Text:\u00a0 Matthew 9: 9-13<\/p>\n
In some ways, Christianity has always been a kind of scandalous religion. Think about the first followers of Jesus.\u00a0 Among them was a man known as Simon the Zealot.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he had been; a kind of radical Mideastern revolutionary.\u00a0 Or think about the apostle Paul.\u00a0 This great missionary of the Lord Jesus admits he had been a vicious persecutor.\u00a0 And this same apostle would later write of Jesus\u2019 followers coming from the ranks of the:\u00a0 the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexual offenders, thieves greedy, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers<\/span>.\u00a0 Scandalous some would say.<\/p>\n Here in Petaluma when someone applies to be a police chaplain, they do an extensive background investigation by a former FBI agent followed by a lie detector test. \u00a0Things we had tried to forget about in our lives had to be disclosed.\u00a0 Things we were ashamed to admit.\u00a0 And in one instance the police department did a double take.\u00a0 One very dedicated pastor disclosed his involvement with drugs years before.\u00a0 Twice he had used LSD.\u00a0 Scandalous some would say.<\/p>\n And what about us here today.\u00a0 Most of us have some kind of skeletons in our closet.\u00a0 And all of us have at times wiped our feet on God\u2019s holy will for our lives. \u00a0If not outwardly for others to see, then inwardly, in our hearts that God has seen.<\/p>\n That seems surprising to some.\u00a0 Scandalous even.\u00a0 It did to these Pharisees in our text.\u00a0 But it shouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 For whom did our Savior come?\u00a0 Whom does he call to follow?\u00a0 Jesus tells us here as he reaches out this man named Matthew.\u00a0 And thank God that he does.\u00a0 Jesus seeks sinners, people who realize that their hearts and lives are fouled with sin.\u00a0 He seeks after sinners whose hearts yearn for what only he can give.<\/p>\n So should we be surprised to find such people, us people, in Jesus\u2019 church. For this is something that people forget.\u00a0 The church is not a showcase for gold plated saints.\u00a0 The church is a refuge for recovering sinners.\u00a0 It is not a place for the proud, religious person to strut his stuff.\u00a0 No, the church is a place where Christ comes to fallen sinners in His Word and sacrament.\u00a0 He comes to rescue us from ourselves.\u00a0 He comes to reclaim us as God\u2019s own.\u00a0 He comes to change us with his amazing grace.\u00a0 And he calls us sinners to follow him.\u00a0 In facts, sinners are the only ones he calls.\u00a0 Sinners are the only ones he seeks.\u00a0 One might even say it this way:<\/p>\n WANTED:\u00a0 FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST;<\/p>\n ONLY SINNERS NEED APPLY<\/p>\n 9 <\/sup>As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector\u2019s booth. \u201cFollow me,\u201d he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him<\/span>.\u00a0 If you asked a Jewish person of Jesus day, who is the most low down slimy person you can think of,, many would say, a tax collector.\u00a0 And for good reason.\u00a0 The Romans would hire Jews to collect the taxes from their people.\u00a0 It worked like this,\u00a0 The Romans expected a certain sum of money.\u00a0 Beyond that, the tax collector got to keep for himself.\u00a0 So in their greed, they often made their people pay more than they owed.\u00a0 In effect they robbed their own people.\u00a0 It\u2019s no wonder tax collectors were put out of the Jewish synagogue.<\/p>\n Matthew\u2019s tax booth was in Capernaum, the center of Jesus\u2019 ministry. No doubt Matthew has heard about Jesus, his miracles and message even without Twitter or internet.\u00a0 Maybe Matthew was in the audience when Jesus preached.\u00a0 In any case, the Holy Spirit was at work in Matthew\u2019s heart when Jesus came to him and said:\u00a0 Follow me. <\/span><\/p>\n You can almost read Matthew\u2019s mind here.\u00a0 You mean me?\u00a0 You want me, a tax collector to follow you and be your disciple?<\/em> What are we told?\u00a0 Matthew got up and followed him<\/span>.\u00a0 He left his tax booth and a very good income.\u00a0 He turned his back on his former way of life.\u00a0 And he followed Jesus.\u00a0 And not just for an hour or a day.\u00a0 He followed him for the next three years.\u00a0 He listened to Jesus teach his way through the land.\u00a0 He saw Jesus heal people who had never seen the light of day or their mother\u2019s smile. He heard him call sinners like himself to repent and believe the good news of God\u2019s forgiveness.\u00a0 And then he would mourn Jesus\u2019 death like the others\u2014but only for a time.\u00a0 For Matthew would rejoice to see his Savior alive, risen from death. \u00a0Matthew would rejoice to know what God had done for him in His own Son.<\/p>\n We do not know where Matthew went after the day of Pentecost.\u00a0 Maybe he stayed right there in his homeland.\u00a0 For today we read from the Gospel he wrote for his own Jewish people.\u00a0 Think about that.\u00a0 Once Matthew had stolen from his people. \u00a0But here in this Gospel, Matthew became God\u2019s chosen instrument.\u00a0 In fact, the the name Matthew means, gift of God.\u00a0 That he was.