2023 06 11 Sermon
Connecting with God’s Love & Mercy
Pentecost 2A
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
After some traveling around, Jesus is back in his adopted hometown, Capernaum, a fishing port on the Sea of Galilee. He is well into his ministry by this point, so he’s pretty well-known in the area. Presumably, even a tax-collector like Matthew knew about Jesus. Perhaps he had even met Jesus before, or heard him speaking to the crowds during the Sermon on the Mount, or watched him heal someone. I think it’s likely that when we hear in today’s gospel Jesus say to Matthew, “Follow me”, that Matthew has already had the opportunity for Jesus to make an impression on him before that.
Certainly, Matthew would have noticed a difference in the way people responded to him as a tax collector, and the way people responded to Jesus. When it came to Jesus, people sought him out. We hear about this as we keep reading today’s gospel. A leader of the synagogue asks Jesus to bring his daughter back to life. Sadly, his little daughter had died. A crowd of people laugh at Jesus when he tells them “the girl is not dead but sleeping”, because they know that only God has ultimate control over life and death, and they don’t realize that Jesus has a divine nature as well as a human nature. But Jesus doesn’t let that bother him, as he takes the girl by the hand and brings her back to life. Jesus always lets God’s love and mercy flow from his heart to other people. The only times he gets angry is when people are getting in the way of someone else’s ability to reach out and connect with God.
Meanwhile, Matthew knows all too well that most people would rather avoid him. He’s a tax collector. People disliked him, and for a much deeper reason than that they just didn’t like to pay taxes. They disliked him because (1) Matthew worked for the Roman Empire, who controlled their country, and (2) as a tax collector in those days, it was common practice to charge people more than they were supposed to pay, and keep the extra for himself. Matthew may have even done this to the fishermen whom Jesus had called as disciples: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. After all, they ran a fishing business and they would have had to pay taxes on their catch.
Ultimately, though, we can only guess at the backstory. When Jesus said “Follow me”, we don’t know exactly why Matthew left his lucrative tax-collecting position to follow Jesus. Maybe he felt guilty for cheating people out of their money, and wanted a new start. Maybe he was attracted by the lifestyle Jesus demonstrated. But all we really know is that he got up and followed. While Matthew may have left his old life behind, he did not leave his old connections and friendships with the other tax collectors behind. Because the first thing he did as a new disciple of Jesus was to throw a dinner party! And the featured guests were “many tax collectors and sinners” who sat down to eat with Jesus and the other disciples.
Again we see how Jesus always lets God’s love and mercy flow from his heart to other people. And one of the best ways for this to happen is by making connections with other people, regardless of who they are.
I’ve read lately about some research into what makes for people feeling a sense of belonging and happiness [https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200701-why-your-weak-tie-friendships-may-mean-more-than-you-think]. You might think of some obvious answers like having positive family relationships, or developing close friendships—and these “strong ties” (as they are known) are important. But it turns out that another factor that is just as important is what they call “weak ties”—a term coined by sociologist Mark Granovetter back in 1973. “Weak ties” are the casual acquaintances in life. People like your mail carrier, the person at the checkout counter, the neighbor who walks the dog at the same time you do. I’m sure you can think of many other examples. You may or may not know their names. You probably don’t have deep conversations with them. But you might chat for a bit, and share a joke, a greeting, or a smile. And when you do, you feel connected; you feel good. Also in these interactions, you have the chance to learn new things, hear new ideas, gain a better understanding of how different people experience the world. It turns out that you actually have a better chance of finding out about new ideas or new opportunities (that you otherwise never would have known about) from these “weak ties” because these folks usually run in different social circles than you.
So this is the kind of like what we see happening at the dinner party that Matthew had with his fellow tax-collectors and sinners, along with Jesus and the disciples. He was bringing together different social circles, people who may or may not have been acquainted with one another, but were not close friends—and making these connections with each other was a sign of God’s kingdom coming among them, because Jesus is always letting God’s love and mercy flow out from his heart to other people. And by doing this, Jesus is helping to make people feel more connected to each other and to God. Whether or not the people from these different circles ever become good friends, they still benefit by gaining a sense that they belong to the same community under the same umbrella of God’s love and mercy.
It’s also kind of life the “neighborhood walk” several of our House of Prayer members went on last Sunday after church, along with our “HOP Outside the Box” faithful innovation team. Even though mid-to-late morning on a Sunday was not a time when very many neighbors were outside, we still had the chance to build some of those important “weak ties” with our community: the man watering his lawn; the woman walking her dog; the couple puttering around in the garage. We did not have deep conversations with these neighbors, but we did have a chance to share a smile or a greeting, and just let people know that our church is part of the neighborhood along with them; that House of Prayer is not an island set apart.
In a similar way to the experience of Matthew, Jesus, the tax collectors, and the disciples, the neighborhood walk was a chance for us to gain a different perspective on the ways God connects us to the whole human family; and to know that these connections (whether they are “strong ties” or “weak ties”) are all under the umbrella of Christ, who stretched out his arms on the cross to offer everyone a connection to God’s great mercy and love. Amen.