Matthew 9 9-13

Pentecost 15

St.  Matthew

Ephesians 2: 4-10, Matthew 9:9-13

September 21, 2003

The Richness of Grace

Rev.  Raymond L.  Hagan Jr.

Introduction: “I see dead people.  .  .  .  They don’t know they’re dead.  .  .  .  They’re everywhere.” Christians understand that this line from the Bruce Willis movie The Sixth Sense with the young boy, Haley Joel Osment, represents fiction.  But we may need to be reminded that this, in some way, represents a spiritual truth.  At least that’s what St.  Paul is saying in the Epistle.  Anywhere you go, you can see people who are spiritually dead, and the tragedy is they don’t even know it.  Paul uses the word riches in our text, and so I suspect you can even expand the analogy.  In the context of a world that glorifies riches, “I see poor people everywhere, and they don’t even know they’re poor.”

The good news for us as Christians is that we have been made alive by God; we have been made rich in Christ.  The ironic thing is that sometimes we still don’t remember it or appreciate it! That’s why St.  Paul tells us this in our text.

Today we remember St.  Matthew, the apostle, the Gospel writer.  In Matthew’s life we see a great example of this transformation.

God Makes Someone Spiritually Dead Alive, Someone Spiritually Poor Rich.

I.  Matthew was dead, and God made him alive by the “richness of his grace.”

            A.  Matthew may have thought he was rich, but he was poor (alive, but dead).

                        1.  As a tax collector, he probably had significant wealth.

                        2.  As a tax collector, he was ostracized from community and temple.

                        3.  Matthew didn’t realize he was “dead in transgressions” (v 5).  No one who is spiritually dead can realize this, nor can anyone who is spiritually dead raise himself.

            B.  Christ made him alive.  He made him truly rich.

                        1.  The power of Jesus effects the change in Matthew.  Jesus says, “Follow me,” and Matthew immediately obeys (Mt 9:9).

                        2.  Jesus showed his full acceptance of Matthew by going to his house and eating with him (Mt 9:10–11).

                        3.  Jesus included Matthew as an apostle (Mt 10:1–4).

                        4.  Matthew was most literally raised to life (vv 4–5).  He now had faith.  His spiritual heart was beating.  He was capable of a living, loving relationship with God.  He was truly rich (vv 6–7).

            C.  Jesus does this out of his rich “love,” “mercy,” and “grace” (vv 4–5).

                        1.  Like Matthew, it’s always sinners, those who can’t save themselves, whom Jesus calls (Mt 9:10–12).

                        2.  Jesus’ desire is always to have mercy (Mt 9:13).  In this, God is truly rich!

            D.  Now Matthew knew what it really meant to be alive.

                        1.  His entire lifestyle was changed.  For three years he followed Jesus everywhere.  He heard his teaching.  He saw his arrest and crucifixion.  He witnessed his resurrection.

            It is important for us to be familiar with the story of St.  Matthew, since in it we have a beautiful picture of the richness of God’s grace that changes us from death to life.  Yet apart from the story of his calling, we know very little about his life.  His name means “gift of Yahweh.” Mark and Luke also call him “Levi” in their parallels to the Gospel, although both refer to him as Matthew in their lists of the disciples.  “Levi” may mean “attached.” Perhaps the change in names reflects a change in character—going from one who is attached “to the world or money?” to one who has received the gift of grace from God.  Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria both claim that Matthew spent some 15 years preaching among the Hebrews.  Other tradition tells us that Matthew preached in Ethiopia.  We do not know the manner of his death.

            Besides the story of his calling, the only other detail of which we are reasonably sure is that from the earliest days Matthew was recognized as the author of the first Gospel.  Through this Gospel we get a glimpse of the love that Matthew has for the Lord and the zeal he had for sharing the Good News, evidenced especially in the last verses of his Gospel where he records the great commission.  After Matthew met Jesus and followed him he really began to live.

                        4.  He lived Real life! But, sadly, not life as everyone knows it.

II. We were dead, and God made us alive by the “richness of his grace.”

            A.  We thought we were alive, but we were dead.  Paul writes, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world.”

