When You Feel Rejected (how God calls you His own) | Season 8 Ep 4

Have you ever felt like an outsider? Unwelcome, judged, or defined by your worst mistakes? If so, Matthew's story will resonate deeply with your spirit.

Matthew the tax collector occupied one of the most despised positions in Jewish society. Tax collectors weren't just disliked—they were viewed as traitors who collaborated with Roman oppressors while often exploiting their own people for personal gain. They lived in a painful limbo: rejected by their community yet still not accepted by their Roman employers. Matthew's life was defined by this tension, sitting daily in his tax collector's booth as a visible symbol of his outcast status.

The revolutionary moment comes when Jesus walks by this booth and utters just two words: "Follow me." No prerequisites. Just a pure invitation extended to someone society had written off. This shocking call becomes even more radical when Matthew hosts Jesus for dinner, surrounding Him with other tax collectors and "disreputable sinners.

This episode unpacks why Jesus specifically chose outcasts like Matthew, how immediate acceptance precedes transformation, and the powerful invitation extended to each of us to both receive and extend mercy.

Whether you've felt like an outcast or been guilty of casting others out, Matthew's story reveals how the kingdom of God operates with a radically different value system than our status-obsessed world. Join us as we discover what it truly means to follow the One who sees beyond our labels to the divine gift within each of us.

Transcript

Grab the Faith Introduction

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey all , thank you for joining us here at Grab the Faith , where we try to grab the faith and run with it . Join us as we try to learn a little more , grow a little more and live a lot more . I'm your host , bobbi Gentry Goodwin . Stay tuned for this week's episode . Good evening , and thank you for joining me for this Friday Night Live , for this Friday Night Live as we try to study this Bible once again , get into this Word of God . You know , many people have set New Year's resolutions way back in January saying they're going to study more , they're going to read the Bible more , they're going to go to church , saying they're going to study more , they're going to read the Bible more , they're going to go to church , they're going to give more , they're going to do all of these things . Well , if you're here joining me , I hope that that's the culmination of your resolution that you started off in January and you're here with me in June , halfway through the year . We are still trying to study this Bible . Now , listen , I'm excited about this lesson tonight and listen , we are going to be studying another disciple . Tonight we are diving back into our disciple study and tonight we got a doozy because we're trying to be faithful to what we said we want to do , but we also can learn from God's faithfulness through his word , and so as we study the characters of these disciples , we get to see their transition . So many times they start off one way and they end up another way . And listen , as I have walked in this faith for a long period of time , I have started one way and boy do I want to end up another way . So , you know , as I said in January and I thought about what I wanted this year to look like , some things have come to fruition , but some have not . But I am excited because we've been studying , we've been learning and praise the Lord . It is my hope that we have been growing , so hopefully , you carrying out some of those goals that you set in January . You know , I have two words that's on my desk One is truth and one is service . I got those words at the very beginning of the year just to guide me , just to give me a point , a focal point , so I can start off my year and end my year with the same intention . So my intention was truth and my intention was service , and I hope you had an intention for the year . But listen , sometimes I found throughout this , this journey , here we are in June and I have struggled with that . I have struggled sometimes with truth and I have struggled sometimes with service . I've struggled with both a time or two . But tonight , with our disciple study , we learn a lot about his struggles . Who is this disciple right ? Who is this disciple we studying tonight ? Who is this disciple we're studying tonight ?

Speaker 1 3:06

Matthew the tax collector . Matthew means gift of God , so tonight we're going to learn how this tax collector ended up being a gift of God . And in some of the other gospels they call him Levi , but we will be calling him Matthew tonight . He is our 10th disciple in our disciple study . We have studied nine other disciples , okay , so we're now on number 10 . What we at number 10 . And so , if you missed any of those disciple studies , go on back in podcast and learn about Judas , learn about Peter , learn about the disciples of God . But tonight , who we on y'all ? We are on Matthew . So if you have your Bibles , go on and grab them . As we couch in the book of Matthew , chapter nine , verses nine through 13 . I'm going to give you a second . Get that Bible .

