Get Used to Different

9-22-21 Glenda Simpkins Hoffmam

Several people have expressed gratitude for my pointing them to the series The Chosen. I’m so glad. You can find all the episodes for free on Angel Studio’s Website or The Chosen app. 

One of my favorite scenes in the series is the call of Matthew (Mark 2:13-17; Matthew 9:9-13; Luke 5:27-28). Matthew is on the periphery for some time observing Jesus, listening to his teaching, and amazed by his miracles. He doesn’t know what to make of Jesus, but he is drawn to him.  

One day, Jesus walks by his tax booth and says, “Matthew, son of Alphaes, follow me.” Matthew gets up and follows him, leaving behind his money, home, and status. The Roman soldier Gaius, who is working with Matthew, reminds him of that status and wealth and protection he enjoys in his position. He then asks if he is really willing to throw it all away to follow Jesus. Matthew looks him in the eye, simply replies “Yes,” and turns over the keys to his tax booth. 

This is not only a surprise to the Roman guard, this is alarming to Jesus’ other new recruits. Like Matthew, many tax collectors were Jewish. However, Jewish people hated them because they were aligned with the Romans and considered disloyal to God and to their own people. So the disciples were not only astonished but horrified by Jesus’ invitation to Matthew to become his follower and a part of their group.  

In The Chosen, an interesting exchange occurs between Jesus and Peter: 

Peter: “Wait, wait…. What are you doing? Do you have any ideas what this guy has done? Do you even know him?”  

Jesus: “Yes.”  

Peter: “I don’t get it.” 

Jesus: “You didn’t get it when I choose you either.” 

Peter: “But this is different. I’m not a tax collector.” 

Jesus: “Get used to different.” 

That phrase struck a chord with me: “Get used to different.” We like life to be somewhat predictable without change or surprises. We like to sort out people, experiences, life in categories that are familiar or at least make sense to us. “Different” can make us feel uneasy or uncomfortable, or even anxious or angry.  

I loved this scene in The Chosen because it reframes our experience. Different is surprising, unexpected, but in the end, it can be very good. Jesus was so different from so many of the religious leaders of his day who set high expectations that seemed unattainable by the average person. For many sincere Jewish people in Jesus’ day, being faithful seemed impossible. 

Remember Jesus began his ministry saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:14). In calling Matthew, Jesus makes clear anyone who is willing can go in a new direction by trusting in and following Jesus. Even a hated tax collector like Matthew. 

To follow Jesus meant to trust him and do what he said, not try to live up to unreasonable or even impossible expectations. His miracles, teaching, preaching were so different, but Jesus was healing, changing lives, revealing truth, proclaiming good news. To be in his presence was to experience profound unconditional love and the reality that the kingdom of God was truly here.  

After welcoming Matthew into the group, Jesus shares that they are preparing for a celebration; they are on their way to a dinner party. Matthew explains he is not welcome at dinner parties. Jesus informs him, “That’s not going to be a problem tonight. You are the host.”  That’s definitely different—the excluded one becoming the host who welcomes others. It’s a beautiful picture of salvation and life in the kingdom of God. 

It takes a while for some of the disciples to let go of their prejudice toward Matthew to accept him as a part of the group. And it takes time for them to come to understand what Jesus is really trying to do in his ministry in reaching people different from them.  

The second season of The Chosen shows Jesus and the disciples ministering in Samaria. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people of Galilee and Judea shunned the Samaritans, viewing them as a mixed race who had strayed away from Yahweh were practicing an impure, half-pagan religion.  

When mistreated by some Samaritans, James and John ask Jesus to give them power to call down fire on them. Jesus tells them that the work they are doing among the Samaritans is like planting seeds in the ground that will last generations. People in Samaria were believing in the message of the kingdom of heaven without even seeing miracles. Jesus reprimands James and John for losing their tempers and wanting to call down fire on the heads of a few Samaritans who were mean to them. 

After the two brothers admit their wrongdoing, Jesus says, “As we gather others, I need you to help show the way by being humble.” He gives them the nickname “Sons of Thunder.” Their passion can be used for good, but it needs to be controlled before they can receive powerful authority from heaven. Jesus wants John and James and all the disciples to know “We are here to plant seeds, not burn bridges.” They had to get used to different as they listen to Jesus’ word, follow his lead, and minister to different people in different contexts in different ways.    

We too have had to “get used to different” as we have dealt with a worldwide pandemic for eighteen months, which has impacted our work, school, and life in general. We have had to “get used to different” in our church as we have had to make many adjustments to how we worship, learn, and serve together in the context of this pandemic. We have also had to “get used to different” in this interim time after Pete James’ retirement with Stan Ott serving as our interim head of staff. And we will continue to “get used to different” as we welcome our new lead pastor Hope Lee in the coming weeks.  

But in the midst of so much change and transition, it’s good to remind ourselves that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The seeds that Jesus planted in his earthly ministry with his first disciples have borne fruit for over 2000 years. It’s amazing that the good news has passed through so many people for so long to reach so many people in so many places around the world. That good news has come to us and changed us. And now we are invited to be laborers in the harvest. 

Jesus’ message and mission are the same now as then. He has commanded us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength . . . and love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:3-31). He has commissioned us to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is the same and our mission is the same, but we have to “get used to different” because our methods have to change to reach people in a changing context and culture. Yet we are still serving the same Lord who longs for us to share his love with others. We too are called to plant, water, and nurture seeds as we labor in the fields that are white for harvest (John 4:34).