Scripture Lesson

From the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 9:
⁹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

¹⁰ And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ ¹²But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

"The Devine Doctor"

A Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Jean Niven Lenk

at the First Congregational Church of Stoughton

United Church of Christ

“Let me tell you how it will be. There’s one for you, nineteen for me, ‘cause I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman. And you’re working for no one else but me.”¹

Anyone remember that song by the Beatles?

George Harrison – my favorite Beatle -- wrote these lyrics about the British tax system in the 1960s. But the words could just as easily apply to our nation’s IRS system in the 21st century. No matter what the country, it seems that most citizens think the tax man takes far too much of our money.

And it was no different for the people back in first century Palestine. Except back then, a tax man didn’t collect money to support essential services, like we do here in the United States; they collected taxes for Rome, the occupying force. And the Romans levied taxes for anything and everything. There was a tax on imported and exported goods; a tax to travel on the road, to cross bridges, and to enter marketplaces. There was a tax on pack animals, and a tax on the wheels and axels of carts.

Tax collectors did not receive any salary but were able to make their fortunes by overcharging their own people, who -- in response -- considered them not only mercenaries and thieves, but also traitors for collaborating with the enemy.

In the eyes of the religious authorities, tax collectors were above only slaves and Gentiles on the social scale, and they were considered sinners because they broke the purity laws by financially exploiting people and by dealing with Gentiles. Today, we would see tax collectors’ sin as rooted in the way they had separated themselves from God, from the people of God, and from God’s purpose for their lives.

One of these tax collectors was named Matthew. A sinner. Impure. Separated from God. A traitor and exploiter of his own people. And yet, listen again to these words from this morning’s Gospel lesson:

“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.”

Why did Matthew leave behind his collection booth, his money, everything to follow Jesus?

We can imagine that Matthew had heard about Jesus and had listened to Jesus’ preaching as he sat in his booth on the fringe of the crowds in the open air marketplace. As Matthew listened, he may have come to the realization that his soul was sick, and his heart was needing, wanting to be transformed. In Jesus, Matthew saw a glimpse of the God, and he wanted more. Why did Matthew answer Jesus’ invitation to follow him? Perhaps writer and theologian Frederick Buechner put it best: "Faith is a word that describes the direction our feet start moving when we find that we are loved."²

And why did Jesus call a person like Matthew to be his disciple? Jesus saw the infirmity of Matthew’s heart, saw the pain he had come to feel from his life as a tax collector. And Jesus also saw in Matthew great potential which could be used for God’s kingdom. Jesus went to him right where he worked, reaching out to him and meeting him where he was, just as he was, and inviting him to follow.

Jesus invites us to look at sin as a sickness – not as a moral deficiency to be judged but as an illness to be treated. Instead of laying blame for the individual’s behavior, Jesus focuses instead on the healing of the soul. He sees past Matthew’s sinful behavior and looks deep into his afflicted heart.

There were many people like Matthew who followed Jesus, many “tax collectors and sinners” with whom Jesus shared the fellowship and intimacy of a meal. The religious leaders of the time condemned Jesus for eating with these “undesirables”; they believed that if Jesus really had been sent from God, he would have separated himself from those rejected by society as ritually or morally unclean.

Jesus' response to the religious authorities was full of gentle irony and it re-directed their judgmental gaze back on themselves: "Those who are well have no need of a physician." Jesus was interested in people who sensed their own need, not in those who were sure they didn’t need his healing. He was telling them, in effect, “I can’t help those who think they are without sin. If you feel right with God, okay; but these folks I came to help need something more than all your self-righteous ritual performances. These hurting, troubled people are sick, but the difference is, they know it, and they are open to being helped.”

Matthew's story comes as a great comfort to all of us who know that, deep within our aching, infirm hearts, we are separated from God. When we follow Matthew's example, when we recognize ourselves as sinners and want our hearts to be healed, our relationships with God and others to be restored, then we can be open to the grace Jesus offers. The key is recognizing ourselves as being sick, because we won’t call a doctor if we don’t think we’re ill. And when we acknowledge our sin-sick souls, the Divine Doctor will come to our aid.

This passage does comfort us -- and it also confronts us, for as recipients of God's unmerited love, God’s grace, we are now called to share God’s love with others. God’s grace is free, but it is not cheap; it makes demands on us. We are called to be God’s instruments, to be like Jesus, meeting people not where we think they should be, but where they are, and inviting them into fellowship with God and God's people.

By calling a tax collector to be a disciple, and by eating with sinners and outcasts, Jesus cast his ministry as an inclusive net which values persons as children of God rather than labeling them by their behaviors or occupation. Jesus' inclusive ministry cut across social boundaries as he reached out to Jews and Gentiles, men and women, the poor and the affluent, the powerful and the marginalized. Jesus reached across the divisions in his society to extend to all an invitation to be part of God's family.

And we are called to do likewise, to reach across the divisions in our society. How do we -- in our relationships, in our work, in our communities, and in our church – reach across divisions of race, religion, nationality, geography, social or economic status, and sexual orientation to ensure that all have a place in God's family?

When Matthew answered Jesus' call to follow, he set out on a new future, a new life. And it was then that he was able to begin living up to his name, which means “gift of God.”

It has been said that, in following Jesus' call, Matthew left everything except his pen. According to tradition, the Gospel of Matthew was written by the former tax collector. And while scholars think it unlikely that he was the direct author of the Gospel, they do recognize that Matthew played a pivotal role in what is considered one of the most important documents in history.

How ironic that Matthew's decision to follow Jesus brought probably the one thing he least looked for, the one thing he never thought possible: immortal and world-wide fame. People will forever connect Matthew with the gospel that bears his name. Had Matthew refused Jesus' call, he most likely would have died a despised and lonely man; but because he answered the call, he is known for giving us a written account of the life and teachings of Jesus.

How shall we respond to Christ's call? Will we put up barriers, failing to see our own sickness and separation from God? Or will we recognize ourselves as among the sin-sick who need the special kind of healing that only the Divine Doctor can provide?

Jesus, the Great Physician, comes not just to love, but to heal – heal us from all that turns us away from God, all that keeps us separated from our neighbor, all that prevents us from living our lives as God intended. And as we are healed, we are transformed, for God’s love changes us. When we are made new by the merciful, forgiving, redeeming love of God, we can go out and be instruments of that love to others.

God’s invitation to new life is always there. Jesus will meet us where we are and will become real to us when we open our hearts and our minds and our lives. As he said to Matthew, Jesus says to us, “Follow me.” Let us say “yes” to Christ’s invitation to be transformed. Let us recognize that our souls need healing; let us open our hearts to God’s call, and then follow. Amen.

¹ “Taxman,” Music and lyrics copyright 1966 by George Harrison.

² Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1966) p. 99.