March 26, 2017 Matthew 9.9-17

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

And as Jesus reclined at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ But when Jesus heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’

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I as your pastor like to go out. I like to dance, scratch that, I love to dance. I like to get dressed up, as much as you can in this jeans and a t-shirt town. I like to listen to live music accompanied by a glass of wine. I enjoy giving friends and acquaintances hugs around the room and I like evening’s casual banter, and the celebration of there being something to do after 7pm. It makes me feel alive, to be in a moment that won’t happen again, that requires showing up. Its fun, and usually, I think I do the balance well, of not going overboard, especially considering my job. But, there are some who would say, that especially considering my job, I shouldn’t be getting dressed up, dancing, drinking, or staying out late.

But then we have this scripture, and others - like Jesus’ first miracle, changing water into wine - after the wine was all drunk, and possibly the guests also, it being supposedly quite late, at a wedding feast, where I would imagine was also dancing. So scriptures like these, make people’s black and white rules, a lot harder to stand by and this scripture also. Jesus here is shunning the piety of the Pharisees and in contrast he is reclining, reclining at dinner in the house of the tax collectors and sinners. And I guess, if your Jesus, you don’t have to worry about sinning along with them, but there are many today who would say to sit with sinners is sin itself, that it is pure temptation to go for a drink, for a dance, for an evening past your bedtime, and for some it may be too tempting, but that is another sermon another time.

That said, Jesus isn’t ignoring the sin of anyone, Jesus notes that the sinners are just that, sinners, but he also includes the Pharisees in his critique. When they ask, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’Jesus says, ‘Those who are well, have no need of a physician, (but instead) those who are sick.” (aka those who are not sinners have no need of Jesus) but then Jesus redirects the critique to the Pharisees, implying that they too are not without sin, “Go and learn what this means,” he says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Jesus here isn’t calling for their piety, he is calling for their humility. He continues, “For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners,’ I imagine him looking at the Pharisees with a stare that makes them know their sins are included. Therefore, Jesus here is saying, sin is putting ourselves in the seat of the judge, instead of pulling up a seat at the table. Its a reminder that none of us are too good that Jesus didn’t come for us, nor are any of us too bad that Jesus didn’t come for us. Therefore, what Jesus wants is to sit with us, to eat a meal, to share a drink, and to recline in the camaraderie of evening conversations, even if your the pastor, or a congregant of the Presbyterian Church.

Its hard for me, as pastor because I feel like whenever I walk into the Tap House, or country swing at the VFW, or rock out at Lone Pine, or sit and listen to Shannon Grey sing folk songs at Lefty’s on a random Thursday, I am being judged against the Pharisees picture of God. After explaining this, a friend said, “Its great because your Pastor Katy, and when you walk in, it changes who the church is, and can be.” But what that tells me, is that the church is known for it’s judgement, and its leaders likewise, just like the Pharisees. The church is known for judging sinners, rather than sitting down and accepting them, rather than sitting down and accepting we are them, rather than recognizing that by our sheer distancing ourselves, we are missing out on a chance to sit with Jesus.

Now I don’t think we are a judgey congregation, the farthest from it perhaps. We are pretty loving and accepting, especially of those in our congregation and those we know. But I don’t think this is only about being non-judgmental in between these walls, and in our social circles. It is also, about literally going out, beyond these walls, or our social circles, or fellow disciples who believe and behave as we (do). It’s about seeing Matthew at his corrupt tax-booth and inviting him to dinner at a place ill-repute, and settling in, reclining at the bar, with his friends and ours and treating people as people. It about when the Pharisees come, with their words of judgement and rules for rules sake, sticking up for the outcast, and reminding the Pharisees who the church is, not one of fasting and mourning, but one of celebration because - Christ is here with us. Its about giving the Pharisees a glimpse of what the church can be and who Christians can be, a people who like to dance, or even - scratch that - love to dance, a people who enjoy getting dressed up - even if it is merely jeans and a t-shirt, a people who like live music accompanied by a cold beer, a congregation that even at the tap-house, or the ski hill, or the Elks, or someone’s home, wherever folks are gathered after 7pm, enjoy giving friends and acquaintances hugs and catching up in ease of evening conversation. What if this was how Christians were known?

What if we were known for loving all? What if we were known for accepting all? What if we were known for sticking up for the outcast? What if we were known for our propensity for celebration because we had the assurance that Christ was with us, because we had the assurance that Christ loves us? What if we let go of our piety enough that there was no place we could not go, no thing we could not do in moderation, no one with whom we could not sit? What if then when we walked in to a bar people said, those are the Christians known for their love?