I80 My Monologues & Musings :
Levi the Tax Collocator & Matthew the Disciple
Dear Tax Collector Levi, I guess, you must have been quite a rich jew as you have been collecting taxes for X number of years. They say it was a very coveted post for those craved to make quick and big bucks. By being a tax collector you must have been working for the mighty Romans and for their puppet Herodians.
As I understand, the tax collectors were expected to remit to the Roman authorities an amount fixed in advance as tax money. They were expected to collect this amount from the people. Whatever they are able to collect over and above the fixed amount, would be their so-called salary. The ordinary folks were frightened of you guys as most of you would use force and fleece them to cough up much more. As a group, you were feared, but never revered. You were a hated lot as you connived with Romans in suppressing your fellow Jews and keep occupying their ancestral land, right?
The ordinary people never ever saw their Roman Rulers and very seldom got a glimpse of the Herods. For them, you were the visible symbol of their oppression. The patriotic Jews alway detested you and your profession and bracketed you along with the sinners ,
"tax collectors and sinners", right?
So whenever they got a sure and certain opportunity to attack you, they made use of it. Usually, you were safe due to the power, position and the protection you got from the ruthless Roman Army.
Some of the bible pundits think you may have heard of Jesus and may have even listened to some of his discourses or you may have even met him and got acquainted with him. Somehow you began to admire and like him, right?
As Jesus used to be around Capernaum for his ministry of healing and preaching the Good News, he must have noticed you sitting by the tax booth and marked you out.
One day as you were collecting the taxes, out of the blue, he came up to you and told:
"Follow me"
Dear friend, how and what did you feel when he called you?
What was your initial reaction?
shock?
surprise?
confusion?
happiness?
a mixture of all the above?
Whatever might have your initial reaction been, one thing is certain:
as soon as he called you to follow him,
you just put in your papers and called it a day. You did it without any further ado!
Remember, the job you had as the tax collector was a permanent one. Without any hesitation you left the financial security which your job has been providing you.
It is very courageous of you to have left a secure present for an uncertain future, to forgo a steady income for no financial profit. The cost you had to pay to follow Jesus is almost unmatched.
Dear friend, why did you do it?
Despite the money you made and the support you enjoyed from the ruling class, were you happy?
If you were happy and content you would not have left your job, right?
It looks like you had reached a stage in your life where money and position did not bring you much of happiness. As a tax collector you have been treating the common folks with cruelty and the injustice. Slowly and steadily, it began to prick your conscience, right? And then comes Jesus. He did strike the iron while it was hot!
And you quit!
Levi, your decision to follow him was a very drastic one. Unlike many of the other disciples who could have gone back to their fishing business any time they wanted, you could not. Remember, some of them went back to their fishing even after the resurrection of their Master!
Levi, even if you were to go back, it would have been difficult for you to get your job back as it was a coveted post.
Probably the only thing you took along from your job was your "pen" which was used for writing the tax records, right?
Levi, it seems you were destined to use your "pen" and your record keeping skills to keep the recording of the "Good News"of your Master.
As you started serving your New Master, you had a new identity and a new name, right?
Levi the Tax Collector becomes Matthew the Disciple.
Oh, my friend, how i wish!
I could transform the hardened sinner in me into a committed disciple like you!
How I wish to replace the various versions of the Roman and Herodian Masters in my life with Jesus as my Master and Messiah!
Dear disciple Matthew, you did it so quickly and consistently, right?
While, here I am!
Still struggling and inconsistent for well over sixty years!
Once again, I renew my resolve to keep trying!
Dear disciple Matthew, soon after the Lord called you to follow him, you turned around and called upon the Lord and invited him home to be your guest of honour and to grace the banquet. You invited many of your friends and relations so as to introduce your New Master and let them know about the "U Turn" you had taken and the radical change of your profession.
Dear disciple Matthew, you were no more stuck and sitting in the same tax booth of your sin. Instead you started your pilgrimage of transformation by travelling with your Master and Lord!
In my case, though years ago, I have started my journey with Jesus my Master, I continue to leave him on and off and go back frequently to sit in the tax booth of my sins!
I keep repeating these flip-flops!
That's me, many a time!
Dear disciple Matthew, I do want to spend some time with you in silence and want to listen to you.
Do share with me:
your "before" and "after" experiences,
as a tax collect and as a disciple. ......
..........
The Tax Collector Levi & Disciple Matthew :"Yes, all that wanted was to make lots of money and become rich. I thought the job of a Collector was one of the quickest way to get rich. It was a kind of a license to make as much money as possible under the protection and patronage of the ruling Romans. All that I needed was men and might to frighten and fleece the people. I had it and I did make lots of money. I was happy and enjoyed my job and life.
But as days passed I began to lose my peace of mind. Money didn't make me happy or make my mind peaceful.
As I was going through a kind of inner struggle I happened to hear of Rabbi Jesus!
In fact I did listen to some of his exhortations. If made sense. He began to an impact on me. I began to take interest in him.
And it saw happened:
He called me and I did respond. .
Left my job..
Gradually the Levi in me was changed into Matthew.
Yes, it dawned on me that might and money, power and pelf wouldn't bring me lasting peace and joy!
I am ever grateful to Lord Jesus for helping me to turn around my life and begin to transform myself.."
.....
Jesus , My Lord and My God,
the way you dealt with Levi amazes me.
You saw him,
You met him,
You commanded him to follow you!
It was neither a request nor an invitation!
It was a simple and straightforward command!
As per the narration,
You never preached him Repentance!
You never admonished him to mend his ways!
You never gave him any Punishment!
You never asked him to do any Penance!
You just asked him to follow you!
You accepted him as he was.
You took him the way you found him.
This is your Unconditional Acceptance of him!
My Lord and my Master, as I look at my life, there was and is a Levi in me.
He has been very much alive in life.
Though I have responded your call to be a priest-disciple and have been "functioning" so for almost forty years, often I go back to sit in the booth of tax the collector!
You are very much aware of it, Aren't you?
Yet you are very patient with the Levi in me!
You Keep waiting for him.
It humbles me to keep remembering your immense patience with me.
"What thanks can I render You,
Oh my God."
My Lord and my Master,
whenever you catch me sitting in the booth of the tax collector,
Do just pull me out,
And put me back on the path of my pilgrimage of inner healing and spiritual growth.
Place me right behind you as you travel around bringing healing and happiness to many.
My Lord and Master, do keep an eye on me!
Jesus, my Lord and Master,
I do want to sit in your presence in silence for a while..
and listen to you..
Narrate to me and remind me of the number of times you have been patiently pulling me out of my tax collector's booth.
Let me keep dwelling on your loving and forgiving Unconditional Acceptance of me!
Lord Jesus,Prince of Peace,
Today is observed as International Peace Day.
May the you kept on wishing after your Resurrection be experienced by everyone.
May we strive for it!
May we be willing to make the required amendments and necessary corrections in our attitudes and lives!
May learn to live in reconciliation and peace!
Amen!
JoAchen
Monday , September 21, 2015
on the Feast of St. Matthew
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