matthew.
Was this his opportunity?
Like like New Year's, you know, a new year, new you?
An opportunity to move across the country and do something different?
(22:20):
Change your name?
An opportunity to reinvent yourself?
Start afresh.
What was Matthew thinking
(22:41):
Jesus must have seen something different in Matthew than what the world saw
Because when the world looked at Matthew, they saw a tax collector.
They saw a traitor.
They saw someone who.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
It's basically against their country.
Someone to be repelled, someone to be ostracized, someone to be shunned.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
The text there in Samuel, the Lord looks on the heart, but man looks on the outside.
Must have been truly true there in the case of Jesus looking at Matthew.
Because Jesus said, Come, follow me.
(23:42):
And Matthew must have seen something in Jesus that caused him to.
Fall in love with Jesus.
Jesus must have had something about him and an air of acceptance, an air of
(24:04):
I love you.
I care about you.
I'm going to look after you.
I'm going to take care of you.
Because the word says that he got up and followed him.
(24:25):
Tax collectors
There are three stories in the in the Gospels about tax collectors.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
See, did I skip one there?
Oh, I thought I put another slide in there that's not there.
Okay, I'll go back to here then.
There are three stories in scripture about tax collectors.
One is found in Luke chapter 18.
We know that story as the parable Jesus told about the publican that went to the temple to pray.
(25:06):
As we read that story, as we listen to that story, the publican went to the temple to pray, and we are told that the publican was afar off.
The publican was afar off because the publican could not go into the inner court.
He had to stay in the outer court with the Gentiles and the women.
So he couldn't get close to the court.
(25:28):
To the temple.
So he was afar off.
And he's the one that prayed, God be merciful to me, a sinner
The second story about tax collectors that is recorded in the in the gospel is a is a real story, and that is when Jesus saw the
(25:49):
How do we sing about it?
We little man?
The the short man, the one that couldn't see could couldn't get close enough to truly see Jesus.
So he went and climbed up in a tree.
And how Jesus came to him and said
Zacchaeus, please calm down.
I want to go to your house and I want to eat with you.
(26:15):
And then the third story about tax collector is that of Matthew.
All three of these stories about tax collectors, they receive forgiveness
They receive acceptance.
It's like Jesus welcomes them with open arms
(26:38):
Even though society at large, no, we don't want you.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Shuns them
Jesus has a place for tax collectors
Speaker 1 (27:01):
What happens in our church?
Now when I say what happens in our church, I'm not talking about the Mesa Palms church.
I've only been here two weeks, so I don't know completely what happens here.
I mean, what happens in our churches, the Seventh-day Avenue church at large, but our church locally?
Remember, I don't know all of you, I don't know who at this point, who's a guest, who's not a guest.
(27:25):
So I may say some things that could offend you.
Don't be offended by it.
Please don't be offended by it.
What happens in our church?
I mean, I love the fact that here we have a welcoming time, and your welcoming time seems to be different than some churches.
Some churches, they're welcoming time.
(27:47):
They stand and they welcome the person on their left and the person on their right or the person in front or the person in back.
But you have a little bit longer time.
But even in that, sometimes in some churches, there are people that just they've picked out their spot purposefully.
And they just sit.
(28:09):
They may look like they're praying.
They may look like they've been asleep.
They may look like
They're not sure exactly what to do.
They're a little confused.
And we don't know what to do with them because we may go by and touch them and say, good to have you here.
But
Most places we don't talk with them, we don't sit down beside them, don't find out their name
(28:38):
The welcome is quick and short and and over.
Or I can say it at fellowship dinner time.
At fellowship dinner time.
I've seen the dinners where they're we have this group of Spanish-speaking people over here.
We have the Filipino table over here.
We have the
(28:59):
Blue-collar workers over here, we have the white-collar workers over here, or we have the black people at this table, and the white people at this table, or the the rich are up here, and the poor are here, or
You kind of I I've been to churches and I and I've seen it where we have the guests sitting at one table
(29:24):
They're all new.
And then the rest of us, we know each other, and so we're sitting with our friends, and we're getting the we haven't seen our friends in a week, and we're talking with our friends, but the guests are sitting there together, and
That's because we say, and the guests can go through line first.
And we encourage the guests to go through line first, and then they get to sit together first.
(29:48):
Instead of a church member taking them through line, sitting with them, oh, I love it when I hear the words out of a
of a member's mouth where he they say, Can you come over to my house today and eat with me?
Or would you like to go with us this afternoon?
We're going out to the river, or we're going to the park, or we're going to for a hike in the mountains.
(30:10):
Would you like to go with us?
When I hear those kind of things, I I realize that there's been a connection made.
There's that acceptance, that that warmth, that's that
inviting people in, offering that place of belonging
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Matthew got up, it says, and followed Jesus
Speaker 1 (30:51):
The next verse says, Now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
If you look at the version in Luke chapter 5, verse 29, it says that Matthew's response was, He threw a great feast.
