February 11, 2008
Passage:Matthew 9:1-9
“And after getting into a boat he crossed the water and came to his own town. And just then some people were carrying a paralysed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’ Then some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.’ And he stood up and went to his home. When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. “
In my tradition of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), there is a story about one of our founders: Alexander Campbell. He was a Presbyterian minister at a time when Presbyterianism was fractured into several groups; old light, new light and so on. It was so fractured that to recieve communion you had to recieve a chip (think poker chip) from the church that showed he had the correct theology to recieve communion. As he was sitting in worship, ready to recieve communion, he thought of his friend, a Congregationalist who could not recieve communion at this church because…well, he was a Congregationalist. It is said that he left his chip at the communion rail and walked out of the church.
I tell this tale not to put down Presbyterianism (I do get make my living from them). But I do share this story to relate to verse 9 of today’s text, the calling of Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector. While we may not like the tax person these days, people in Israel really didn’t like them. They worked for the Roman Empire which occupied Israel, so anyone Jew who chose to be a tax collector was basically a collaborator. Then there was the case that many tax collectors took in more money than the empire required and kept the money themselves, making them theives as well as traitors. So Matthew was not a popular guy.
And yet, when Jesus says “follow me,” he immediately leaves his booth and follows Jesus.
Jesus wasn’t too choosy in who he picked as his followers. You would think that Jesus would pick someone of better character than a tax collector, but there you go.
Jesus preached a gracious welcome, calling everyone and everybody to follow him. There were no restrictions to who could follow Jesus.
Who is welcome to follow Christ? All of us, sinners and saints, the upright and not so upright, and everyone in between.
Holy One. You call all of us to repentance and discipleship. Help us to accept each other and provide a gracious welcome to all. Amen.
Dennis Sanders is the IT/Communications Specialist for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. He is also an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
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