Speaker 1 4:06

Matthew , chapter nine , verses nine through 13 , which says this , and I'm reading from the new living translation Okay , and the word of God says this . As Jesus was walking along , he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth . Follow me and be my disciple , jesus , said to him . So Matthew got up and followed him . Later , matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests , along with many tax collectors and other disreputable mean sinners . But when the Pharisees saw this , they asked his disciples why does your teacher eat with such scum ? Ooh , that hurts my heart just to hear it . Why does your teacher eat with such scum ? When Jesus heard this , he said healthy people don't need a doctor , sick people do . Then he added now go and learn the meaning of this scripture . I want you to show mercy , not offer sacrifices , for I have come to call not those who think they are righteous , but those that know they are sinners . I have read to you Matthew , chapter 9 , verses 9 through 13 . May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of his holy words . So listen as we couch in this little small text , and it's talking about how Matthew was called to be a disciple .

Speaker 1 5:48

I just want to highlight something that jumped out at me right from the start . There are two invitations going on in this text . Two See , jesus saw Matthew in that tax collector booth and he told Matthew follow me . That's the first invitation Jesus told Matthew sit on his job , mind you , sitting in that tax collector booth , follow me . And we see a second invitation also in this text .

Speaker 1 6:18

Verses 10 says Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home . Now , I don't want you to miss this , because the wonderful thing about Jesus that we see here playing out in the book of Matthew is that he gives us an invitation , he invites us to follow him . That wasn't just for Matthew , hallelujah , that's for us too . He invites each and every one of us to follow him . The invitation has been given . What will you do with that invitation ? See , we see Matthew getting up and leaving and following Jesus . We see Matthew inviting Jesus into his home . And I just can't just let that pass . Because if Jesus gives you an invitation , if he invites you to follow him , how much more important is it for us to accept that invitation and invite Jesus in ? Invite Jesus into our own home , invite Jesus to come into us ? See , we see a discord going here . Jesus is inviting and Matthew's accepting that invitation and inviting Jesus to come into his home .

Speaker 1 7:32

What a good text we are studying tonight . What a good word of the Lord that he has invited you , he has invited you and he has invited me to follow him . Now that's not even what we're talking about tonight , but when I read that text that just jumped out to thank you , jesus , for the invitation , because I was lost one day . I didn't know where I was going . I was going left and right and back and forth and Jesus came into my life and said follow me . And I thank God that he invited me and I thank God that I have the sense enough to know that I could accept that invitation and invite him into my life . Listen , that's a sidebar . That's a sidebar . If you've been following me for a minute , you know I can go on a tangent .

Speaker 1 8:16

But tonight we're going to be couching on the topic of outcasts . Outcasts because as we study Matthew , we get to learn a little bit about this tax collector . You know , back in the 80s and 90s I'm an 80s , 90s baby and there was this rap group , phenomenal rap group out of Atlanta called Outkast and they were stationed there in Atlanta . Very talented group , but they were unlike any other rap group . They were the . I think they were the first to release a double album . They were . They dress differently , they talk differently , they rap differently . They were different . And the thing that they knew is that knew they were different . They knew they weren't like the people around them . They knew they weren't like this person and that person . They knew they had a unique thing about them and so they named themselves outcasts . That's one of the reasons why they named themselves outcasts . Folks just did not get them , and that's exactly where we find Matthew in this text . People did not get him . People did not get this gift of God .

Speaker 1 9:26

See the author of this incredible book . The book that carries his name focused on the promised savior , the king of the Jews , a book written for the Jewish audience . Matthew , himself a Jews writing to the Jews . But he started at a place . He started at a place where the Jews around him didn't like him . He started at a place where the Jews around him didn't understand him . He started at a place where the Jews around him didn't want nothing to do with him .

Speaker 1 9:59

Matthew was different from the people around him . His job made him different . He was a tax collector sitting in a tax collecting booth day after day after day , collecting taxes from people that they didn't want to pay . Let's be clear Nobody likes the IRS coming . Okay . So Matthew is sitting in this booth day after day taking taxes from his own people . That was a job back in the day that nobody wanted .