(31:21):
And invited Jesus to come.
Jesus was the guest of honor.
But as we read all three Gospels recording, the people that were there were the tax collectors and sinners.
It wasn't the regular people of the community.
(31:43):
It was those that are are shunned.
Those that are that are outcast.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Jesus took time to go and to be with those individuals.
You wonder why did Matthew invite those people?
(32:30):
Jesus
Invited a tax collector to be his disciple
Jesus invited a tax collector to be his disciple
Did you hear those words?
(32:52):
How did those words sound when they came out of the mouth of Peter?
Speaker 1 (33:01):
A disciple of Jesus, a fellow disciple of Jesus now.
When it came out of the mouth of Peter, when he turned to his other disciples that had just been called with him, what do you think it sounded like?
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Jesus invited a tax collector to be his disciple?
Speaker 1 (33:23):
What do you think that the same sentence when the Pharisees were talking about it and when they were telling the story to their other Pharisees?
What do you think that sentence sounded like?
Speaker 2 (33:39):
And then Jesus invited a tax collector to be his disciple.
Now, that same sentence, what do you think it sounded like when it came out of the mouth of Matthew to his friends?
(34:01):
Jesus invited a tax collector to be his disciple.
And his friends are like, what?
Yeah, I'm going to be the disciple of Jesus.
Same sentence, different feelings inside
(34:25):
And Matthew decides to throw a feast for Jesus, a welcome party
I'm going to be his disciple, and this is the man that I am following.
And who comes?
(34:45):
Fellow tax collectors and sinners.
And where is Jesus
He is sitting at the table with the tax collectors and the sinners
Speaker 1 (35:07):
He is eating with them.
He is fellowshipping with them.
He's taken the opportunity and he is wondering, is there are there any others here that have an open heart?
towards the mystery of godliness.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Are there any others here that are interested in the truth
Are there any others here that are hurting and broken and lonely and need a place of belonging?
(35:50):
Yesterday
When I stood up here and practiced this sermon, I was finished
But last night, as I was looking at it, I remembered a story that I had heard years and years and years ago.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Because I felt like the the sermon was incomplete because I didn't have the a good human interest story that went along with it.
Real to life.
And I remembered a story I heard by someone who was standing on the stage, and he was sharing at a conference that I was at.
His name was Tony Campolo, sociologist, and also pastor.
(36:47):
But he tells the story about a time when he went to Hawaii for a conference.
And when he got there to Hawaii, he was on jet lag.
And he was awake early, early in the morning.
And so he didn't know what to do early, early in the morning except get up.
And so he got up and he wandered out of his hotel.
(37:10):
And he began to wander the streets of Honolulu.
And then he saw a place that was open at three o'clock in the morning.
In his words, he says it was a place that deserves the name, the Greasy Spoon.
He doesn't remember the name of it.
He says, But I was afraid to open the menu, afraid that something would crawl out.
(37:36):
There was a fat guy behind the counter.
He came over to me and he says, What do you want?
I said, I'd like a cup of coffee and a donut.
His words, he says, I sat there and sipped my coffee and ate my donut very slowly.
(37:57):
At three thirty in the morning, the door opened, and eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes
Came into the greasy spoon.
It was a small place, and they sat down on either s either side of me.
Their talk was loud and crude
(38:20):
And I felt completely out of place.
I was about to get up and depart at this time when I overheard the woman sitting beside me say,
And tomorrow's my birthday.
I'm going to be 39 years old.
Her friend responded in a rather nasty tone.
(38:43):
So what do you want me to do?
Throw you your birthday party?
Bake you a cake?
You want me to sing happy birthday to you?
The lady sitting next to Tony says, Come on, you don't have to be so mean.
I was just telling you.
And besides, I've never had a birthday party.
(39:03):
You don't have to put me down all the time.
Tony says, when I heard that, I continued sitting there.
Why should I leave at a time like this?
He sat there, sat there.
(39:24):
Finally the ladies left.
He says, then I called over the fat guy behind the counter and I asked him, Do these ladies come here every day?
He answered, yes, every day.
The one that's exat next to me.
Does she come here every night?
(39:45):
Every night, just like clockwork.
They walk through that door at 3:30 a.
m.
I heard her say that tomorrow's her birthday.
What do you say we do something about that?
What do you say, you and I throw her a birthday party tomorrow?
(40:07):
A smile went across the fat man's face.
He answered with delight, That'd be great.
I love this idea.
Honey, come out here and meet this guy.
He wants to throw Agnes a birthday party.
She comes out and she's just as bubbly as her husband.
(40:29):
And she says, that would be wonderful.
Agnes is the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful person you'd ever meet.
She is always doing good for other people.
It would be great if we could do something nice and kind for her.
Okay.
