A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; June 8th, 2008
PROPER 5 --- Hosea 5: 5 – 6: 6; Psalm 50: 7 – 15; Romans 4: 13 – 18; Matthew 9: 9 – 13
“For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Ever since God revealed Himself to us human beings, we, His creatures, have pondered God’s righteousness and holiness. In particular, we’ve wrestled with this central concern:
How can human beings – sinful and unrighteous – relate to God?
People of faith down through the ages have come to at least three basic conclusions in response to that central question, including:
- Follow the rules! People must meet God’s holy standards, or be rejected,
- Follow the rules! Proper worship will be pleasing to God.
- God reaches out to us to bring us into proper relationship with Him.
Let’s consider how these three conclusions figure into our Gospel reading today:
Follow the rules! People must meet God’s holy standards, or be rejected: Of course, the picture the Gospels paint of the Scribes and the Pharisees is in keeping with this first concept. “Meet God’s holy standards, or be rejected,” they seem to say. We see it in their comment to Jesus’ disciples, heard today, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” The Pharisees made it a central part of their believing and practice to avoid all sinners. For to associate with sinners (of whom the tax collectors were but one category) was to become “unclean” yourself. Being “unclean” meant exclusion from Temple worship, among other things.
So the Pharisees spent a good deal of time trying to figure out who was “in” and who was “out” as far as God was concerned. And they, themselves, felt sure that they were doing God’s will in doing the sorting.
Follow the rules! Proper worship will be pleasing to God: This approach, too, fits into the practical effects of the Pharisees’ approach: Some categories of persons were forever “unclean”, and therefore, were consigned to the fate of being excluded from God and from God’s people. Temple worship for such persons was impossible. Acceptance into the community of the Chosen People was forbidden. Sometimes, the basis for exclusion was a physical malady or deformity (leprosy, lameness, e.g.). Other times, the basis was an occupation (tax collecting, prostitution, e.g.). A “second class status” was conferred on the basis of gender (women could not participate in Jewish religious life to the extent that men could, e. g.).
Often, the realization that a tremendous gap existed between God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness led to an outward observance of the “rules”, and this approach is characteristic of the Pharisees, who were careful to maintain a scrupulous observance of the minutest details of the Law of Moses. But the net effect was to create a formal, outward observance of the Law, even as their hearts were far from God.
It also smacks of “works righteousness”, that approach to God that says – in essence – “if I work hard enough at following the rules, I’ll curry God’s favor.” Such an attitude permeated not only the daily observance of the 413 laws of Torah, but it affected the exalted place that Temple worship assumed in Jesus’ day.
God seeks human beings out, so as to bring them into a favorable relationship: This is the central message of Jesus Christ. Hear again His words, spoken in reply to the Pharisees, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Clearly, our Lord is about the business of seeking sinful people out. Jesus’ approach stands in sharp contrast to the Pharisees’ approach, which sought to keep people out. Jesus seeks to bring them in.
But as we look back into the Old Testament, we see evidence of all three approaches recorded in its pages.
- Follow the rules! Meeting God’s standards: The Book of Leviticus has as its basis the maintenance of purity before God. Detailed regulations spelled out who was “clean” and who was “unclean”.
- Following the rules can lead tto an empty, outward religious observance: Finally, concern with the minute details of “the rules” and with ritual purity led to a focus on proper, liturgical worship that was devoid of any right inclination of the heart toward God. It is against this sort of formal, outward approach which cloaks an inward emptiness that the 8th century prophet Amos speaks when he warned the Israelites of God’s wrath, saying, “I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll down like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5: 21 – 24, NIV)
- God sought people out: The ancient prophets, time and again, reached out with God’s word and God’s favor, seeking to bring the Chosen People into right relationship.
As we reflect on the experience of God’s people in ancient times, it seems like the Pharisees forgot (or perhaps – ignored) some aspects of God’s holiness and God’s activity. For God maintains high standards, but God also reaches out to His people, seeking to bring them back into a proper relationship with Him. He did so through the prophets, time and again. Moreover, the harshest condemnation is reserved for those who simply “go through the motions” of following God, while their hearts are far from Him. Perhaps it was for this reason that Jesus says to them, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Simply put, the Pharisees seem to have concentrated on points #1 and #2, while they forgot point #3 altogether.
Let’s return now to today’s Gospel, and remember the setting in which Jesus’ motivations and actions stand in such contrast to the Pharisees. As we do so, we need to set aside our 21st century notions of social relations, which affect our perceptions of this 1st century encounter.
The pivotal point of the contrast centers around the person of Matthew, the tax collector who was sitting at his tax booth when Jesus’ call came to “follow me.”
Tax collectors in every age and in every society are not the most well regarded or well liked people. In fact, I suspect tax collecting can be a pretty lonely profession, in any age or culture. Certainly, in 1st century Palestine, being a tax collector would limit one’s social contacts, severely so.
For tax collectors were especially despised by observant Jews for a number of reasons, including:
- They worked as hired agents for the Roman occupation. As such, their work prolonged and perpetuated the hated occupation under which God’s people lived.
- The Roman tax system provided that a certain amount of taxes were levied against the people. But the tax collectors made their living by “padding” the amount owed, from which these agents skimmed their portion. It’s easy to see that the system was open to graft and corruption, another source of anger.
- In the course of their work, tax collectors associated with Gentiles (the Romans), and so became unclean themselves. To associate with an “unclean” person meant that the person who made contact with tax collectors was also “unclean”.
So for all these reasons, a devout Jew would avoid a tax collector if at all possible.
But Jesus does just the opposite….He walks right up to Matthew and says, “Follow me.” And Matthew does so.
Later on that evening, Matthew hosts a banquet for Jesus, and for other “sinners”. Somehow, the Pharisees see the proceedings and comment on the lamentable lack of judgment Jesus is showing by associating with such notorious people, asking the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Quite possibly the kindness that Jesus showed to Matthew was a rarity in Matthew’s life. And, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the large number of other tax collectors and sinners who came to be present with Jesus at that evening banquet were there because they’d heard of the actions of this strange man who - instead of shunning and judging Matthew – walked right up and invited Matthew to become a disciple.
You see, Jesus seeks out those who live in the corners of the world, the sinful, the unrighteous, those whom society deems to be beyond redemption.
If we looked squarely into the deepest reaches of our hearts, we’d have to admit that we fall into one or more of those “untouchable” categories ourselves, for all of us are spiritually bankrupt in some way or another. All of us are in need of God’s searching for us, His seeking us out, and His call to “Follow me.”
For all of us fail to meet God’s standards, and we are often prone to thinking that simply “going through the motions” is good enough.
In spite of all that, Jesus has sought us out in baptism, and seeks us still.
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
