The Lord Calls Sinners

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The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Matthew 9:9-13.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Most parents have felt the disappointment of having a carefully chosen gift spurned. You give a gift you hope will bond you together or re-create a particular joy of your own childhood—the thrill of your first fishing rod or the warm feeling you got from your Cabbage Patch doll—only to have the gift barely glanced at and quickly tossed aside. In such cases, even a polite “thank you” brings little comfort.

On the other hand, few things delight parents as much as having a child so thrilled with a particular gift that he abandons the remaining unopened gifts to start playing with it. I remember the year our not-quite-two-year-old grandson, Andersen, got his first combine. The joy on his face and the way his whole body squirmed with delight said it all. No formal “thank you” was necessary. The gratitude was evident in the joy and excitement.

So, it is also with our Father in heaven. He desires mercy, rather than mere outward formalities and manners. He takes immense joy in watching us receive His gift of mercy and in sharing that mercy with others. “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings,” the Lord says (Hosea 6:6). In our text Jesus uses this verse to warn the Pharisees of the danger of their self-righteousness: “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).

God did not give the Law that anyone would keep it and make himself righteous. That’s impossible. God gave the Law so that people would recognize they are sinners, in need of His mercy. God doesn’t need our sacrifices any more than parents need a formal thank you. He can see our thankfulness by actions—by the way we receive His mercy and then go on to show mercy to others.

From all appearances, Matthew seemed the most unlikely prospect to become a disciple of Jesus. He was a tax collector, a traitor who worked for the despised Roman government. Tax collectors had the reputation of being dishonest. Many of them would collect unreasonable amounts and enrich themselves in the process. No wonder the Jews regarded them as the vilest of creatures. No wonder tax collectors were barred from the synagogue and forbidden to have any religious or social contact with “respectable” Jews like the Pharisees.

When Jesus saw Matthew, He said to him, “Follow Me.” And immediately “[Matthew] rose and followed Him” (Matthew 9:9). He abandoned his business and gave up his livelihood. He was willing to lose his life that he might save it. This was not an irresistible command of Jesus’ almighty power. It was a gracious invitation of mercy, and Matthew accepted it eagerly. Matthew could not have dared to hope he would receive such a direct personal invitation, but when he received one, he did not ask for time to think it over or to get his personal affairs in order. He got up and followed Jesus without hesitation.

To celebrate the occasion, Matthew prepared a dinner at his home to honor Jesus and to introduce Him to his friends and associates. The Pharisees who observed this were extremely critical of Jesus for associating with such unsavory characters. But as often happens with one’s sharpest critics, the Pharisees did not dare to confront Jesus directly. They spoke to His disciples instead. “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” they asked.

Jesus observed that sick people need a doctor, not perfectly healthy people. Likewise, those who regard themselves as spiritually healthy won’t seek a physician for their souls. Those who believe they are righteous in God’s sight by means of their own works are not interested in a call to repentance. But those who recognize their personal sinfulness and unworthiness can appreciate the good news of forgiveness through faith in Christ Jesus.

Through the prophet Hosea the Lord had said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” (6:6). Samuel had also said to disobedient King Saul, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).

We please God by conscientiously obeying His commandments, not by making our own rules and boasting about our observance of manmade rituals. Even careful outward obedience to God’s commandments is not sufficient. God wants us to recognize our personal sinfulness and unworthiness, to see His gracious forgiveness for Jesus’ sake, and then, out of gratitude for His mercy, to strive to obey all His commandments. This is His greatest desire.

But what about you! What do you desire! Do you desire to keep all of God’s commandments! Do you desire to show mercy! Do you desire God’s mercy! Do you desire the things of God!

If you’re honest, you must admit that you do not. Neither do I. We cannot. We are all, by nature, sinful and self-centered. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all deserve damnation. We are all guilty. And even if we have managed to keep the Law in an outward way, we still have broken it in our hearts. God desires, even demands, perfection. God desires mercy, not sacrifice. But we cannot meet the Law’s demands. We cannot fulfill God’s desire. We cannot save ourselves. We are in desperate need of a Savior.

Fortunately, God meets His own desire in Jesus Christ. Christ fulfills the Law for us. He is mercy. Jesus is merciful. He keeps the Law without fail. He keeps the Law externally and internally. Through Jesus, God is also merciful to us and does not hold our sins against us but forgives us, and for the sake of Jesus’ death on the cross has taken those sins upon Him.

Unfortunately, some people don’t realize their need. They’re sick, but they don’t know they need a physician. They’re sinners, but they don’t realize they need a Savior. Some of them never did. Others once did, but have fallen away and now fail to realize just how bad of shape they are now in.

I’m sure you all have seen those pictures of a starving child—ribs showing, abdomen protruding, eyes sunken and hollow, as fat and muscle tissue is broken down to keep vital body systems—such as the nervous system and heart muscle—working. There couldn’t be a worse sight than someone starving to death!

Oh, but there is! And it goes on all around us. People are starving to death every day. Even here in Zion/St. John’s/St. Paul’s! And it’s a much worse starvation, for the death to which it leads is everlasting. The starvation goes on for eternity! I’m talking about spiritual starvation. And unless we’re careful, it could happen to any one of us.

Many people join a church. As time goes on a significant percentage of those who join stop attending. When asked why they no longer attend worship, Bible class, or Communion, people frequently say: “I simply lost my desire to attend.”

When a person starves physically, he initially suffers great hunger. However, after a while he gets so weak that he even ceases to be hungry. The body loses its desire to eat or drink. Those who try to rescue these half-dead people often must force food or water into them before they can even regain the feeling of hunger.

The same thing happens with spiritual starvation. The devil cleverly works to manipulate Christians to eliminate their desire or hunger for worship or Holy Communion. Listen to Martin Luther as he explains how the devil works in your life, seeking to take away your desire to go to worship or communion.

Luther writes: “In order that everyone may learn what a tricky knave the devil is, I want to give an example out of my own experience to all who are willing to let themselves be warned. It has happened to me several times that I resolved to go to the Sacrament on this or that day. When the day arrived, my devotion disappeared or some hindrance came up, or I regarded myself unfit, saying: “Very well, I will go in a week.’ But the next week found me as unfit and encumbered as on the former occasion: ‘Very well, I will go next week.’

“Those weeks became so numerous that I almost got away from it entirely and hardly ever went to the Sacrament. But when God granted me grace to become aware of the devil’s knavery, I said: ‘Do you want to make a wager, Satan, that I don’t know what you are up to! A plague upon your cleverness!’ So, I broke out of the vicious circle and participated in the Sacrament, even without making confession several times (which I ordinarily do not do) to spite the devil, particularly because I was not conscious of any gross sins.

And so I discovered this about myself: If a person has no longing or reverence for the Sacrament and yet earnestly makes the effort to participate in it, then such thoughts and the action itself bring forth sufficient reverence and longing and do a good job of driving away the lazy and morose thoughts which hinder a person and make him unfit. For it is a gracious, efficacious Sacrament, if one thinks about it only a little with earnestness and prepares oneself for it, then kindles, arouses, and further attracts the heart to itself.

“Try it, and if you do not find it to be this, you can accuse me of lying. I am willing to wager that you, too, will find that the devil has artfully fooled you and has cleverly kept you from the Sacrament so that he might in time make you lose faith entirely and make you forget about your dear Savior and all your need” (Luther’s Works, vol. 38, p.127).

Of course, there are some people who feel no desire or need to go to church and to receive the Holy Sacrament because they see no serious sin in their life. To such people Luther warns: “But I want to tell you without jesting: ‘If you do not feel any sin, you are assuredly completely dead in sins, yes, dead, and sin is reigning over you with might.’ I do not even have to mention coarse, external sins such as a desire for unchastity, adultery, anger, hatred, envy, revenge, pride, covetousness… the fact that you have neither the need nor the desire to partake of the Sacrament is in itself already a most serious and great sin. From this we perceive that you also have no faith, that you have no regard for God’s Word, have forgotten about Christ’s suffering, and are full of unthankfulness, and all kinds of spiritual abominations” (Luther’s Works, vol. 38, p.129).

Heed this warning in your own life. When you feel no need or desire to go to church to receive God’s living Word in Holy Communion (even though you know God is graciously inviting and urging you to attend and partake), consider this lack of desire in your heart and soul as a bright red flashing light, a very serious warning that it is a matter of life or death!

When you hunger and thirst, go to Him who IS the Bread of Life. Run to Him who IS the living Water of Life for you. When you feel no desire for God’s life-giving Word, know for sure the devil is manipulating your feelings in order to draw you away from God, forever.

So do not wait until you feel worthy. Do not wait until you feel strong. Do not wait until your heart suddenly finds its own way back to God. Christ has already come for sinners. He has already called the unworthy. He has already given Himself for the starving, the weak, the wandering, and the dead in sin.

Therefore, when He says, “Follow Me,” rise and follow. When He invites, come. When He speaks His mercy, believe it. When He gives His body and blood, receive it. For the Lord still calls sinners. He still welcomes the needy. He still heals the sick. And He still says to you today: “Take heart, your sins are forgiven.”

In the name of the Father and of Amen.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.