|
|
|
|
Scripture |
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-269 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. 10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11 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 this, 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, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” 18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue a came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread throughout that district.
|
Devotional |
This week’s Gospel reading comes from the narrative between the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus’ teaching on discipleship. I suppose we are caught in between two positions more often than we care to admit. Being between emptiness and fulfillment is my position in the theological worlds. “This world is populated with persons whose eyes are honed to see possibilities, becoming awakened to one’s environment as positive and hopeful.” This is one of the positive strengths but on the weakness side. “In the passion for fulfillment, there can be a tendency to neglect or even exclude persons who are not part of one’s support. There can be an excessive pride in one’s stage of ‘maturity,’ needing the ‘less enlightened’ with whom to compare oneself.” 1 The good news is that Jesus does hang out with those who are not perfect Jesus opens the story with these words to Matthew, “Follow me.” Matthew was a man of means so this meant leaving behind prosperity and business as usual. Matthew represents the worst of sinners. If they had a reward for the worst sinner of the day, Matthew would have received the award. Is it the worse of sinners who respond immediately to Jesus’ call to discipleship? Jesus’ acceptance of the religious outsiders is a threat to the status quo and the self-understanding of those who believe themselves to be safely and securely on the inside. Do we understand? Jesus called a sinner to leave everything and follow him. The invitation does not depend on anything he can do to make himself worthy but only on the grace of God. What keep us from embracing God’s grace? Are we waiting until we get our act together? Does the community of faith respond to outsiders with the compassion of Jesus or the judgment of the Pharisee? What groups are you reminded of and does it include yourself? Jesus disobeys many of the rules set down by the Pharisees-religious establishment-eating with sinners, not fasting, touching the dead, and being touched by an unclean woman. But who recognized God: Pharisees who followed the rules or Jesus who broke the rules? We could organize our spiritual life around a system of taboos and purity codes. Food, places, types of people and even body fluids could assist in ranking faithfulness and commitment to God. But Jesus offers us a way of healing, accepting and welcoming. Jesus accepts us the way we are rather how we would like to be.
1 W. Paul Jones, Worlds Within a Congregation: Dealing With Theological Diversity. Nashville : Abingdon Press, 2000. p. 68 |