There's Always One: Radical Inclusion and Invitation

Jun 07, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Jesus Says "Follow Me" to the Unlikely

Jesus didn’t wait for Matthew to clean up his act. He walked straight into the tax collector’s messy life and issued a direct invitation. Tax collectors were traitors, collaborators with Rome, yet Jesus saw past the labels to the person. This story guts our assumptions about who’s "ready" for God’s call. Grace doesn’t require a resume. It only requires a response. The real scandal isn’t who Jesus excludes—it’s who he includes. [39:24]

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him." (Matthew 9:9, NIV)

Reflection: Who in your life feels "unlikely" to respond to Jesus’ call? How might your doubt about them reveal limits in your view of grace?

Day 2: The Offense of an Open Table

Religious leaders recoiled when Jesus ate with society’s rejects. Their question—“Why?”—betrayed fear that inclusion would dilute holiness. But Jesus’ table wasn’t a compromise; it was a declaration. Every shared meal with outsiders redrew the map of belonging. Radical inclusion still offends because it forces us to confront our hidden lines between "us" and "them." [40:34]

"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'" (Luke 15:1-2, NIV)

Reflection: What group or person feels "too far" for you to share a meal with? What might Jesus reveal about holiness through their presence at your table?

Day 3: Hunting Modern-Day Tax Collectors

Matthew’s story isn’t history—it’s a mirror. Today’s "tax collectors" wear different labels: political extremists, addicts, ex-cons, or those whose sins make us squirm. We applaud Jesus welcoming 1st-century outsiders but resist inviting those who’d "taint" our churches now. The test of our inclusivity isn’t who we cheer for, but who we sit with. [44:38]

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28, NIV)

Reflection: Who do you instinctively label as "unfit" for your church community? How might that label blind you to their place in Christ’s body?

Day 4: Grace That Unsettles the Comfortable

Jesus’ mercy comforted the broken but disturbed the self-righteous. True inclusion costs something—it risks reputation, disrupts order, and demands humility. The religious critics asked, "Why eat with sinners?" but the deeper question was, "Why not us?" When our circles feel threatened by new faces, we’ve forgotten we were all once outsiders. [43:09]

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." (Romans 15:7, NIV)

Reflection: When have you felt unsettled by someone’s inclusion in God’s family? What does that discomfort reveal about your own need for grace?

Day 5: Seeing What People Might Become

Jesus didn’t see Matthew as a corrupt tax collector but as a future gospel writer. He looks past our present brokenness to our God-shaped potential. Every person carries dormant seeds of transformation—if someone will love them into bloom. Our call isn’t to curate a "holy" crowd but to midwife resurrection stories. [48:23]

"The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV)

Reflection: Who in your life needs you to see their future in Christ more than their past? How can you actively nurture that hope today?

Sermon Summary

The photograph with the bad face becomes the sermon’s frame: there is always one. Matthew’s story makes the point plain. Jesus walks up to a man everyone has written off, looks him in the eye, and says, Follow me. Matthew gets up and follows. But Jesus does not stop with a private call. Jesus goes to the table, sits down with Matthew’s crowd, shares a meal, and lets mercy do its work. The table then draws a question that still stings: Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? The complaint is not about exclusion. The complaint is about including the wrong people.

Radical inclusion is offensive. It pushes on the lines people like to draw between the worthy and the unworthy, the respectable and the suspect, the insider and the outsider. Jesus has a habit of stepping right over those lines. Jesus keeps his eyes open for the one who needs grace, the one who needs an invite, the one who has been told there is no seat for them. Jesus sees people not only as they are but as they might become under the transforming power of love.

The question then lands in the present: who are the modern-day tax collectors. Who are the people whose presence in the pews would make church folks whisper. The sermon names real categories that pull reactions in opposite directions, from the LGBTQIA plus neighbor to the MAGA neighbor, from the person carrying addiction to the person carrying a public past. The point is not to abandon truth but to embody mercy. The gospel is not a reward for people who have it all figured out. The gospel is good news for people who know they need grace.

