The church celebrates on this day, St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Today we give thanks to God for His work in and through St Matthew.
Matthew was once a tax collector in service to the Roman government. Then, Jesus called him to be a disciple. Matthew followed Jesus as a disciple for three years. He heard Jesus’ teaching and preaching. He witnessed the miracles of Jesus and Christ’s death and resurrection. After Easter, Jesus ordained him as an apostle. According to tradition, Matthew first taught and preached the Gospel in Judea and later in Ethiopia. He was also called to write by holy inspiration the Gospel that bears his name. The Gospel of Matthew is the first Gospel written and is a very important Gospel. It is the only Gospel which gives us the Baptismal formula to, “make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” According to tradition, Matthew died a martyr’s death. We praise God for what He accomplished in and through St. Matthew.
Yet, this day is not primarily about Matthew. In truth, we know little of the man himself. None of his words as a disciple were recorded in any of the four Gospels. Rather, today is primarily about Jesus, whom Matthew followed and proclaimed in his Gospel. Matthew would wants us to focus on Jesus and not on himself.
Would that in our humility, people would see Jesus in our words and actions. Christianity, after all, is about Jesus and our life in Christ.
First of all, Matthew—of Jewish descent—was a tax collector working for the Roman government. Tax collectors were known for over charging the people. Therefore, this made him, in the eyes of the Pharisees, an outcast, a public sinner and a traitor.
By our own human standards, Matthew does not possess the qualification to be a disciple. In our mind a disciple of Jesus needs to be holy and righteous. He needs to have a good reputation in the community. He needs to have a big smile, and a charm to win friends.
But Jesus saw what others could not. Jesus simply walked up to Matthew’s tax booth and said, “Follow me.” Jesus did not say, “Matthew, clean up your act first, and then I will see if you are worthy of being a disciple.” Jesus doesn’t give any condition. He just said, “Follow me.”
Will Matthew leave his lucrative business and follow this preacher called Jesus of Nazareth? Yes! Will Matthew deny the world’s definition of success, pick up his cross and follow Jesus? Yes! Will Matthew put aside his desire for worldly wealth and follow Jesus? Yes! Matthew rose up from his table, gave up his business as a tax collector, and followed Jesus. He turned away worldly gain and followed Jesus.
Money is important and necessary in our life. Students need money to pay for tuition. We need a decent welfare to pay bills and to support family and church. We need to be faithful in our employment. But money must never be an idol. Do not make it the most important thing in your life. Do not place it over and above your faith in the one true God.
Matthew was called to follow Jesus, and we are also called to follow Jesus. Jesus once said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Dearly beloved in the Lord, you are baptized in Christ. You are redeemed with the blood of Christ. Your sins are forgiven because of Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross. Therefore, by God’s grace, deny the world’s definition of success, pick up your cross of suffering and follow Jesus on His path of righteousness all the way to heaven.
In today’s Collect we prayed, “grant that we also may follow You, leaving behind all covetous desires and love of riches.” What does following Jesus look like in our life? It means being faithful in hearing the preaching of God’s Word and receiving the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. It means being faithful in our various vocations and stations in life. It means letting other people know in our words and actions that Jesus is our one and only Savior.
Matthew hosted a banquet at his house. Who attended? Matthew himself, a number of fellow tax collectors, and Jesus. Jesus was not afraid to talk with and eat with the social outcasts of society. They did not make Jesus unclean; rather, He made the unclean, clean. He made sinners, righteous. Jesus converted them from unbelief to faith in Christ. The tax collectors and the so-called sinners of the day were changed for the better. They were sorry for their sin, and they believed in Jesus and in His mercy and forgiveness. They turned away from their sinful lifestyle. This was a good thing. This is cause for rejoicing.
Even today, we rejoice when a sinner turns from the ways of the world and believes in the mercy of God which is found in Jesus. I am a sinner, yet by God’s grace I confess my sin and I trust in the forgiveness of sins which Christ won on the cross. You are a sinner, yet by God’s grace you too confess your sin and trust in the forgiveness of sins which Christ won for you on the cross. The important thing is to recognize our sin, confess it honestly before God, and believe His promise of forgiveness. As a forgiven sinner, we seek to good works, not in order to be saved but out of thankfulness for what God in Christ Jesus did for us. We joyfully and willingly love the neighbor and we show mercy towards others.
But the Pharisees took offense at Jesus’ presence among tax collectors and sinners. They thought that because Jesus was eating with those kinds of people that it made Him a sinner, and it proved that He could not be the promised Savior.
They thought that one earned God’s favor by doing good. They thought that only the just are accepted by God. They thought that one had to follow God’s rules perfectly in order to be accepted by God.
We think the same way. There is a little Pharisee in all of us. We like to compare ourselves with other people. We like to make ourselves look better than others. We think that Christianity is merely following the rules and living perfect lives. The truth of the matter is that we are sinful by nature all the time.
When we are physically sick, we need a doctor. The doctor diagnoses the problem and prescribes the cure. Yet we often hesitate to go to the doctor because we fear the diagnosis. We notice a lump, for example, and hope it will simply disappear.
God’s Law works in a similar way. It diagnoses that our real problem is sin. We don’t like to be told that we are sinful by nature. But the Law is like a mirror. It reveals our idolatry, greed, covetous desires, adultery, self-centeredness, and more.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” The Pharisees believed they earned God’s favor through their good deeds. They considered themselves righteous and therefore saw no need for the cross, the forgiveness of sins, or God’s mercy found in Jesus.
We are sick with sin. We need Jesus, the Great Physician, to cleanse, heal, and forgive us. Woe to us if we ever fail to recognize our own sin and our need for Jesus and His mercy.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “I do not want mere sacrifice; but more importantly, I desire mercy toward others.”
The Old Testament sacrificial system was meant to remove sin and it pointed ahead to the Messiah, the true Lamb of God. But the Pharisees reduced those sacrifices to empty ritual, apart from repentance and faith. They believed that the act of sacrifice itself made them right with God, while they felt justified in condemning the “sinners” who did not keep their rules. They offered sacrifices but they showed no mercy to others.
Don’t make Sunday morning an empty ritual, rather may the Holy Spirit work repentance and faith in our hearts.
Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice. His sacrifice upon the cross was the one and only righteous sacrifice. He had done nothing wrong, but He had upon Himself my sin, your sin, and the sin of the whole world. Jesus is the Lamb of God on the cross bearing the world’s sin.
It’s because of Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross that God is merciful to you and me. God is merciful not because we try hard and do good, but God is merciful toward you and me on account of His Son. Because of what Jesus did upon the cross, there is forgiveness for you and me.
Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. Today, He eats with us sinners giving us His body and blood for the forgiveness of all our sin. Today, He has table fellowship around those who trust that in this bread and wine, there is truly His body and blood.
This meal is our medicine of immortality. Here the Great Physician gives us the medicine which we poor sinners need. As a response we offer our sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.
God works repentance and faith in our heart. Then, from the heart of faith flows love toward the neighbor, the spouse, the friend, or the co-worker. Since God first loved us, we naturally love others. Since God forgives us on account of Christ, we naturally forgive one another. Since God has had mercy upon us, we naturally have mercy toward others.
St. Matthew was a gift to the church. Faithful pastors are a gift to the church today. God blessed St Matthew in his office as apostle and evangelist. May God bless you in your various vocations and stations in life. May God give you grace and strength to remain faithful as you follows Jesus all the way to heaven. Amen.
