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This painting by Flemish artist Jan Sanders van Hemessen is titled The Calling of St. Matthew. It falls into a category called “merry company,” which is a term in art history lingo for a painting, usually from the 17th century, that shows a small group of people enjoying themselves, usually seated with drinks, and often making music. Even though there are no drinks shown here, there is a lot of money about. Merry company paintings often carried a moralistic message, asking the viewer to rise above the triviality of day-to-day pre-occupations and follow a better path.
Matthew, the figure to the left, has turned his attention from his day-to-day preoccupation of counting money. He looks up and locks eyes with Jesus in the upper right-hand corner, urging Matthew to follow a better path. Chances are Matthew was having a normal day like any other. Sitting at a table after collecting taxes and recording payments was probably routine. But his world was about to be transformed. Most of the “merry company” around him do not even notice. The two men keep counting and the young woman might be trying to get out of paying her share with a seductive pose. The people in the upper left-hand corner do notice though and you can see the displeasure in their faces regarding Jesus’ choice of a follower. A tax collector? Really? What is Jesus thinking?
I wonder how many times I have been pre-occupied with the triviality of my day-to-day tasks and miss Jesus trying to get my attention. Am I too settled into my routine that I miss Jesus beckoning me to come and see more? Am I far too easily pleased with worldly pleasures?
C.S. Lewis wrote, “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Don’t be “far too easily pleased.” Jesus is promising so much more.
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