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Sermon Title: The Day Grace Came to My Table

Big Idea: The grace of Jesus isn’t reserved for the worthy, it’s extended to the undeserving. Matthew’s story reminds us that when grace shows up, it changes your seat, your story, and your view of others.

I. Grace Finds You Where You Are

“He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth...” (v.9)

• Jesus sees Matthew in his sin, not after he cleans up.
• Grace is the unmerited favor of God. His loving initiative to reach out, forgive, and restore sinners, not because of their worthiness, but because of His own mercy and purpose. 
• Tax collectors were sellouts profiting off their own people under Roman rule.
• But grace doesn’t wait at the temple it walks into your workplace.
• Punchline: “Jesus didn’t die for the cleaned-up version of you.”

II. Grace Doesn’t Just Forgive You. It Repositions You
“Follow me. And he rose and followed him.” (v.9)

• “Follow Me” isn’t just about direction… it’s about identity.
• In one moment, Matthew goes from collecting for Caesar to walking with Christ.
• He left the table of the empire for the table of the Kingdom.

The call wasn’t conditional. It was catalytic.

Forgiveness that doesn’t lead to transformation or discipleship is “cheap grace.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship…

Cheap grace is:

“Grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” – Bonhoeffer

• It desires forgiveness without repentance.
• It seeks comfort without conviction.
• It tells people they’re “saved” but doesn’t call them to follow.

Costly grace is:

“Is the gospel which must be sought again and again… It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”

• It begins with forgiveness, but moves into transformation.
• It involves denying self…taking up the cross and actually following like Matthew did. 

"The grace that calls you will also move you."

III. Grace Makes Space for the Unlikely

“As Jesus reclined at table… many tax collectors and sinners came…” (v.10)

• Matthew didn’t just follow, he hosted.
• He throws a party for people like him because grace throws open the doors.
• Jesus didn’t just “allow” these people in. He was comfortable with them. 

Reclining was intimate, not formal

In first-century Jewish culture:

• To recline at the table wasn’t casual. It was communal.
• It symbolized acceptance, peace, and friendship (not just tolerance).
• You didn’t recline with people you found unclean, awkward, or beneath you.

This is not condoning the sin! It means he loves you so much, that he will get in it to lead you out of it. 

The Pharisees were confused because grace disrupts religious gatekeeping.

IV. Grace Rebukes the Self-Righteous and Heals the Sick
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick...” (v.12)
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice...” (v.13)

• Jesus flips the Pharisees' critique into a classroom.
• They know the scriptures, but they don’t know the heart of God.
• Grace is not just about forgiveness; it’s about healing, restoring, and rewiring the soul.

Tim Keller: “The gospel is not for the morally upright. It’s for those who finally admit they’re not.”

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May you be covered in His dust.