Pentecost Fifteen | 21.09.2025 | Matthew 9,9-13 | Beth A. Schlegel |

^{9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”}

Matthew 9:9-13  English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles  (or other version)

JESUS – FRIEND OF SINNERS

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today we remember St. Matthew — one of the 12 apostles and one of the 4 Gospel writers, or evangelists. Matthew’s is the longest Gospel and, in some respects, the most detailed.  So, it is curious that his own account of this call to Christian faith and discipleship reveals very little about himself — Jesus came and called him, and he followed. Here was a perfect opportunity for Matthew to narrate what he felt when Jesus came up to him — what his life had been like as a tax collector, and to praise himself as one who sacrificed livelihood and riches to become a student and preacher of God’s Word.  Here was Matthew’s chance to pat himself on the back and pen a lasting legacy to his faith and good life. But there are no such details.  The Gospel according to St. Matthew is not about Matthew, but about Jesus Christ.  Matthew wants us to look not at him, Matthew, but at the Lord Jesus.

The call of Matthew points our eyes to the God whose love for us is so great that instead of giving up on those who sin, who rebel against him, who are too busy getting rich and climbing the corporate ladder to turn to God, who cheat their neighbor and cheat on their spouse, who turn the other way when wrong is being done — instead of giving up on Matthew and all the Matthews of the world — God, in Jesus Christ, sought him out, called him by name from his old life of sin to a new life of discipleship and friendship with himself.

Matthew directs our ears to God’s Word and our hearts to the God whose greatest joy is to show mercy to those whose lives have merited condemnation — God, who in Jesus Christ says to the Matthews of the world — the frauds and deceivers, the selfish and greedy, the adulterers and murderers, the liars and thieves, the well-intentioned and lazy — to such as this God in Jesus Christ says, “Come — leave your sin and follow me.  I forgive you, I give you pardon instead of condemnation, life instead of death. I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.

Matthew the evangelist shows us the God who in Jesus Christ comes looking for us — who doesn’t wait for people to make the first move before acting to save us, but who himself takes the initiative. Matthew shows us the God who, in Jesus Christ walks the face of the earth in the dark and seedy places, in the places where poverty and famine, sickness and injury breed discouragement and despair, and entering the doorways of those for whom there is no hope, he calls out to them: “Come, follow me.”

Matthew’s God — the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God in human flesh and blood named Jesus — this God calls out to us: “Follow me.” For those who hear Jesus’ call to discipleship, there are only 2 possible responses:

• to believe the Word of the Lord and obey it, OR
• to disbelieve that what we have heard is God’s Word meant for us personally

Unbelief hears words and promptly forgets or dismisses them as not applying to me or not being real, and we go our merry way without a second thought.  Unbelief thinks it is already good, that there is nothing more required for salvation.  Unbelief thinks God owes salvation to the righteous.  It blinds people to the truth about themselves — that regardless of how “good” they may be from a human point of view, they are sinners in need of God’s saving grace. Unbelief is a lot like a room full of children watching TV when a grownup comes and says, “go clean your room.”  Not one will move because no one believes that the command is meant for them.  So, they don’t follow.

Faith hears God’s Word as addressed to us personally:

• Beth, follow me.
• Ann, I forgive you your sins
• Bill, go in peace.

When we hear God–who has every right to lose patience and destroy us because of our wickedness,  yet has singled us out, by name, for life free from fear that our sins will catch up to us, free from anxiety about our future, and free for compassionate and merciful love toward others — then our hearts are filled with thanksgiving, and we get up and follow him. We leave the ruts of our sinful lives behind and walk on the level ground of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Then we –like Matthew — no longer live to point to ourselves, our accomplishments, our wealth, our goodness — but rather we spare those details and instead magnify the Lord:

• who has called us out of darkness into his own brilliant light
• who forgives our sins and redeems our life from the grave
• who clothes us with mercy and grace
• who loves us more than we can possibly imagine.
• who does not simply stand at the doorway and shout to the crowd, “Follow me” but who searches the hearts of each person until he finds yours and then he comes to you, places his hands on you, looks into your eyes and calls your name: “N, Child of God, follow me.”

In that moment, it is for us, as for the Psalmist who wrote in Ps. 40: “The Lord drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.  He put a new song in my mouth — a song of praise to our God.”

This Lord Jesus comes today to call sinners into fellowship with him. He comes today to eat and drink with the likes of Matthew the tax collector, and you and me, in order that he might make of us those who follow him, whose lives also seek the lost and show mercy to sinners.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

©Beth A. Schlegel, STS
pastorschlegel@live.com
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, York, Pennsylvania, USA
Christ Lutheran Church, Manchester, Pennsylvania, USA