The Feast of St. Matthew – September 21st, 2014 – Matthew 9:9-13
In the Name of Christ the Crucified +
So, here in our Gospel text we get to
see the call of Matthew. It’s one verse
– As Jesus passed on from there, He
saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow
me.” And he rose and followed Him. Seems quite simple – Jesus walks by and
summons Matthew to follow Him. But do we
really pause and see what is going on?
Matthew is there – he’s working a tax booth. He’s got a good, well paying job. He’s probably got everything that a person
could want in this life – a big house, wealth, good food. Luke records for us that this dinner that
takes up the rest of the text is actually hosted by Matthew. And yet – when Christ calls him, Matthew
simply and willingly leaves that behind.
There would be no more wealth coming from the cushy government job. The house would be abandoned in order to
follow Jesus around wherever he went, and Matthew is given over to a life of
teaching and proclaiming Christ, whatever the cost to himself.
When we look at Matthew, we should be
impressed and humbled. When Christ
commanded Matthew to follow Him, it meant that Matthew had to give up all that
he had, all that he was. And Matthew
goes. No fuss, no bluster – simply, “he rose and followed Him.” Now, ponder this. We too, have been called to follow Jesus –
all Christians are to take up their cross and follow their Lord. Our lives are not our own – rather we live as
God’s servants until He calls us home. We
all indeed have things that we give up or forgo as Christians – but don’t they
pale in comparison to what Matthew is called to, the burden the Lord places
upon him? How many of you here have had
to leave everything to follow Christ – how many have had to give up family and
friends, leave your job, your home to serve Christ? Tradition even holds that Matthew died a
martyr’s death – that following Christ for Matthew meant torture and death. Do any of us reasonably expect to face that
in our following of Christ? Yet how often do we grouse and grumble about the
simple things that we as Christians who follow our Lord are to do? Daily devotions and study of Scripture seem a
burden. Coming to Church is often less
appealing than finding something more entertaining – to say nothing of coming
to bible study. Our Lord’s command to
love the neighbor can fly out the window when that neighbor is difficult. Whereas Christ demands of Matthew that he
give up all, Christ lets you serve, lets you follow Him right where you are –
and yet – how often do we ignore or push aside or complain about the simple
things we are given to do? The call of
Matthew, the fact that he willingly gets up and goes, leaves his home and a
life of luxury behind should humble us – and encourage us pay attention to how
we are supposed to be serving Christ even in our own life.
However, on that day when our Lord
called Matthew – the Pharisees were not impressed – not impressed with Matthew,
and not impressed with our Lord’s decision to have Matthew follow Him. And
as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and
sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to
His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” So, not only does Jesus end up calling
Matthew, but He sits down and eats with sinners and other tax collectors. You have to remember that there was a rather
large hatred towards tax collectors – I’m sure we’d give someone who worked for
the IRS today a bit of grief over their job, especially every April. But it was worse in Jesus’ day than just
taxes. Imagine the US was conquered by a foreign government, and
then that government, Russia,
China,
whoever, sent tax collectors who would take your stuff, often demand bribes,
and just all around bilk you. That’s
what the situation was in Jesus’ day – and that’s who this Matthew is that
Jesus calls – even if Matthew were an honest tax collector, he was a sell out
to the Romans, taking good, hard earned money away from Jews and giving it to
Pagans. And then, to eat with
sinners? To actually talk to “bad”
people. Jesus must be out of His mind!
But note what the Pharisees do. They don’t talk to Jesus – they bad mouth Him
to His disciples. Eh, your “teacher”
seems pretty dumb to us – look at what He’s doing. It’s sneaky, it’s rude, it’s tricksy. They are definitely not putting the best
construction on things or explaining things in the kindest way – rather, they
complain behind Jesus’ back. Nasty
business, that.
But, at any rate, their snide comments get around to
Jesus. So. . . what will Jesus do? How will He respond to these complaints about
Himself? Will He defend Himself? “I’ve done nothing wrong here!” Will He defend Matthew? “Hey, this Matthew is a fine, up-standing
citizen, don’t besmirch him.” Will He
chastise the Pharisees – “if you have a problem with Me, come to Me, don’t pick
on my students!” No, what Jesus says is
something that is interesting and wonderful.
