Matthew 9:9-13 (2023)
2nd Sunday after Pentecost
Rev. Alan Taylor
+ In Nomine Jesu +
Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the Gospel reading for this morning, Jesus called Matthew as one of His disciples. It was a bit of a scandalous thing for Jesus to do. Matthew, you see, was a tax collector, or as he is referred to elsewhere in the Scriptures, a publican. As a tax collector, Matthew and others like him, were despised by the Jews for several reasons. For one thing, they represented the dominance of a foreign power over the people of Israel, in this case, the Romans. Secondly, they were considered traitors by the Jews because, though they were themselves Jews, they did the dirty work of collecting taxes from the Jewish people for the Roman government. And third, they often collected more tax than was due. The extra tax that was collected was for their own use. For all these reasons, tax collectors were despised by their fellow countrymen, besides, no one really likes to pay taxes anyway.
So, Jesus called Matthew to be His disciple. Matthew, seemingly without hesitation, left everything behind and followed Jesus. He was quite the willing disciple. They went to Matthews house where they sat down for a meal. As if Jesus calling Matthew to be His disciple wasn’t scandalous enough, when they got to Matthew’s house, they were joined there by other tax collectors and sinners, as well as, by the other disciples.
What you have here, is Jesus and His disciples hanging around with the wrong people! Why, Jesus was even having a meal with them! Can you imagine? I mean, this is the sort of situation where people of superior moral quality and greater Ethical standards, lean over to whisper in each others ear as they point their accusing finger at Jesus. Look at Him! Do you see what He’s doing!? Can you believe it!? He’s reclining at table to share a meal with these tax collectors, these publicans, these sinners! Oh, the horror of it all!
The Pharisees reaction to what took place in Matthew’s house was true to viewpoint and character. There is an incident recorded elsewhere in the Scriptures where a tax collector and a Pharisee were praying in the Temple. You can find it in Luke’s Gospel. He says, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you (Jesus said), this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Pharisees were especially enraged by the situation at Matthew’s house. They asked Jesus’ disciples, “why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” The implication was that He should be eating with people like us, people who are worthy of the kingdom of God. We don’t really know how the disciples would have answered the Pharisees question, because Jesus overheard it and answered it Himself. He said, “those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
I read an article several of years ago that dealt with the question of whether the Church is more like a gymnasium or a hospital? The question was important because it had to do with how we perceive the purpose and the mission of the Church. To carry the analogy a bit further, the question was essentially whether the Church is a place where Christians go to pump themselves up, to tone up their religious muscles, if you will, or is it more like a hospital, where people go to be healed of their diseases, and to be restored to life? Some would say that the church is both, and I suppose that answer is fair enough, but Jesus makes it clear in this morning’s Gospel reading that the Church is especially a hospital for the sick and diseased. “I came (He says), not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
But therein is the problem for us. People outside of the Church often say, “I don’t go to church because it’s made up of a bunch of hypocrites.” A hypocrite is someone who believes one thing and does another, right? By that definition and by our own confession, the outsiders analysis of the Church is right. St. Paul said, “the good that I would do, I don’t do, but the very evil that I hate, this is what I do.” And, we too, confess that “we have no loved God with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.” And so, we don’t act according to what we believe. So, as to the claim that the church is made up of hypocrites, the assessment is a pretty good one, except it lacks the essential point of repentance and forgiveness. You see, if we confess our sins, “God, who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”
That’s a perspective from outside the Church, but what about our perspective of ourselves? Sin is, of course, the disease that infects all of us. As the Bible says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We acknowledge that we “deserve God’s temporal and eternal punishment.” It’s for that reason that we flea to Christ, to His grace, mercy and forgiveness.
I think the question this text posses though is, do we see the sins of some people as falling outside of the reach of God’s mercy and grace in Jesus? Are there some who have no right to draw near to Christ and His Church? Are there those who are so unlike us that they must forever stand on the fringes and never be permitted to enter into the presence of Christ?
Certainly, the answer is no! All of us come here as sinners who enter into the presence of Almighty God. All of us confess what we have done and how much we deserve God’s wrath and judgment. It is true, “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Martin Luther once wrote a letter to a friend of his who was on his death bed. His friend had been a Christian all his life, but as he was passing from this world to the glory that awaited him, he was continually looking at how far short he had fallen from the glory of God. It troubled him a great deal. Luther said to his dear friend, “learn Christ and him crucified. Learn to pray to him and, despairing of yourself, say: ‘Thou hast taken upon thyself what is mine and hast given to me what is thine. Thou hast taken upon thyself what thou wast not and hast given to me what I was not.’” Luther then went to say to his friend, “beware of aspiring to such purity that you will not wish to be looked upon as a sinner, or to be one. For Christ dwells only in sinners.” “He has made your sins His, and He has made His righteousness yours.” “I came (said Jesus), not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
+ Soli Deo Gloria +