June 5, 2005
Proper 5, Year A
St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church

The Rev. Linda McCloud, Pastor

             Today is the day I have anticipated for months on end.  After all those years of discernment committees, evaluations and seminary, I finally get to stand before you as your pastor.  What an enormous privilege!  It’s worth a trip from anywhere.  My family and friends have quizzed me over the years – why would I insist on going through the process to become a priest? 

I could say that I have a deep desire to invite others into the joy I find in worshiping God within the framework of the Episcopal Church, and that would be very true.

            But in the final analysis, I would simply have to say – it’s because I love Jesus.  I think Jesus is irresistible.

            Christianity is a rather odd religion by the standards of other world religions.  Really – Christianity is basically a love affair with Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ followers just organized a religion around Jesus so we could all worship together and share our stories of how we know Jesus. 

The fact that all the different denominations of Christianity don’t always understand each other just underscores our need to communicate with each other and to get along better.

            What was it about the earthly Jesus that commanded attention?  The people who met Jesus either loved him or were jealous of his popularity and frightened by his power.  What was it about Jesus that when he walked by Matthew’s tax collection booth and said “Follow me” that Matthew got up out of his seat, left his job and followed Jesus?  Matthew didn’t even give a two-week notice.

            There was something very magnetic about Jesus.  I’ve wondered if it was his eyes.  When he looked at those people and said “Follow me” I believe he looked right into their souls and they knew it.  I also believe they had no idea what they were getting into.  But once they were caught up in the love of Jesus, everything else faded into the background and he was all that was important.

            Or maybe it was Jesus voice that was so magnetic.  When he called each one by name, they knew that he knew their innermost thoughts and feelings.  They knew they would never be the same again – once Jesus called their name.  In our Gospel reading for today, we hear that this is what happened to Matthew the Tax Collector.

            There is something within us – who have been created in the image of the creator God – that longs to be reconnected with God.  And Matthew saw Jesus as that reconnection.  That’s because Jesus is the purest representation of God that ever was or ever will be.  Jesus is the way we know God.  Jesus Christ is God – the second person of the Holy and undivided Trinity.  Jesus knew that tax collectors need love, too.  Those who seem loveless and unlovable need God’s love, too.

            Jesus sees something in us that we might not see in ourselves.  Jesus sees the image of God reflecting back at him.  Thomas Merton put it like this – “There is no way to tell people they are walking around shining like the sun.”  Jesus looked at Matthew and saw a family resemblance – something of God’s own self that needed to be reconnected to God.

            I recently met a family whose baby daughter looked just like the dad.  Their friends commented that they did not know the dad was pretty until that little girl was born.  Our knowing God is something like that.  Jesus is the “spitting image” of God. 

            We didn’t know God was so beautiful until we saw Jesus.  We didn’t know God was so merciful and kind, until we met Jesus.  Other people might not know God is so merciful and kind, until they meet us.

            But back to our story about Matthew.  What did it mean for Matthew to follow Jesus?  As a collector of taxes, Matthew was seen as a traitor to his fellow citizens. 

In order to have the job in the first place, Matthew, or his boss, had bought the job.  In the Palestine of Jesus, there was a set amount of taxes levied on each region.  One person could pay the Roman government the entire amount, and then recover his or her investment by collecting taxes from travelers and local citizens. 

Like all other business people, they were in business to make a profit.  So, either Matthew or his boss had paid all the taxes in advance, and now they were setting their own prices and collecting whatever they thought the market could bear.

            For obvious reasons, tax collectors, also called Publicans, were not popular people in Jesus’ day.  They had to bear the slings and arrows of their fellow citizens.  They were not even allowed to be admitted as witnesses in a court of law.  They were outcasts from society and probably would not have gone to synagogue or the Temple.  As a Jewish man, this must have made Matthew heart sick.  So when Matthew rose up out of his seat to follow Jesus, it was as if he had been raised from the dead.

            Matthew considered this to be one of Jesus’ greatest miracles – that Jesus could take a universally despised Publican and make him into an Apostle of the Good News about the love of God.

            Of course it was natural for this miracle to be followed up by a dinner party.  God loves a good celebration.  There is always rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.  And there is usually grumbling on earth that God could forgive and allow such people as this Tax Collector to have another chance to be in God’s good graces.  It’s human nature for us to try to keep other people in their categories, and not let them grow and change beyond that.  It’s so convenient for us.  That’s one way we know where everyone fits into the puzzle of life. 

But the Good News about Jesus Christ is that his love, mercy and forgiveness upsets that status quo. 

            Matthew’s Gospel is generally believed to have been aimed at a first-century Jewish audience, because Matthew wanted everyone to be invited to the party with Jesus.  If Jesus let Matthew into the Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew was sure that Jesus would invite everyone else in.  This is what it meant for Matthew to follow Jesus.

            What does it mean for us of St. Margaret’s as a mission congregation to follow Jesus?  First of all, it means that we are facing only one direction.  We are facing forward.  No looking back.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t appreciate our history, and all it took to get to the present place.  Facing forward doesn’t mean that we don’t remember those who have gone before – those who have given of their time, talents and treasures to bring about this lovely building and grounds – this sacred space.  Those who have kept the doors open, and kept the altar fires burning with a weekly celebration of the Holy Eucharist. 

On the contrary – facing forward means we bring those memories with us into the present and future.

            We need to always be thinking of ways that we can live out our baptismal vows and spread the influence of God’s love in this community.  Ways that we can be a healing presence in this community and uphold the classic Christian doctrines embraced by the Episcopal Church. 

I hope you will help me to think of ways that we can be inclusive.  Ways that we can take a closer look at the life and work of Jesus Christ.  When we gather at this altar for communion, we keep the celebration Jesus commanded us to keep.  Jesus invited everyone to that party. 

            This was hard for me to get used to, but Jesus has absolutely no discriminating taste when it comes to people.  Jesus loves everybody.  When we’re following Jesus, there is just one picky little thing that Jesus asks.  We need to be willing to invite everyone else to the party, or at least be willing to become willing. 

Not everyone is going to follow Jesus, but our job is to invite and let God the Holy Spirit do the rest.

            Facing foward means loving.  It means loving justice, doing mercy, and walking humbly with our God.  It means treating other people the way we would like to be treated.  It means having a heart for the poor and needy.

            But it’s more than doing.  Following Jesus is a way of being in the world.  It’s a way of seeing the world through God’s eyes.  This comes about by continual conversion to Jesus Christ.  All the great saints along the way have pointed to the fact that it’s the person of Jesus on whom they have fixed their affection.

            God has opened wide God’s heart to us and has given us this opportunity to follow Jesus together.  For us as the congregation of St. Margaret’s to follow Jesus, I believe that we need to keep our hearts wide open to Moultrie, Colquitt County, and the World.  I believe that we need to open wide our doors to our neighbors.  Our diocese says that we include all sorts and conditions of people.  That means everyone.  No exceptions.  Can we do it?  I believe that we can.  I believe that St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church has a heart for people.  I believe we can put up a sign that says “The Episcopal Church welcomes you” and mean it.  That’s just one reason why I’m thrilled to be called your pastor. 

            Where will all this lead?  We don’t really know, do we?  That’s all part of the adventure of following Jesus!