                        1.  Before coming to faith, we were spiritually dead and didn’t know it.

                        2.  We still see reminders of that old, dead self in the ways we so often live as we gratify the cravings of our sinful nature and follow its desires and thoughts, words and deeds, doing those things that we ought not do.

                        3.  Like everyone else, we all deserve God’s wrath.

            B.  Christ makes us alive.   He makes us truly rich.

                        1.  The power of Jesus’ Word effects the change.  Already at our Baptism, he says, “Follow me.”

                        2.  From our Baptism, a new spiritual man arises.

            C.  Jesus does this out of his rich “grace” (vv 8–9).

                        1.  We had no works to offer.

                        2.  But grace sent Jesus to the cross.  It is truly God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  Because Jesus paid the full purchase price with his blood, salvation is a gift of God, free to us.

Illustration: Art Linkletter, in the segment of his television show called “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” once interviewed a girl of about 6 or 7.  He asked her, “What does love look like?” The little girl answered, “It’s when I let Johnny get in front of me at the drinking fountain line.” Linkletter smiled and said, “Well, you must love Johnny very much.” But the little girl responded, “No, I don’t even like him.” That is what love looks like, isn’t it? God loved us when we weren’t even likable.  We are saved by grace.

            D.  Now we live life as people truly alive because we know where true riches are to be found.

Illustration: A man was visiting a Texas land baron.  After dinner the host took the guest out on the front porch to show him the view.  Waving his arm toward the horizon, he said, “Everything you see belongs to me.  Those oil wells on the horizon – they’re mine.  That golden grain on the hills – that mine too.  Those cattle in the valley – mine, all mine.  Twenty-five years ago when I came out here, there was nothing.  But now I own everything that you see.  The host waited for a word of praise.  But the visitor waved his arm toward heaven and said, “And what do you own up there?”    

            Do you realize how rich you are?  Do you remember that God has made you alive? St.  Matthew, in his life, and Paul, in his Epistle, are our messengers from God reminding us just how rich, how alive, we are.  Paul writes, “But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses – it is by grace that you have been saved…in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”  We don’t have to wait for the coming age to see the treasure that God has given to us.  Today we celebrate the beginning of a new School year.  We celebrate a treasure that we don’t always appreciate.  We have been blessed with a wonderful principle, Brian Elmhosrst, and marvelous teachers, Barbara Zimmermann and Kay Koenitzer and Vallery McDonald.  God has given us dedicated teachers for our Sunday school led by Sandy Grulke.  While these people do teach our children the practical lessons of life and learning, they point to a far greater treasure.  They teach our children about their Savior Jesus Christ.  They teach them about his life and death and His glorious resurrection.  They teach our kids about the forgiveness of sins which can only be found in Christ’s name and that through faith in Him, even though we may die we shall have eternal life.  They teach our children how important they are and how loved they are by their Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ.   In the wake of Corey’s tragic death, are there any more important lessons to teach than these?  Our Lutheran School is a treasure that we all possess.  Now, more than ever, we should support our beloved school.  We should do this even if our children are grown up and no longer attend.  The children that attend Immanuel are the congregation’s children.  One of the main missions of our church, and greatest trust from God, is to teach our children the way of salvation.   This is exactly what Immanuel Lutheran School does.     

Conclusion: Telling the Good News about Jesus, that is what St.  Matthew was all about.   Matthew would want us to look beyond ourselves and see the people of the world.   He wants us to know that though they walk and talk, they are spiritually dead.  Though they think they are rich, they are spiritually poor.   These people are everywhere.  Matthew would ask, “Can you tell those people the good news?”  You bet we can.

            Like Matthew, you have gone from being dead to being alive—you have become truly rich, truly wise.  Like Matthew, in some way, in thankfulness to God, you can share your story?  Our mission filed is everywhere.  The festival of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist reminds us of the grace of God that changed a man from being a social outcast, literally “a tax collector,” to being a great apostle and witness of the faith.  By the grace of God we too have been changed by the Gospel and the Spirit of God acting in our lives.  Now we are Christ’s witnesses of the faith.   Amen.