Calling of the Tax Collector

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 As Jesus continued on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. He said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him. 10 As Jesus sat down to eat in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and his disciples at the table. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus heard it, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. 13 Go and learn what this means: I want mercy and not sacrifice. I didn’t come to call righteous people, but sinners.”

18 While Jesus was speaking to them, a ruler came and knelt in front of him, saying, “My daughter has just died. But come and place your hand on her, and she’ll live.” 19 So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. 20 Then a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the hem of his clothes. 21 She thought, If I only touch his robe I’ll be healed. 22 When Jesus turned and saw her, he said, “Be encouraged, daughter. Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that time on. 23 When Jesus went into the ruler’s house, he saw the flute players and the distressed crowd. 24 He said, “Go away, because the little girl isn’t dead but is asleep”; but they laughed at him. 25 After he had sent the crowd away, Jesus went in and touched her hand, and the little girl rose up. 26 News about this spread throughout that whole region.

INTRO

This week, we have begun what is known in the Church's liturgical calendar as “Ordinary Time.” Ordinary time does not mean routine, but rather it refers to the ordinal numbers of the season….such as “The Second Sunday After Pentecost.” There are two ordinary times in the liturgical calendar; the first is after Epiphany, and the Second is after Pentecost. Historically, the second season of ordinary time is used to teach and support new disciples and the whole church on how to live out the gifts and callings it has discerned during the season of Easter and is commissioned to carry out on the day of Pentecost. In living into this historical understanding of the season, we are beginning the first of four sermon series entitled The Disciples Path this week. Each sermon of these “mini-sermon series” will explore different aspects of discipleship. The first sermon series speaks to the weight of the calling we have received from God.

When I first began to read our passage for this morning. I remember thinking to myself…how in the world does this speak to the difficulty, the weight, the hardship of discipleship. In Matthew’s call story, Jesus is walking along and sees Matthew chilling out near his place of employment…as he walks by, Jesus speaks to Matthew, “Follow me.” With no other directive, Matthew follows. It doesn’t seem very difficult. In fact, it looks like Matthew is mindlessly obedient to God. Yet, we have no idea if this is an invitation or a command if Matthew finds his employment to be satisfying or a mere necessity for maintaining his lifestyle and caring for his family.

Our lectionary text does not stop there. In the next verse, Matthew is not only called a disciple, but he is eating, dining, and conversing in the company of people he had left. I am sure there are some second thoughts as Matthew is joking and carrying on with his colleagues. I am sure he found himself wondering what am I doing here. Like countless others who dared to follow after God, jump head first into the waters of baptism, and heard a calling…there seem to be so many unanswered questions.

To be clear, we are all called into the church's work. All of us, not just clergy, are called to become disciples who make disciples who transform the world. This call might be to a place like those who are or recently discerned to make Saint Luke's their church family, it might be a call to a task such as teaching Sunday school or maybe even just attending bible study, and it’s certainly a call into a way of living…but in all these things there is a call by God into relationship.

We at Saint Luke’s are discerning, thinking through, and praying about different aspects of our callings. Maybe, you are thinking through all the changes that have happened this year and wonder how you fit in. Maybe, you are watching online, wondering if it’s really possible to make this space your home when you can only attend virtually. Maybe, you have been here for a few weeks or months and kinda thought you were popping in and are beginning to wonder: what am I still doing here? Maybe, you are discerning a different career or place of employment and are wondering if this is really God’s voice telling you to follow.

I am sure Matthew is wondering all of these things when a question rings out into the air that catches his attention. “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Most questions arise from a desire to know, learn, or to understand something. One commentary notes, “Questions emerge from the questing spirit, which is distinctively human, which marks us as transcendent beings made for mystery, made in the image of God, stamped with the yearning to know and be one with God.”[1]

To live into the way of salvation, to grow more fully into the image of Christ, to follow after God, and to long for the fullness of a life lived out in God, to question is to seek God, who is the answer to our yearning. Yet, this question of “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” It does not arise from curiosity, wonder, or a desire to follow after the heart of God. Rather, the Pharisees find this behavior from Jesus unacceptable, to be outside the limits of social acceptability, and their judgment has already been made.

One commentary notes, “As social outcasts, they are seen as collaborators with an evil and oppressive government.” By their position as tax collectors, the Pharisees see these persons as agents of evil. Persons who stand against everything that the church believes in. Furthermore, those who are righteous do not break bread and dine with those who are outside the law.

