Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 8, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
Follow Me, the Doctor of Mercy (Matthew 9:9-13)
As many of you know, this is the Year of St. Matthew
in our lectionary series. Matthews Gospel is the one
that were following this year. But in our text this
morning, we see Matthew himself doing the following.
St. Matthew hears the call to follow, and we, the
people of St. Matthew Lutheran Church--we hear it
also, the call of Jesus, Follow me.
St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, had something in
common with quite a few pastors today (including this
one): He was a second-career man in the ministry.
The only thing is, Matthews first career was probably
a little more unsavory than most. He was a tax
collector, a publican, as it was called. Of course,
the Jews back in Matthews day probably called him a
few other names besides. For the tax collector was
one of the most despised persons in Palestine. In the
public opinion polls, tax collector or publican
would have been way down at the bottom of the list.
Now tax collectors are never popular. For one thing,
they take away your money. But the tax collectors of
that day were hated for two more reasons: 1) They
liked to line their own pockets, and 2) The taxes they
were collecting were for the Romans, the foreign power
occupying Palestine. So the publicans were
collaborators, turncoats who cozied up to the enemy
for their own advantage. Well, thats the kind of guy
our Mr. Matthew was. No question he was a sinner.
That was easy to see.
The Pharisees certainly had no problem spotting
sinners--except when it came to themselves. Now how
about us? If youre anything like me, youre better
at pointing out sin in others than you are in
yourself. But if we look into the mirror of Gods
law, we see that, like Matthew, we too are sinners.
We may not have a tax booth, but inside each of us
there is a take booth: Take whatever we can to
satisfy ourselves. Take the gifts God has given me
and use them for myself. Take from others whatever
they can do for me. This is the take booth you and
I are sitting at. The symptoms of our sinfulness may
not be as obvious as they were in Matthews case, but
the underlying disease is still the same.
Matthew sitting at his tax booth, you and I sitting at
our take booth--but to sinners like Matthew and like
us, Jesus comes and simply says, Follow me. Clean
and crisp and powerful the call comes. The initiative
is all with Jesus. He chooses his disciples. We
dont choose him. The essential and decisive thing is
his gracious call. Its not because of anything in us
that Jesus calls us. Its about something in him:
divine mercy and grace.
Jesus not only calls sinners, he also eats with them.
The Pharisees were shocked that Jesus would break
bread with a houseful of Matthews. But he did. Its
not that theres anything virtuous or noble about tax
collectors and sinners. There isnt. The point is
that Gods grace is deep enough and strong enough to
deal effectively with their sin. Jesus welcomes
sinners. Our Lord is not ashamed to have fellowship,
table fellowship, with the likes of you and me. Every
time the Lords Supper is offered in this house, Jesus
invites us to eat and drink at his table. At this
table he gives us his body and blood, given and shed
for you on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins.
Matthew and you and I all share the same sickness.
Its called sin, and it is a chronic, terminal
illness. But thank God, we also all go to the same
doctor. Jesus says, Those who are well have no need
of a physician, but those who are sick. And he
himself is that physician, the doctor who meets our
need. This man Jesus is known by many titles: Lamb
of God, Prince of Peace, King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. Well, theres one more title we could add to
the list: M.D., Doctor of Mercy. His mercy is the
healing balm that brings comfort and relief to our
sin-sick souls. His mercy is the medicine of
immortality that will give life to these dying bodies.
Suppose for a moment that there was a brilliant
physician who founded a hospital. Whats more, this
doctors personal efforts developed the very effective
medicine that the hospital uses. The medicine is
based on a rare antibody found in the great doctors
own blood. And still today he constantly donates
blood with which to make new batches of the medicine.
Every drop of the medicine used in treatment gives the
patient, as it were, a transfusion of the physicians
blood. Therefore the hospital and its patients live
in ongoing dependence on the founder--not just for
information and guidance, but for life itself.
In this story, the church is the hospital, a hospital
for sinners. We are those sinners, the patients. And
Christ is the doctor who has established the hospital
and continues to give life to the patients. Just as
the medicine has healing power because it is made from
the founding doctors own blood, so the blessed
Sacrament applies to us, again and again, the very
blood of Christ which makes us whole.
Matthew the tax collector, Jesus the Great Physician.
This text about a tax collector and a physician
reminds me of some of the political discussions in
America these days. Now stick with me here--thisll
end up being a comparison to the gospel. A tax
collector and a physician. Some politicians are
calling for free universal health care. Of course,
what they dont tell you is that it is never free. In
order to get that free universal health care, some
of us are going to have to pay an awful lot at the tax
collectors booth. And then if youre lucky, and the
government decides youre a worthy enough candidate,
you might get to see a physician--oh, in six or eight
months. As someone has said, If you think health
care is expensive now, just wait until its free!
Well, I say this not to make a political point, but in
order to point you to what is the only true free
universal health care. And that is the kind Jesus,
the Doctor of Mercy, provides. It is spectacularly
free. Absolutely free to you, a free gift, all by
grace. Of course, there was a price, and somebody had
to pay. The good news is that Jesus paid it all for
you. Your coverage comes to you free of charge,
because Christ paid the full cost for you on the
cross. No co-pay required.
The care Christ provides is free, and it is universal.
Everyone is covered. The Son of God paid the price
for all sinners, everywhere, for all time, with his
holy, precious blood. Everyone is covered; no one is
left out. And the care this Great Physician provides
gives you healing for your soul, in the forgiveness of
sins, and ultimate healing for your body, at the
resurrection of the dead. Unlike smooth-talking
politicians, Jesus can actually keep his promise, no
strings attached: Free, universal eternal health
care, for everyone--for you--from the Doctor of Mercy.
Yes, Jesus is the Doctor of Mercy. Up to now, weve
been using the word doctor in the sense of
physician. But I think theres another way in which
we can call Jesus doctor, and thats in the sense of
expert teacher. In our text, he is called the
teacher of the disciples. Jesus also wanted to
teach the Pharisees the lesson of mercy, but they
would not listen. He said to them: Go and learn
what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.
For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
Jesus is the Doctor of Mercy for us as disciples. He
is our expert teacher. Not only do we need him as our
physician, but also as our example and instructor in
dealing mercifully with others. Like the original
disciples, we too have been called by Jesus to follow
him, both in receiving mercy and in extending that
mercy to others.
We extend Gods mercy to others by our Christian
witness. We tell our friends, relatives, associates,
and neighbors about the mercy of God in Christ Jesus.
The wellspring of refreshing mercy which we have
discovered in the gospel, we do not keep to ourselves,
but we give it away to others. We invite other
thirsty souls to join us in receiving Gods mercy in
Christ.
We also extend mercy to others by our acts of
Christian kindness. We dont think of ourselves more
highly than we ought, but in humility and love we
serve our neighbor. We dont look down our noses,
with an air of smug superiority, at those still caught
in the web of sin. We recognize that we too are
sinners. We realize that the only reason we are
anybody or anything is by the mercy of God.
Forgiveness is that gift of God by which we live, and
it is that, then, which we practice and extend toward
others. As we disciples follow Jesus our teacher,
more and more we too become experts in extending Gods
mercy to sinful people, even those who sin against us.
Jesus, the Doctor of Mercy. Doctor as the Great
Physician for sinners. Doctor as the expert teacher
of disciples. Doctor in both senses of the term.
My friends, fellow sinners and fellow disciples, the
good news is this: The doctor is in. Your
appointment is now. The bill has been paid for.
Follow me, Jesus is calling out to you today.
Follow me, the Doctor of Mercy.
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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