Text: Matthew 9:9-13 – St Matthew’s Day
Theme: “Go and learn”
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Introduction: Common sayings that sound biblical. Are they?
- “Money is the root of all evil”
- The Bible doesn’t say you need the church to be a Christian
- ‘God helps those who help themselves.’
- “You have to accept Jesus as Saviour so that we will come into your heart”
- ‘When God closes a door, He opens a window.’
- ‘Christianity is not about doctrine, it’s about love.’
- ‘If you have enough faith, you will be healed.’
How many of them are Bible verses? How many of them are 100% backed up by the Bible?
Well, this is not a test to rank you from best to worst Christian. If you are in faith, you are in Christ, you are a Christian.
This is a reminder that if you don’t read and study your Bible, your faith is at risk. However, not only that, but if you don’t study your Bible from the right perspective – the center is Christ and His work, and not just a manual for good behavior and prospering in life – that’s dangerous to your faith too.
For the Pharisees also studied the Bible, but they got many things wrong, which led them to ultimately reject the center of the Bible – Jesus. In that case, you don’t only depart from faith, you become that little arrogant teacher like a Pharisee or scribe who thought they had all the right measures to include and exclude people from God’s acceptance.
Speaking of the Pharisees, did you notice Jesus telling them to go back to school in the Gospel today? “Go and learn…” This is not just, “read more.” Jesus is telling them that something they are so proud of, their academic upbringing, is flawed. They need to go back and learn again. Can you imagine how offensive that was for them?
The same offense we take when we are in the midst of one of those moments. We have been repeating something we are certain is true, but then we are pointed back to the Bible and it teaches something different.
Hint: We usually don’t like to be wrong, right? Not really. I listened to this author saying something interesting. What we don’t like is the feeling of realizing we are wrong. Because we are wrong all the time about something. So let that feeling go, and then “go and learn.” It is never too late to learn more about God’s word.
Today the Church celebrates St. Matthew’s day. Yes, the author of the first Gospel. The one being called by Jesus in the Gospel. Let’s use this text as a standard to understand why Jesus had to tell the Pharisees, go back to school. “Go and learn.”
FOR THE PHARISEES – What They Missed:
- Jesus calls Matthew
Jesus calls people not based on their worth, but on HIS worth.
- Matthew was a tax collector – collaborator with Rome, extortioner of his own people
- Jesus didn’t wait for Matthew to clean up his act first
- The call comes from Jesus’s grace, not our goodness
- Levi rises and follows
Discipleship is rising and following. No matter what.
- Immediate response – they left everything
- If there’s something culture around you is doing and Jesus says, “No. Stay away from that, follow me” – This is what you do
- Following Jesus means leaving some things behind
- Reclined at the table with sinners
Jesus is God present in daily life.
- Not only in the temple, not only in special hours of meditation – Daily life
- Again, Jesus makes people worthy of His presence, not their worthiness or sanctity
- He dignifies the excluded by His presence
- “Eating with sinners?”
Parallel with Holy Communion
- The meal becomes sacred by Jesus’s presence
- Anticipation of the heavenly banquet
- Jesus as host, welcoming all to His table
- “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”
Faith in Jesus starts in the heart. You can’t fake it with external works.
- Hosea 6:6 – God desires relationship over ritual
- On the other hand, if faith is alive and active, it will show in acts of mercy
- Heart transformation leads to life transformation
What is true for the Pharisees, for those “sinners” and for us continues to be true: Jesus is worthy, and He makes us worthy. His death and resurrection opened to us the way to everlasting life, which is applied to us through faith.
Every time you question if you’re worthy, every time you doubt that God’s grace would cover your life, every moment in which the devil makes you doubt that Jesus looks to you, of all people on earth – remember: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick… I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” He came to call you and make you worthy of His kingdom, applying to you His merits and His grace.
Now, this may sound like cheap grace, or excuse for bad behaviour. It is not.
“Calling sinners” – Jesus calls all. It is not for us to set up categories of people who are more or less worthy of being reached with the Gospel. What we have to bear in mind:
- We don’t exclude anyone. Jesus calls all
- Jesus calls people as they are. Come as you are
- Next step? “Mercy, not sacrifice.” A heart change. Come as you are, leave transformed into who He wants you to be. If no transformation happens, you go out as you are, and that is not good. Good works follow faith.
- If you are a Christian, you are saved; no works can add to your salvation
- But if you are a Christian and your life does not show this faith, you need to hear again, “go and learn.” Christian faith is followed by Christian life. By Christian life we mean: Living out our faith, acknowledging we are imperfect, seeking God’s forgiveness, living out our faith. Repeat.
FOR US – Setting the Record Straight
This is why we want to correct those opening truisms. Because we want to go and learn. And because we want to practice them:
“Money is the root of all evil.”
- Correction: The Bible says it’s the love of money, not money itself.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
“The Bible doesn’t say you need the church to be a Christian.”
