Matthew 9 finds Jesus in the heart of His Galilean ministry,
and in the heat of His conflict with traditional Judaism. In the preceding
verses, Jesus showed His power over nature (8:18-27), demons (vv. 28-34),
sin (9:1-5), and sickness (vv. 6-8). In the process, He made some powerful
enemies among the Pharisees and scribes.
This week’s passage is no different. Not only does He
invite a scum-of-the-earth, cheating, lying tax collector to be His disciple,
but then Jesus goes and eats with him and his sinner friends. Put nicely,
this type of incarnational ministry with lost and broken people was contrary
to the Pharisees’ ministry model. In the system of Judaism, the sinner
had to go to the temple, go through the process of becoming ceremonially clean,
and offer the appropriate sacrifices in order to participate in God’s
activity. God was at the temple. To meet Him, one had to go there on God’s
terms (or perhaps the Pharisees’ terms).
In this passage, Jesus turns that system completely upside-down (or is it right-side-up?). Instead of expecting the sinners to come to Him, Jesus goes to the sinners, meeting them on their terms, reclining at their table and eating their food. He does not seem to care that He is committing several Jewish taboos. He seems more concerned about the sick needing a doctor. He literally brings the kingdom of God to Matthew’s dinner table. This, of course, deepens the developing conflict between Him and the Pharisees.
In response to their critique, Jesus drops a bombshell that
would rock even our world, if we let it: “Those who are well have no
need of a physician, but those who are sick” (v. 12, nrsv).
I am beginning to think the “if you build it, they will
come” model of doing church is contrary to the kingdom of God. Sometimes
we pastors spend countless hours and resources trying to find the right program
to help our church grow. We think that if we can just get the sinners to our
building with catchy marketing, a great band, and high-level customer service,
they will stay and become Christians. If they do not stay, or if they do not
fit into our system, we send them on their way with a smile and a prayer,
hoping they find a church that “fits.”
I’m beginning to think this way is not much different
than the way of the Pharisees. All this marketing and strategizing might work
for car manufacturers, but it is not what Jesus does. It is doing evangelism
backwards, and it is leading to the decline of established churches and the
failure of many church plants. It ignores stories such as this one, where
Jesus is healing, forgiving, and establishing His Kingdom outside of the four
walls of the church. The Pharisees make their need clear with their question,
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (v.
11, nrsv).
Jesus’ answer is simple and profound: “Go learn
what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come
to call not the righteous but sinners” (v. 13, nrsv). Jesus goes where
the “sinners” are. He reclines at their table and eats their food.
He directly challenges the system of temple-worship, and spends the vast majority
of His ministry “out there” among the people.
Jesus’ language reminds us that we do not expect sick people to make
themselves better before they see the doctor. Jesus is the type of doctor
who prefers to make house calls.
Our response could be to “go learn what this means.”
One of the churches on our district has a ministry to the dancers of a local
strip club. The pastor told us about this ministry in a pastors’ meeting.
Once the shock subsided, he gently reminded us of passages such as this, where
Jesus intentionally goes to the low-down, no-good members of society in order
to offer them hope. Passages like this one call us to be the church “out
there”—outside the four walls of our building. Our response to
this passage could be that we would decide to follow Jesus, going where He
goes. And make no mistake, Jesus goes to the outcasts. He goes to the poor,
the lepers, the Samaritans, the adulterers, the tax collectors, and the sinners.
We must call, equip, and enable our people to do the same.
(For the full manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons.”)
This week gives us a great opportunity to think literally outside
the box. We have the chance to look at our communities and see where God is
doing something. Then we must go join Him. Now is a good time to revisit the
idea of prevenient grace: God is already out there working in the lives of
people.
One creative way to end this sermon would be to close the worship service outside the building. Have a portable sound system set up, and as you enter into response time, invite the congregation to follow you to the parking lot, and finish the sermon from there. This will be awkward for some people, but that is the point. We need to be just as comfortable being the Church outside the building as we are inside.
