Sunday Worship
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.00 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home,
Our first hymn this morning is "New Every Morning is the Love"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 9:9–13 The Calling of Matthew
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.”
Reflection
This week we celebrate Saint Matthew the Evangelist, so called because he wrote the Gospel according to Matthew.
As I initially thought about Matthew I realised that I didn’t know an awful lot about him.
Matthew obviously had a prominent role to play in writing his version of the Gospel but apart from that there is very little written about him. The other Gospels of Mark, Luke and John only briefly mention him and in two of the Gospels he is referred to as Levi. In the book of Acts Matthew is mentioned in passing as one of the disciples. In fact there are only seven mentions of Matthew in the entire bible and four of these are the parallel accounts of Jesus calling him in the other versions of the Gospel.
But his calling is of great significance. One of the few facts we know is that Matthew was a tax collector. As I’ve mentioned many times before, tax collectors for the Romans Empire were reviled and despised by everyone. They were considered to be the epitome of the concept of sin; they were traitors to the rest of the Jews, as well as crooks and swindlers.
What is also of note is the how Matthew responds to Jesus’ call to follow Him…. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. [Matt. 9:9]
What I find astounding is the fact that Matthew seems to drop everything and follow. He doesn’t know who Jesus is and has never met Him before. And yet without hesitation or a second thought, Matthew simply gets up and leaves everything behind including a booth full of money.
In an instant, Matthew’s life would be changed radically and in just one verse of the Bible we witness this massive transformation.
I wonder what was going through Matthew’s mind. Perhaps deep down he was unhappy with his life. Maybe deep down he was ashamed and disgusted with what he had become and even despised himself for cheating and taking advantage of his fellow Jews. Did he regret getting rich at the cost of exploiting the poor?
I like to believe that he immediately recognised that Jesus had the power to transform him and make him worthy. He was able to see that Jesus could remove the hollowness of who he was as he chose to walk a path of obedience as a disciple.
We simply don’t know Matthew’s motivation for making this life changing decision – but I am confident that the Holy Spirit has the power to transform each of us - to change our lives for the better and to change who we are deep down.
When we spend more time in prayer and follow Jesus, he will enrich our lives and we will be blessed by God.
When we read about the calling of St. Matthew we are experiencing one of Jesus’ most powerful examples of the forgiveness of God. Matthew was so full of sin but Jesus showed him love and knew his willingness to change. He accepted Matthew for who he was and who he was capable of becoming.
We too are capable of great good and leading good lives. God loves us and sees the potential in every one of us, and because He loves us so much, He wants us to be the best we can be. God wants us to repent of our sins and follow Jesus.
In his own words Matthew is telling us that we can also respond to the call of Jesus, by being obedient to God and merciful to one another. By showing mercy to each other, we can put our sins behind us and play our part in building God’s kingdom right here in our own community.
When we set out to follow Jesus we need to do so without doubt or reservation, because Jesus is telling us that He comes to save us, He invites us to follow Him, because He welcomes sinners and wants us to be restored. Paul
