Jesus sits with Sinners
Matthew 9: 9-13
Pentecost 2 (Proper 5)
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the second Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel reading Matthew 9. In our world today it is not uncommon for people to not only defend and excuse their sins but to take it a step further and celebrate their sins. One of the justifications used to celebrate sin is to point out that Jesus interacted with sinners, and He loved them. It is true that the Lord reclined at table with sinners, and He did indeed love them. But what needs to be understood is that Jesus never was accepting of sin. God is holy and opposes all sin. Jesus did sit with sinners to bring them to repentance and saving faith. He sat with sinners to forgive them, heal them, and restore them. He sat with sinners to make them right with God and give them the gift of eternal life.
We see this in our text for today. Our reading begins with Jesus calling Matthew to follow Him. Mathew was a tax collector. Tax collectors were unpopular because they often preyed on people by overtaxing them. They were also hated because they worked for the Romans. Yet, Jesus comes to Matthew and calls him to be His disciple. Amazingly, Matthew packs up his things to follow Jesus. They end up at Matthew’s house to have a meal. Along the way Matthew invites other tax collators and sinners to join them. The Pharisees stand of to the side complaining, “Why does He eat with sinners?”
So, who is eating with Jesus? Who would be considered a sinner? The tax collectors are there. What’s the sin going on with them? We could call it greed. Their idol was money. Money had a tight hold upon them. Their lives revolved around getting and keeping money, and then buying things. But who else is at the table? We are at the table. Why? Because we are sinners. Like the tax collectors we can turn money into our idol. What makes us secure is money. This especially becomes clear in a time of inflation and rising gas prices. We start to worry about money. We become concerned about our retirement accounts and our investments. Money isn’t going as far as it once did. Your mind becomes more anxious. “Am I going to have enough money?” When your mind goes there, you begin to hold on to the money too tightly or it takes hold of you. So, when our Lord calls for giving, generosity, and taking care of others, we end up mostly taking care of ourselves.
What other sinners are at the table with Jesus? Those who break the Law of God with what they say. That also describes us. What do we say in anger when we lose our temper? How quickly do we lash out with mean words, hateful words, words that God never wants us to speak. Hurtful words that our said in person or words that appear on Facebook or some other social media. We use our mouth to gossip. We use our words to tear people down. God calls us to use our words in pray, praise and giving thanks. Yet we are always tempted to use our words to control things. To use our words to get our way.
Other sinners? How about those who worry too much. Those filled with anxiety about what is going on. We would be in that group as well. We worry about our safety. We worry about the future. We worry about our community, country, and everything else. Our Lord calls us to trust in Him, but we are so deep into worry that we fail to pray and fail to seek peace in His promises despite the dangers we live with every day.
Of course, we have to say something about the Pharisees. The Pharisees are standing off to the side, feeling better than the sinners and the tax collectors. They are looking down at those who are eating with Jesus. A condescending attitude leads to comparing themselves to those people at the table. We also act like the Pharisees. We notice the sins of other people and at the same time we don’t acknowledge our own sins. We see the speck in our neighbors’ eyes but don’t notice the log in our own eyes. We get so irritated at the flaws of the people around us. But what about our own flaws? I might not be perfect, we say to ourselves, but I am better than those people over there. In our pride we become edgy, critical, and over sensitive.
Paul said these words in the book of Romans. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Who should be eating with Jesus? Not us. We shouldn’t be. We don’t deserve to be sitting at the table with Jesus. Not with Him. He is good and holy. We should be on the outside looking in.
And yet, Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them! He has invited us to sit at His table. Jesus was eating with sinners at Matthew’s house in our text. Notice that this table fellowship was not like a restaurant where you are with your family but don’t know anyone else. The tables at a restaurant are separated from one another, and you walk out after the meal without interacting with anybody around. It is not like sitting with someone but failing to talk to them because we are too busy looking at our phone.
When Jesus sits at the table with sinners, He is having fellowship with them. He speaks to them, teaches them, heals them. Those who sit with Jesus look to Him. They listen to Him, thank Him, and call upon His Name. A few minutes ago, I quoted the words of Paul in Romans. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The sentence does not stop there. Paul goes on to say, “And are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).
You can sit with Jesus at His table because of what happened at the cross. He took all your sins upon Himself. All the greed, all the fear, all the anger, all the worry, all the pride – all of it – He has taken it on Himself. He then gave to you, His righteousness. Out of this sacrifice comes the mercy of His forgiveness. Like the physician who knows just what the sick need, Jesus welcomes you in His merciful forgiveness. You have the certainty of the Lord’s love, mercy, and forgiveness because He rose from the dead.
Jesus welcomes sinners to His table. He welcomes us. He welcomes you. He calls you to repentance and strengthens your faith. He forgives you. He heals you and He restores you. He makes you right with God. He gives you the gift of eternal life. Jesus is at the head of the table. He gives you His body and blood, shed on the cross. He gives you the assurance of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
We receive His grace, and we follow Him. As we follow the Lord the Holy Spirit works in us a spirit of generosity and giving. We receive peace that surpasses all understanding. The Holy Spirit works in us the fruit of patience and compassion, using our words to encourage someone. As we follow Jesus, we see those around us as people created by God and loved by Him. We follow Jesus by showing mercy and being gracious. We are disciples with a thankful heart. We follow Jesus and we wait for Him to visibly return where we will sit at His table and see Him face to face. Sitting at His table enjoying perfect fellowship with Him and each other. Sitting at His table basking in the glory of God. Amen.