Pentecost 2A

My sermon from yesterday.

Matthew 9:9-13

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, "Follow me." And Matthew got up and followed Jesus.

And as Jesus sat at dinner in the house – Matthew's house – many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples.

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

But when Jesus heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy; not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners."

Here in the global North, we're one week into the halcyon days of summer, with sunny days, star-spangled nights, picnics, barbecues, music on the half shell, and feeling all of our dreams may come true, after all.

At the same time, the church's year of grace has opened wide the six month long season when we count Sundays after the Feast of Pentecost, a time of the Holy Spirit of Pentecost when the Church really comes into its own as we discern God's call and claim on our lives, and what ministries God may be calling us to respond to. Green is the liturgical color for these months, as we act in ways that help the world around us bloom and flourish.

This is the year of Matthew's gospel; today's gospel reading is Jesus' call to Matthew and Matthew's response. Although none of the earliest gospel manuscripts indicate an author, a community gathered around this disciple Matthew probably wrote this gospel.

As we just heard, Jesus notices Matthew at his workplace. Matthew collected taxes, tariffs, and tolls in the employ of the occupying Roman government. People generally hated tax collectors because – among other abuses – they added on their own charges to the amount required to return to Rome.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all contain this story. And, Mark and Luke tell us this tax collector's name was Levi, which means he was from the priestly tribe of Levites that ministered at the Jerusalem Temple. In other words, his life had fallen off the rails and he was in a profession opposed to his origins.

Today's reading from Matthew's gospel only mentions a house, but Luke and Mark tell us it was Matthew's house where Matthew/Levi made an extravagant banquet. Although we don't know the elapsed time between Jesus' invitation and Matthew's response, Matthew doubtless already knew a lot about Jesus. As part of his response to Jesus' invitation to follow him, Matthew offered an amazing feast to all comers, as if he already knew plentiful food was one of the signs of the presence of God's reign on earth.

Luke tells us everyone reclined at table. In that culture, reclining for a meal was a sign of shalom, of having "enough," no longer needing to scratch for life or be beholden to empire. Reclining at table meant everyone was an equal among equals.

* * *
You know about the ultra-religious pharisees with their self-righteous attitudes, and how they separated themselves from everyone else to avoid contamination. Jesus references "sacrifice" of the ceremonial law that did nothing to connect anyone to God, nothing to benefit anyone anywhere. Jesus reminds us he wants mercy.

Long ago in a previous life I knew a young woman I'll call Cheryl, because her name was Cheryl. Life dumped a lot on her from outside, and she made some decisions that had negative outcomes. It felt as if everyone was giving her unhelpful suggestions. When a new dog came into Cheryl's life and she decided to adopt him, she told me she asked herself what trait or characteristic did people need most? Her answer was mercy, so she named her new canine companion Mercy.

Is God able to name and call each of us Mercy and Merciful?

* * *
Originally for this start of the season of Pentecost when we discern and engage ministries that help the world bloom and flourish, I considered asking all of us to divide our lives into our immediate home, workplace, neighborhood; this parish and any other church communities where you're involved; and the larger, greater world out there. I thought I'd ask each of us what God is calling us to do in each of those arenas—smaller, manageable acts of service. That still feels like a good idea, but it's clear to me that the past couple of months, last Sunday's guest from Global Refuge, the needs of the city and county of Los Angeles and beyond, and today's immigration focused retreat after worship all point us to a continued emphasis on immigration and immigrants.

Last week Karla from Global Refuge placed immigration in the context of the Pentecost of our baptism! Scripture tells us we all are strangers and sojourners everywhere we go, and God travels with us.

I don't have an answer or a suggestion for ways to engage and minister around immigration during the next few months. We know it takes prayer, thought, listening, time, and conversations to discern where God is leading us and the nature of our responses.

* * *
Again today Jesus invites everyone to the table of grace for a foretaste of the feast to come when…

…many will come come from the east and the west, the north and the south, and recline at table in the Kingdom of Heaven. Luke 13:29

Amen? Amen!

Our song of the day is "We Come to the Hungry Feast"