Jesus has little patience for their question, not because it’s a question but because it’s not born out of curiosity but judgment. The question is not even addressed to him but to the disciples. Maybe Jesus knew that the Pharisees were taking a jab at Matthew; regardless of the reason, Jesus did not hesitate to weigh in. He hears and responds with a command to “go and learn what this means: I want mercy and not sacrifice.”

The Pharisees are blind to that which the Torah requires. They have twisted and misinterpreted the law to fit their own needs. Jesus, on the other hand, represents and embodies the perfect love of God. Interestingly, when Jesus speaks to the Pharisees, his disciples, and us, his command to “go and learn” is the root word for disciple. In other words, he is telling us “what sort of learning, what sort of discipling, is required of us: to learn mercy and not sacrifice.”[2]

Jesus, the son of God, embodies and shows us God’s love. He knew that the source of conversation, the means of making disciples, and how one transforms the world is in, through, and by God’s unconditional love. Just in case we didn’t get the point, the lectionary text continues on with two more examples of Godly reconciliation and love.

A leader of the synagogue who seeks the savior’s help for his daughter’s sake and a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years are brought into the biblical narrative. Each with the same sense call, the same amount of unknowns that Matthew felt, the what ifs, and doubts, yet they move to follow, seek out, and find Christ.

When the synagogue's leader approaches Jesus, any hope he should have for a positive outcome seems lost. His daughter is already dead, yet this man still holds out for hope. He’s not hopeless but hopeful. He goes to Christ, having no idea how Jesus will respond. He steps into the unknown as this man named Jesus is already disliked among his colleagues, and he publically asks Jesus to lay hands on her with the hope that she will live again. Just as he asks Jesus for his help, a woman interrupts him to what is urgent.

One commentary notes, “The interruption of the woman does not seem to concern him. There is no record of him interrupting the conversation between the woman and Jesus in order to get his miracle back on track, even though a man of power might expect Jesus to pay more attention to his need than to that of the woman. Perhaps at that moment he sees in the face of this woman a fellow sufferer. After twelve years, she has probably sought her share of assistance from others; but she too has not lost hope, saying, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”

At first, this part of the text doesn’t seem like a big deal. Yet, it points out that both the leader and the woman step into the unknown and that God's desire for a relationship is not just for churchgoers and leaders but all who long seek Christ. Second, it shows that women, those considered lowlier than tax collectors in social status, are loved by God. These healing narratives depict the compassion and mercy that Jesus told the Pharisees to go and learn.

We spend much time trying to figure out our call. How do I know that this is God and not the secret desires of my own heart? We want to be certain…by the way, God will affirm these things through community…yet, we seem to always want to figure things out on our own. Church, God doesn’t want us to wait until we are 100 percent certain. God has already shown us what to do.

Discipleship from us involves the same compassion and mercy that Jesus taught and showed us in these passages, too…maybe that is why this call is so weighty. We are people who like to know what we are getting into. We want to know what relationships we are getting into when we say yes to Jesus Christ. We want to know what kind of people we will be accountable to, whom we will welcome into our inner circles, and whom we must show mercy and compassion too.

Discipleship means to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. Jesus already tells us that blessed are the peacemakers; when you do it to the least of these, you do it to him. It’s a weighty call to step into the unknown like Matthew, like the leader in the synagogue, like the woman we are called to step out in faith and share Christ’s compassion and mercy with all people, to form relationships with all people, to share God with all people in word and most certainly in action.

We do not know where this calling of discipleship will lead. We do not know who it will call us to love. Who we will be called to share mercy and compassion too….yet, we do know that the blessing is found in the journey. So might we follow the example of Christ as we show compassion and mercy to all God’s people that we might be blessed by the diversity which will become part of our journey and will become a blessing for us as we follow the path of discipleship.

[1] McManus, Kathleen A. “Theological Perspective on Matthew 9:9–13.” In Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Chapters 1–28, edited by Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, 1:224. First Edition. A Feasting on the Word Commentary. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013. [2] Bartlett, David L. “Exegetical Perspective on Matthew 9:9–13.” In Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Chapters 1–28, edited by Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, 1:229. First Edition. A Feasting on the Word Commentary. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013.