Second Sunday after Pentecost / Lect 10A
Grace Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL 33813
June 11, 2023
Matthew 9:9-26
Wouldn't it be great if church growth were as easy as in this passage? Apparently at their first meeting, Jesus calls Matthew, inviting the tax collector to follow him. Matthew stands up, leaves his job behind and follows Jesus. We know nothing about Matthew's thoughts. Does he question Jesus' identity or what following him might mean? He just simply follows as soon as Jesus calls him.
In order to secure a church member, we have to drop by their house, take them a coffee mug, follow up on social media, give them a tour of the church, answer all of their questions and wait until they feel ready. Some of my pastor friends have seen people visit for years before becoming members.
But joining a church and following Jesus are not exactly the same thing. Some people follow without joining, but others join without following. Wherever we are in the church, members or long-time visitors, or first-time visitors, Jesus calls us to follow. If we have joined the church, but ceased following, Jesus calls us back. We in this church want you to take all the time you need. We want you to ask questions. We want you to become ready. We don't manipulate here. We don't pressure. We invite. We offer ourselves to you as you offer yourself to us. If you are not ready to join, we invite you to follow Jesus. The rest of this passage tells us important things about the Jesus who calls us to follow.
Matthew first presents us with a picture of Jesus that has become popular among young people and those who don't yet feel entirely comfortable in the church. Jesus hangs out with some folks who do not appear religious. Tax collectors, one of whose number Jesus has just called to follow, had poor reputations. Some, but not all tax collectors extorted money from people so that they could become rich themselves. They collected taxes for both Herod and the Romans. Their rejection ignored the fact that in an empire, someone had to do that job. Sinners, as Matthew uses the term, means people who did not scrupulously follow the teachings or law from the Hebrew scriptures, what we would call the Old Testament. Jesus does not first preach to the tax collectors and sinners; he eats with them. He makes himself accessible to them.
The Pharisees react to Jesus' actions. We should treat the Pharisees carefully. We tend to see them as the bad guys, the self-righteous scolds who look down their noses at everyone else. Actually, their main concern was commendable: They wanted to follow the teachings of scripture. Those teachings enabled the Jewish people to become who God had formed them to be. Whatever their faults, they strove to avoid simply assimilating into the surrounding culture. They wanted to remain a people God could use to bear witness to the rest of the world. They did not always get their mission right, but they wanted to remain distinct from the world.
Jesus' words about his mission teach us some things. Jesus compared his ministry to the work of a physician. Physicians treat the sick, not the well. That gives us an important insight. Many of what we call sins have some kind of ill health behind it. If we drink too much, if we misuse God's gift of sex, if we use our anger to get our way, that usually means we have some hurt deep down inside of us. Some of our sinning means we don't need scolding, but healing. We also know that we all sin, we all need healing and grace. Jesus differentiated sinners from the righteous to make a point, but in reality, we all sin and need forgiveness and healing. When Jesus in Matthew calls us to follow Jesus, he calls us to follow one who redeems, who offers forgiveness, who brings us back to God if we have wandered away.
The next section of our lectionary passage presents us with what we might call a "sandwich" story. We read one part of a story, then another story, then the first story comes to its conclusion. The story of the leader's daughter forms the bread of the sandwich, with the story of the woman forming the interior or the sandwich. We will look at the interior of the sandwich first, and then the two slices of bread.
The woman who had suffered from hemorrhaging for 12 years presents a poignant picture. Her body felt pain, but her soul did as well. Because of her condition, she was considered unclean. She had to avoid other people. She could not attend worship. She actually breaks the rules to approach Jesus. She cleverly devised a plan to just brush against Jesus, trusting that somehow that would heal her. She took initiative, even as she tried to remain inconspicuous. Despite her stealth, Jesus saw her. Jesus noticed her. She had been cut off from everyone, but Jesus addressed her as "daughter." Jesus welcomed her as family.
When we follow Jesus, we follow one who heals us and restores us to community. Jesus took away her physical pain and discomfort, but also restored her to community and to worship. She had a condition only a female can have, so Jesus affirmed her as a woman, one who deserved to be noticed and welcomed. Jesus gives us permission to claim our own right to wholeness and community. Jesus affirms our assertiveness to address our own needs and our right to be welcomed. So far, Jesus has done ministry to bring people in, not to shut people out.
Now the ''two slices of bread" part of the story: Whereas the woman sneaks in to merely brush against Jesus, the synagogue leader boldly comes right up to Jesus with his request. Ifwe are acting for our family, we might talce risks we ordinarily wouldn't. Even though his daughter has died, the leader doesn't give up. Jesus has not restored anyone to life yet in Matthew, but the leader has enough faith or desperation to try anyway. So Jesus goes with the synagogue leader.
When Jesus arrives at the leader's house, the mourning has begun. Jesus announces that the little girl is only sleeping. We should not see these words as indicating that Jesus only woke up a sleeping girl. Jesus perhaps did not want to flaunt his miracle. At Jesus' pronouncement, the people laugh. They laugh in derision. They do not want Jesus to even try. Do they think Jesus is in denial? Even if they think that, couldn't they indulge Jesus, to let him see for himself? Jesus ignores their laughter and goes into the girl's room.
Matthew tells the story in the most understated of terms. Jesus brought a dead girl back to life, but Matthew tells the story in the simplest way. Jesus took her hand, and she got up. Matthew doesn't go for the flashy story. She was dead, but she got up. Life had left her body, but she got up. Her heart had stopped, but she got up. Matthew gives us the minimum details. Jesus touched her, and she got up.
We follow Jesus because he offers forgiveness, healing of spirit and connection to the community. We follow Jesus because he can heal our physical pain and our bodies. We follow Jesus because he has power over death.
We may not see these kinds of things when we follow Jesus. These three stories help us understand what John the Baptist meant when he said that in the ministry of Jesus the kingdom of heaven has come near.1 When the kingdom of heaven comes, we will know full restoration of the community, healing of our bodies and souls and the triumph of God over death. Jesus brought that kingdom close, brought it into our world. For now, we see glimpses of that kingdom. We experience strength if not full healing. We experience forgiveness, even if we struggle with temptation and our past. We face death with courage and hope because we trust that Jesus has overcome death.
When we follow Jesus, we say yes, however much doubt we may still have, to Jesus' ministry of restoration, healing and welcoming. If we have never seen ourselves as part of the faith community, Jesus calls us to follow to see what it really means and that we are indeed all welcome. If we follow, we face life with expectation, because of who Jesus is. Jesus has opened for us a promise of healing, life and forgiveness.
Let us follow.
Copyright Proclaim Parish Publishing, LLC, 2023
