January 30 - A Lesson in Mercy

“Then Jesus went to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collectors booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him. Later Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with such scum?’ When Jesus heard this, he told them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.’” This account is from Mark 2. Matthew’s gospel adds this to the last sentence: “Now go and learn the meaning of this scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’”

Matthew’s gospel also names the tax collector differently, calling him ‘Matthew,’ and in his list of the apostles, ‘Matthew, the tax collector.’ It appears that Jesus renamed Levi (to be joined) Matthew (gift of God), Just as he renamed Simon, Peter. By second century tradition, the apostle Matthew was the author of the Gospel that now bears his name. About him, we know very little. Other than his calling, there are no independent stories about Matthew in the New Testament. According to tradition, he later preached as far afield as Ethiopia, Persia, and Macedonia and died a martyr.

But in the beginning he was a tax collector for the Roman government. In all my life, I’ve never met anyone who loves the IRS. But the Jews didn’t just despise Roman tax collectors, they hated them, and they officially classified them as ‘unclean’ individuals with whom pious Jews could not associate.

If you could stand the social stigma, being a tax collector was a profitable enterprise. Tax collectors came from local inhabitants who bid for the office, agreeing to pay Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, a certain sum in advance; any money collected over that amount was theirs to keep, and they could collect as much as they thought they could get away with. Many of them gouged the people and only the presence of Roman garrisons kept them from being stoned.

Best of all is the description of the dinner guests…”to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)” I remember when my wife and I came to pastor a struggling church in this area. Split from another church, it was so ingrown and tradition-bound that new people really weren’t welcome. Rather than being welcome, they were viewed with suspicion and reserve. I remember talking with my wife about the condition of the church, and then being struck by the wisdom of her analysis. “What this church really needs,” she said, “Is a massive influx of pagans.”

Yes. Left to ourselves we get so religious, ‘holy,’ and rigid that we’re no earthly good. The church of Jesus works best when there is a constant addition of ‘disreputable sinners’ to teach us the need for mercy, to become the objects of our prayer and concern, and to require our mentoring. Every ‘sinner’ we sponsor in the faith helps us remember that Christ’s love is for us all, not just a chosen few. As I’ve gotten older I’ve given up the useless pursuit of judging others, save for myself. I have realized that after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, there is only one category of person left…those for whom Jesus died. I’m going to stop for now, and take this discussion up again tomorrow.

Prayer: “Merciful Father, I am right there with Matthew and his friends. The failures in my life have made me ‘disreputable’ in your sight. But I know that your mercy is far more powerful than my sin. I see myself as a beaten and tumbled rock in the bed of the sometimes violent, rushing river of life. But you have not left me alone to simply be beaten against my fellows. You are the water of life, rushing over all the intricate parts of my sin-stained soul, washing and scrubbing away the scars of years so that I might soon stand in your presence, gleaming with a borrowed purity. I praise you and thank you. In the name of Jesus, whose blood has washed away my sin, Amen.”