- Correction: Faith is personal, but it is never private. Christ gathers us into His body.
“Do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another.” (Hebrews 10:25)
“God helps those who help themselves.”
- Correction: God helps the helpless. Salvation is by His mercy, not our effort. And even when we think about our daily life actions, that is still God’s act through us.
“While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)
“When God closes a door, He opens a window.”
- Correction: That can happen many times, but not all the time. The Bible doesn’t promise this. Sometimes closed doors teach us patience, trust and discernment. God closes and opens doors according to His will, and we are called to trust Him, even when no “window” is in sight.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5–6)
“You have to accept Jesus as Savior so that He will come into your heart.”
- Correction: We can’t accept Jesus before He accepts us. Faith is God’s action and gift first, through which we are able to trust in Jesus.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you.” (John 15:16) (See also Ephesians 2:8–9).
“Christianity is not about doctrine, it’s about love.”
- Correction: Love and truth belong together. Right teaching shapes right love.
“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16)
“If you have enough faith, you will be healed.”
- Correction: Faith is trust in Jesus in all situations, not a magic key. St Paul was a man of faith, and he wrote:
- “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this… But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” (2 Corinthians 12:8–9)
Conclusion – “Go and learn.” For the Pharisees, I can be tempted to think that it was just a sarcastic reminder that their knowledge was incomplete and their hearts incomplete. But Jesus had the same intention as He has for us: it is a loving and merciful invitation to dive deep into the Word of God, and daily be blessed by it. It is a call to follow Him daily. Rise and follow. Go and learn. Go and show mercy as you have been merciful toward. Set tables and be with sinners. Love them.
Many Pharisees did not follow that counsel. We have the opportunity to do so today. And every day.
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Setting the record straight
“Cleanliness is next to godliness”
Lutheran Answer: This isn’t biblical at all. Godliness comes from faith in Christ, not external cleanliness. Jesus touched lepers and ate with unwashed hands, scandalizing the clean Pharisees.
“Follow your heart”
Lutheran Answer: The heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). Instead, follow Christ who transforms your heart. Faith comes by hearing God’s Word, not trusting our feelings. Scripture: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).
“God won’t give you more than you can handle”
Lutheran Answer: Many things in life are more than we can handle. That’s why we need God. The actual verse says God won’t let you be tempted beyond what you can bear and will provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). But suffering? We’re called to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).
“This too shall pass”
Lutheran Answer: While comforting, this may minimize both suffering and joy. Some things don’t pass – the effects of sin, death, broken relationships. Only in Christ do we have hope that suffering will ultimately end in the resurrection.
Q&A SECTION
Q: “Are you saying we shouldn’t try to live good lives?” A: Not at all. Good works flow from faith – but they’re the fruit, not the root. We do good works because we’re saved, not to get saved. A transformed heart produces a transformed life. But our acceptance before God is based on Christ’s righteousness alone.
Q: “How do we balance ‘come as you are’ with church discipline?” A: “Come as you are” is the invitation. Church discipline is the loving response when someone refuses transformation or openly contradicts the Gospel. We discipline to restore, not condemn – always aiming to bring people back to Christ’s mercy.
Q: “So I don’t need to clean up my life first before coming to church?” A: Correct, and that’s because you can’t, really. Jesus is the One who cleans up your heart and your life. Jesus called tax collectors, prostitutes, and Pharisees alike. None of us is clean enough to approach God on our own merits.
Q: “What does ‘transformation’ actually look like? How will I know it’s happening?” A: Transformation looks like living a life in which God’s Word and Love is manifested. This leads us to changes in your priorities, attitudes, and actions – but it’s gradual and sometimes comes with ups and downs. We grow in desire to know God through His Word, in our love for others, and in our awareness of our need for grace.
Q: “This sounds like you’re just making excuses for bad behavior.” A: Grace isn’t an excuse for sin – it’s the power to overcome sin. If someone uses grace as a license to sin, they haven’t understood grace. True grace transforms hearts, which then transform lives. Where there’s no change, there’s been no real encounter with Christ’s grace.
Q: “What about repentance? Don’t people need to turn from sin?” A: Absolutely! Repentance is turning from sin to Christ – but even our repentance is God’s work in us. The Law shows us our sin, the Gospel gives us Christ’s forgiveness. Daily repentance is part of the Christian life – we drown the old Adam and rise with Christ each day.
Q: “Are you saying all religions/beliefs are wrong except Christianity?” A: Christianity isn’t just another religion – it’s the announcement that God has done what all religions try to do: bridge the gap between God and humanity. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Only Christ offers complete forgiveness and reconciliation with God. So yes, the only way that connects real people to the Real God is faith in Jesus.
Q: “How is this different from cheap grace?” A: Cheap grace says “sin doesn’t matter.” True grace says “sin matters so much that Christ died for it.” Cheap grace ignores transformation. True grace demands it – not as a condition for acceptance, but as the natural result of being accepted. Grace is free, but it’s not cheap – it cost God everything.
