The Path Toward Health

TEXT: Matthew 9:9-13

THEME: God collects sinners – to show His grace.

GOAL: That we begin to grow by admitting our sin – our need for grace.

MALADY: We don't want to admit our guilt; we try to "make it" on an outward pretense of faithfulness and godly living.

MEANS: God calls sinners that He might show them (us) His grace.


We're in the "Green Season", the Sundays after Pentecost, with their emphasis on growth, at least in the early Sundays of the season.

As you can't grow a fruit-producing crop without preparing the soil, so you can't have a growing, fruitful relationship with God without searching, digging around in your soul in an attitude of repentance.

Sign-board: "Are You A Sinner? – Welcome!"

- Not to say, "Come, own up before those who are better than you," but, "Come, join with the rest of us. It will be quite a collection."

Jesus was early-on in His ministry. He was collecting what would become His twelve closest disciples. We learn about one of the Twelve today, Matthew.

Remember, these were men who were, all but one of them, to become apostles, representatives of the faith and presenters of the faith to all the world.

So, where does Jesus go to "collect" this disciple? – to the tax collector's booth.

We are all aware of the tax collector, whether it's the IRS (now the U.S. Treasury), or the toll booth collector, or the little line at the end of your phone bill or utility bill that notes the tax you are paying – or your Real Estate tax. We have three real estate tax payees: Prince William County, the Town of Dumfries, and we own a small lot in New York state, and, of course, one of the privileges of being a property owner is that we get to pay real estate tax there, too. Well, I don't know if it's this way all over New York state, but in the county where our property is, you make out your real estate tax check directly to the tax collector. Our tax collector is Tess McBeath. I have never met this woman, but I feel as though I know her, because every year I make out a check for a few hundred dollars directly to her, Tess McBeath. I'm sure she is bonded and faithfully passes along all the money that comes to her, but it seems a little odd to work things that way.

Matthew was one of the Tess McBeaths of Capernaum, except that neither he nor his fellow tax collectors were bonded, nor were they closely watched by the Roman government to see that they passed along all they collected. They were required to pass along a certain amount, but, if they cheated the citizens and collected more than that, the government did not seem to be too concerned – but the people knew of the general dishonest character of the tax collector.

So, whom did Jesus choose to be one of THE twelve and a future apostle? Matthew. We don't know if Matthew had ever practiced cheating, but we do know two things about him from this time in his life: When Jesus called, Matthew immediately got up, left his tax collector's booth, and followed His new Lord. He changed his life immediately upon the call of the Lord.

The second thing we know is that Matthew invited Jesus to have dinner at his house, and that many tax collectors and people known to be sinners came and ate with them.

Jesus willingly participated in a meal, a fellowship experience, with people known to be "sinners." The people who were known to be righteous – or at least who were thought to be righteous – the Pharisees, seemed to take exception to Jesus' closeness with sinners and despised people. On hearing this, Jesus responded to the Pharisees, and His answer was profound: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." (I started to put, "Are you sick? -- Welcome" on the sign board, but I thought that word might confuse people about whom we are looking for. We welcome those who are medically sick, but we especially and particularly welcome those who are sinners). . . . for Jesus also said to the group, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." He also could have said, "I came to die, not for the righteous, but for sinners..."

. . . and, in between these things, He said, quoting our Old Testament lesson for today from Hosea, "Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'" The Pharisees were great at bringing gifts to the temple and offering sacrifices and looking good, but Jesus made it clear that His first interest was not in gifts and sacrificial offerings, but in showing mercy to sinners: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice. . . . I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Hosea had a very strong word from God about people who tried to hide from and not own up to their sin: "I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt." Maybe, if you have ever tried to hide from owning up to your sin – or if you are doing that even now, you can identify with experiencing the effects of these words from God: "I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. . . . What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you. For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

God wants us to stir around in the soil of our soul. The ancient prayer is, "Search me, O God. Try me and see if there be any wicked way in me." It's not easy to do that. Most of us would rather go on in our regular life, even in our regular worship life, coming with our offerings and going home satisfied with that, when God wants to show mercy to sinners who bare their soul before Him. Let's join the cry in Hosea: "Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us." Reflecting on Jesus' yet-to-be-accomplished suffering for sin in our place, Hosea went on, "After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence," and, "As surely as the sun rises, He will appear."

Does God change things in our lives? Does He change the way He looks at us, because of Jesus? Look at the account of Abraham from today's Epistle lesson:

- Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah's womb was also dead.

- He was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, that God had the power to do what he had promised.

This is the same Abraham who:

- laughed when God first gave the promise of a son to the two of them (so also so did Sarah laugh).

- Agreed to father a child by Sarah's maid after some time had passed with no pregnancy.

- How could this sinner be called a saint, whose faith was credited to him as righteousness? Because, though he had been a sinner and had participated in not following through in faith, he did ultimately believe, and God did credit the faith of this sinner as righteousness.

So, in case, the devil is plaguing you and telling you it's too late to repent of your sin, remember, Abraham was nearly 100 years old, and was still learning the lesson – and was still welcomed and blessed by God – and who also received the righteousness of God through faith.

What would make us not want to admit our guilt and instead to try to "make it" on an outward pretense of faithfulness and godly living?

Is it hard to face our sins? Sometimes it is. It can be like being torn to pieces or being injured, but God gives us the assurance that He will heal us; He will bind up our wounds.

The gift is here in His Word. It is here in receiving God's forgiveness for the sins we confess in our hearts as we come to the Lord's table in Holy Communion.

God collects sinners, as He collected Matthew, the tax collector, so we could grow in following and serving Jesus.

Growth begins by stirring up the soil of your soul in an attitude of repentance. It's the preparation for receiving God's mercy in Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins He won for you on the cross.