Sermon for 6/5/05 -- The Third Sunday After Pentecost (A)
Sermon - The Third Sunday after Pentecost (A)
June 5, 2005
Calling All Sinners
Matthew 9:9-13
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel lesson appointed for today. Hear again these verses:
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. [And Jesus continues,] "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
Thus far our text.
Saint Augustine is regarded as one of the holiest men in all of history. Let me list for you some of his attributes. First, he fell prey to sexual temptation and gave in to it. In fact, he had a mistress for a long time, fathering an illegitimate son on her. Second, he allied himself with a cult of heretics that denied the virgin birth and the crucifixion of Christ. As a student of rhetoric, he was this cult's best spokesman.
Obviously I'm putting a spin on the life of Saint Augustine. He was, indeed, one of the holiest men ever to live. He was a dutiful and affectionate son to his mother. He turned his mastery of words into eloquent defense of the Christian faith, as well as insightful exposition of the Word of God in commentaries and sermons. In his role as the Bishop of Hippo he was a faithful shepherd to the flock under his care.
But he didn't make this tremendous change on his own. Augustine's account of his conversion is that, while he was in despair over his sins, he heard the voice of a child in a neighboring garden saying, "Take it and read. Take it and read." He took up a collection of Paul's Epistles, opened it, and read from the place where his eyes fell. The passage from Romans read, "Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not in quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ; spend no more thought on nature and nature's appetites." When he read this, it opened his conscience, and he believed. Even if you're skeptical about this report, Augustine's conversion was furthered through his association with Saint Ambrose, who nurtured Augustine, and gave him a firm foundation through preaching and teaching. In addition, his mother, a faithful Christian, worked feverishly and endlessly to bring her son to faith. The Word and those whom that Word called into Augustine's life had a profound effect on his faith.
We have numerous accounts in Scripture of people whose lives changed in response to the Lord's call to repentance--even people like King David and the Apostle Paul. Our text today holds another of those examples: that of Matthew. Matthew is a Jew by birth, but he has long been considered an outcast in Jewish society. Matthew is a tax collector by trade. As we see by the reaction of the Pharisees at the end of this text, tax collectors are considered traitors, thieves and sinners, no better than Gentiles. And there is a certain grain of truth to those sentiments. These men are working for the Roman Empire, collecting taxes from their own people for the occupying government. To supplement their meager salaries, it was standard practice to collect more than was required, and keep the extra.
This is the situation Matthew finds himself in as he sits in his collection booth this particular day. He is an outcast from his own people. He is a sinner. He is in a rut, whether he knows it or not, and there is no way he could escape from it on his own.
The change comes quickly. If you blink, you'll miss it. Jesus sees Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He calls to him saying, "Follow me." And Matthew got up and followed Jesus. Did you see it? In the space of a heartbeat Matthew gave up his life as he knew it, and he followed Jesus. It's more significant than you might realize. In that heartbeat, Matthew had to realize that his life was not as God wanted him to be living it. He had to see his own wretchedness. And he had to realize that Jesus could do something for him that he couldn't do on his own. Matthew could not have given up that life on his own. He didn't know any other way.
But Jesus gave him what he couldn't see on his own: a way out. Jesus took Matthew quite literally out of his corruption, right from the tax collection booth. He took Matthew from his outcast state, and offered him a place at His side. He ate with him and other tax collectors and sinners. Jesus did not see Matthew's merit. He had none to see. What Jesus saw was his need, and filled He that need.
We're not exactly like Matthew. He was an unbeliever, while we are believers. But we often resemble the Pharisees in our fear and disgust of sinners. We are right to hate sin, but we also come to hate the sinner as well. As we see, the Pharisees avoid and revile tax collectors and sinners, and, even worse, they are shocked when Jesus is found in their midst. The Pharisees would allow sinners to remain in their sin. We've come to that point as well. We cry out against the deed of sinning against our moral code, but we show no concern for the person who has sinned. Indeed, like the Pharisees who condemned Jesus for eating with sinners, we condemn our brothers, and even our pastors, when they try to take action against unrepentant sinners, not caring that they are trying to bring these sinners to repentance. So we're not exactly like Matthew. But we are like Matthew in that we cannot do anything to escape our situation. We can no more care for a sinner than Matthew could escape from his tax booth.
So, like He did with Matthew, Jesus finds us where we are, and He calls us out of our condition. Through His servants He calls for us to confess our sins and repent of them, and forgives those sins when we do so. He gives us faith, which enables us to trust in that forgiveness, faith to reach out to other sinners in their need. Jesus uses the analogy of the physician in this text, and the analogy gains in richness as we realize that the very medicine He prescribes is the very body and blood of the Physician Himself. Jesus took flesh to show that salvation means that man learns again to enjoy the same ease with God and each other that Adam and Eve shared in the Garden of Eden, the ease that allows man to sit and eat with God and our fellows in peace.
We cannot find that ease on our own, but Jesus Himself gives it to us. As we read in the Large Catechism of Martin Luther, "If you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness, go joyfully to the Sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength. If you wait until you are rid of your burden in order to come to the Sacrament purely and worthily, you must stay away from it forever." The Lord takes that unworthiness from us, and replaces it with Himself. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
June 5, 2005
Calling All Sinners
Matthew 9:9-13
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel lesson appointed for today. Hear again these verses:
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. [And Jesus continues,] "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
Thus far our text.
