Morning Devotion for Eastertide
June 3, 2022
The Invitatory
Alleluia. The Lord is risen indeed: Come Let us adore him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reading: Matthew 9:9-13
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 him.
And as he sat 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 he 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.’
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
Recall when you were invited to join a certain organization that you particularly admired. It is a heady experience to feel that the people whom you wish to emulate see in you similar qualities that you admire in them. Or you have been asked to join a group whose goals seem a bit of a stretch, you believe, for what you have to offer. Again, it is thrilling that someone perceives possibilities in you that you have not recognized in yourself.
Jesus calls Matthew to follow him, and then Jesus goes with Matthew when he accepts hospitality in Matthew’s house. There he shares a table with his typical crowd, tax collectors and sinners. This is all we need to know. The Pharisees perceive “tax collectors and sinners” as his natural companions, and Jesus himself compares them not to those who are well but to those who are sick. Is the implication that this condition may be subject to or capable of being changed? It does suggest the future possibilities for life for those gathered.
While the passage makes note of those gathered as tax collectors and sinners, other than Jesus’ comparison, that’s all we know about them. It cannot have been uncomfortable for Jesus to eat with them for he readily joins them, with no further comment. His opponents scorn the company Jesus keeps, yet Jesus makes much of these tax collectors. When Jesus tells his disciples to love their enemies, he notes “even the tax collectors love those who love them.” Confronted by hostile temple authorities, Jesus puts them in their place: his priority is to call sinners, not the righteous.
It is striking that Jesus’ companionship with sinners appears to be just that, companionship and not treatment. Jesus has many harsh words to say, but he directs none of them to sinners. His earliest message is a call to repent, and he denounces the cities he has visited for failing to repent. He pronounces woe against the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus not once reproves sinners. He does not criticize them. He does not demand their repentance. He simply eats and drinks with them. This presents for us an intriguing question: what might be accomplished in companionship or fellowship, in which space is provided to be just as we are, without judgment attaching, and finding an openness to discover and to be encouraged by what might be, what growth or insight might be realized. Joyce Meyer once said, “I may not be where I want to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be.”
The companionship that Jesus shares offers hope for others. There is a great deal to be said for someone holding up another image of a person and encouraging that person to inhabit it. There is value to anticipation, that having something to look forward to, to improve one’s self-esteem, that increases motivation, optimism, and patience. It gives one an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to be seen whole and valued. Jesus points to the gift of engaging with human beings where they live and how they are in that moment with the hope for and confidence in them for more.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
