June 5, 2005
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Mindekirken, June 5, 2005 Follow me! Matt. 9:9-13 and 18-26 The text which we have read today is written by Matthew. It is commonly believed that he was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. Luke and Mark call him Levi. He was head-hunted for the inner circle of Jesus one day while he sat at the tax booth in Capernaum. In other words, there are small glimpses of autobiography that Matthew gives us here. It’s about his personal and very decisive meeting with Jesus Christ. The tax station in Capernaum was hardly a place people approached with joy. The ones who came by sea, had to go there to pay taxes for the goods brought over the Sea of Galilee. And goods that had been brought over land were taxed in the same way. But it was not enough that the merchants had to pay taxes. The tax collectors had a very bad reputation of corruption. Often, people had to pay more than they should. Often, people mentioned tax collectors together with sinners. To defend Matthew and his colleagues we have to admit that later times have done them injustice by saying they were betrayers in Roman service. That’s hardly the truth. The border city of Capernaum, for instance, was under the governor Herod Antipas, and he was not directly subservient to Rome. But the scene is surprising enough as it is. Jesus went to the tax station, not to pay any taxes, but to receive the one who should be one of the cornerstones of the Christian church. In other words, Jesus saw the possibilities in people who others only had disgust for. I think it must have happened on a normal day. Matthew sat and collected money and wrote numbers in long columns. In the tax station he was in charge. And then Jesus came and turned everything upside down. "Follow me!" Jesus said. What in the world got Matthew to get up and follow Jesus? We don’t know, but in some strange way Matthew must have understood that this was his life’s chance. So he got up and followed Jesus. Have you heard the call of Jesus to be his disciple? Have you left everything to follow Jesus? John had experienced many difficulties in his life. He drank, his wife left him, and finally he lost his job. His life became a mess. John was ashamed of himself. He felt he didn’t have anything left to live for. Quite accidentally he got to listen to a radio program with Christian preaching. He was touched by it, and he started to suspect that there might be hope even for him. Through a Christian fellowship he got to experience the unconditional love of Jesus. He got to believe that he was loved and forgiven, however much he had messed it up for himself and others. Through a long process of healing, he also got help to forgive himself. The story of John is not unique. It tells that Jesus is able to intervene in people’s lives even today. For some, to follow Jesus means a radical break from one's previous life. But for most of us it doesn’t appear to be dramatic to follow Jesus. Even so it is for real. When three handfuls of water were poured over our heads in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we became his disciples. To be a disciple is first and foremost a matter of relationship. In the baptismal liturgy the minister says: I make upon you the sign of the holy cross, as a testimony that you shall belong to the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ and believe in him. Baptism is a new birth that makes us children of God. We belong to him. We are cared for and loved by him. To follow Jesus is not our achievement. It’s more about surrender to Jesus, trusting his call, believing in his grace. In today’s text Jesus gives us a wonderful example of the nature of this relationship. Tax collectors and sinners came near to Jesus. They were sitting at the table with him. That was a serious breach of the rules and customs of those days. Tax collectors and sinners were not regarded among decent people. They were despised, but not by Jesus. The Pharisees questioned Jesus' judgement when they saw him in such bad company. Their whole existence was built on the idea that the best place at the table was something one deserved. That applied to the relationship to God, in particular. Jesus crushed this perception. The relationship to God is not based on merit, quite the opposite. God accepts everyone. After the concert last night we had a nice banquet here at the church. We had good food, a sing-a-long program and a lot of fun. We experienced good fellowship. At the time of Jesus, eating together was an even stronger expression of fellowship. Eating together meant that people accepted each other. By including people who were despised by others, Jesus displays the core of the kingdom of God: The grace. God does not treat us according to what we deserve. He envelopes us in his unconditional love. We get exactly what we have not deserved. Jesus puts it like this: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…I have come to call not the righteous but sinners. Our call to be the disciples of Jesus is first and foremost a call to belong to him. We may rest in the fact that we are forgiven, accepted and loved by God. At the same time it includes a totally new view of oneself. All we have and are, are his. Our time, talent and treasure belong ultimately to God. And through our daily life, our occupation, and our fellowship with others in family and society, we serve God. Our whole life is a service. We don’t live for ourselves, but for the Lord. We are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Ephes 2.10 Today we have heard about Matthew who was called at his tax booth, and followed Jesus as his disciple. We all share the worldwide mission of God which is not completed before everybody has heard the gospel of the kingdom of God. Let us pray: Lord, here I am, send me! Amen. Glory be to God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen.
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |