The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-07-14
Turnaround
Lesson for July is. 1861

40 WIZ AsSW
never twice quite the same list.
There is one name. among 9TH
ers. which turns up on all the
lists. namely Matthew. The first
time we hear Of this man Is IN
an incident which is told by
Luke just as it is in the gospel
by Matthew, with one interest
ing difference: Luke says the
mans name was Levi. This curl
Gus difference of name has been
explained in different ways, but
the simplest explanation is the
traditional one: Levi was the
mans name in his earlier days.
but Matthew was his name after
he became a member of Jesus
inner circle. the Twelve" If
this is the case las we shall
assume it Isl then the change Of
name may sug,g a total
change in the man himself.
Knowing Jesus made such a diff
ference in his life that his old
name no longer would do; he
had to have a new name to go
with the new man.
The Man Nobody Loved
Nobody loves bureaucrat.
though the civilized world has
never been able to get along
without them. They are the peo-
pie who run the machinery and
do the paper-work Of govern
ment. If you sometimes think
your state or national capital is
in a mess, take out all the bu-
reaucrats and then see how
much worse the mess is. Back
in Levi Matthew'S day. in the
Roman Empore, one class Of bu-
reaucrats were universally
hated: the tax collectors. Re-
member Palestine was a con-
quered country. Rome held it
down with an army Of occupa-
ton. The tax collectors were
working for Rome, and SO were
hated even more than native
Romans were, If possible. They
were not only unpatriotic, they
were unually dishonest. There
were no fixed tax rates; what
ever the collector could take
over and above a certain
amount. he could keep for HIM
self. Only the chief collectors
got rich: and Levi Matthew
was not a chief collector. His
office was probably just a table
on the road. perhaps by the city
gate. Wherever it was, any
body carrying anything. or lead
ing a mule or camel carrying a
load. had to stop and pay up be-
fore going on his way.
Man OF Decision
It has always been a puzzle:
Why did this man leave his bust
ness all at once? He just stood
up and walked off, leaving the
table and the money bag and the
soldier right there by the road.
He did not stop to balance his
books. he did not write a letter
of resignation. he did not take
time to think. He just got up and
went with Jesus. when Jesus
said Follow me-" One explana-
ton of this is that maybe this
man Levi. or Matthew, hated his
job and had hated it for a long
time. But he couldn't see how he
could leave it. "A man must
live" he may have said to him.
self. But one day the great
moment came. He didn't have
to live! When Jesus said. He
that loseth life for my sake shall
find it," Matthew didn't have to
wonder what that meant. He
lost his living. he found life,
when he went out with Jesus.
That one decision changed the
man, changed his job. changed
his name, changed his life.
Man Of No Distinction
Matthew is never mentioned
in the Acts Of the Apostles.
He was not, like Paul and Peter,
a man of distinction. But when
you look it up. you find that
most of the Twelve we're also
men of no distinction. Nothing
is said in Acts about more than
a few Of them. We can take
heart from this. Jesus deliberate
ly chose a man like Matthew,
and this can mean a great deal
to most Of US There are hun
dreds OF people of no distinction
to every man of real distinction.
c"Men of distinction" in the
ads, are generally pictured
holding in their hands what can
wipe out their distinction / ma
hurry.) Yet this man Matthew,
obscure as he was and remain
ed, had two distinctions that
every Christian. even the hum
blest, may have. For one thing.
he remembered and treasured
and passed on the teaching Of
of Jesus.
fno~L >..tls~n~ ~>~-.S~ht