Jesus knows that life is messy.

Sunday, June 7Proper 5, Year A, RCL, Track 1

Romans 4:13-25Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

The Pharisees we read about are not priests. They are highly educated lay people who interpret the Torah and sometimes set precedents for the priestly class. The Pharisees were popular leaders of the Jewish people, yet they were often in conflict with the priests and Sadducees. The Pharisees knew every detail of the Hebrew Bible. (The Law being the first five books.) They knew what you did was either acceptable or a sin based on these Laws. If they had had computers, they would have created huge spreadsheets calculating the risk of being put on the naughty list, in one column, and the remedy to be removed from the list in another (though in reality, you never want to be on the naughty list. That would be shameful.). Righteousness was based on how well you followed the law, and the people who could best follow the laws were socially acceptable.

The Pharisees thought they had life figured out by following the “correct” interpretation of the law, the Bible. They “knew” the good eggs from the bad. And unless you are willing to bend to their interpretation and follow their strict rules, you are suspect and likely scorned. The Pharisees may not be the elite, but they were definitely elitist.

Jesus doesn’t work in these terms. Jesus knows that life is messy, and not every situation can be marked as good or bad. This is one reason Jesus intentionally healed people on the Sabbath. He wanted to exemplify that mercy is more important than the Law. He also told those, who are without sin, to cast the first stone at the adulterous woman; knowing that these righteous people knew that they had a certain amount of sin on the spreadsheet of life.

Paul was once a Pharisee, and it was through Christ that he realized strict adherence to the Law isn’t the solution to having a life with God. He says, if all we have to do is look at the spreadsheet, then where does faith come in? What happens if the right thing to do causes some level of harm, or if by breaking the law you can save a life?

I don’t think that God ever intended the Jewish Law to be so calculated in which a person would have the ability to watch another human suffer just because they feared breaking the law would make them ritually unclean or viewed as a lesser person for doing so. Paul finds freedom in not being tied to the law. By loosening the rules, more people can be helped and treated fairly, with mercy rather than punishment. Both Paul and Jesus knew that if a person could strongly adhere to the Law, that person had to have a certain amount of privilege to do so. True faith is more important than the Law, Paul says, putting your trust in the Lord and helping God’s people is more important than following every jot and title of the Law. And as such, we find Jesus sparing with the Pharisees once again.

Today’s Gospel opens with Jesus walking along and seeing Matthew sitting at a tax booth. Matthew, a tax collector, is one of the most detested people in the community. Jesus says to him, “Follow me,” and he does. They soon find their way to a house where the disciples and many other “tax collectors and sinners” were eating. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked the disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus, overhearing this question, said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, [it is] those who are sick [who are in need]. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Jesus essentially asks, who are those people in need of mercy: a simple kindness, a gentle conversation, a small bit of shelter or food. We know what the Pharisees thought of these men. They thought these tax collectors and sinners made them uncomfortable. They should be shunned, left alone at all costs. Just being near them could put a mark in the wrong column of the spreadsheet. They clearly thought that no decent person would invite them into their house, and you definitely should not eat with them, for this will defile you, make you unclean. But Jesus won’t have it. Jesus won’t let people hide behind the Bible, as a way to be comfortable in life. Jesus knows that life is dirty, gritty, uncomfortable, and that if we are doing the work he calls us to, we are likely going to get a bit dirty in the process.

This is the power differential that Jesus came to break. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests, had day in and day out to pray and to be close to God. And having this opportunity is wonderful. Yet if we are not in and amongst the needy in our community, then we are likely to lose sight of their struggles and only view our neighbors as pests.

Some people have similar sentiments to our elected leaders. They see these leaders living a lifestyle where all their needs are met. Their retirement accounts are flush. And their health care is provided. Some people see a disconnect in which they have lost touch with the common person who struggles to make ends meet each week. We have people in our church who struggle financially. We have people outside these doors who struggle. We have people on the other side of the Globe who struggle more than we could ever imagine. And if we refuse to help one of the least of these that crosses our path, with the smallest of kindnesses, then what would Jesus say to us? Would he say that we are not the ones in need and so we should seek out those who are? Would he tell us that he desires mercy, not sacrifice? Or that he “has come to call, not the righteous, but sinners.” Only you, in listening to Christ in your heart, and through your relationship with Christ, can answer him.

We can take heart in Jesus’ words today. For those of us who are sinners, we can remember that Jesus came for us. Jesus came to us not to make an animal sacrifice, or the burning of incense, or to say just the right words. He came for us with mercy, forgiveness, and to assure us that life is OK even if we are suffering, struggling, or hurting.

As our story continues, a priest, a leader of the synagogue, came pleading with Jesus about his daughter who had just died. I’d imagine any of us who have lost someone close know just what this man is feeling. And I’d imagine that we pleaded with Jesus as well. And as Jesus turned to leave, another outcast, an unclean woman whom the world should try to ignore, just barely touched the fringe of his cloak. Jesus, sensing her faith, turned to her and said, “Your faith has made you well.”

This is a statement of our faith and our life. This woman suffered for 12 years. She was unable to go to the synagogue. She would not be allowed to touch another man, including her husband. She would not be able to go to the Mikvah, for this was only for women who had stopped menstruating. The Mikvah was an important place for women. It was a large part of their social connection with other women in their community. So, this woman has spent 12 years not only hemorrhaging but also in isolation.

Yet, on this very day, she gained enough courage to go out in a crowded place, amongst the people, to intentionally touch a rabbi’s robe. If she, in her unclean state, was caught doing this, the punishment would be to be stoned to death, right then and there. But through her faith, she touched the fringe on Jesus’ cloak and was made whole again. Her life was restored to her.

Our encounters with others- an encouraging smile; the shake of a hand; a touch from another human being- may be all it takes to restore someone’s humanity. To let them know that they are not alone, isolated from the world. That there are people who care for them, not because of what they have or don’t have, but because they are a human being made in the likeness of our creator.

So, I ask, is the likeness of God that of a glamorous movie star or of a poor carpenter who became an itinerant preacher? A person who didn’t have a place to rest his head each night. A person who didn’t bathe regularly. I think the image we get is of our God looking more like an outcast, rejected by society, than like a well-dressed, well-educated person living in a nice home. For a few chapters later in this Gospel, Jesus will say, “Truly I tell you, just as you [gave food, drink, or clothing; welcomed or cared for] one of the least of these, you did it to me.^[i]

[i] Mat 25:34-40