Midweek Lenten Vespers
Week of Third Sunday in Lent
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
Follow Me: The Candidates for Discipleship
(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. (Matthew 9:9-13, ESV)
During this election season, we are hearing a lot from
candidates about their qualifications. One candidate
says hes been involved in every major foreign policy
issue of the last 20 years. Another says she is ready
to lead and has solutions for America. Still another
claims to be the candidate of hope and says he will
bring change we can believe in. Each candidate touts
his or her qualifications for the position theyre
seeking. A candidate for office needs to have certain
qualifications.
Well, how does that play out when were talking about
qualifications for being disciples of Jesus? What
qualifications do candidates for discipleship
need--what do you need--in order to follow and learn
from Jesus? Well, there is one essential
qualification you must have, and tonight we will find
out what it is.
Our text you just heard. Its the calling of St.
Matthew, from chapter 9 of Matthews own gospel, where
Jesus tells him, Follow me. Apparently, Matthew had
what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. What was it?
Do you have what it takes?
I think you do. In fact, I know you do. For you are
just as good a candidate for discipleship as St.
Matthew was. You have the same exact qualification
that he had, the one essential qualification for
following Jesus, and it is this: You are a sinner.
Thats it. Thats what it takes. You need to be a
sinner in order to follow and learn from Jesus.
Thats what St. Matthew was. This saint was a sinner,
and he knew it. Thats what you need in order to hear
Jesus calling. Otherwise, youll tune him out.
St. Matthew the sinner. That point is brought out
clearly in our text--a text, mind you, that Matthew
himself included in his gospel. Later on, as hes
writing this gospel, Matthew is not afraid to put this
information in there, that is, his unsavory background
as a sinner. Much like St. Paul calls himself chief
of sinners, when he reflects on the amazing grace of
God in accepting and forgiving him, so also St.
Matthew puts in the record that he too is a sinner on
whom God has had mercy, a sinner whom Jesus has called
and cleansed.
So Matthew was a sinner. How do we know that? Well,
from his occupation, for one thing. Matthew was a tax
collector. Yes, our congregation is named after a tax
collector! Well, is that really so bad? I mean,
nobody likes the tax collector. But is that job so
sinful?
Of course, tax collectors are never popular, simply by
virtue of the fact that theyre taking your money out
of your pocket. But back in Matthews day the tax
collectors were hated also for a couple more reasons:
1) They were widely known as embezzlers, cheats,
corrupt, taking more than should, to line their own
pockets; and 2) they were working for the enemy, for
Rome, the occupying force in Palestine. The tax
collectors were therefore viewed as traitors,
quislings, by their fellow Jews. So that was our Mr.
Matthew, for whom this congregation is named: a crook
and a collaborator. Matthew was a sinner, no question
about it.
Nevertheless, it is just this Matthew--sitting at his
tax collectors booth, no less--whom Jesus calls to
himself: Follow me. Immediately, Matthew does just
that. He follows. He gets up from his tax
collectors booth, leaves it behind, and follows
Jesus. And then, to top it all off, Jesus goes to
Matthews house for dinner. And there are other
notorious sinners there, to boot. Jesus associates
with them. He eats with them. He graces their table
with his presence.
Jesus explains: Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick. You see, our
doctor makes house calls. Jesus, the Doctor of Mercy.
He comes to us sin-sick sinners and makes us well.
Oh, the great mercy shown us by the Great Physician!
So merciful is he that he even bore our sickness and
sin in his own body and died from it! On the cross he
bled and died to bring healing to both body and soul.
Forgiveness now, life forever. This is a treasure far
greater than anything we could collect at a thousand
tax collectors booths!
Friends, Jesus says to Matthew the tax collector and
to Matthew the congregation: I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners. If you are content with your
own righteousness, then youre not going to have much
use for Jesus. You wont be too interested in coming
to him, following him, and listening to his voice.
When Jesus says, Follow me, youll say, Oh, thats
nice. Ho hum. Now leave me alone. People who are
content with their lives will tune out the message.
On the other hand, for those who know they are
sinners, the call of Jesus comes as the most welcome
news. To those who realize that there is no way out,
no way up, no way forward in life on their own, here
comes Jesus saying: Follow me. I will lead the way
for you. I accept you. I forgive you. Here is Gods
mercy. Here is life and forgiveness and cleansing for
sinners. Wow! What could be better than that? Of
course we will leave our tax collectors booth behind!
Wed be a fool not to. This is no great sacrifice on
our part to leave it behind and follow Jesus. No,
this is his gift to us. He calls sinners to follow
him and receive from him.
Friends, never stop being sinners. What? No, I dont
mean keep on indulging in crookedness and corruption.
No, what I mean is this: Never lose sight of the fact
that you are a sinner, saved by grace, following Jesus
because of his gracious call to you and thus receiving
your life from him. Matthew never forgot that. Let
the people of St. Matthew Lutheran Church never forget
it, either. For then we will always have a hunger and
a thirst for Christs righteousness. We will always
have ears ready and open to hear his voice.
Listen, Jesus is calling us, just like he called
Matthew the tax collector and sinner. Jesus is
calling us to himself, calling us to follow him in
faith for life. Our Master will teach us what he
would have us to know, just as he taught his disciple
Matthew. Our Lord will use in his service, just as he
used St. Matthew of old, the Apostle and Evangelist.
Who are the candidates for this discipleship? Look
around you. They are people just like yourself, just
like your pastor, just like Matthew. People who
possess the one essential qualification for
discipleship, namely: We are sinners called by Jesus.
Tonight we hear the compelling and compassionate voice
of Jesus, calling us afresh. What he is saying is
simple and clear; it is life-giving and full of grace.
He says to each one of us, Follow me. And St.
Matthew--the disciple and the congregation--rose and
followed him.
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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