Pentecost 2A 2023

2nd Sunday after Pentecost, Year A

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Matthew is an interesting character to me. I admit I’m more interested in him now because of the show The Chosen than I was in the past, but I’ve always been at least a little curious about him. At the very least, think about how Matthew introduces himself. He’s clearly a tax collector (“a man sitting at a tax booth”), who just gets up and follows this carpenter’s son from Galilee. Now remember - Matthew is writing this about himself. The very next thing is about Jesus eating with “many tax collectors and sinners.” In a culture that values and respects righteousness and cleanliness, to eat with such people would have been completely unacceptable behavior.

“[Matthew] was a custom officer, and in order to hold that position [he] had to know Greek and to be well educated. These collectors were hated and despised by the Jews, both because they served the Roman oppressors and thus lacked all patriotism, and because of their greedy exactions, for they usually demanded all they could get in order to enrich themselves. Naturally, only men of lower types of character took positions of this kind. We must note the humility with which Matthew designates himself, omitting his Jewish name Levi and that of his father Alphæus. All he does is to identify himself as the one chosen in Matt 10:3 as one of the Twelve.” [Lenski, 361–362] We know his Jewish name is Levi from Luke’s Gospel account. Matthew is very humble about this, and it almost seems like a form of repentance to describe himself in this way. But after all, this book is not about Matthew…but about the Messiah.

Matthew’s fellow Jews saw him as a traitor and a sellout, which is a fairly accurate assessment of tax collectors. They did make good money, but it cost them their community. If you see how The Chosen portrays this, the Romans just see him as just another Jew, although maybe slightly less repulsive because he actually works for the Romans…but still a Jew. For Matthew to give up the job of tax collector was to really give up everything he had left - the little bit of respect he had from the Romans, any collegiality he may have had from his fellow tax collectors, and the good money he was making from that job. This was total commitment to following Jesus.

Back to verse 10. Here’s Jesus, this unknown teacher from Galilee, sitting with “many tax collectors and sinners.” Of course, the Pharisees are watching…they’re looking for a way to discredit Jesus, since in the earlier verses he had made them look foolish when he healed a paralyzed man by forgiving his sins. This miracle gained the attention of the crowds and made the Pharisees look bad.

So Jesus had just healed someone…but he did so by forgiving his sins. He didn’t say “you are healed”… instead he said “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” (ESV, Mt 9:2) Isn’t it interesting, then, that his next stop is a house full of “many tax collectors and sinners”? The Pharisees can’t imagine a teacher - one who should know God’s Law extremely well - would be openly violating it by such close fellowship with those who are considered “unclean”. Jesus’ response to them shows them that they simply do not understand God’s will. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Doctors don’t treat healthy people. Doctors treat the sick and injured.

Tax collectors and sinners are as much in need of forgiveness as anyone. Here’s a question: if you think you’re not a sinner, do you think you need Jesus? If you’re truly not a sinner, then you truly don’t need Jesus. The problem is, Jesus is the only one who was truly not a sinner. The rest of us…well, Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” as Paul puts it. I guess we’re sick. Welcome to the hospital.

I don’t know about you all, but I strongly believe that there is a powerful connection between forgiveness and healing. When I worked a summer in what we call Clinical Pastoral Education, I was in an assisted living facility, and I saw various levels of both faith and guilt. As we entered the program, we were told that everyone on staff is trained to understand that all healing is both physical and spiritual. For scientific, medical people to acknowledge that is quite something. When those of us who worked the spiritual side of the house were able to offer God’s forgiveness, it often proved to be a powerful component of that person’s overall health and well-being. And the great thing about God’s forgiveness is that if you want it, you just need to ask for it.

I hope that at least once so far, when I’ve said the word “forgiveness”, you thought of the words you heard just before our first hymn this morning “...I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins...” But that forgiveness came after confession…which is precisely how we ask for it. I want to share with you a little bit of Luther’s comments on confession:

“...in addition to [private confession with a priest] there are two other kinds, which have an even greater right to be called the Christians’ common confession. I refer to the practice of confessing to God alone or to our neighbor alone, begging for forgiveness. These two kinds are expressed in the Lord’s Prayer when we say, ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,’ etc.

