Feast of St. Matthew 2009 (observed)

THE FEAST OF ST. MATTHEW, APOSTLE & EVANGELIST

23 September Anno + Domini 2009

"Jesus Calls Not the Righteous, but Sinners”

Matthew 9:9-13 (Ezek. 2:8-3:11; Eph. 4:7-16)

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

In the Gospel Lesson, our Lord Jesus Christ has just called Matthew to follow Him. Jesus is not asking Matthew to hang out for a while and listen to His teaching. He is not promising Matthew an easy life of comfort and happiness. Jesus is not offering Matthew a better religion or system of morality. Rather, Jesus' call on Matthew demands his entire life. To follow Jesus is to die to yourself. Matthew is called to die to himself. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, Matthew responds and follows Jesus.

Tonight, we commemorate the power and grace of God at work in the life of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. We know St. Matthew was an Apostle, one of the twelve, an eyewitness of Jesus' death and resurrection. We confess St. Matthew wrote the Holy Gospel that bears his name and gives testimony to the life and ministry of our Lord. Other than that, we do not know much. Nothing definite is known about his later life. Tradition points to Ethiopia as his field of labor; other traditions mention Parthia and Persia. Based on tradition, it is probable that he received the crown of martyrdom, but we don't know for sure.  St. Matthew's later life remains a mystery to us. 

But, what we do know from Holy Scripture is that he was a tax collector and a sinner. Tax collectors, as instruments of Rome, were despised by the Pharisees and the people.  As instruments of greed, making healthy commissions on their collections, they were notoriously dishonest. Tax collectors were held with such contempt they had been barred from the synagogue and were considered unclean by the Jewish law. Matthew would have been ostracized by the Jewish community, by his own people, simply on account of his profession. For all we know, Matthew may have been the one honest tax collector in town.  Not likely, but it's possible.  But, it's a moot point, for his profession brought him scorn, deserved or not.  And, regardless of how Matthew conducted himself as a tax collector, what we do know with absolute certainty is that he, like all human beings, was sick with the disease of sin. 

What a scandal it was, then, in the eyes of the people, for Jesus to call Matthew to follow Him.  But, Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.  He did not come to gain popularity with the people.  He was not the least bit interested in being politically correct.  It wasn't His practice to surround Himself with disciples that would please the people.  He came to save the lost, to heal the sick, to call sinners unto Himself.  His choice of Matthew was a powerful object lesson for all to see what His mission and ministry was all about.  He doesn't just say that He comes not to call the righteous, but sinners, but He shows that He means it, as is made most vividly clear by His choice of Matthew. 

Dear friends, our Lord Jesus has not changed.  He still calls sinners to Himself, and this is good news for us, for we have all been infected with the disease of sin. The symptoms of the disease are evident in our constant failures to love God and neighbor as we should. And this disease of sin will eventually cost us our lives. No amount of medical research or technology will ever take this disease away.  We will die, for the wages of sin is death.

Jesus Christ is the Physician we need.  He is the eternal Doctor who alone can heal our disease, for He took our disease of sin unto Himself and suffered its effects through death on the cross.  And, on the third day, He rose again, proving that He has won victory over sin and death.  He is now both the Physician and the Medicine we need. As the medicine of life, Jesus Christ is poisonous to Satan and our flesh, but an antidote for human sin, death, and mortality. Jesus is the Medicine of Immortality. In Him, there is forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation from death.

And Jesus delivers unto us the medicine our sin-sick bodies need through His Holy Word and Sacraments.  The Church is His hospital, where He, the Great Physician, gives out the Medicine of Life and Immortality. Sick sinners enter here in faith for their treatment, which is spoken through His Word, where your doctor informs you that His death and resurrection is your salvation. Your healing comes through the life-giving waters of Holy Baptism, where your Lord cleansed your diseased flesh. The medicine for your sickness is the dripping Blood and the bloody Flesh of the Great Physician, our Lord Jesus Christ.

So come to this hospital, you who are sick, and listen to your doctor, "Open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Eat My Word. Eat My Body and drink My Blood. This medicine cures your disease and makes you whole. It even transforms you into a healthy person so that you grow in love of God and love of neighbor. From the cradle to the grave, Jesus Christ is your Great Physician, treating you with His grace for life and health that will last for eternity. Here, in this hospital, Jesus Christ comes not to call the righteous, but sinners.  He comes to makes sick sinners well and nourishes them into eternity.  For sick sinners like you and me, there is no more glorious news than this!  In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.