Matthew’s story keeps saying it. God’s mercy is always wider than human expectations. The people others try to keep out may be the very people Christ is calling in. Discomfort is not a defect of love. Discomfort is often the cost of drawing the circle wide enough for the one person who needs to hear, You have a place here. There is always one. So the church’s call is steady and simple. See people for what they might become if they were loved completely. Invite boldly. Embrace freely. Let inclusivity be so wide that it is almost offensive, just like Jesus at Matthew’s table.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus crosses the lines we draw. Jesus does not ask permission to love across boundaries. He sees the person, not the label, and walks straight over the chalk lines others defend. Holiness in him does not avoid contact, it heals through contact. His presence turns a risky table into a place where mercy can start. [43:21]
2. Radical inclusion offends settled boundaries. Inclusion upsets the guardrails people build to keep their tribes clean and their stories simple. The shock is part diagnosis, part invitation, exposing how much identity can rest on who gets kept out. Offense then becomes a mirror, showing whether love or fear is steering the heart. The gospel pushes past fear to make room for the person God is already pursuing. [41:33]
3. The gospel calls uncomfortable hospitality. Mercy is not theoretical; it has a table, names, and awkward conversations. Truth is not tossed aside, but it takes the shape of a welcome that bears another’s weight and risk. Discomfort becomes the price of learning to see like Jesus and to sit where Jesus sits. That is where good news sounds like good news. [46:59]
4. There is always one to invite. Grace thinks in singles, not crowds, and keeps an eye out for the next Matthew in the corner. The habit is simple: notice, invite, include, and trust love to do what law cannot. The wide circle is drawn one person at a time, and the kingdom grows by those small obediences. Today always has a name attached. [43:59]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[36:38] - Shortened but not cheapened
[36:56] - Film-developing memory and the mis-shot
[38:24] - "There’s always one" named
[38:45] - Matthew the tax collector
[39:24] - Jesus says, "Follow me"
[40:34] - Dinner with sinners begins
[41:09] - Complaint: including the wrong people
[41:33] - Radical inclusion is offensive
[42:32] - "You have a place here"
[43:21] - Jesus steps over the lines
[44:38] - Naming modern-day tax collectors
[46:59] - Not abandoning truth, embodying mercy
[48:23] - Draw the circle wide

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 9:9-13 (NIV)
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Observation Questions

In Matthew 9:11, the Pharisees ask, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” What does their question reveal about their assumptions regarding who deserves inclusion? [41:09]
What specific actions did Jesus take to include Matthew and his community (Matthew 9:9-10)? How does this challenge societal norms?
The sermon mentions modern examples of people who might be considered “tax collectors” today (e.g., LGBTQIA+ neighbors, MAGA supporters, those with addiction). What categories stood out to you? [44:38]

Interpretation Questions

Jesus says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). How does this statement redefine what it means to live out faith in practical terms?
Why might radical inclusion feel offensive or uncomfortable, both in Jesus’ time and today? What boundaries does it threaten? [41:33]
The sermon argues that “discomfort is often the cost of drawing the circle wide.” How does discomfort reveal our priorities or fears about belonging? [46:59]

Application Questions

Who is a “modern-day tax collector” in your life or community—someone whose inclusion might make others whisper or question? What practical step could you take to extend love to them this week? [44:38]
When have you felt hesitant to include someone because of their background, beliefs, or lifestyle? What fears or assumptions fueled that hesitation?
The sermon emphasizes “seeing people not as they are but as they might become under love’s power.” Who in your life needs to hear, “You have a place here”? How could you communicate that? [43:21]
What boundaries (political, social, religious) do you instinctively defend that might exclude others? How could you intentionally cross one of those lines this month?
The sermon says, “Grace thinks in singles, not crowds.” Who is one person you could invite into a meal, conversation, or activity to reflect Jesus’ table? [43:59]

Sermon Clips

45s

#RadicalInclusion

“``Radical inclusion is offensive because it challenges our assumptions about who belongs and who doesn't. It unsettles the lines we draw between the worthy and the unworthy, the respectable and the suspect, the insider and the outsider. Jesus had a habit of stepping right over those lines. Jesus had a way of acknowledging that there was always There was always one who needed grace. There was always one who needed mercy. Jesus had a way of seeing people not as they were, but how they could be with the transforming power of God's love.”

