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.
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house,
behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus
and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw
this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax
collectors and sinners?”12 But when he heard it, he
said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are
sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I
desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners.”
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these
words, “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. Saint Matthew, St. Matthew THE APOSTLE, St. Matthew the apostle and
EVANGELIST. A little overwhelming, isn’t
it, to consider such a holy nice guy in a church service. But St. Matthew didn’t begin as a Saint, he
didn’t begin as holy. He started out as
just regular Matthew, a sinner. And so
it is, that even though this evening we are celebrating St. Matthew the Apostle,
as Christians we keep our eyes focused not on a man but on Jesus, who made the
sinner into a saint. We focus on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith.
And so tonight, as we celebrate St. Matthew the apostle, we cannot do so
without understand how it is really Jesus that we remember today, Jesus who
turned a lowly sinful tax collector named Matthew, into a blessed saint of
God.
To begin with, we
must understand that Jesus came for sinners, not for those who are
righteous. That means Jesus didn’t come
for those who think they have no need of a savior. He didn’t come for those who don’t understand
that they have done wrong against God’s Word, God’s Commands, or God’s promises. If you want Jesus to be for you, you must
first be a sinner.
Yes, you must be a
sinner first and foremost. St. Matthew
understood this. That’s why in the
Gospel that he wrote, he didn’t hesitate to point out the fact that he was once
a dreaded tax-collector, who collected funds for the foreign occupying army of
Rome. He didn’t hesitate in our Gospel
lesson for today to point out that his friends were other tax-collectors and
sinners. And if he was talking about
himself, he had no problem saying that he was a poor miserable sinner in what
he had done and what he had left undone.
Compare that with
yourself, dear Christian. What would
your claim about yourself? Will you be a
sinner? So many people in our world
today will not claim the title sinner for themselves. Sure, they’d freely admit that they live
together, that they cheat on their taxes, that they curse, swear, and use satanic
arts. They’ll even petition to have a
statue of Satan placed in front of the Arkansas capital building. They’ll happily gossip about their neighbors
or coworkers, and our economy thrives upon coveting what others have, but you
haven’t gone into debt to buy for yourselves yet. Even the so called, “little things” like
driving 2 miles an hour over the speed limit in violation of the 4th
commandment, we freely admit. But we’re
afraid to admit these things are sin!
But God’s Word is
clear! Dear friends, these are damning
and deadly sins! Any way we ignore God’s
Word can kill us – forever! Fear not
those who can kill the body, fear the one who can kill the soul forever in
hell! These things are sin!
But if someone
were to point out these things and call it sin, suddenly we’re offended. Suddenly we’re angry – who are you to judge
me! I’m not a sinner! I’m not worse than others, and especially not
you! I was born this way, it’s only
illegal if I get caught! Sin!? The only sin of any consequence in our modern
American society is calling something else wrong or a sin. But all the sins that truly kill and injure,
those we ignore!
And as for
admitting for ourselves – yes us here in church and listening on the radio – as
for admitting that we ourselves are sinners, we could never do it. Its too harsh, to difficult. People have even stopped attending church
because the pastor said they were a sinner from the pulpit.
But in our Gospel
lesson, Matthew speaks the truth about himself.
He wrote it down in the Gospel, the Holy Bible that he was a sinner and
a tax collector. Because he understood
who Jesus was – the one who called him out of sin and into holiness. He wants your eyes to be fixed on the
important person – Jesus. The one who
forgave his sin by blood suffering and death – even death on a cross. He understood that Christ has purchased him
from all sin, death and the power of the devil, but dying a gruesome death on
an old rugged cross.
That’s why Matthew
today writes the words of our Gospel lesson.
There he was, living his own sinful life. Living and letting live, when Christ called
“follow me,” and led him out of sin and into forgiveness. Jesus knew his sin! Jesus knew his guilt! And Matthew, by allowing himself to be a
sinner, he also let Christ be his savior.
By being a sinner, he received the free gift of God’s grace. He spoke the truth about himself. He calls himself a tax collector, a sinner,
so that Jesus can call himself his savior, and lead him out of sin.
Dear friend, will you
do the same? Will allow yourself to be a
sinner, so that Christ can save you from that sin? Will you stop self-justifying? Will you stop ignoring your sin? Will you stop calling your guilt good? If you say you have no sin, you deceive
yourself, if you say you have no sin you make God a liar. Jesus came for sinners. Just as the sick need a doctor, you, a
sinner, need a savior. Repent! Be a sinner.
Be guilty. Realize the
truth. You have done wrong. The things you’re are doing now are
wrong. They go against God’s Word, and
they need forgiveness. Repent.
And know this –
Jesus is your savior. Just as he called
Matthew, the sinner, to be his disciple, he also calls you. “Follow me.”
Receive forgiveness, for all your sin.
Be a sinner – yes, but be a sinner who has been purchased from all sin,
from death and the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with the
holy precious blood, innocent suffering and death of Jesus Christ your Lord and
Savior. In that, the cross, the blood,
the death of Jesus, sinners, like you and me, are forgiven. In Christ, the medicine of life is
distributed. In the lamb of God, Jesus,
the sin of the world, of you, is taken away.
Your sin was washed away in baptism, you eat the food of forgiveness
from the altar. You are a forgiven
sinner.
And being a
forgiven sinner, you follow Jesus, as Matthew did. Yes, Matthew, being called by his savior,
left his tax collectors booth behind, he left his sinful life behind. That doesn’t mean he never sinned again – what
it means is that he always brought his sin to the cross. He found his identity in the salvation given
freely by Jesus, not his former sin. He
always confessed the truth – I’m a sinner forgiven by God’s grace. It didn’t mean he doubled down on his sin, it
meant he lived a life in the freedom of Christ apart from the sin to which he
once was bound. A slave freed from
slavery does not willing return to their former life. A person doesn’t take a bath only to climb
back in the mud. Jesus set Matthew free
from sin.
And the same for
you. Like Matthew, you are a sinner, and
at the same time, like Matthew, you are a saint in Christ, called out of your
former ways, into the way of holiness.
Jesus has come for you, to forgive you sin, to call you to a life of
faith, and to lead you into eternal freedom.
To give you a place amongst all the saints, both living and
departed. He’s called you to a life of
holiness, not of corruption. He’s made
you well, by his blood, by his grace, by his mercy, and by his death and
resurrection. So that you might be his
own, and live under him in his kingdom, in holiness, righteousness and
blessedness.
Jesus said, “For I
came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Which means he came for Matthew, a sinner,
and made him a saint by shedding his blood, setting him free to live apart from
sin.
Jesus said, “For I
came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Which means he came for you,
also a sinner, and made you a saint by his blood. Thanks be to God.
In the name of
Jesus. Amen.
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