Proper 5, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost (2023)

Text: “13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).

There are Sundays when it can be a little bit challenging to select a sermon text— to pick one part to focus on. We have a little help with that in the case of today’s readings. Our Lord, Himself, say, “Go and learn what this means.” If He believes it’s important for His hearers to understand, then it’s probably valuable for you and me, as well, isn’t it?

“‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). It doesn’t seem like a particularly difficult statement. “There is none who is righteous,” of course (Romans 3:10). He had nothing to offer those who were self-righteous. What he offered was only of any benefit to those who saw their sin and repented. He explained it quite nicely just a verse earlier: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Again, none of us are immune from the sickness of sin. What He’s saying is that those who refuse to recognize that they are sick have no use for a doctor. It’s those who feel their sickness who need a physician. Those are the ones He came to call.

The meaning is pretty straightforward. But what does that say to you and me now?

It means that you’re here because you’re sick, doesn’t it? Those are the people that Jesus came to call. As the president of our Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod puts it so beautifully: “If you’re not a sinner, the church has nothing to offer you.” Go home. We wish you well. But we literally have nothing to offer you if you’re not here because you are a poor, miserable sinner who desires to receive what Christ offers from that lectern, from this pulpit, and from that altar. Sadly, that’s a pretty radical idea in many churches.

The self-righteous people of Jesus’ day used church to build up their sense of self-righteousness. They were God’s people because they gave their tithe; they were God’s people because they offered the right sacrifices on the right days; they were God’s people because they ate what was ceremonially clean and didn’t eat what was forbidden.

Except they gave their tithe and then turned around and couldn’t be bothered to help those in need. They gave their tithe and then traded favors for power and influence. They gave their tithe and then turned a blind eye to corruption and injustice.

They offered their sacrifices and then acted like God owed them something. They ate only foods that were ceremonially clean and then acted like they were “in the club” because they checked all the right religious boxes. Religion became their path to self-righteousness instead of the outlet for God’s grace to them.

Still today, of course, you and I use religion to build up your sense of self-righteousness. You and I still treat Christ’s Church more like a club that we belong to than a place you come to be spiritually healed, to receive life. You expect all sorts of things from your congregation, but is God’s grace and forgiveness one of them?

I recently heard someone pose a really interesting question that relates to this. He asked: Do you have a relationship with Jesus or with your congregation? Are you here because you’re a member of this organization or because you’re a disciple of Jesus Christ?

You’ve probably heard me criticize the saying that Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. There really are a lot of problems with that statement, but there is a kernel of truth to it. It’s another way of expressing what Jesus is saying here. Christianity is not membership in a club. It’s a relationship with a savior. Jesus didn’t come to found a social club. He came to establish His church. He came to establish a place were sinners were called to receive grace, forgiveness, and eternal life. He came to call you to turn away from your sin and receive His grace. Is that what you’re here for?

Luther is quoted as asking, “Do you really think that anything you do— no matter how great the sacrifice— could please God more than the perfect life, death, and resurrection of His beloved Son?” Regardless of how much money or time you give, your self-righteousness is never really enough to impress God.

Repent. Repent and trust that this is, in fact, the Church that Christ established. Repent and trust that, to this day, through His Church, Christ is calling sinners to Himself. To this day, His perfect righteousness is given to you as a gift. As St. Paul put it in our Epistle reading, “Abraham believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:22). It’s what he called the “righteousness of faith (Rom. 4:13). That quote from Luther cuts two ways, doesn’t it? How could anything you do please God more than the perfect life, death, and resurrection of His beloved Son? That destroys any pretense of our own righteousness. But it also points to the immeasurable gift that is given to you.

It is impossible to imagine any greater righteousness than the perfect life that Jesus lived. It is impossible to imagine any greater righteousness than sacrificial death for the sins of all humanity. Because of His resurrection, there can be no doubt that His righteousness was perfectly pleasing to the Father.

Jesus’ perfect life and death were for you. They were for you in multiple ways. His death was for you. Your sins were paid for on the cross. Your death was left there in His empty tomb. His life and death were for you.

Jesus continues to call sinners— He calls you— to faith by the power of the Gospel. The perfect righteousness that made Him worthy of being raised on the third day— that perfect righteousness is yours by faith. He calls you to the waters of baptism where your sinful nature is drowned and you are clothed with the perfect righteousness of Christ. That righteousness is proclaimed to you in the absolution and in the word that is preached from this pulpit. That righteousness is given to you by the act of eating and drinking at this communion rail. The gift of His righteousness is received here by faith.

Through the power of His word, He calls you to something far greater than self-righteousness. He calls you to a life of true holiness— that is to say, a life filled with love for God and love for those around you. That is what true holiness, true righteousness looks like.

“13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). Still today, Jesus calls sinners like you to turn away from your sins, to follow Him by faith, and— one day— to feast with Him forever in His kingdom. May God grant it for Jesus’ sake.