Meditation for October 9, 2007

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

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.'"

 

What Will Be the Fruits of Your Transformation?

 

The Christian life is not primarily about doing the right things - i.e., being righteous - although following Christ normally ushers in a certain kind of moral and ethical life. The Christian life is primarily about transformation. Specifically, it is about being transformed so that we become more loving and more compassionate. We all are in need of healing, because we all need to learn how to become more loving.

 

So it is that Christ said, in effect, "I'm supposed to be hanging out with these folks! They need Me, and they are obviously aware that they need Me, or they wouldn't be hanging out with Me all the time. Those of you who are so self-righteous, on the other hand, are not aware of your need for Me. You think you are righteous because you follow certain laws, but in truth, you are just as much in need of Me as these tax collectors and sinners. Your very self-righteousness makes you sinners, too. But you just don't realize it, because of your self-deception." 

 

"I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."  Whenever I read this, I wonder who the righteous are. Don't you? We are ALL in need of Christ.  We are all in the "sinners" category. I am deeply thankful that Jesus invites me - a sinner - to sit down to a meal with Him. I am deeply thankful that He offers me a path to transformation, a way, a new life - what Paul refers to as "new life in Christ".  It is a path of transformation that involves dying to old, destructive ways, and being born to new, loving ways.

 

Jesus calls us to be transformed.  How will your transformation benefit the kingdom of God?

 

Someone who had previously been "skimming off the top" became one of  Jesus' inner circle, and his name is now affixed the the first Gospel in the New Testament.

 

Someone who had grown up in privilege and self-absorption encountered the risen Christ and became St. Francis.  Another one with a similar story we know as St. Augustine.

 

Another person overcame personal defeat and depression and kept our country together in its most desperate time. That was Abraham Lincoln.

 

Another brilliant young man thought he was called to a life in academia. But his transformation led to him accepting a call to be a pastor, and his prophetic voice, faithfulness, and courage took him far away from the "ivory tower", as he became the most central figure in the Civil Rights Movement.  That was The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

A tiny woman from Albania who heard the call of God to serve the poor started her own religious order, and relieved the suffering of the "poorest of the poor" in India, giving them dignity in death. We know her as Mother Teresa.

 

What will be the fruits of your transformation? When God helps you overcome your fear, your wounds, your anger, your shyness, your depression, your judgmentalism, your apathy, your self-absorption, your lack of concern for the earth or for future generations, your consumerism - whatever your affliction is - how will your ongoing transformation benefit the kingdom of God?  I am not sure how it will, but it will - in the same way that your earlier transformations have done so. God transforms our lives for the sake of His kingdom.  Thanks be to God!  And thank you for your openness to that ongoing transformation.