Not the Righteous, But Sinners

Reception

[Pass out pamphlets and briefly describe reading/Ordinary time]

Collect for Purity

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Readings/Lessons

Old Testament Lesson

A reading from the Old Testament, the Prophet Hosea, the 5th chapter,

Hosea 5:15–6:6 From God: “I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

From the Nations: “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

The Word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God.

New Testament Lesson

A reading from the New Testament, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, the 4th chapter,

Romans 4:13–18 “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.””

The Word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, According to St. Matthew,

Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Matthew 9:9–13 “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. 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?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.””

The Word of the Lord,

Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Exposition/Sermon

Separation, disappointment, grief. Experiences or feelings we’ve all had before. Thus describes the attitude of God with man before His coming to earth as man. He had destined a model nation to draw the others towards Him, but the nation disobeyed and failed. Like a teacher whose high-potential student drops out before graduation. They were destined for so much, and lost it.

Yet, the biblical message is one of mercy, one of second, third, fourth chances, one of forgiving seven times seventy times—a message incompatible with our humanly desires, but attune with the divine. So much so it’s demonstrated throughout every book of Scripture.

Scripture is unique as an old book that can still speak to us now. We recognize its antiquity, its in-another-world, to say, and we bring it into conversation with out world. Our world’s of our personal sin, our unfaithfulness, our regret, our troubles, and we match it with the history, teachings, and lessons of the living Word, which transcends time and culture. We are given that mercy so attune with the divine in Holy Writ because the Scriptures call us towards repentance, towards orienting our minds towards that which is greater—God. Not something that we’re too late to hold to, but something offered to us, freely, now and evermore. But don’t waste that shot.

Hear the words of Matthew’s gospel, where the author re-tells his introduction to Christ. Here these words spoken to Matthew and let them rest on your hearts for edification, cleansing, and assurance: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Powerful. But only so powerful as its given condition. Christ our Lord will quote from the prophet Hosea when he declares that he desires mercy, not sacrifice.

For sacrifice was never the ideal, which is through the righteousness of faith that Paul describes. The prophet Samuel said 1 Samuel 15:22 “‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.’” In this way, our obedience is the sacrifice that is truly desired by God, not animals. For the purpose of the sacrifice was to be an outward sign of an inward promise, as the Eucharist is for us today. But if these rituals become nothing but a cheap way to receive mercy and grace, that grace no longer becomes effectual.

Let us not look to Christ’s calling for us, us sinners who he calls (not the righteous, but sinners), not as a license to sin, but as an invitation to orient ourselves to Him now. All he asks us is to offer ourselves to Him, such that He offered Himself for us, that we might be united in that divinity He prepares. The prophet Micah, writes Micah 6:6–8 “‘With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’” These are the radically Christian ways of living. Despite injustice, anger, and egoism, live with justice, kindness, and humility. That is how we serve God, that is what we do to sacrifice ourselves in obedience before Him. That is his intent in inviting us to the table, to reconcile ourselves with Him who we once lost.

Matthew is a perfect example of this. His being chosen was no accident, it’s an encapsulation of the broad net Christ wants in His kingdom, fishers of men. Matthew was a tax collector, not an insignificant title. Tax collectors were known in the Jewish communities as traitors, as those who swore greater allegiance to the dominating Roman Empire, who stole tax money to enrich themselves. It is no wonder Christ comes to Him who was most lowly and hated. And was Israel in the Old Testament not the same way? Disobedient, lowly, hated. Yet God chose them as a model nation to show, masterfully, that He could work even through the greatest disobeyers. If He could redeem Israel, and if He could redeem Matthew, He can redeem anyone. The prostitute, the robber, the slanderer, the philanderer, the torturer, the abuser, the lost men and women.

They, or you, were once God’s children, He calls you again back to that place as Christ was called back into heaven. The prophet Hosea speaks for disobedient and unrepentant biblical Israel. Earlier in the book he describes Israel as a whoring wife who continues to betray her husband, yet the husband calls out to her and offers her love.

So had Christ called out to us. It was not through the law, or the flesh, that we are children of God and thus Abraham’s offspring. No, neither through the flesh of the animal nor circumcision are we counted justified before God, but by righteousness of faith, or righteous living. A life offered to all. Become members of Israel resurrected. Full of Jews and Gentiles. Descendants of the father of all nations, Abraham’s offspring who the promise was given to. Not by ethnicity, as it was never intended, but by faith.

Hear now from St. John Chrysostom from the 4th century, who asks the question, “why did Jesus not call Matthew at the same time as he called Peter and John and the rest?” Or, better phrased for us, ‘how do I know if I’m being called?’ Or ‘why are others called before me?’ He answers that “[Christ] came to each one at a particular time when he knew that they would respond to him. He came at a different time to call Matthew when he was assured that Matthew would surrender to his call. Similarly, he called Paul at a different time when he was vulnerable, after the resurrection, something like a hunter going after his quarry. For he who is acquainted with our inmost hearts and knows the secrets of our minds knows when each one of us is ready to respond fully.”

Isn’t that beautiful, it is God who orders, who calls out to us when we are ready to hear from Him. That promise was not just made to Peter or John, but also to Matthew. Similarly, that promise is not just made to those you deem “righteous,” for God looks at more that outer impression. But to you, and to me, great sinners, does He call. As St. Paul would famously say, 1 Timothy 1:15 “…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

So let us return to the Lord, by answering His call, with honest hearts that acknowledge our guilt and receive His mercy. That seek to offer that true sacrifice of posture and receive that true sacrifice of Christ. Hear the God who withdrew from ethnic Israel now drawing us all near in Christ. Hear the Savior who sat at table with a sinner and downtrodden man like Matthew and says to you today: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This is not a distant offer for someone else. The same promise given to Abraham is given to you as Abraham’s offspring, by faith, not seed. The same mercy extended to unfaithful Israel and to a hated tax collector is extended to you right now. Therefore, come. Come as you are, but do not stay as you are. Offer the only sacrifice God truly desires: a broken and contrite heart, lived out in justice, kindness, and humble walking with your God. And in that confession, discover the joy of being found, forgiven, and called by name.

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. He has prepared a table for you, the same table where sinners become sons and daughters.

He desires mercy, not sacrifice, as He desires us now in our brokenness, not righteousness. For only through Him can we truly be made righteous, through our becoming like Him in Him. And may His graces ever fill us as we pray to Him. Alleluia, Alleluia, let us thank the Lord!

Collect for Proper 5

Grant, O Lord, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by your providence, that your Church may joyfully serve you in quiet confidence and godly peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Benediction

Let us end tonight in a benediction, from the words of St. Paul,

1 Corinthians 16:23–24 “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.”

Go in peace to love in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.