If it's okay with the two of you, I'll come back tomorrow morning at about 2:30.
(40:51):
I'll have lots of decorations.
I will decorate this place.
I'll even bring a cake.
And the fat man said, Oh no.
The cake is on me.
I'm gonna do the cake.
I'm gonna make it nice.
So the next day, 2:30 a.
m.
, Tony shows up at the diner with decorations, and he begins to hang decorations all over the diner.
(41:19):
Word has gotten out because his two accomplices were able to tell a few people, and by three o'clock, three fifteen, the diner was full.
Of street life people.
Tony says, I was very uncomfortable.
(41:43):
I've never been around so many prostitutes before.
At 3:30 a.
m.
on the dot, the door of the diner swung open.
In came Agnes and her friend.
I had everybody ready because Tony says evidently I was the MC for this event.
He says, I had every everyone ready, and the moment she came in, we began to scream, Happy Birthday!
(42:11):
And we began to sing, Happy Birthday, dear Agnes.
And her legs went weak.
Her friend had to hold her up.
Help her to get over to the stool of the counter, set her down, and as they finish the song, Happy Birthday to You
(42:36):
The fat man came around the corner carrying the cake.
The candles were lit.
Agnes, blow out the candles Blow out the candles She was crying
Agnes, blow out the candles.
If you don't blow out the candles, I'm gonna have to help you.
(42:57):
Agnes, blow out the candles.
Agnes couldn't blow out the candles, and so
With a little help, the candles went out.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
The cake was set on the counter
Agnes, cut the cake.
We want to celebrate your birthday with you
She was crying.
Agnes, cut the cake.
We'd like to celebrate.
Speaker 1 (43:28):
The words began to come out of her mouth
Um, would it be okay if if we don't eat the cake right now?
What do you mean, would it be okay not to eat?
We I I baked the cake so that we could celebrate your birthday with you.
But if you don't want to eat it right now, we don't have to eat it now.
(43:50):
She said, would it be okay if if
I just live a few doors down.
Would it be okay if I I've never had a birthday cake before.
Can I take the birthday cake to my house?
I'll just take it right down to my house.
I I want to keep it and and and and I'll be back in just a few minutes.
Would that be all right?
Speaker 2 (44:10):
They didn't know what to say except Yeah, that'll be okay.
So she she picked up the cake and went out the door and there was silence in the diner.
Tony says, I didn't know what to do with the silence.
(44:34):
And so I said, let us pray.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
He says, and so I prayed for Agnes.
I prayed that God would bless her.
I prayed that God would lead her in her life.
I prayed that God would would give her this community to encourage her and to support her.
I pray that the Holy Spirit would change her life and to make her what the Holy Spirit wanted her to be.
(45:06):
And then I said, Amen.
And the fat guy looked at me and he said, You didn't tell me you're a preacher.
What kind of church are you a preacher from?
Tony says, and the Holy Spirit inspired me right then with these next words.
(45:33):
From the kind of church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3 30 in the morning.
And the fat guy said, there is no church like that, because if there was a church like that, I'd go to a church like that.
And so I know there is no church like that.
(45:59):
Matthew Chapter Nine
Verse eleven at the end of it it says, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
When Jesus heard that, he said to them, Those that are well have no need of a physician
(46:24):
But those who are sick, but go and learn what this means.
I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous.
but sinners to repentance.
(46:46):
Are we listening
Do we hear?
Do we see?
Do we understand?
I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners
(47:12):
To repentance, a place of belonging for a traitor
Happy Sabbath to you.
I thought I would introduce you to uh my family a little bit.
This is my eldest daughter, Jessica.
She is married to Jason.
Their last name is Warren.
Some of you may know the Warren name.
(00:20):
Uh Jay Warren worked here in the Arizona Conference for many years.
Our daughter Jessica and Jason just moved back to the Phoenix area.
Uh five months in May, whatever that was.
Six months ago.
(00:40):
And uh after she was coming this way, she said, Dad, why don't you send a resume here?
Come live close to me.
She's never asked us to do something like that before.
She is the one that was independent all her life.
And when she suggested it, we said.
Maybe God wants us to move that direction.
(01:02):
So we sent a resume this direction.
And uh
So you can blame her or curse her or say thank you to her for such a suggestion.
Uh it wa Arizona was not on my radar until she came
this direction and suggested such.
(01:23):
But that's our oldest daughter, Jessica.
Uh tomorrow is her birthday.
And she is on an island vacation with her husband and some friends, so I will not get to celebrate with her
But uh we celebrated earlier in the week her birthday.
Um let's see, this is our youngest daughter there in the middle, uh Ashley and Alan Berth.
(01:50):
They are the ones with grandchildren.
They have three grandchildren, Michael, Joshua, and Abigail.
Michael is 13.
Joshua is 10 and Abigail is 9, and they are fun grandchildren.