Speaker 1 10:29

That was a person back in the day that nobody wanted to be because , in the role of the tax collector , he collected heavy taxes levied on his own people by the Roman government , people by the Roman government . This Roman empire , this ruling authority at the time , heavily taxed their people and they didn't respect them . These people , these Jewish people , had disdain for tax collectors , had disdain for people like Matthew . How could you work for them ? How could you work for them in that capacity ? These Jewish people not only felt it in their pockets , but they felt it in their hearts . They felt that oppression not only in their pockets but in their hearts . And here was Matthew , one of the one of the people who worked for them , working for the man . Okay , he was working for the man , working for the very people that didn't even respect him or his people , okay . And not only was he working for him , but they tax collectors often colluded with them because these wrote this Roman Empire , this Roman government . They tax the people , but so did the tax collectors . They often hiked up the taxes themselves so they could pad their own pockets .

Speaker 1 11:57

You talk about adding insult to injury . Don't you hate being taken advantage of ? I don't know if you hate being taken advantage of , but I sure do . Then I'm sure you can relate to this disciple , matthew . I'm sure you can relate to his fellow Jews . What a quandary that is that he's doing his job , patting his pockets , and all around his community people didn't like him , and I understand that we can also relate to his fellow Jews , the fellow Jewish people feeling oppressed , feeling burdened and looking at him in that tax collector booth , feeling like he's part of the problem .

Speaker 1 12:44

These people was probably robbing Peter to pay Paul , only to get robbed themselves by their very own people In these tax collectors . These tax collectors was despised . They were outcasts in their own communities and they probably felt like outcasts amongst their own . God . See , I suspect that these tax collectors also knew about Yahweh . I suspect that these tax collectors also knew about the most high God , but they weren't respected by their people and they probably felt like they weren't even out . They were even outcast amongst their own God . Can you imagine them trying to go to the temple ? Can you imagine these tax collectors trying to worship amongst these fellow Jews that didn't like them , the whispers , the finger pointing , the talking behind their back ? Can you imagine what they felt like in their community ? And as I studied this text , all the riches and the wealth that these tax collectors could muster by padding their pockets but not having any friends , all the power that they could yield from that tax collector booth but not having no reverence by the people that they were put in place to serve . They were put in place to serve .

Speaker 1 14:25

How these men , how Matthew , must have felt , how these tax collectors must have felt like their tax collecting booth was even their prison , leaving the booth when people watching them , talking about them , maybe spitting at them , pointing at them , hating on them , doing a job nobody in their right mind would want to do , being somebody that nobody in their right mind would want to be . Outcasts , shunned by Rome , shunned by their community , but not shamed by their God oh , do I want you to catch that . Shunned by Rome , shunned by the people , their own Jewish people , their brothers , their sisters , their community shunned them , but they weren't shunned by God . How do I know this ? You read the text , just like I did , because Jesus walked past that tax collector booth and he told Matthew follow me . He didn't see him at his home , he didn't see him at the market . He saw him in that tax collector booth . He knew who he was and Jesus told Matthew follow me .

Speaker 1 15:47

See , as we pick up in this text , there's some very important things happening . We see Jesus calling yet another disciple , but not any disciple . Have you been with me as I've been talking about how shunned this person is ? This is not any old disciple . This is Matthew the hated , matthew , the despised Matthew . The people did not care about , but his name means gift of God . Jesus called him of all people . Jesus called him right where he stood , right in that tax collector booth . There is no mistake that Jesus didn't know who he was calling . There is no mistake that Jesus didn't know what he did for a living and he stood flat footed and called him just how he was . And Matthew did just that left his booth behind and everything .

Speaker 1 16:51

Listen , this encouraged me tonight , because Jesus called me one day . He saw the life I was living . He saw who I was as a person . He saw all the things I was doing wrong . He saw all the things that made up my character , all the wrongs that I had done , and he called me , just like he called Matthew .

Speaker 1 17:14

What could this calling have meant to that outcast ? Could this calling have meant to that outcast ? I can tell you what the calling of Jesus on my life meant to me . But what could this calling mean to someone who has nobody in his corner to have somebody like Jesus call his name ? Listen , if you ain't glad about that , I don't know what to say . That's incredible to me that somebody could be so downtrodden , somebody can be so thrown away , somebody can be so not respected , somebody can be no care , no care , no one cares about him . But Jesus sees him and not just calls him , calls him by name .

