God and mammon

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:27-32

Jesus said: “You cannot serve both God and Money”. Matthew 6:24

You sometimes hear it said that somebody “just jumped up and chucked it all in”, or words to that effect. Something about their job had become unbearable and they decided enough was enough. (Nice for them that that was something they could afford to do!)

It takes the Gospel-writer Luke just two verses to describe the moment when Levi the tax-collector (also known as Matthew) decided to leave his job and follow Jesus. Blink and you miss it – but in reality it must have been a highly dramatic moment: Jesus saw him, looked him in the eye, said “Follow me” and he “got up, left everything and followed him”. End of story.

Of course the gospel-writers give us only a summary of the events they describe, so there’s a lot we don’t know. But I think we’re justified in speculating that Levi’s decision was pretty impulsive.

Jews like Levi who worked for the Roman authorities in such jobs as tax-collecting were likely to be treated as outcasts by their fellow-Jews: “unclean” was the word to describe them. And they were also likely to be very well off in comparison with them, which likewise wouldn’t exactly make them popular. I can’t help wondering if perhaps Levi had just been on the receiving end of a mouthful of abuse from someone paying their dues, and, especially if he had been doing the job for a lengthy period, had what’s become known as a lightbulb moment: “That’s enough! It’s time I packed this in!”

Whatever, it was at that moment that Jesus just “happened” to pass his tax booth (some coincidence!). No doubt Jesus had started to cause a stir by his preaching, so Levi would quite possibly have heard about him. But… that this man Jesus should actually stop, read his situation, and direct to him those two simple words “Follow me” – well, Levi found that call irresistible.

I can’t help comparing the experience of Levi with that of another man we meet in the Gospels, often referred to as  “the rich young ruler”. Levi, as far as we know, had never seen Jesus before, yet he responded to his out-of-the-blue call in a flash. The young ruler, on the other hand, made the first move, so it seems he knew a fair bit more - he was all enthusiasm and sincerity. Mark 10:17 tells us that he “fell on his knees” before Jesus and asked the key question: “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” After a short discussion Jesus sees that, however sincere he might be, his wealth is a stumbling block, and he makes what seems an impossible request: “go, sell everything you have and give to the poor”. At which “his face fell and he went away sad, because he had great wealth”.

What a contrast!

If Levi’s action was indeed impulsive, it was also dangerous. To serve the Roman authorities must have given him a nice little earner, as we might say today, but the unpopularity he would have earned as well would have made him unemployable among his own people. So what would become of him if the decision to throw in his lot with Jesus proved a disaster? (It reminds me of the old saying: “the word ’faith’ is spelled r-i-s-k”.) But that is exactly what he did. Judging by Luke’s punchy account he was completely decisive: he “got up, left everything, and followed him”. (I feel like adding the words “…and blow the consequences”).

And what did he do next? Answer: he “held a great banquet for Jesus at his house”. This was a time for celebration! A crushing burden had been  lifted from his shoulders, and his life would never be the same again.

Beyond that, we know next to nothing about Levi/Matthew. And that’s certainly also the case with the rich young ruler. Mark tells us (according to the NIV translation) that “his face fell and he went away sad” and we never meet him again. Can you see his droopy shoulders as he trudges off? – he really did want to become a follower of Jesus, but Jesus doesn’t engage in bargaining: with him it’s a case of all or nothing at all. I like to think that perhaps he had later second thoughts and did in fact come back to Jesus, but there’s no evidence that he did.

Where does this lead us?

For one thing, it reminds us what a slave-master money can be.

1 Timothy 6:10 tells us that “the love of money (note: not money itself) is a root of all kinds of evil”. Are any of us too concerned about money – even to the point of becoming enslaved by it? Is it time for a Levi-moment? Time to throw off the shackles? I think it’s rather wonderful that Jesus made no such request of Levi, but that… well, he just did it anyway. And then threw a party. That says everything.

A second thing: we never know the heart of another person.

To the casual acquaintance Levi may have seemed perfectly satisfied with his lot in life. Certainly, a bit of a nasty, greedy individual, but who cares about that? Well, it seems he cared!

Which raises the question: is there somebody in our lives who is struggling with a deep unhappiness over some inner battle (not necessarily money)? O Lord, give us the eyes to see, the love to care, the courage to act, and the words to speak!

And what about ourselves? Is there some habit in my life and attitudes which keeps me at a distance from God? Even a Christian might be in need of a Levi-moment… Remember Demas (2 Timothy 4:10).

Lord and Father, please open my eyes to the things of this world which act as a stumbling block in my walk with you. Amen.