Um we thought that we would be moving when we came back from Vietnam that we would live close to the grandchildren.
(02:17):
But they live in Kentucky.
It's cold there.
Cheryl wasn't too excited about living in the cold.
So we will see the grandchildren when we can.
But this is our family.
(02:38):
Jessica and Ashley are our daughters.
And uh
Hopefully, our grandchildren will get to come and visit you sometime.
I thought it was going to happen at Christmas, but now it doesn't sound like it's going to happen this Christmas.
So I'm a little disappointed by that.
(03:04):
Before we open God's word, let's have an added word of prayer.
Our gracious Heavenly Father.
I want to say thank you for being our God.
Thank you for leading us safely through another week.
Thank you for providing the Sabbath, time that you have set apart so that we can come and commune with you.
And fellowship with one another.
(03:27):
Thank you for the joy that you place inside our hearts, Lord.
It is a joy to be here in this place at this time
We ask, Lord, that you would speak to us today and that you would draw us closer to you.
We want to be able, Lord, to exemplify your character to those around us.
(03:51):
We want to be able to exemplify your character to the angels that are in heaven.
So I pray that you would do your mysterious work in our hearts, in our lives, today.
I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
(04:13):
Children's story, wasn't that nice?
Children's story talking about the holidays.
But the next biggest holiday after that is only five months and seven days away.
Are you ready for it?
Are you preparing yourself for it?
Do you have a calendar set up and you're marking off the days in preparation?
(04:34):
It's just five months and seven days away, so it's coming pretty fast.
I know people get excited about days like this.
They just love tax day
You have tax decorations.
You're already thinking about the snacks you're going to serve on tax day.
(04:56):
You're thinking about the music that you're going to sing in tax time.
You're thinking about the party that you're going to give with the figures and the numbers all like you're getting excited, just me talking about it, aren't you?
The anticipation that we have for for tax day.
I mean, how many of us love tax season?
(05:17):
And it's even more exciting, should we get a letter in the mail from the IRS that says you're going to be audited?
Eager anticipation for us to actually get to meet an IRS agent in person.
(05:38):
Oh man, we're looking forward to taking our shoebox to their office and showing them the receipts that we have.
Or maybe you're like most people.
You don't like tax season at all
In fact, ever since it's got so it's a little bit more automated, and you have to fill out the things online and you just hit submit, the excitement just drains from you.
(06:10):
There's no excitement, no anticipation.
Tax season is terrible.
And should there be an audit, you hate that even worse.
We don't want to come face to face with an IRS agent.
We don't want to talk with them.
We don't want to interact with them.
(06:32):
They are
Well, on our list, they may be on the the lower scale of our list of people that we want to associate with.
It was the same way or similar way, or maybe I should say, it was even worse at the time of Jesus
(06:53):
At the time of Jesus, when they thought about the person collecting taxes, it was lower down on the scale.
I mean, open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 9.
Matthew chapter 9 is where we're going to look at scripture today.
But this story is recorded in Matthew 9, verses 9 through 17.
(07:14):
It's also there in Mark 2:14 through 22.
Also in Luke 5, 27 through 29, similar story.
In fact, all the details are exactly the same.
It is told very succinctly.
And not a lot of details, not a lot of change in what happens or what is told in this story.
(07:38):
Regarding the tax person, though, Pastor John MacArthur, who is not just a pastor, but he's also an author.
He also was a radio personality.
Had a radio program.
He writes this about the tax collectors.
He says tax collectors were the most despised people in Israel.
(07:59):
They were hated, they were vilified by all of Jewish society.
They were deemed lower than Herodians and more worthy of scorn than the occupying Roman soldiers.
At the time of Jesus, when he walked on this earth, the tax collector was despised.
(08:28):
Ellen White, in her book on the life of Christ, entitled Desire of Ages, which by the way is stated by the Library of Congress, is the best on the life of Jesus.
She writes this way.
She says, Of the Roman officials in Palestine, none were more hated than the publicans.
(08:49):
That's tax collectors.
The fact that the taxes were imposed by a foreign power was a continual irritation to the Jews.
What's irritation mean?
Annoyance, yeah.
Being a reminder that their independence had departed.
(09:10):
And the tax gatherers were not merely instruments of Roman oppression.
They were extortioners on their own account, enriching themselves at the expense of the people.
A Jew who accepted the office at the hands of the Romans.
was looked upon as betraying the honor of his nation.
(09:30):
He was despised as an apostate and was classed with the vilest of society.
After we have looked at those words, I mean, who would aspire to be a tax collector?
It is not something that people grew up wanting to be.
(09:51):
It's not, I want to be a tax collector.
I want to be hated by everybody.
There is only one thing that might prompt a person to desire to be a tax collector.
Or maybe two things.
One is you might be good at it.
You might be good at numbers, and it's an easy profession to get into.
(10:11):
The second thing is you like the lifestyle that they have.