Indeed, the whole Lord’s Prayer is nothing else than such a confession. For what is our prayer but a confession that we neither have nor do what we ought and a plea for grace and a happy conscience? This kind of confession should and must take place incessantly as long as we live. For this is the essence of a genuinely Christian life, to acknowledge that we are sinners and to pray for grace.” [Tappert, 458]

That’s worth hearing again: “...this is the essence of a genuinely Christian life, to acknowledge that we are sinners and to pray for grace.” Luther continues:

The Book of Concord (A Brief Exhortation to Confession)

Thus we have in the Lord’s Prayer a twofold absolution: our debts both to God and to our neighbor are forgiven when we forgive our neighbor and become reconciled with him. Besides this public, daily, and necessary confession, there is also the secret confession which takes place privately before a single brother. When some problem or quarrel sets us at one another’s throats and we cannot settle it, and yet we do not find ourselves sufficiently strong in faith, we may at any time and as often as we wish lay our complaint before a brother, seeking his advice, comfort, and strength. This kind of confession is not included in the commandment like the other two but is left to everyone to use whenever he needs it. Thus by divine ordinance Christ himself has entrusted absolution to his Christian church and commanded us to absolve one another from sins. So if there is a heart that feels its sin and desires consolation, it has here a sure refuge when it hears in God’s Word that through a man God looses and absolves him from his sins.

[Take note that] confession consists of two parts. The first is my work and act, when I lament my sin and desire comfort and restoration for my soul. The second is a work which God does, when he absolves me of my sins through a word placed in the mouth of a man. This is the surpassingly grand and noble thing that makes confession so wonderful and comforting.

If you look at your LBW, page 193, you’ll see a longer form of the confession we did together this morning. It includes laying on of hands and personal forgiveness.

Then if you turn to page 196, you’ll see “individual confession and forgiveness.” This is our version of the Roman Catholic confession booth scene. We don’t do this anonymously. We do this face-to-face. I never did this until 2018 as the one receiving forgiveness. I have now been blessed to hear someone’s confession and declare their forgiveness. It’s a powerful thing.

I think we all know that there’s a lot in the world around us that needs healing. There’s a lot of brokenness and insanity everywhere, and it seems like it keeps getting worse. And if you pay attention, you’ll notice that there’s also a distinct lack of forgiveness. Gee, what a shocker - a society that wants to get rid of God has no capacity to forgive each other. Who would’ve seen that coming?

God has given us two very powerful tools to ensure our spiritual health:confession and forgiveness. He has given us confession to relieve our consciences and to help us move on from past mistakes and sins. If something is weighing on you, causing you sleepless nights, maybe even causing you physical pain or illness, give it to God in confession. If doing it from the pews on Sunday morning with the congregation doesn’t relieve the guilt, please consider what I just showed you on page 196. Confessing it silently is a good start; saying it out loud, confronting it, and being individually forgiven is something even more meaningful.

Forgiveness is also a powerful tool that we are able to use with our families, friends, and neighbors. Remember: when you forgive someone else, it’s more about you than it is about them. If you want to hold onto your anger at them, if you want to keep thinking about how they hurt you and wronged you and hold that grudge, it doesn’t hurt them; it only hurts yourself…and that’s not healthy. For some people, it can actually manifest physically in the form of illness or disease. Forgive them. Give it to God. He’ll confront them in His way. You have your own sins to worry about, don’t you?

When we to Christ’s Table to eat the meal of forgiveness, Jesus’ body and blood remind us of the cost of our forgiveness, and how precious God’s grace and mercy to us truly is. Our worship service is ordered and structured so that before we come to that Table, we are reconciled to God in our confession - we bring our sins before Him, admitting our wrongs and asking His forgiveness. Later, we reconcile with each other in the exchange of peace. Quite literally, we are telling each other “if there is anything between us that’s damaging to our relationship, I ask your forgiveness for my part, and I forgive you anything there might be on your part.” We come to the Lord’s Supper as one Body - the Body of Christ. It’s quite inappropriate for us to come to this meal with division and conflict between us. The exchange of God’s peace reconciles that.

We are called, like Matthew, to follow Christ. And like Matthew, we have been directed to share the Gospel with others. What difference would it make to the world if we could remind people that there *is* such a thing as forgiveness? What if people were reminded that grace and mercy *do* exist? And they exist because the God Who created everything sent His Son to die for us, to conquer sin and death and be raised, and offers eternal life to everyone. That might even remind them of something else the world seems to be lacking: hope. Imagine that: bringing forgiveness and hope back to the world.

So, fellow sick people in need of a physician, remember that Jesus calls us, not the healthy. Fellow sinners, remember that Jesus calls us, not the righteous. Let’s share this calling *and* this gift with the world around us, and let’s never take our forgiveness for granted. Thanks be to God.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.