Devotional 4-15-11

It seems appropriate to me that for a devotional that is going to be published on April 15, we take a look at Matthew, the tax collector. Tradition says that he wrote the first Gospel. We know that he lived in the region of Galilee. The people who lived there were not important in the eyes of the world, farmers and fishermen, regular folks. Unfortunately, the position that Matthew held in society was one of the most despised ones in all of Israel. He was a tax collector, also called a publican. Tax collectors were hated by all of Jewish society, even more than the Romans who occupied Israel at that time.

Publicans bought tax franchises from the Roman emperor and then extorted money from the people of Israel, money that was added to the Roman treasury and also padded the publican’s own pockets. Tax collectors were considered lowlifes and were treated as such. For a Jewish man like Matthew to be a tax collector was even worse. He was a traitor to the nation, a social outcast. He was also a religious outcast. He could not go in any synagogue. He was forbidden to worship and sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem. In terms of religion, he was worse than a Gentile.

But God had other plans for this man. Matthew 9:9 says “as Jesus passed on from Capernaum, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me.’” So Matthew got up and followed him without thinking. He put his old life aside and followed Jesus. He did not lie about his past. He did not try to hide anything. He did not make any excuse for what he did or what he was doing. He just agreed to follow Jesus.

Even though he lived on the fringes of respectable society, I think he must have known the Scripture well, because in his Gospel, he quotes from it time after time, the Law, the Psalms, the Prophets, every section of the Hebrew Scriptures. Since he couldn’t hear the word in any place of worship, he must have studied it on his own. I have no idea what went through Matthew’s mind when he decided to become a tax collector in the first place, something that he must have known was wrong for a pious Jew. Whatever prompted that choice, he believed in God and through his study of the Scriptures was waiting for the Messiah. He must have heard about Jesus long before me ever met him. He learned about the miracles, the healings, the teaching. So when Jesus asked him to follow Him, Matthew had enough faith to drop everything and follow. Then he invited all of his friends (tax collectors and other sinners) to meet Jesus. Of course the Pharisees found fault with that.

I think this is a great story for Lent because these are supposed to be forty days of discipline and examination. I wonder sometimes if these stories have not lost their edge over the centuries as the Christian church has become more and more a part of mainstream society. Many of us would be Pharisees who criticize Jesus for being with the sinners and outcasts of society. Today that means the homeless, the child abusers, the drug addicts, the people that I often think I’ m better than. But if Lent is a time when we examine ourselves honestly, we have to admit our own sinfulness, our own poor choices.

At my church in Fairmont I have been doing a preaching series called “Fearless, the Courage to Question” for Lent this year. It’s about not being afraid to take anything to God. Anything, the things we’re proud of, the things we’re ashamed of. Anything. I am trying to honestly look at my life right now. What relationships are important to me and which ones aren’t anymore? If they are important, what lengths am I willing to go to maintain them? I am also looking at the lifestyle choices I’ve made. Am I treating my body well? Am I on Facebook and the Internet too much? Spiritually, I am discerning if God is leading me on the same path that I’ve been on for years, or should I go in a new direction? And, oh my, what if I did make those changes? What would people say?! I don’t know what goes through your mind this year, but I am convinced that there is nothing we cannot take to God.

Matthew took himself with all of his flaws and offered them to Jesus for His use. Jesus used him. He can use our brokenness, our completeness, our joys and our sorrows for his service. Lent is a time to remember that in spite of our sinfulness, God still uses us, just as he used that tax collector Matthew.

Rev. Dorcas Linger Conrad
Highland Ave. UMC
Fairmont, WV