And you decide that you want that kind of lifestyle and you're willing to pay the price for it.
Our story today is talking about Levi Matthew.
As a tax collector.
(10:33):
You've opened your Bible to Matthew chapter 9.
These are the words that Matthew
Levi Matthew, the one we are going to be talking about, he is writing here this gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 9.
It simply says, as
Verse nine As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me.
(11:00):
So he arose and followed.
Him not much there.
I read those those words there and
I wish that Matthew had simply opened up and written a little bit more on his autobiography.
(11:24):
This would have been a nice time for him to expound a little bit, to explain a little bit more.
I mean, I have these things that Cheryl and I have gotten to the place where we call them wondering questions.
How many times had Matthew heard Jesus speak?
(11:46):
Did Matthew even know who Jesus was at this time?
Did Jesus know who Matthew was?
Before walking up to the tax office.
How was Matthew's business going?
Had it just started?
Was he in debt up to his ears?
Was he tired of having no friends?
(12:08):
Was he looking forward to the possibility of giving up this lucrative job that he had to follow an itinerant rabbi around the country?
I wonder what he was thinking that day.
(12:32):
If you read the New Testament, if you read the Gospels, you can kind of read the stories and you get a little bit of feel of
of what was going on at the time.
You kind of come to an understanding of of of of what was happening and and w what people's motivation was and and why people were making the decisions they were making.
(12:58):
And you can go back and you can kind of read into the story the things that aren't stated.
Directly, but you begin to get the feel of what's happening.
And so you can kind of put into the story what you sense is there in the story that has not been said.
(13:23):
Desire of ages continues on, writing about Levi Matthew and says
To this class belonged Levi Matthew, who, after the four disciples at Ganesareth, was the next to be called to Christ's service.
The Pharisees had judged Matthew according to his employment.
(13:46):
Oh my.
Do we do that today?
Judge people according to their employment.
We have blue-collar workers and white-collar workers.
We have people that work on the streets.
We have purp people that sit in corner offices.
(14:08):
Do we judge people according to their employment?
She goes on and says, but Jesus saw in this man a heart open for the reception of truth.
Matthew had listened to the Savior's teachings.
(14:29):
As the convicting Spirit of God revealed his sinfulness, he longed to seek help.
from Christ, but he was accustomed to the exclusiveness of the rabbis, and had no thought that this great teacher would notice him.
Matthew 9, verse 9.
(14:51):
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.
And he said to him, Follow me.
So he arose and followed him
How did it happen?
(15:14):
Wouldn't you have liked to to to see the movie of this?
To see what it was like as as Jesus left the Sea of Galilee, the calling of the fishermen, Andrew and Peter, James and John, as he was making his way down the streets of Capernaum, and how he comes to the
(15:35):
Tax collector's office.
You wonder what it was like for Matthew as he he looked up and he he he saw Jesus heading his way and
Maybe he had had heard Jesus before.
Maybe Matthew was the one that was setting over in the back of the crowd.
He didn't want to get into the crowd because every time he went out in the community, people just shunned him.
(16:00):
They had labeled him.
They wanted to be away from him.
And so he kind of sat in the back.
You know the kind of people that maybe we don't have them here.
I had a church in one place that we had people that they they seemed to know when the special music was.
(16:21):
And they would show up at special music time and come into the church.
Or they would show up when the scripture reading, or they would show up just as the pastor was getting up to preach.
And they would sit.
The furthest place from the front that they could find that was available for them, and then as soon as the pastor quit talking, they were gone.
(16:47):
I noticed this and I stationed some elders out in the lobby.
I said, we need to find out who these people are.
We need to greet them.
We need to welcome them.
We need to say thank you for coming and let them know that they had been noticed.
They were appreciated.
(17:08):
It was okay for them to show up in time for the offering.
They didn't have to put anything in, even if they were here.
We wanted to encourage them.
Maybe Matthew was was one of those people that showed up late and
And sat in the back and and left her.
(17:30):
You wonder what he knew about, you wonder what he had heard about Jesus.
Maybe he saw Jesus coming down the street, and yeah, Jesus.
Okay.
And he went back to his work and
Was not even realizing the fact that Jesus was coming directly towards his booth, his office.
(17:55):
The place where he called work, the place where he imposed taxes upon people.
But he sends seemed to sense at some point that someone was looking at him.
And he looks up and
There's Jesus.
Eyes trained upon him
(18:18):
There are Jesus' few disciples around him.
There a crowd of people that have been listening or talking with Jesus that are also looking in his direction.
As Jesus looks at Matthew and Matthew looks at Jesus, Jesus simply says, according to Scripture, in all three places.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
What's it say?
Follow me.
Or come follow me
How long did it take?
(19:02):
For Matthew to make that decision.
Was that instant?
Had he already made it?
