Genesis 12: 1-9; Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26
As one can imagine, the institutional food at a college or university is not exactly the most appetizing. You might get the mystery grey meat or the potato slurry that looks like it slid off a containment pond at a chemical plant. But there are a few hacks to overcoming the food fails. When I was in college, I signed up for the “table manners” class where you got a delicious multi-course meal while learning the lost art of high society table manners. In fact, I signed up for it three times, till the teacher got wise to my shenanigans. The good news is that I can now discern between 20 pieces of silverware and figure out what to do with my napkin if ever I’m invited to a state dinner in D.C.
Sometimes finding grace at the table can be a little difficult. You might have the kid that picks his nose or sneezes all over the table, or the uncle who picks his teeth and lays down chunks of food. Or after hours of preparing a delicious pot roast, you discover without warning that part of the family is now vegan. Gathering at the table can be one of the most irritating yet grace-filled things we do. As the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, this, God’s table, is central to our faith, for it is where we see, experience, and understand the grace of Christ for us.
In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus calls Matthew, the tax collector, as his disciple, then later goes over to Matthew’s home for dinner with the other disciples. At the table is Jesus, his disciples, Matthew, and a host of tax collectors and disreputable people. The Pharisees see this and ask why Jesus is eating with such scum. Likely, because of the pettiness and hatefulness of the Pharisees and very religious folks, the so-called “scum” were the only people Matthew had to associate with, except for Jesus, who saw something in Matthew the Pharisees refused to see, calling him to a life of discipleship.
Jesus did not see scum. Jesus saw an opportunity to make disciples. It wasn’t the Pharisees who listened to Jesus and followed. It was the tax collector, the “scum.” Jesus begins a series of direct confrontations from this position of sitting at the table for dinner. At the table, he finds grace for the rejected, and he goes from there to show what grace, and the kingdom of God truly mean.
What Jesus ultimately sought was people whose hearts and minds would be changed. He replied to the Pharisees, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do…I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices. For I have come not to call those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” A friend and minister once said of this scripture, “Be careful you don’t find yourself as the one in the hallway looking in while Jesus is seated at the table.” Though Jesus’s mercy and grace are wide and welcoming, bad behavior and darkened hearts must be changed. Matthew gave up his tax collector ways and followed Jesus. Grace implies the necessity of a changed heart.
Yet all throughout this Gospel lesson, we see Jesus confronting the doubters, naysayers, and critics with the true power of his grace. We learn next that Jesus is begged by a religious leader to come heal his dead daughter. How ironic that the same religious leaders who critiqued Jesus for his dinner companions now want his help when it’s their turn to be in desperate need.
On the way, a woman with an illness touches the fringe of his garment with the faith to be healed. And, indeed, Jesus heals her for her faith made her well. Yet again, we see this back and forth of hatefulness and grace. She had a bleeding condition. That made her unclean, and by inference, we know the religious leaders would have avoided her at all costs. That’s why she snuck up to touch the hem of the robe instead of coming directly to Jesus. She feared being rejected again for being unclean. Jesus, though, offered grace and healing.
When Jesus gets to the religious official’s home, he finds a noisy crowd engaged in a funeral. The scene is chaotic, disrespectful, and undercuts the faith this man had in Jesus to restore life to the dead child. They are all certain of one thing—the girl is dead, and she is not coming back. When Jesus tells them to stop, they turn the chaos into a circus of disrespect and begin laughing at Jesus.
They are disruptive in the middle of the religious leader’s grief. They laugh at the idea of hope. They insult and mock Jesus in their thoughts and behaviors. Jesus is still ready with grace for them, for the family, and for this sleeping child. In seconds, Jesus ends the chaos, silences the crowd, and raises the dead child to life. Chaos and foolishness are instantly turned to faith as they see the power of Jesus to heal and raise the dead to life.
What it comes down to is whether we listen for Jesus’s call to come out from the outskirts and sidelines and sit at the table with Jesus. Abraham is a great example of this. In his seventies, Abraham heard God calling him to leave his home and come to the promised land of Canaan. Listening to God helps us to live in grace. Abraham listened and responded by gathering things up and moving to Canaan at the Lord’s instruction. The disciples listened to Jesus and left behind everything they had. When Jesus called, they followed. Though it’s not said, I fully believe the “scum” at that dinner table also found grace that day. There was a reason Matthew invited them. He knew them. And he knew they needed to be in the presence and grace of Jesus as well.
The grace of Jesus is much like a big dinner party in that we must send invitations. If we do not invite others to know and experience God’s grace, we will soon find our tables empty. We must invite people to experience God’s grace, and to be given grace at the table. And sometimes that means inviting those whom the Pharisees would call scum. A friend of mine was sharing some church gossip with me the other day, oh, I mean a prayer request, not gossip. *Wink and nod. He said the biggest crook and cheat in town came to church that Sunday. (Yes, he’s a lawyer). He was moved, filled with repentance, and dedicated himself to God that very day. My friend said, “Well, I guess he’s our crook, now.” Sometimes it’s hard to set extra places at the table. But that’s exactly what Jesus calls us to do because Jesus did it for us.
Jesus knew the risk of dining with a tax collector and his friends. Yet not only did he do it here with Matthew, he does it a second time with Zacchaeus in another Gospel story. To their credit, the disciples have the faith to trust and follow Jesus’s lead, though I’m sure they’d rather be anywhere else than a tax collector’s house getting ridiculed by religious leaders.
While in college, I decided that to get some edible food, I would take the manners classes three times. I learned what fork matches which dish, napkin placement, the proper form for slurping soup, and other little fancy tidbits. But from Jesus, we can learn what it means to show grace at the table. For those whom the religious leaders labeled “scum,” Jesus saw them as children of God. For the tax collector whom others called a crook and a cheat, Jesus saw a disciple. For an old man settled in his home and his ways, God saw the father of many nations.
Never underestimate the magnificence of what God sees in you and me, and the incredible work of faith God calls us to do. In God’s house and at God’s table, everyone is welcome, and everyone is called. But we are all called to have a change of heart and mind, just like Matthew, just like the “scum” he brought to the table with Jesus. Grace is something that we all need in our lives both for ourselves and for others, just as Jesus is filled with grace. So the question is there for us today, will you come to the table or will you stand in the hallway?
Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1606598380437931/