In Jesus Smiled, the convention videos brought the Gospel accounts to life in a way I had never experienced before. What struck me most was not a miracle or a sermon. It was His smile — the first time I felt like I was seeing the people behind the verses and the compassion behind the words.
Matthew had a table
And a reputation too
Most folks crossed the street to pass him
And that was nothing new
He was counting out the day’s receipts
Like every day before
When Jesus caught sight of him
As he stopped there at the door
And Jesus smiled
Everybody saw a tax man
Counting coins and keeping score
But Jesus saw something else
No one saw before
Everybody had a reason
Why he ought to stay away
Yet mercy would not delay
And Jesus smiled
No lecture on his ethics
No reminder where he’d been
No speech about the choices
Or the life that he was livin’
Three simple words from the threshold
“Be my follower”
The coins stayed on the table
As Matthew rose and met his eyes
And Jesus smiled
Everybody saw a tax man
Counting coins and keeping score
But Jesus saw something else
No one saw before
Everybody had a reason
Why he ought to stay away
Yet he left the coins that day
And Jesus smiled
The Pharisees kept asking
Why he’d sit and eat with us
I was sure he’d be ashamed
To have me at his side
He said, “I came to call the sinners”
And I finally could see
The smile there in that doorway
Was meant for one like me
And I smiled
Everybody saw a tax man
Counting coins and keeping score
But Jesus saw something else
No one saw before
Everybody had a reason
Why he ought to stay away
Yet mercy had the final say
And Jesus smiled
The coins he left behind…
And those smiles…
At the start of the Friday morning program, I was lingering in my “no dog-daycare blues” — wishing I were with the friends in Crownsville, hoping I’d be able to stay focused at home, where the laundry and the dishes and the dogs all have a way of being loud. But the worry was unnecessary.
Before the first hour of the program was finished, I was enthralled by Episode 4 of the video. I had just witnessed Jesus call Matthew to be his follower, and I was stunned — by the emotion on Matthew’s face at being called, by the joy of Jesus’s smile, and by the surprising backdrop of Simon, who quirked his left eyebrow as if to say, “Jesus, brother… Matthew? Really?” It was all very human, and it made the scriptures come alive for me in a way I had never experienced before.
That set the tone for the rest of the convention. In every video after, I was drawn to Jesus’s smiles, noticing what Matthew and Simon were doing, the expressions on their faces. From the brother’s talk I learned that mercy is more than leniency — it is kind consideration and tender compassion in action. Jesus displayed that continually, and Matthew felt that refreshment.
Along with Matthew, I felt called too. In my notes, I wrote down a question that has stayed with me ever since:
Am I refreshing to the friends?
This song is what came of that question. I wanted to stay close to what actually happened — the coins left sitting on the table, the few words spoken from the doorway — and to let the smile carry the feeling instead of explaining it. Matthew’s moment turned out to be mine, too, and I think it belongs to anyone who has ever wondered whether they would be welcome at the table. I keep coming back to it.