Matthew 9.9

SHOWING MERCY

(Matthew 9.9)

‘As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed.' (Matthew 9.9)

Whenever I hear the name Matthew mentioned, I immediately think of my home parish of St Matthew's, lpswich.

It was at St Matthew's Church that I was baptised in the same font that Cardinal Wolsey was some 450 years earlier. Fortunately, they had changed the water!

It was at St Matthew's church that I articulated God's call to me to be ordained a priest,

And it was also at St Matthew's church that my early Christian formation took place, though all those who were responsible have long since died.

I recall the Rectors of that parish. Canon Brynley Jones who struggled to teach me New Testament Greek whilst I struggled to teach him patience. Maurice Charles Russell, with his long hair, mutton chop whiskers, lenses in the bottom half of his spectacles, and married to a former model, who taught me the value of the Daily Offices.

Then there were the curates. George Willis, a former veterinary surgeon from Liverpool, who prepared me for confirmation. And there was another, who had better remain anonymous, who showed more interest in grooming choir boys than his own hair,

And then there was the retired priest, Fr. Hargrave Thomas, who once invited the congregation, in the middle of the Prayer for the Church Militant, to pray for the kangaroos of Australia. Why? Because they were being culled.

And of course, there were the members of the congregation. Ivy Coleman and Eva Robinson, two infant teachers, who showed me so much love and gave me much encouragement. Freda Smith, who spoke with a strong Yorkshire accent, and who ran the church youth club where we teenage boys would sit around watching the girls jive, hoping to get a glimpse of their many layered petticoats! George Smith who taught me to serve at the altar, and whose elderly father would often turn up dressed as a woman. And of course, the saintly and ever patient, Mary Wrightman, whose very bright son taught me in the junior school, and whose other, ‘special needs’ son would drive an imaginary car along in the gutter, whilst his mother cycled beside him. She taught me the value of the Eucharist.

And so I could go on. What a wonderful mixed bag of saints and sinners, which can be found in any church, Sunday by Sunday, and who in their various ways, influenced my life along the Christian way, as I sought to respond to the call to 'follow' Christ.

They remind me of that other wonderful mixed bag of saints and sinners which Jesus invited to 'follow' him, some two thousand years ago. For instance, an illiterate fisherman who would blow hot and cold in his loyalty towards Jesus. A political revolutionary who sought to overthrow the occupying Roman forces, and of course, the one who would eventually betray him, either out of misplaced loyalty or because of greed.

However, today we are encouraged to focus our attention upon Matthew, the tax collector who, unlike the others, could not return to his former occupation. Whilst no one really likes tax collectors, at least we recognise that they are necessary and indispensable agents of governments in providing revenue for defence, health, social services, education and transport.

However, their need was not so obvious in New Testament times, where taxes were collected to further the imperial ambitions and provide for an ever increasing bureaucracy in Rome. As far as the average citizen was concerned, they got nothing back in return for their taxes.

But their dislike of tax collectors, sometimes called 'publicans' because they dealt with public money, and not because they ran pubs, ran much deeper than appearing to get nothing back in return.

To make the collection of taxes easy, the occupying Roman authorities auctioned the right to collect taxes in certain areas. People could apply to buy that 'right' for an agreed sum. Anything which they raised over and above the agreed sum, they could keep for themselves as a so called 'commission'.

In the absence of newspapers, the general public were ignorant as regards the rate of taxes, and furthermore there was no system of appeal for those who considered that they had been unfavourably treated.

There were also religious based objections. The tax had to be paid in coinage bearing the emperor's head. As far as the Jews were concerned, God was their king, and therefore to pay taxes to anyone else was an infringement of God's right.

Also, taxmen were expected to work seven days a week which included the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. Finally, in order to fulfil their responsibilities, it was necessary for them to meet with Gentiles, Greeks and Syrians, who were considered to be beyond the pale.

So working for a foreign occupying force, exploiting the system to their own financial advantage and undermining the religious beliefs and practices of the Jews made tax collectors very unpopular.

Yet, it was one of these unpopular people, Matthew by name, that Jesus invited to 'follow' him.

Furthermore, either Matthew or Jesus, then invited other 'sinners' to join them for a meal in his house. No wonder Jesus was criticised by the religious leaders of his day, the Scribes and Pharisees, who asked the question of his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?'

They took their religion very seriously. The scribes devoted themselves to spelling out in precise detail what each of the Ten Commandments meant for everyday life. The Pharisees, which means 'to keep separate', devoted their lives to observing all these detailed rules and regulations.

Above all, they were careful to ensure that they did not become contaminated by the sinfulness around them. They sought at all times to keep themselves separate and pure, and in so doing, to maintain the high standard of their religious belief and practice. Like a farmer who tries to keep his cattle away from other infected cattle, so the Pharisees sought to keep themselves away from sinners, and thereby avoid religious or moral contamination. As the rabbis taught, 'keep from an evil neighbour and do not associate with the wicked.'

Now, it would be quite wrong to suggest that Jesus did not like the Pharisees and that he excluded them from following him. He would gladly have welcomed them into his company, together with Matthew and others.

It was rather they who separated themselves from Jesus. It was they who turned their back upon him in order to preserve the orthodoxy of their faith. It was they who decided that they did not need Jesus in their lives. They were 'OK', thank you very much.

Just as a person who is not ill, and therefore has no need for a doctor, so the Pharisees considered that they did not need Jesus, the physician of their souls.

They had no need for the medicine of God’s mercy in their lives.

Now, l don't know how you deal with such people, as l suspect Rowan Williams is discovering, as he prepares for the coming Lambeth conference in July this year (2008).

Although invitations have gone out to the bishops of the Anglican Communion, about a hundred are preferring to attend an alternative gathering called the Global Anglican Futures conference in Jerusalem and Jordan.

This is being organised by a conservative wing of the Anglican Church, led by Philip Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria and Gregory Venables, Archbishop of the Southern Cone.

They, like the Pharisees, are sincerely seeking to preserve the Anglican Church from becoming contaminated with the liberal views from other parts of the church. In particular, they are opposed to the consecration of homosexual bishops, as in America, and the Blessing of Gay Marriages, as in Canada.

But before you or I throw the first stone at these bishops, let us examine our own consciences and see whether or not we, too, often refuse to have anything to do with other people or groups of people within the church because we too wish to maintain what we consider to be orthodox belief, and therefore seek to avoid contamination from those from whom we might differ or disagree.

Matthew stands as a symbol that we are all in need of God's mercy in our lives. Until we are prepared to recognise this, and open ourselves up to his loving embrace, we too are in danger of cutting ourselves off from his company, as did the Pharisees.

As St Paul once observed, "All have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God."

God's gracious invitation to 'follow' him' is extended to all alike, both saint and sinner. It is we who cut ourselves off from him when we seek to avoid theological or moral contamination.

We all need to focus upon his generous act, revealed through Jesus Christ upon the cross, who revealed once and for all his love and mercy for the whole mixed bag of humanity, and that includes you and me who he invites to 'follow' him.