Saint Augustine is regarded as one of the holiest men in all of history. Let me list for you some of his attributes. First, he fell prey to sexual temptation and gave in to it. In fact, he had a mistress for a long time, fathering an illegitimate son on her. Second, he allied himself with a cult of heretics that denied the virgin birth and the crucifixion of Christ. As a student of rhetoric, he was this cult's best spokesman.
Obviously I'm putting a spin on the life of Saint Augustine. He was, indeed, one of the holiest men ever to live. He was a dutiful and affectionate son to his mother. He turned his mastery of words into eloquent defense of the Christian faith, as well as insightful exposition of the Word of God in commentaries and sermons. In his role as the Bishop of Hippo he was a faithful shepherd to the flock under his care.
But he didn't make this tremendous change on his own. Augustine's account of his conversion is that, while he was in despair over his sins, he heard the voice of a child in a neighboring garden saying, "Take it and read. Take it and read." He took up a collection of Paul's Epistles, opened it, and read from the place where his eyes fell. The passage from Romans read, "Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not in quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ; spend no more thought on nature and nature's appetites." When he read this, it opened his conscience, and he believed. Even if you're skeptical about this report, Augustine's conversion was furthered through his association with Saint Ambrose, who nurtured Augustine, and gave him a firm foundation through preaching and teaching. In addition, his mother, a faithful Christian, worked feverishly and endlessly to bring her son to faith. The Word and those whom that Word called into Augustine's life had a profound effect on his faith.
We have numerous accounts in Scripture of people whose lives changed in response to the Lord's call to repentance--even people like King David and the Apostle Paul. Our text today holds another of those examples: that of Matthew. Matthew is a Jew by birth, but he has long been considered an outcast in Jewish society. Matthew is a tax collector by trade. As we see by the reaction of the Pharisees at the end of this text, tax collectors are considered traitors, thieves and sinners, no better than Gentiles. And there is a certain grain of truth to those sentiments. These men are working for the Roman Empire, collecting taxes from their own people for the occupying government. To supplement their meager salaries, it was standard practice to collect more than was required, and keep the extra.
This is the situation Matthew finds himself in as he sits in his collection booth this particular day. He is an outcast from his own people. He is a sinner. He is in a rut, whether he knows it or not, and there is no way he could escape from it on his own.
The change comes quickly. If you blink, you'll miss it. Jesus sees Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He calls to him saying, "Follow me." And Matthew got up and followed Jesus. Did you see it? In the space of a heartbeat Matthew gave up his life as he knew it, and he followed Jesus. It's more significant than you might realize. In that heartbeat, Matthew had to realize that his life was not as God wanted him to be living it. He had to see his own wretchedness. And he had to realize that Jesus could do something for him that he couldn't do on his own. Matthew could not have given up that life on his own. He didn't know any other way.
But Jesus gave him what he couldn't see on his own: a way out. Jesus took Matthew quite literally out of his corruption, right from the tax collection booth. He took Matthew from his outcast state, and offered him a place at His side. He ate with him and other tax collectors and sinners. Jesus did not see Matthew's merit. He had none to see. What Jesus saw was his need, and filled He that need.
We're not exactly like Matthew. He was an unbeliever, while we are believers. But we often resemble the Pharisees in our fear and disgust of sinners. We are right to hate sin, but we also come to hate the sinner as well. As we see, the Pharisees avoid and revile tax collectors and sinners, and, even worse, they are shocked when Jesus is found in their midst. The Pharisees would allow sinners to remain in their sin. We've come to that point as well. We cry out against the deed of sinning against our moral code, but we show no concern for the person who has sinned. Indeed, like the Pharisees who condemned Jesus for eating with sinners, we condemn our brothers, and even our pastors, when they try to take action against unrepentant sinners, not caring that they are trying to bring these sinners to repentance. So we're not exactly like Matthew. But we are like Matthew in that we cannot do anything to escape our situation. We can no more care for a sinner than Matthew could escape from his tax booth.
So, like He did with Matthew, Jesus finds us where we are, and He calls us out of our condition. Through His servants He calls for us to confess our sins and repent of them, and forgives those sins when we do so. He gives us faith, which enables us to trust in that forgiveness, faith to reach out to other sinners in their need. Jesus uses the analogy of the physician in this text, and the analogy gains in richness as we realize that the very medicine He prescribes is the very body and blood of the Physician Himself. Jesus took flesh to show that salvation means that man learns again to enjoy the same ease with God and each other that Adam and Eve shared in the Garden of Eden, the ease that allows man to sit and eat with God and our fellows in peace.
We cannot find that ease on our own, but Jesus Himself gives it to us. As we read in the Large Catechism of Martin Luther, "If you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness, go joyfully to the Sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength. If you wait until you are rid of your burden in order to come to the Sacrament purely and worthily, you must stay away from it forever." The Lord takes that unworthiness from us, and replaces it with Himself. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.