Speaker 1 18:01

To have someone like Jesus holy healing teaching , respected by many had his own disciples following him chose somebody like Matthew , somebody who saw him more than just a tax collector , somebody who saw him more than just a tax collector , somebody that wanted to be in relationship to him . What could this have meant for Matthew ? And I'm sure as he walked out of that tax collector booth . People were still looking at him crazy , but not Jesus . Is this mic on ? But not Jesus . See , sometimes , when we turn our lives to Jesus , people still look at us crazy . They still look at us like who you think you are . They still look at us like they looking at our past . But thanks be to God that Jesus sees us differently . Jesus sees us how he knows we truly are .

Speaker 1 19:01

Surely , when Matthew heard Jesus calling his name the same Jesus that was shaking up people and shaking up things how grateful he must have felt . What could the calling of God meant to him ? But better yet , what does the calling of God mean to you ? What does the call of God on your life mean to you ? See , that's something we all have to wrestle with . What does the calling

New Year's Resolutions and Bible Study

Speaker 1 19:36

of God mean in our life , declaring boldly I see you , I want to know you , I want to be in relationship with you . That's what Jesus did . But what are we doing ? This , king of the Jews ?

Speaker 1 19:56

See , I wondered , as I studied this with all of those people surrounding Jesus , what must they have thought ? What must they have thought to see someone like Matthew following him , to see someone like me following him , the marginalized , the ostracized , the criminal , the shunned , still worthy , still deemed worthy for Jesus to call them . Oh , that's some good news tonight , that you don't have to do nothing to please man . They can call you what they want to call you , they can see you how they want to see you , but when Jesus sees you , when Jesus want to be in relationship with you , all of that stuff doesn't matter . He tells Matthew , he tells me and he tells you you belong . See .

Speaker 1 20:55

I think that's something we can learn tonight , because not only did he call him up , he called him out , he called him out of that tax collector booth . He called him up and he called him out , right out of that booth . And listen , jesus can call you and me up , but he can call us out right where we are . We don't have to change a thing . See , from this text we learn that Jesus want us just like we are . He called Matthew in that tax collector booth and didn't say kick down that booth or give the money back you've been stealing ,

] Called Just As We Are

Speaker 1 21:34

or go apologize to your brethren for working for the Roman government . Jesus didn't tell him anything like that . All he said was follow me and listen . That is incredible news for us tonight . We don't have to clean ourselves up to follow the master . He wants us just like we are .

Speaker 1 21:54

When he calls us up , he calls us out of some things . He calls us out of the ostracized . He calls us out of the shunned . He calls us out of the hated . He calls us out of not being respected . He calls us into something . He calls us into fellowship . He didn't ask Matthew to change a thing . I'll take you outcast , just how you are . See , when I knew Jesus , when I first started learning about Jesus , I thought I had to change a lot of things . I had to change the way I wore my hair . I had to change the type of lipstick I was wearing or the dress I was wearing . But no , no , no , no , no . When Jesus called me , he said come as you are , I'll take you just how you are .

Speaker 1 22:44

We can learn from this text tonight . Matthew , named gift of God , was really a gift of God , because not only did he call him , he fellowshiped with him . See , we see this right here in the text Matthew do a dinner party at his house for Jesus . He said come on to my house , I'm going to feed you . I want you here with me . Jesus invited him and he invited Jesus Come on to my house , come on and fellowship with me . And not only did Jesus show up to the dinner , but he showed out at the dinner .

Speaker 1 23:24

Ok , he not just disembrace Matthew from that tax collector booth , but , as we read in the text tonight , he showed out because he not only accepted him , he accepted his friends . He said come on , I'm coming to the house with my disciples and I'm going to sit amongst all you tax collectors . I'm not just going to sit and eat with you , matthew , I'm going to sit with all y'all . Anyone who wants a seat at the table , come on , I'm here with you . I'm here to break bread with you . I'm here to tell you about the kingdom of heaven . I'm here to look you right in the eye . I'm here to wrap my arm around you . I'm here to smile , even though you're scared , even though you have trepidation , even though you wondering do you really belong ? Or even if you welcome here . Jesus said let me wrap my arms around you , let us eat together and break bread . This is the same thing he did in the upper room , breaking bread with men .

