4A Pentecost Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 June 8, 2008
The other day, after yet another humbling afternoon of league golf I sat down with some guys who were enjoying one in a series of adult beverages. Since they invited my golf partner and me to join them, and they were buying, I joined them. I recognized and knew some of them but not all of them. As I sat there I was fascinated by all the things I learned. (Much of which is not repeatable here this morning.) After a few moments one of the guys introduced him self and I did the same. At that point the guy next to me looked at me and with a puzzled look on his face asked, “Are you a preacher?” To which I said that “Yes” I was and then we had a short discussion about which congregation I served, mentioning that I was the pastor here at Zion. (I hope you all are OK with that!)
From there the conversation once again drifted toward topics not entirely appropriate for the pulpit. But eventfully the gentleman next to me looked at me again with a curious look and asked if I was any good at preaching? I’m not sure that is a good question to ask a pastor, so I merely suggested that it depends on whom you ask and when you ask them.
I thought about that conversation later on and as I am often apt to do, I thought of things I wish I had said when presented with such a question. And had I been on my toes I would have said something to the effect that on any given Sunday, on any given opportunity when we are gathered for worship, it really doesn’t matter how good or how mediocre I might be as a preacher, because the best part of the service in my mind is what we do right after the morning announcements.
Do you know what I am talking about? I am talking about the time we set aside for our confession and forgiveness. I don’t know when it happened, but there came a time in my life when this part of the service became the highlight of the service. It is that opportunity, before we get too far into the service when we have the opportunity to admit and confess that we have messed up, that we have failed to be the people God created us to be, that we have sinned not only by the things we have done, but perhaps more often the case, by the things we have failed to do. It is during that time we face up to the fact that we are people who have a broken relationship with not only God but with family, friends and neighbors both near and far. It is a time to confess that we have sinned in thought word and deed. And it is a time to lay our cards on the table and admit that we need God’s grace that we need forgiveness, and that we need to be healed of what ails us physically, emotionally and spiritually. And once we have done that, we get to hear those wonderful words of forgiveness. In the Absolution we are told that the slate is wiped clean, that we have a new lease on life, that in the eyes of God—we are forgiven.
It doesn’t get any better than that my friends. That is the best news we are going to hear on any given Sunday. After hearing those words, everything else is frosting on the cake. If we as a congregation manage to get beyond some of our vocal shyness and really sing the hymns, that’s nice. If my sermon manages to touch home with some of you, that’s wonderful. And if the words’ “Given and shed for you” reaches out to you and offers healing as you receive the bread and wine, that’s even better. But to hear that word, the word that your sins are forgiven, is in my mind, the best it’s going to get—regardless of who is preaching and regardless of how good or mediocre the preacher might be.
So, why am I telling you all this? Well, I am telling you this because I believe there are misconceptions of what the church is, or what it is not and today’s gospel reading provides some helpful correction and guidance.
The first misconception is that the church is made up of folks who have it all together, that the church is made up of folks who have a perfectly stable relationship with Christ and as a result are living perfectly sin-free lives. There is a perception held by some, that the church is only for folks who are faithful 24/7, and as a result, those who gather for worship are too good for those who might not make it to worship so often, if at all. That’s one misconception, and it is a misconception held by folks inside the church and outside the church.
The second misconception is not quite so flattering, and one you might have encountered, that being that the church is made up of a bunch of hypocrites who say one thing on Sunday and do something quite the opposite the rest of the week. While I admit I don’t fully appreciate the overly cynical sentiment of this misconception, I have often been struck by the rather odd sense of self-righteousness that comes from the person stating this view, as if, their unwillingness to associate with such hypocrites is so much below them.
As is often the case, in every generalization there is often a grain of truth to be found.
For example:
The church is in fact made up of folks who have a relationship with Jesus Christ; a relationship like most relationships that has its high marks and some low marks. As people of faith, as people who claim to be followers of Jesus there are times when we are pretty tight with our Savior, there are other times when we wander and we behave like sheep whose shepherd is looking for them.
