Scripture Reading: Matthew 9:9-13 (NRSVUE)
The Call of Matthew
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Have you ever thought much about how you got to know your closest friends, family, companions?
For most of us, I am guessing, food was involved. How many of us have fond memories of late-night pizza and conversation shared with the people who became our best friends in college? Or a nice Italian dinner with a date who later became a spouse? Or a holiday meal at the home of a parent or grandparent or close friend where family and friends lingered around the table with wine or coffee or ice cream—or all 3?! To quote this book “Bless,” on which this sermon series is based, the authors, Dave and Jon Ferguson, say “…we often fail to recognize the power of eating—specifically the experience of eating with someone. Something special happens when we gather at the table.” (B.L.E.S.S., p. 77)
Jesus certainly understood this to be true. If we read through the Gospels looking for references to eating, we will find dozens of them! In fact, though we may never have noticed it before, a lot of Jesus’ ministry was “centered around meals.” (B.L.E.S.S., p. 79) A few well known examples include:
1. The wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, where Jesus turned water into wine, his first miracle.
2. The feeding of the 5,000 on the hillside where Jesus took one little boy’s lunch and used it to feed the multitude.
3. The Last Supper before his crucifixion.
4. The breakfast on the beach after his resurrection.
These are some well-known examples of Jesus sharing food with people in a way that conveyed God’s love and blessing.
Today’s Scripture reading contains a lesser-known example of Jesus blessing people through eating with them. It’s the calling of the disciple Matthew. Authors Dave and Jon Ferguson point out something about this Scripture that is counter-intuitive. After inviting Matthew to follow him as a disciple, Jesus doesn’t then sign him up for a Bible class or a discipleship webinar—or some other traditional form of education and training. No. Contrary what anyone might expect, the first thing Jesus does after inviting Matthew to be a disciple is to go over to Matthew’s house and join him and his friends for dinner.
Then, as now, one of the main ways of establishing friendships was through eating with people. But, in Jesus’ day, the act of eating with people had a lot more rules around it than we have; how one ate in public—and with whom--was connected with the ways their culture expressed honor and shame.
One thing you most certainly did NOT do in Jesus’ day and age—if you were at all concerned about your reputation as an upstanding religious person--was to eat with “sinners.” And, by the way, the word “sinners” as used in today’s passage was a “catch-all term for anybody who wasn’t religious or who was involved in illicit [practices, such as financial fraud or] prostitution.” (B.L.E.S.S., p. 81) So, flying in the face of social and religious convention, “sinners” were the exact people that Jesus sought out and established friendships with around the dinner table.
By eating with “sinners,” Jesus was in effect declaring that he fully accepted them as part of his social group, despite their behavior that others judged to be unacceptable. To put it even more strongly, eating with “sinners” was Jesus’ way of proclaiming that God’s mercy extends to everyone, without exception. By sharing bread with those whom society excluded and judged, Jesus was broadcasting God’s message that ALL are worthy to receive God’s blessings.
Sadly, the religious establishment—represented in this passage by the Pharisees—had trouble taking in this message, as is sadly true to so many religious people in Jesus’ day and ours. They were so focused on following the rules that they missed the spiritual truth that God desires “mercy, not sacrifice.” This quote found in verse 11 of today’s Scripture is a paraphrase of a verse from the Hebrew Scriptures, Hosea 6:6, where God says through the prophet Hosea, “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” In other words, God’s top priority is for people to reach out in love and blessing to our neighbors. God’s top priority is not—and never was—judging people’s shortcomings and declaring them unworthy.
Following Jesus’ example and eating with our neighbors, friends, and family—regardless of whether or not we share their opinions or agree with everything they say or do-- is one way we can help others feel accepted, loved, and cared for. Even though our culture doesn’t have the same shame and honor connotations as Jesus’ culture did, eating with people is still a powerful way to be a blessing to them.
Just an aside here—I want to point out that the eating spoken of in today’s Scripture passage goes beyond the act of physically providing food for people who are food insecure. Helping people who do not have enough to eat is incredibly important, and it is something we are all called to do, whether by physically providing the food and/or by helping to change the systems that shut people out of being able to adequately provide for themselves. The Missions Team and Social Justice Team at this church help us all to do that in many ways, from working with the Food Pantry to providing sandwiches for the Common Cathedral to raising awareness of the ways racism contributes to whole groups of people not having access to healthy resources. This passage, however, and the “Eat” chapter in the BLESS book focuses primarily on what else is provided around the table in addition to the food.
Building on the last chapter in the book, which was entitled “Listen,” the authors point out that “listening and eating make a great combo.” Further, in our culture when people often eat by themselves—or looking at their phones—actually eating with people and at the same time sharing a meaningful conversation is powerful! The author’s say, “Active listening coupled with a good meal can catapult a casual acquaintance into a growing friendship.”
In this day and age when there is such division in our country—eating together as a way of building relationships with our neighbors is one small thing we can do to help reach across the divides. Now, I’m not talking about inviting a perfect stranger over for a cup of tea—that would be weird, possibly dangerous, and more than a bit creepy. I’m talking about inviting a neighbor over for dessert or a work colleague out for lunch—or a friend from your exercise class out for a donut—I mean a protein shake.
Those are all easy, organic ways to begin to expand our circles of friends and our circles of blessing. The authors of the BLESS book point out that part of what makes eating an easy way of blessing people is that we are not trying to fit something else into our schedule. We already eat 3 meals a day—21 meals a week—anyway. So all we are doing is inviting someone to share one of those meals with us. Piece of cake. Or kale, as the case may be. Either way, when we share meals with each other, it's a blessing.
Spiritual writer Henri Nouwen put it this way. He said, “When we invite friends for a meal, we do much more than offer them food for their bodies. We offer friendship, fellowship, good conversation, intimacy, and closeness. When we say, ‘Help yourself…take some more…don’t be shy…have another glass…’ we offer our guests not only our food and drink but also ourselves. A spiritual bond grows, and we become food and drink for one another.” (Nouwen quoted in B.L.E.S.S., p. 85)
I want to leave you with one final thought and a challenge. The “eat” chapter in the BLESS book asks the question, “What would it look like if you set aside just one or two meals (out of 21) every week to bless people by eating with them? Picture a world where people are sitting together, eating, talking, listening, and connecting to one another. [We] believe that’s a picture God is waiting to see!” (B.L.E.S.S., p. 88)
So, here’s the challenge. I plan to invite one of my neighbors to share some food with me and my husband Paul sometime before the end of July. Someone in the neighborhood we’re just starting to get to know. I wonder if you could do the same? Invite a neighbor or friend or work colleague or someone you’re just starting to get to know to share some food with you. Sometime before the end of July. And when you’ve done it, let me know. And we can celebrate together!