Speaker 1 24:24

These tax collectors showed up to Matthew's house and Jesus showed up to them . They got more than a meal they got mercy . If you taking notes tonight , that's what I want you to take that they got mercy . Jesus doubled down on the mercy for sinners . Jesus doubled down on the mercy of the ostracized . Jesus doubled down on the mercy of the ostracized . Jesus doubled down on the mercy of those that was oppressed . Jesus doubled down on those that were shunned and those that were criminal and those that didn't get respect and those that didn't change their life . Jesus doubled down on them . Have you ever felt like an outsider , an outcast ? You done some things in your past that you ashamed of .

Speaker 1 25:19

Read this text and learn that Jesus doubled down on . You See , because these Pharisees they was looking from afar and they saw Jesus at the table with all of these irreputable sinners . What they thought , oh , was scum . We read it in the text and they confronted Jesus . Why does he eat with this scum ? Why does he sit down at the table with men like these ? Don't he see who they are ? Listen , I'm adding that now , I'm not adding to the Bible , but I'm just adding to this conversation . Don't he know who they are ? But Jesus tells us something , and this is how we will end our lesson tonight , as Jesus doubled down on his mercy over and over again . Not just eating with Matthew , eating with these other fellow tax collectors , and then later on in the book of Luke we see that he is eating with the head tax collector . He is not no respecter of person . Okay With the head tax collector . Zacchaeus is like come on , zacchaeus , I'm going to have dinner at your house . We see Jesus' character all over this text tonight .

Speaker 1 26:37

Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost . He desires mercy , not sacrifice . That's what it said in our chosen texts . Mercy is compassion and forgiveness that God gives , of which we all generally partake . But Jesus shows us in our study text that not only does he have mercy for us drum roll . He want us to have mercy for others . He requires us to be merciful as well .

Speaker 1 27:17

What ? What did he tell those Pharisees ? Something ? Or what he told them ? Listen as you look at me eating with these people . That you feel is scum . I'm looking at you . I desire mercy and not sacrifice .

Speaker 1 27:32

Do you understand the scripture ? Go back and

] Showing Mercy to Others

Speaker 1 27:35

study it . What you saying , jesus ? Jesus teaches us through the Pharisees that showed up to this same dinner . If you're going to be about it , be about it . Don't just talk the talk , walk the walk .

Speaker 1 27:53

Who are you to decide who I should have dinner with ? Who are you to decide who's a sinner ? Look in the mirror , learn the scriptures . We all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God . You no different from them . Just as I'd show you mercy , I desire that you show them mercy .

Speaker 1 28:16

What a challenge to these Pharisees and what a challenge to us today . Wait a minute , god , what you saying ? Show mercy to sinners , yes , indeed , but they robbed me . Show mercy to them . Show mercy to sinners , yes , indeed , but they robbed me . Show mercy to them . Show mercy to sinners , but they undermine me , but show mercy to them . Show mercies to sinners , but they align with the man . They against my people . Show mercy to them .

Speaker 1 28:42

Show mercies to sinners . Show mercy to the people that nobody likes . Show mercy to the outcast . Show mercy to the people that nobody likes . Show mercy to the outcast . Show mercy to the ostracized . Show mercy for those that may not be welcome in this person's church and that person's church . Show them mercy , because you just like them . Jesus tells us we are just like them . And in James , chapter 2 , verses 3 , there will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others . But if you have been merciful , god will be merciful when he judges you as we finish our lesson tonight .

Speaker 1 29:22

Listen , you once were outcast . I once were outcast , but Jesus called me into his fellowship . He didn't ask me to change . He didn't ask me to be what they wanted me to be . He didn't even ask me to be what I wanted me to be . He only asked me to follow him and he'll make me to who he wants me to be .

Speaker 1 29:47

He came to redeem sin sick souls . He came to redeem people like you and like me . And as we have been redeemed , we shall show mercy to others that they may know the sacrifice that Jesus made , that they may know that they are worthy of the love of Christ , that they may know that they are valuable . We didn't start off this way , but he made us this way . And listen , there are some still at the beginning of their journey . Don't forget who you were and don't forget who you are . And as you encounter each and every person , don't you forget that the mercy of God not only covers you , but it covers them too . May God bless you . May he keep you . Thank you for joining me Catch us next week on the Grab the Faith podcast , where we will study our 11th disciple . We coming to the end of this disciple study and again , may God bless you and keep you always . God bless you , bye .