But when He heard it, He said,
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Why am I here – why would I eat with
sinners? Precisely because they are
sinners and need Me, need My teaching, need My preaching, and most of all, need
My forgiveness. And note how blunt Jesus
is – yeah, these folks are sinners, they need help, and they were humble enough
to know it. Even virtuous Matthew, who
by rights could make us blush – just another sinner in need of Christ’s healing. And Matthew even writes it down – how do we
meet Matthew? We meet him as a sinner –
but Matthew isn’t ashamed of that – for Matthew is a sinner whom has been
healed by the Great Physician, Christ Jesus.
Do you see what Jesus is teaching with this – that while your sin may be
great – the God who cures you and heals you of that sin by His death upon the
Cross is greater.
In fact, Jesus spells it out in more detail. He says to the Pharisees, “Go and learn what this means – ‘I desire
mercy, and not sacrifice.’ Jesus quotes Hosea at them. You Pharisees should have known what I’d be
doing here – because what does God desire – God desires to show mercy, to show
love. God is more pleased showing mercy
to a sinner than listening to you bleat on about how wonderful you are and all
the sacrifices you offer up, how hard you work for God. And this is something we need to
remember. God desires to be a merciful
God. God loves mercy, God loves showing
mercy – so the fact that you have sinned, God handles that – He gladly shows
mercy. If anything, what upsets God more
than sinning is when you downplay forgiveness, when you brush off His mercy –
when you would rather toot your own horn than focus on His mercy. As Christians, you are to do bad things, and
you should always strive to do better – but the Christian faith isn’t about
what you do – it is about the Mercy God shows you because of and through
Christ’s death upon the Cross. And this
is what we are to learn – it is what Matthew learned as one of Christ’s
disciples, and it is the heart of what we learn today – so that we don’t become
like these backbiting Pharisees complaining about everyone else and puffing
ourselves up with vain works. God is
merciful – and He desires to show you mercy.
Confess your sin and receive that mercy.
And friends – this isn’t an optional part of being a
Christian. To be a Christian, to be in
relationship with God is nothing less than to receive His mercy. Our Lord says, “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Who does Christ call? He calls sinners. Matthew is called – and his sins are
forgiven, and Matthew learns and grows in the faith, and even writes Scripture. Who else is called? All those sinners there, called to repentance
– called to receive God’s mercy. And who
is left out – the Pharisees, the ones who think that they are righteous – the
ones who think that they aren’t sinners.
Christ calls them to the carpet – when you’ve realized your need for
mercy and forgiveness, then you too will be welcome at the feast– but until
then – there’s nothing here. If you are
smug, if you are self-righteous – there is nothing here in this place for
you. If you trust in your own works,
that you are just such a wonderful Christian – what good would preaching of the
Cross, preaching of forgiveness do you?
Until you know that you are sinner – God will have nothing to say to you
other than a word of Law to show you your sin.
But you are a sinner, and you know that. The temptation that we face, though, is to
soft sell this, to water down this truth – well, sure, we’re all sinners – but
so-and-so did this, and man are they bad!
No, let’s not beat around the bush
We are sinners. Period. But now see and understand what Matthew so
desperately teaches throughout His Gospel.
See what Christ invites you to, what He calls you to. He has called you to His house, to hear His
healing Word of forgiveness preached to you.
He has called you into His family in the waters of Holy Baptism – this
is not just a once in a while social visit – but you are called into His family
now. You, sinner, are called even to His
Table, to His meal, His Supper, to receive His Body and Blood for the
forgiveness of your sins. This is what
we all have in common – we are all sinners called to receive together Christ’s
life giving and forgiveness giving Supper – called to be healed of our sin by
the Supper of the Great Physician – called to be given His strength. And this is what our Lord shall continue to
do for you – whatever your station in life, your job, where you live – even if
you don’t get to be an Apostle – Christ calls you to join in His holy feast
with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.
Dear friends in Christ – do not be afraid to strive
against your sin – to strive every day to live as God has called you. And when you fail – for when you set yourself
to Christ’s standards, you will see your failures – remember that God desires
mercy, and indeed He calls you, a sinner, to His house to shower that mercy
upon you. This is what God did for
Matthew, it is what He does for each and every one of us. God grant that we remember this all the days
of our earthly life and remain faithful unto death. In the Name of Christ the Crucified + Amen.
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