Hello saints,
Today, let’s learn from Matthew’s hospitality towards those around him:
And it happened that as He was reclining at the table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him.
— Mark 2:15
After Matthew was called by Jesus, he was so excited that he went out and invited all his friends. Read more about this in the Gospel of Luke:
And it happened that as He was reclining at the table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him.
— Mark 2:15
Immediately, we see Matthew’s amazing reaction to being called by Jesus. He wasn’t shy about it. He didn’t hide Jesus away from others. Instead, he openly proclaimed his devotion to his new Master and invited everyone to a reception for Jesus.
This is an important lesson for believers. Sometimes, believers can be reluctant to acknowledge Jesus when their reputation is at stake. Rather than proclaiming Jesus and inviting others to see Him in their lives, some professing Christians prefer to avoid any conflict or situation that could harm their social image.
Today, we see many Christians who are more vocal about their political parties, favorite sports teams, celebrities, or financial gurus than they are about being identified as followers of Christ. This is a sad reality. When it comes to sharing the Gospel, some are more eager to talk about the products they sell, their favorite movies, or sports, before they would share about Jesus.
On top of that, there are many excuses to justify this reluctance. Many Christians claim that sharing their faith with friends or acquaintances is an invasion of privacy. They justify this by saying that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. However, this attitude goes against what Christians are called to do:
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
— Matthew 28:19
The clear instruction from Jesus is to go out and share the Good News with the world. This is exactly what Matthew did immediately after being called by Jesus. He understood how sweet the love of his Lord was and how precious salvation is, and he couldn’t wait to share it with everyone around him.
As Matthew was an unbeliever, it’s clear that his circle of friends consisted mostly of unbelievers. Mark tells us that the group invited to the reception was primarily composed of sinners and tax collectors. This was the kind of crowd Matthew kept company with, and it was also the same kind of crowd Jesus came to save. Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
Sometimes we imagine that we are called to minister to a special group of people. However, we see that the birth of the Church was strategically structured around the people who were already in the lives of those who were called. Instead of moving to another city, Matthew directly reached out to those around him who needed to hear the truth.
The same applies to us. We should not assume that the people we are called to evangelize to are far from our immediate vicinity. We should first and foremost reach out to those closest to us who have not yet received the message of truth—our immediate family members, closest friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. These are the people we are called to reach.
In this text, we see that Matthew’s hospitality was a key aspect of his evangelism. The same can be true for us. Let us be hospitable to those around us, with the purpose of spreading the Gospel.
Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
— 1 Peter 4:9
I pray that we can learn from the ways of the apostle Levi and take a step toward reaching out to those around us through hospitality and gentleness.
May the love of God fill your hearts.
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