Had he been sitting there hoping and wishing, oh man, if he called me to be one of his disciples, I would be out of here in a heartbeat?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Had he already contemplated this ahead of time?
I mean, how fast do you make decisions?
I mean, I can go, we had to buy a new vehicle when we came back from Vietnam and and we we go to the dealership.
I hate doing such things.
Despise it.
Talking to people about how much money you want to pay, trying to figure out a price and what it what are you willing to pay.
(19:50):
But even after I do that,
Even after I've had that conversation, I tell him, I'm not gonna buy it right now.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I'm gonna go home and pray about it.
And they're like, we just wasted how many hours on you?
You know what happens if you leave?
The chance of you coming back is slim.
I mean that's what they're thinking.
(20:22):
But I'm just slow
At making decisions.
I wonder how long it took for Matthew.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I don't even I mean it's not recorded here in in the scriptures.
Did they they sit down and talk about
A job application?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Benefits?
Vacation time?
What was required of being a follower of Jesus?
Am I going to be able to keep my current lifestyle?
How do I get paid?
You need my bank account for direct deposits?
I mean those things are not not recorded here
(21:20):
I'd like some more details of the conversation that went on, the dialogue that took place.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
When I read this in the scriptures,
Speaker 2 (21:31):
It says, Jesus said to him, Follow me.
And so he arose and followed him.
I mean, that was.
That was fast.
That was quick.
There must have been something about Jesus, something that was that was different.
(21:59):
You wonder what was going on in the mind of of Matthew.
Was this his opportunity?
Like like New Year's, you know, a new year, new you?
An opportunity to move across the country and do something different?
(22:20):
Change your name?
An opportunity to reinvent yourself?
Start afresh.
What was Matthew thinking
(22:41):
Jesus must have seen something different in Matthew than what the world saw
Because when the world looked at Matthew, they saw a tax collector.
They saw a traitor.
They saw someone who.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
It's basically against their country.
Someone to be repelled, someone to be ostracized, someone to be shunned.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
The text there in Samuel, the Lord looks on the heart, but man looks on the outside.
Must have been truly true there in the case of Jesus looking at Matthew.
Because Jesus said, Come, follow me.
(23:42):
And Matthew must have seen something in Jesus that caused him to.
Fall in love with Jesus.
Jesus must have had something about him and an air of acceptance, an air of
(24:04):
I love you.
I care about you.
I'm going to look after you.
I'm going to take care of you.
Because the word says that he got up and followed him.
(24:25):
Tax collectors
There are three stories in the in the Gospels about tax collectors.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
See, did I skip one there?
Oh, I thought I put another slide in there that's not there.
Okay, I'll go back to here then.
There are three stories in scripture about tax collectors.
One is found in Luke chapter 18.
We know that story as the parable Jesus told about the publican that went to the temple to pray.
(25:06):
As we read that story, as we listen to that story, the publican went to the temple to pray, and we are told that the publican was afar off.
The publican was afar off because the publican could not go into the inner court.
He had to stay in the outer court with the Gentiles and the women.
So he couldn't get close to the court.
(25:28):
To the temple.
So he was afar off.
And he's the one that prayed, God be merciful to me, a sinner
The second story about tax collectors that is recorded in the in the gospel is a is a real story, and that is when Jesus saw the
(25:49):
How do we sing about it?
We little man?
The the short man, the one that couldn't see could couldn't get close enough to truly see Jesus.
So he went and climbed up in a tree.
And how Jesus came to him and said
Zacchaeus, please calm down.
I want to go to your house and I want to eat with you.
(26:15):
And then the third story about tax collector is that of Matthew.
All three of these stories about tax collectors, they receive forgiveness
They receive acceptance.
It's like Jesus welcomes them with open arms
(26:38):
Even though society at large, no, we don't want you.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Shuns them
Jesus has a place for tax collectors
Speaker 1 (27:01):
What happens in our church?
Now when I say what happens in our church, I'm not talking about the Mesa Palms church.
I've only been here two weeks, so I don't know completely what happens here.
I mean, what happens in our churches, the Seventh-day Avenue church at large, but our church locally?
Remember, I don't know all of you, I don't know who at this point, who's a guest, who's not a guest.
(27:25):
So I may say some things that could offend you.
Don't be offended by it.
Please don't be offended by it.
What happens in our church?
I mean, I love the fact that here we have a welcoming time, and your welcoming time seems to be different than some churches.
Some churches, they're welcoming time.
(27:47):
They stand and they welcome the person on their left and the person on their right or the person in front or the person in back.
But you have a little bit longer time.
But even in that, sometimes in some churches, there are people that just they've picked out their spot purposefully.
And they just sit.
(28:09):
They may look like they're praying.
They may look like they've been asleep.
They may look like
They're not sure exactly what to do.
They're a little confused.
And we don't know what to do with them because we may go by and touch them and say, good to have you here.
