As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13
Relationships are more important than tasks. This is a truth from God that far too often gets forgotten. Have you ever felt like your life was so filled up with tasks that you have no time to build relationships with people? Here’s my question: when that happens, what do you do? If you decide that you have to get your work done, and the relationships will have wait until later, you have made the wrong choice. Relationships do not stay where they are until we have the time to pay attention to them. If ignored, relationships deteriorate. Many times I have had to be reminded of this fact, and always my realization that it is true comes with at least some pain and grief.
How does the scripture apply to my point? Well, God’s people had gotten very good at showing up and being energetic in their worship. They were focused on the task of worship, and they did that task well. However, showing up for worship and offering the correct sacrifices in the correct way was not resulting in lives full of mercy and love. The same thing can happen to us. We come to worship God faithfully. Every Sunday morning, we are there. The problem is that outside of worship, our lives look nothing like the loving and caring character of Jesus. And because of this, God looks at our worship and finds that it has no value any longer. God desires mercy more than sacrifice. The worship task has no worth of it does not strengthen our relationships with God and other people.
So, God is asking us, “What kind of people do we want to be?” The first step is to recognize that we are all, to borrow the word the Pharisees used, scum. That is, we are all broken and we all need God to forgive and to heal us. The superior attitude of the Pharisees was exactly their problem. It is sometimes our problem. But when we realize this, and in our hearts realize that God loves us and sent Jesus to save us anyway, then we can offer mercy to people from our hearts. Receiving the love of God, and realizing it, is the power that enables us to love and serve one another. Has Jesus called you? Only if you know that you are a sinner. Loved and forgiven people sharing love and forgiveness with others. This is Jesus’ mission for us.
In Christ, Michael
