"The Cost of Adventure"

Matthew is truly a mystery man. Though his name appears in all lists of the twelve apostles and authorship of the first gospel in the Bible has been attributed to him since the Second Century, we know virtually nothing about him.

We are told in this gospel account that Matthew was a tax collector, but in the parallel stories in Mark (the first gospel written) and Luke, the tax collector’s name was Levi. So, did Matthew have two names? Did Jesus change his name like He did with Peter and it just wasn’t recorded in Scripture? Were there two tax collectors? Did the writer of Matthew get the name wrong? We’ll never know this or anything else about our mystery man.

We can guess though that Matthew had an adventurous streak in him. While he may have been despised by many people, he did have friends among his colleagues (and other sinners). He had a steady job and good income collecting tax money for the Romans. We are given no evidence that he was dissatisfied with his way of life or that he was particularly religious. In fact, it seems he could not have been a pious Jew since coming in contact with money dedicated to false gods would have kept him ritually unclean.

Yet, here we have Matthew sitting in his tax booth, along comes Jesus who invites Matthew to follow Him and he just drops everything to answer the call. Now, even if he had heard of Jesus and the miracles He was doing, Matthew still had to have an adventuresome spirit to give up his comfortable life and walk the dusty roads with this itinerant rabbi, Jesus.

The cost of adventure may seem rather high, especially for a person living in a culture where there seems to have been a thin line between a comfortable life and a life of poverty. Tax collecting could be a pretty good business. The Romans contracted with local people to do the collecting. These contractors were free to charge whatever they pleased so long as the government got the agreed upon amount. This was, therefore, no small enterprise for Matthew to walk away from.

There would be other costs as well. For some used to a real bed and proper accommodations, sleeping under the stars could present difficulties. There must have been uncertainties also. The cost of adventure for disciples would include not knowing what might happen next: bandits on the road, verbal attacks by religious leaders, contact with contagious diseases, and ultimately, the loss their leader and the threat to their own lives.

Ah, but the satisfactions gained from answering the call were considerable. How could one count the cost of the adventure of seeing Jesus perform miracles - multiplying loaves and fishes, healing the blind and deaf, restoring leaps to wholeness, casting out demons. Also, Jesus must have been a charismatic teacher to attract such crowds and those intimate conversations about the meanings of parables must have made up for the inconveniences the disciples endured.

Matt. got to see some really special events too: Jesus walking on water, stilling a storm and the other feats. Ultimately, Matthew enjoyed the greatest adventure of all. He got to see the risen Savior and hear the command to carry on Jesus’ mission. Yes, the cost of adventure was steep, but the rewards were beyond anything Matthew could have gained as a tax collector.

Today, people live far more comfortable lives and pay great sums for far less satisfying adventures. People have vicarious adventures watching reality TV. They partially meet their adventure needs at amusement parks, paint ball centers, on hunting expeditions or perhaps, going on safari. Little do they realize that true adventure is to be found in much the same way Matthew found it - through a positive response to the call of Jesus.

We too get to see miracles up close and personal. Better yet, we get to participate in them. Our hands carry in food given to the needy at local foot closets and our money sent to Lutheran World Relief helps feed a starving child in a third world country. We stand by the sick and troubled as our prayers lift their needs to Jesus. And, we even get to help raise the dead by sharing our knowledge of God’s love in Christ with the unchurched.

Jesus is telling parables still today and his teaching is just as charismatic. The adventure is in opening ourselves to see and hear the stories all around us in the happenings in our lives. The cost of adventure here is slowing down enough to experience the parables and to hear Jesus explain their meaning to us.

We twenty first Century disciples get to see some spectacular events as well. We see storms still in people’s hearts when we pray with them. We see babies (and adults) rise from the waters of baptisms as new persons in Christ. And we to see the risen Christ and hear His command to carry on His mission each Sunday in the celebration of Holy Communion.