
Imagine being invited to dine at Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the British monarchy. The walls are adorned with exquisite paintings and tapestries. The carpets are plush. Chandeliers glisten and glow. At the door stand the red-coated soldiers with those huge fuzzy black hats, never speaking, never blinking. Buzzing around the room are an army of maids and butlers in perfect uniform, white cloth draped over their right arms. The banquet table is impossibly long, set with fine China, crystal, and enough silver to eat three meals. Seated with you are the king and queen, heads of state, and a who’s who of powerful and famous celebrities.
I don’t know which fork to use first! I don’t know how to address the king! I’m not sure what is proper, the expected etiquette. I’m a fish out of water!
That may be how Peter felt at the “grand banquet” (Luke 5:29).
“Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi (Matthew) sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him. Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them” (Luke 5:27-29). “At the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples” (Mark 2:15).
I want you to see two things this morning.
First, Matthew obeyed Jesus’ invitation and calling. He sacrificed his business to follow Jesus. Then he leveraged his position to introduce people to Jesus. Matthew’s sacrificial faith is remarkable.
Second, Jesus came to reach everyone, black and white, Jew and Gentile, good and bad, rich and poor. Jesus presented the Good News at the seashore, in the synagogue, and at the “grand banquet.”
“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).

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