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit made Matthew God\u2019s gift to bring his people a great treasure in his Word- Jesus and the life he gives.<\/p>\n 10 <\/sup>While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew\u2019s house, many tax collectors and \u201csinners\u201d came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 <\/sup>When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, \u201cWhy does your teacher eat with tax collectors and \u2018sinners\u2019<\/span>?\u00a0 Luke helps us picture this occasion.\u00a0 He tells us this was a big banquet with Jesus as the honored guest.\u00a0 But Matthew wanted to do more than feed Jesus a nice meal.\u00a0 He wanted the people he knew to meet Jesus, those sinners.\u00a0 He wanted them to know the joy and peace that Jesus had given him.<\/p>\n So do we.\u00a0 We want the people we know to meet Jesus.\u00a0 We want them to share in what he has given us.\u00a0 We want them to join us in following him.<\/p>\n But how?\u00a0 We can\u2019t have Jesus as our honored guest.\u00a0 Or can we?\u00a0 Jesus says, where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.<\/span> We have Jesus as our honored guest when we gather around His Word.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what I want to encourage you to do.\u00a0 The vicar and I will be talking about it more.\u00a0 Look to your friends, your loved ones, those you know who don\u2019t know Jesus or have wandered away.\u00a0 Look to our Friendship Sunday this fall.<\/p>\n But maybe the first place to invite them is not the church but to your home or someone else\u2019s. \u00a0We\u2019re going to talk about forgiveness.\u00a0 Can you come?\u00a0 We\u2019re going to talk about marriage?\u00a0 \u00a0Can you come?<\/em> And why not do as Matthew did.\u00a0 Enjoy some food together.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be banquet.\u00a0 Enjoy some food together as we help others to know our Savior.<\/p>\n But what Matthew saw as a blessed opportunity for his friends to meet Jesus, the Pharisees saw as a scandal.\u00a0 They asked Jesus disciples, \u201cWhy does your teacher eat with tax collectors and \u2018sinners\u2019?<\/span>\u201d Here you see why Jesus would later call these men, blind guides<\/span>.\u00a0 These super religious men could not see why Jesus would have anything to with this scum.\u00a0 Their only response to such people was to keep their distance and shake their heads at them.<\/p>\n But\u00a0 think of Jesus\u2019 answer. Jesus said, \u201cIt is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 <\/sup>But go and learn what this means: \u2018I desire mercy, not sacrifice.\u2019 For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.\u201d<\/span> What was Jesus telling them?\u00a0 Why shouldn\u2019t I reach out tot these people?\u00a0 They are sick with sin.\u00a0 They need mercy.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I have come.\u00a0 For them.\u00a0 For sinners.<\/p>\n Yet there\u2019s something else here.\u00a0 Jesus words exposed a terrible ugliness inside.\u00a0 They were not merciful because they did not know God\u2019s mercy themselves.\u00a0 They saw no need for it because they were righteous and respectable in their own eyes.<\/p>\n You know our Lord once said. It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.<\/span> People well off face a special danger in thinking they have all they need without Jesus.\u00a0 Well it seems to me the same could said for the respectable.\u00a0 How hard it is for those whose lives are pretty good to enter the kingdom of God.<\/em> They love their spouse and children.\u00a0 They give to the United Way.\u00a0 They are good employees and friends.\u00a0 They are respectable people like these Pharisees.\u00a0 How hard it is for them to see that they too are sick.\u00a0 They too are sinners in need of God\u2019s mercy.\u00a0 They too need Jesus and the forgiveness he made possible by his suffering death.\u00a0 They too need Jesus and the gift of life that is found in Him.\u00a0 But until they realize this, until we realize this, Jesus has nothing for us.\u00a0 So we say:\u00a0 Wanted Followers of Christ, Only sinners need apply. <\/strong><\/p>\n You see, it comes down to this.\u00a0 I have two glasses up here.\u00a0 One is full right to the brim.\u00a0 There is no room left in this glass.\u00a0 Some people are like that.\u00a0 They are full of something that leaves no room for Jesus.\u00a0 I was like that for a time in my life.\u00a0 My problem was that I could not see that I was empty.\u00a0 Without God and without hope.<\/p>\n Now look at this glass. \u00a0It is empty.\u00a0 How blessed we are to know its empty.\u00a0 How blessed we are to know what Matthew did.\u00a0 He knew he was a sinner in need of God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 He needed Jesus.\u00a0 And you know that too.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we are here.<\/p>\n And Jesus doesn\u2019t disappoint us.\u00a0 Like this glass, he fills us.\u00a0 He fills us with forgiveness and hope. \u00a0With strength to go on.\u00a0 And yes our glass leaks because we still are sinners.\u00a0 But follow Jesus and he will give you all you need.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text:\u00a0 Matthew 9: 9-13 In some ways, Christianity has always been a kind of scandalous religion. 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