But
Most places we don't talk with them, we don't sit down beside them, don't find out their name
(28:38):
The welcome is quick and short and and over.
Or I can say it at fellowship dinner time.
At fellowship dinner time.
I've seen the dinners where they're we have this group of Spanish-speaking people over here.
We have the Filipino table over here.
We have the
(28:59):
Blue-collar workers over here, we have the white-collar workers over here, or we have the black people at this table, and the white people at this table, or the the rich are up here, and the poor are here, or
You kind of I I've been to churches and I and I've seen it where we have the guests sitting at one table
(29:24):
They're all new.
And then the rest of us, we know each other, and so we're sitting with our friends, and we're getting the we haven't seen our friends in a week, and we're talking with our friends, but the guests are sitting there together, and
That's because we say, and the guests can go through line first.
And we encourage the guests to go through line first, and then they get to sit together first.
(29:48):
Instead of a church member taking them through line, sitting with them, oh, I love it when I hear the words out of a
of a member's mouth where he they say, Can you come over to my house today and eat with me?
Or would you like to go with us this afternoon?
We're going out to the river, or we're going to the park, or we're going to for a hike in the mountains.
(30:10):
Would you like to go with us?
When I hear those kind of things, I I realize that there's been a connection made.
There's that acceptance, that that warmth, that's that
inviting people in, offering that place of belonging
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Matthew got up, it says, and followed Jesus
Speaker 1 (30:51):
The next verse says, Now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
If you look at the version in Luke chapter 5, verse 29, it says that Matthew's response was, He threw a great feast.
(31:21):
And invited Jesus to come.
Jesus was the guest of honor.
But as we read all three Gospels recording, the people that were there were the tax collectors and sinners.
It wasn't the regular people of the community.
(31:43):
It was those that are are shunned.
Those that are that are outcast.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Jesus took time to go and to be with those individuals.
You wonder why did Matthew invite those people?
(32:30):
Jesus
Invited a tax collector to be his disciple
Jesus invited a tax collector to be his disciple
Did you hear those words?
(32:52):
How did those words sound when they came out of the mouth of Peter?
Speaker 1 (33:01):
A disciple of Jesus, a fellow disciple of Jesus now.
When it came out of the mouth of Peter, when he turned to his other disciples that had just been called with him, what do you think it sounded like?
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Jesus invited a tax collector to be his disciple?
Speaker 1 (33:23):
What do you think that the same sentence when the Pharisees were talking about it and when they were telling the story to their other Pharisees?
What do you think that sentence sounded like?
Speaker 2 (33:39):
And then Jesus invited a tax collector to be his disciple.
Now, that same sentence, what do you think it sounded like when it came out of the mouth of Matthew to his friends?
(34:01):
Jesus invited a tax collector to be his disciple.
And his friends are like, what?
Yeah, I'm going to be the disciple of Jesus.
Same sentence, different feelings inside
(34:25):
And Matthew decides to throw a feast for Jesus, a welcome party
I'm going to be his disciple, and this is the man that I am following.
And who comes?
(34:45):
Fellow tax collectors and sinners.
And where is Jesus
He is sitting at the table with the tax collectors and the sinners
Speaker 1 (35:07):
He is eating with them.
He is fellowshipping with them.
He's taken the opportunity and he is wondering, is there are there any others here that have an open heart?
towards the mystery of godliness.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Are there any others here that are interested in the truth
Are there any others here that are hurting and broken and lonely and need a place of belonging?
(35:50):
Yesterday
When I stood up here and practiced this sermon, I was finished
But last night, as I was looking at it, I remembered a story that I had heard years and years and years ago.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Because I felt like the the sermon was incomplete because I didn't have the a good human interest story that went along with it.
Real to life.
And I remembered a story I heard by someone who was standing on the stage, and he was sharing at a conference that I was at.
His name was Tony Campolo, sociologist, and also pastor.
(36:47):
But he tells the story about a time when he went to Hawaii for a conference.
And when he got there to Hawaii, he was on jet lag.
And he was awake early, early in the morning.
And so he didn't know what to do early, early in the morning except get up.
And so he got up and he wandered out of his hotel.
(37:10):
And he began to wander the streets of Honolulu.
And then he saw a place that was open at three o'clock in the morning.
In his words, he says it was a place that deserves the name, the Greasy Spoon.
He doesn't remember the name of it.
He says, But I was afraid to open the menu, afraid that something would crawl out.
(37:36):
There was a fat guy behind the counter.
He came over to me and he says, What do you want?
I said, I'd like a cup of coffee and a donut.
His words, he says, I sat there and sipped my coffee and ate my donut very slowly.
(37:57):
At three thirty in the morning, the door opened, and eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes
Came into the greasy spoon.
It was a small place, and they sat down on either s either side of me.
Their talk was loud and crude
(38:20):
And I felt completely out of place.
I was about to get up and depart at this time when I overheard the woman sitting beside me say,
And tomorrow's my birthday.