To say that our faith is running on all cylinders 24/7 is something of an over statement, and yet I dare say, it is a goal we would all do well to strive for.
To say that the church is made up of a bunch of hypocrites is nothing new or novel and in light of my earlier reference to the importance of Confession and Forgiveness within our worship this is proof that most of us agree, we do not always walk the way we talk. I am perfectly aware of my own bouts with hypocrisy and that is exactly why I find it so important and necessary to gather for worship on a consistent basis. One of the things I have noted in my own life is the sense of absence I feel on those occasions when a Sunday has gone by and for some reason I have not had the opportunity to gather for worship. And in the same vein, I experience the same absence when I gather for worship and the confession and forgiveness is not a part of the service.
For reasons I don’t fully understand there are communities of faith where such confession of ones sinfulness is not practiced. Maybe they consider it to be too demeaning, too negative. Maybe it offends their self-esteem. I don’t know. What I do know is that to hear those words that I am forgiven, that my sinfulness has been washed away, well, as the old saying goes: it is exactly what the doctor ordered!
That leads me to the response of Jesus when he was criticized by the Pharisees for eating and drinking with the tax collector and other known sinners: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”
When I read this response I am reminded that each and every one of us here this morning is suffering some ailment, some dis-ease, some brokenness, and some spiritual infirmity that requires the healing hand of Christ. And that is why we are here, not because we have it all together. Not because we have a perfectly clean spiritual bill of health. We are here because we need help and healing. We are here because we need God’s amazing grace and mercy. And as many know, this is the first and perhaps most important step in getting well. Those who deal with drug and alcohol abuse have discovered this truth that recognition and admission of a disease is the essential first step. There can be no healing with out it. So that is why we come to church admitting our needs and asking for God’s forgiveness and healing.
With that understood, Jesus response to the Pharisees also serves as a reminder that the church is not so much a social outlet, or a community center, but rather it is a hospital, a place to care for hurting and ailing souls. Martin Luther was often noted to have viewed the church in this manner and I suspect that might have lead to the establishment of so many faith based hospitals and clinics over the centuries. And yet I wonder if we have lost some of that sentiment. I suspect there are a great many out side the church that don’t see it that way, perhaps seeing the church more as a place for the overly pious and proper. Some times I suspect those not in the church often view the church as a place for people who are better than they are. Notions of perfectionism keep many away from the church. How many are there, I wonder, who stay away from worship because they feel they are not good enough?
If this is the case, we who make up the church need to inscribe in our hearts and share with the people we encounter the sentiment of Jesus when he says: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Should we do this it will help us reclaim our mission as a place of healing, a hospital where God’s grace is the primary healing agent, a place where tax collectors and know sinners will come to find comfort, acceptance and a new life. This my friends is our mission as the body of Christ. To reach out to the Matthews of the world, the sinners that others have rejected and cast off as hopeless. The church isn’t out looking only for the beautiful people. We aren’t only here for those who have achieved and arrived, although they are welcome too if there are truly such.
The church isn’t only for the nice, respectable people. The church exists to reach out to the imperfect the mixed up, the mistake, the guilty, and the often lost people of this world. Our mission is to extend the same grace which has been given to us through the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
In the play “A Raisin the Sun” there is a passage that I believe does well to describe our mission in light of today’s gospel. The daughter in the play has “had it” with her brother and is about to give up trying to relate to him. Then her mother says to her: “There is always something left to love. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing. Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody most; when they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain’t through learning, because that ain’t the time at all. It’s when he’s at his lowest and can’t believe in himself ‘cause the world done whipped him so. When you start measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you done take into account those hills and valleys he come through before he wherever he is.”
This is the way Jesus Christ loves. Christ loves when people are at the lowest and worst, not just when they’ve done well. Such is our task in the church too. This is not a community center, or an elite social club. This is a hospital of God, a place for sick people, rejected people, lost people, a place for people who come in need of the grace and mercy of God.
Jesus said: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” To this, all of us can say, Amen, Thanks be to God!
