Restoration Sermon | I'll Follow When... | When Pigs Fly

This powerful message confronts us with a simple yet profound truth: Jesus doesn't wait for us to get our lives together before inviting us to follow Him. Through the story of Matthew the tax collector in Matthew 9:9-13, we discover that Jesus called this despised traitor—a man actively betraying his own people from his tax booth—with just two words: 'Follow me.' What's remarkable is that Matthew didn't clean up his act first, didn't finish his shift, didn't wait for a more convenient time. He simply got up and followed. This challenges our tendency to say 'I'll follow when...'—when life is less chaotic, when we've conquered our addictions, when we feel more spiritual, when we're finally worthy. But the gospel isn't about our readiness; it's about our willingness to take the next step. Jesus enters our mess, sits at our tables with all our disreputable companions, and calls us forward anyway. The miracle isn't just in Jesus' teaching about being a doctor to the sick—it's in the fact that Matthew actually got up and followed. That same invitation extends to us today, right where we are, in whatever 'tax booth' we're sitting in.