47s

#AlwaysOne

“There's always one who's in need of grace. There's always one who's in need of mercy. Matthew's story reminds us that God's mercy is always wider than our expectations. The people we think should be out may be the very people that Jesus is calling and that makes us a little uncomfortable. And you know what? I'm okay with that. I'm okay with living with living with a little bit of discomfort. If that means that others will know about the grace, love, and mercy of Jesus Christ, I'm okay with a little bit of discomfort in that case.”

46s

#FollowMe

“But Jesus and I love those two words, but Jesus. Jesus walks right up to Matthew. He looks him in the eye and he says these simple words, follow me. And Matthew does. Matthew does follow Jesus. Because I think that Jesus that there's always one. There's always one person who needs to follow. There's always one person that is in need of grace. There's always one person that is in need of an invite. There's always one person to include.”

39s

#IncludeTheMarginalized

“Who are the people that if we invite them, people would be offended? Who are the people we instinctively place outside of our circles that we draw? Who are the people that make us uncomfortable? Maybe it's someone whose politics are completely different from ours. Maybe it's a person struggling with addiction. Maybe it's a former prisoner. Maybe it's someone carrying a painful and public past. Because sometimes when we read this story, it's easy.”

56s

#ChallengeExclusion

“Their complaint is not that Jesus is excluding them. Their complaint is that he's including the wrong people. Why does he do that? I think it's one of the most fascinating questions you can ask because I think it's still asked an awful lot today. Because radical inclusion is offensive to some. Radical inclusion offensive. And if you don't believe me, how about this? Why does your church welcome the LGBTQIA plus community?”

37s

#ModernTaxCollectors

“We elect tax collectors. They're not good or bad. They just have a job to do. We don't have that context. So what is our context? Who are the modern day tax collectors? We can cheer on Jesus because inviting tax collectors doesn't make us uncomfortable. But radical inclusion, the radical inclusive nature of the love of Jesus Christ, it makes us uncomfortable. That makes us uncomfortable.”

28s

#SeekTheRejected

“We can marvel at Jesus' inclusivity when he's inviting sinners, but sometimes we get awfully tripped up by inviting people who have committed only certain types of sins in our church today. The challenge of the gospel is that Jesus often goes exactly where we would least expect him to go. He seeks out people that others avoid. He calls people that others reject. He sits at tables where others refuse to sit.”

44s

#InclusionBeyondComfort

“It's easy to get a hearty chorus of amens when we talk about God's love for being inclusive being available to everyone. We can cheer on Jesus as he welcomes tax collectors, we might start to worry about the image of our church when we sit with homeless people. We can cheer Jesus on as he welcomes tax collectors because we don't know anything about that culture. If I were to tell you, oh, tax collectors are bad. Okay.”

51s

“Their complaint is that he's including the wrong people. Why does he do that? I think it's one of the most fascinating questions you can ask because I think it's still asked an awful lot today. Because radical inclusion is offensive to some. Radical inclusion offensive. And if you don't believe me, how about this? Why does your church welcome the LGBTQIA plus community?”

33s

“We can cheer on Jesus because inviting tax collectors doesn't make us uncomfortable. But radical inclusion, the radical inclusive nature of the love of Jesus Christ, it makes us uncomfortable. That makes us uncomfortable. We can marvel at Jesus' inclusivity when he's inviting sinners, but sometimes we get awfully tripped up by inviting people who have committed only certain types of sins in our church today.”

33s

“The challenge of the gospel is that Jesus often goes exactly where we would least expect him to go. He seeks out people that others avoid. He calls people that others reject. He sits at tables where others refuse to sit. And the church, you and I, are called to do the same thing. Not to abandon truth, but to embody mercy. The gospel is not a reward for people who have it all figured out.”

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Elm Park United Methodist Church This sermon · AI assistant

Why does radical inclusion often make believers uncomfortable

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