Now, why is that significant?
especially coming in the text just after
the dramatic calming
of the storm on Lake Galilee,
the casting out of demons,
and the high drama of forgiving and then healing
the paralytic,
and the real storm
the Pharisees caused after that?

This little story
seems not worthy of note.

Jesus was just walking along,
and saw a man called Matthew,
and said, "follow me"
and he did.

But, have a thought about this:
Matthew is the name of this book.
Is this Matthew the writer?
No one knows;
but, how could this be an insignificant story
since the book is named, Matthew?

And there is this,
The writer copied this story
word for word
from the book of Mark,
but changed the name of the man
from Levi, son of Alphaeus
to Matthew.

That can't be of no consequence or meaning.
The story must count for something,
and it does.

The previous stories in this chapter
show our Lord calming the wind and the waves
for the little band, huddled, terrified, in the boat.

Then, we see his dominion
over evil spirits
which afflict God's creatures,

and, thirdly,
we see the connectedness of Jesus to God
doing what only God can do,
forgive sin and heal the estrangement
of humans from their God.

Now is not an interlude.
It is the main event,

for, Jesus finds an ordinary man,
an outcast, despised of most people,
and says, "Follow me,"
and he does.

Now, in this simple story, we are discovering
just what this Jesus is here to do.

So, lets look at this man, Matthew, for a moment.
Who was he? What was his life like?

We know he was a tax collector.

Imperial Rome appointed
a chief tax collector for each district
and gave him a quota for each year.

The chief tax collector had to pay that amount
to the Roman governor, up front.
The money went to support the Roman legion
which was occupying the land
and for the affairs of the Empire.

The Chief Tax Collector
would then hire a small army of jr. tax collectors
who would show up one day
and drive off half your sheep
or cart off half your crop,
or, in the case of Matthew,
intercept your goods
as you brought them to market.

So, who do you think actually liked tax collectors?

They took from the people to support the enemy.
They handled Roman coins, considered unclean.
And they were universally thought to be corrupt.
No one would even talk to a tax collector.

So, there sat Matthew in his little booth.
Day after day, he suffered the stares
and snide comments of the people.

Night after night
the isolation and loneliness
crept into his very soul.

Even his family
would have held him in utter contempt,
yet, what else could he do?

He had no farm, no trade,
no one would hire him
after having been a tax collector.

Matthew represents that in each of us
that is alone and fearful,
defeated and hopeless.

In a very real sense,
Matthew was a dead man.

So, here comes Jesus, walking along
and sees Matthew, looking like a caged animal
in his custom booth;

and, Jesus, moved with compassion,
looks him in the eye
and says, "Follow me."

This is the man talking
who had stilled the storm,
cast out demons,
and forgiven and healed the paralytic.

This is the man
who had stood up to the self-righteous Pharisees
who had complained so very loudly
about Jesus at every new story.

So, without any further thought,
Matthew jumps up
and follows Jesus.

We next see them at dinner.
Jesus is the host
. Matthew is there,
along with a large group of other, regular folk,
called sinners by the Pharisees,
which means they are not Pharisees.

This is extraordinary,
for an evening meal was a very intimate thing
to the Jews of the day.

One wouldn't eat with people
who were thought to be "impure" or different.

And, off to the side, all along,
we have the Pharisees
as a kind of a "Greek Chorus,"
decrying the failure of Jesus
to obey their rules.

The Pharisees considered themselves
to be the most religious of people,
and yet, their rules
were imprisoning Matthew, and others
in their little cages.
- isolating and oppressing them
so that there seemed to be no hope.

The standards for community, to them,
were rules, obedience, and ritual purity.
The requirement was that they be
just like them.

Jesus, in his choice of Matthew
and the intimacy of the evening meal,
is showing us a very different way,
the way of compassion, acceptance,
connectedness, freedom,
and new possibilities for the Abundant life.

The Pharisees were worried
that Matthew would contaminate them
with his supposed uncleanness.

Jesus simply took him home,
fed him with a Eucharistic Meal,
and contaminated him with love.

Which way, do you suppose,
is likely to free us from our fear and inadequacy?
Which way is likely to offer us
a life separate from what we can earn
or the power we can wield?

Marty Banghart sent me the commencement speech
by the writer Anna Quindlen
to the graduating class at Villanova.

In it she told of a postcard her father had once sent her
saying,
"Even if you win the rat race,
you are still a rat."
Matthew felt like a caged rat,
and which way do you suppose
would give him release?

Which way do you suppose
is more likely to work for you and for me
as we work to build faith community?

Which way to bring the fullness of life
to folks oppressed and downtrodden
and in need of a vision for life
from within the walls of the prison
or the narrowed view
of a child from a drug infested street.

Which way might be more likely
to break through the "Greek Chorus"
of petty issues that would rule our lives?
Which is more likely to solve the bad feelings
between you and another person
who should be important to you?

Which can do what Paul talks about
in today's Epistle,
when he proclaims that God is he
who gives life to the dead,
(even to the dead man, Matthew)
and calls into existence the things that are not?

Which way do we choose?
Which way do we go from here? Now?

"As Jesus was walking along
he saw a man."
Who is that man, do you think?