I'm going to be 39 years old.
Her friend responded in a rather nasty tone.
(38:43):
So what do you want me to do?
Throw you your birthday party?
Bake you a cake?
You want me to sing happy birthday to you?
The lady sitting next to Tony says, Come on, you don't have to be so mean.
I was just telling you.
And besides, I've never had a birthday party.
(39:03):
You don't have to put me down all the time.
Tony says, when I heard that, I continued sitting there.
Why should I leave at a time like this?
He sat there, sat there.
(39:24):
Finally the ladies left.
He says, then I called over the fat guy behind the counter and I asked him, Do these ladies come here every day?
He answered, yes, every day.
The one that's exat next to me.
Does she come here every night?
(39:45):
Every night, just like clockwork.
They walk through that door at 3:30 a.
m.
I heard her say that tomorrow's her birthday.
What do you say we do something about that?
What do you say, you and I throw her a birthday party tomorrow?
(40:07):
A smile went across the fat man's face.
He answered with delight, That'd be great.
I love this idea.
Honey, come out here and meet this guy.
He wants to throw Agnes a birthday party.
She comes out and she's just as bubbly as her husband.
(40:29):
And she says, that would be wonderful.
Agnes is the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful person you'd ever meet.
She is always doing good for other people.
It would be great if we could do something nice and kind for her.
Okay.
If it's okay with the two of you, I'll come back tomorrow morning at about 2:30.
(40:51):
I'll have lots of decorations.
I will decorate this place.
I'll even bring a cake.
And the fat man said, Oh no.
The cake is on me.
I'm gonna do the cake.
I'm gonna make it nice.
So the next day, 2:30 a.
m.
, Tony shows up at the diner with decorations, and he begins to hang decorations all over the diner.
(41:19):
Word has gotten out because his two accomplices were able to tell a few people, and by three o'clock, three fifteen, the diner was full.
Of street life people.
Tony says, I was very uncomfortable.
(41:43):
I've never been around so many prostitutes before.
At 3:30 a.
m.
on the dot, the door of the diner swung open.
In came Agnes and her friend.
I had everybody ready because Tony says evidently I was the MC for this event.
He says, I had every everyone ready, and the moment she came in, we began to scream, Happy Birthday!
(42:11):
And we began to sing, Happy Birthday, dear Agnes.
And her legs went weak.
Her friend had to hold her up.
Help her to get over to the stool of the counter, set her down, and as they finish the song, Happy Birthday to You
(42:36):
The fat man came around the corner carrying the cake.
The candles were lit.
Agnes, blow out the candles Blow out the candles She was crying
Agnes, blow out the candles.
If you don't blow out the candles, I'm gonna have to help you.
(42:57):
Agnes, blow out the candles.
Agnes couldn't blow out the candles, and so
With a little help, the candles went out.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
The cake was set on the counter
Agnes, cut the cake.
We want to celebrate your birthday with you
She was crying.
Agnes, cut the cake.
We'd like to celebrate.
Speaker 1 (43:28):
The words began to come out of her mouth
Um, would it be okay if if we don't eat the cake right now?
What do you mean, would it be okay not to eat?
We I I baked the cake so that we could celebrate your birthday with you.
But if you don't want to eat it right now, we don't have to eat it now.
(43:50):
She said, would it be okay if if
I just live a few doors down.
Would it be okay if I I've never had a birthday cake before.
Can I take the birthday cake to my house?
I'll just take it right down to my house.
I I want to keep it and and and and I'll be back in just a few minutes.
Would that be all right?
Speaker 2 (44:10):
They didn't know what to say except Yeah, that'll be okay.
So she she picked up the cake and went out the door and there was silence in the diner.
Tony says, I didn't know what to do with the silence.
(44:34):
And so I said, let us pray.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
He says, and so I prayed for Agnes.
I prayed that God would bless her.
I prayed that God would lead her in her life.
I prayed that God would would give her this community to encourage her and to support her.
I pray that the Holy Spirit would change her life and to make her what the Holy Spirit wanted her to be.
(45:06):
And then I said, Amen.
And the fat guy looked at me and he said, You didn't tell me you're a preacher.
What kind of church are you a preacher from?
Tony says, and the Holy Spirit inspired me right then with these next words.
(45:33):
From the kind of church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3 30 in the morning.
And the fat guy said, there is no church like that, because if there was a church like that, I'd go to a church like that.
And so I know there is no church like that.
(45:59):
Matthew Chapter Nine
Verse eleven at the end of it it says, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
When Jesus heard that, he said to them, Those that are well have no need of a physician
(46:24):
But those who are sick, but go and learn what this means.
I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous.
but sinners to repentance.
(46:46):
Are we listening
Do we hear?
Do we see?
Do we understand?
I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners
(47:12):
To repentance, a place of belonging for a traitor
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