The Call of St. Matthew: Inclusion & Hospitality

Matthew 9:9-13

It’s good to be back with you all.  This summer I had the gift of taking a three month sabbatical.  I am so grateful to you all for that blessing and I look forward to sharing about a month long roadtrip I took in today’s adult forum.  At the men’s breakfast yesterday morning, someone asked me what’s one thing from that trip I’d never forget.  I thought for a moment and shared the story of one day in Jackson, Mississippi.  I was at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and it happened to be the 100^th birthday of Medgar Evers, the Civil Rights leader from Mississippi who was assassinated in 1963.  In honor of his 100^th birthday there was free entry into the museum that day.  And when the museum closed at 5:00pm I noticed some platters of fruit and cheese & crackers in the lobby.  I hovered around the food and asked if it was for the museum guests.  The woman who had carried the food told me it was for an NAACP event.  I stood there, trying to figure out if that meant I could have any or not, and she welcomed me to take some.  A young man next to me welcomed me too.  We talked for a few minutes and he told me he was the president of his college’s NAACP chapter and explained that the organization was having a celebration for Medgar’s 100^th birthday.  He invited me into this large conference hall set up with tables and a stage.  There must have been 200 or 300 people there and I was one of the only white faces in the room.  I sat down with my new friend Terry and he introduced me to some people, including one older gentleman who has been very involved in the 1960s and had known all the big names like Medgar and MLK, and had been a leader in SNCC and was one of the Freedom Riders.  After some introductions we enjoyed a catered dinner.  When the official event began, we heard from speakers and a couple different gospel choirs and ended with a gift given to Medgar Evers’ daughter and of course birthday cake.  It was such a privilege to be a part of the event, and I felt like it must have been the hand of God arranging such a coincidence that I would be there on that exact day at that exact time and meet just the right person who would invite me in.  

After I shared that story with the men’s breakfast yesterday, I realized that I’d found my sermon illustration for St. Matthew Day because that experience exemplifies two themes of discipleship found in Matthew’s call story: inclusion and hospitality.

Since today is St. Matthew’s Feast Day we just read the passage of Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector to be his disciple.  As you’ve probably heard before, tax collectors were considered traitors to their people because they demanded payment from their neighbors in order to pay the Roman Empire, and they were notorious for charging more than they should and exploiting the people.  By the time Jesus calls Matthew, his ministry is well underway.  By this point, Jesus had already called most of the disciples, preached the Sermon on the Mount, performed many healings and miracles, and attracted great crowds.  Jesus has already made a name for himself, and now he calls this tax collector to follow him. 

The fact that Jesus’ ministry was already in full swing suggests that the calling of Matthew may in itself be part of his teaching.  Up till now, Jesus had mostly preached and healed the poor.  But with the calling of Matthew he’s drawing a bigger circle, showing his followers that even this tax collector is part of Jesus’ movement.  Jesus shows that his ministry includes people from all walks of life: the poor and the rich, the oppressed and the oppressor, those who are fiercely loyal to God and country and those who are considered sinners and traitors.  Jesus’ followers includes a group of average joe fishermen, a number of women, a bunch of poor people, and now this tax collector.  This diverse, inclusive bunch of people are all part of Jesus’ movement.   

The inclusion of Matthew challenges what would have been the prevailing of right and wrong in Jesus’ society.  And in a world that’s so divided today, it’s essential for us to understand the oneness we have in Christ. 

The second theme that strikes me is something Matthew teaches us.  We know, of course, that he left his tax booth and followed Jesus.  He left behind the old life of exploitation and siding with the wealthy, oppressive Roman regime and became a force for good instead.  Tradition has it that Matthew wrote the first Gospel, and that he was a powerful evangelist who died as a martyr in Ethiopia killed by the sword.  Matthew would travel and write and preach and die for Jesus.  But before all that, Matthew did something so simple we might even miss it.  His first act of evangelism isn’t to preach or teach or write a book or do something bold and courageous.  His first act of evangelism is that he invites Jesus over for dinner and invites his tax collector friends too. 

On that day Matthew probably wouldn’t have been able to explain what it was about Jesus that made such an impression on him.  He probably wouldn’t have been able to put into words Jesus’ message about God’s love and grace, or articulate Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God.  But he knew there was something special about this rabbi from Nazareth and he wanted his friends to meet him too.  And so Matthew the tax collector turned evangelist, got his start by simply hosting a dinner, by showing hospitality and creating a occasion for his tax collector friends to meet Jesus too.

It is these two things—the inclusion Jesus teaches and the hospitality Matthew shows—that I see so reflected in this congregation of St. Matthew Lutheran Church.  Like our namesake, we seek to follow Jesus by being an inclusive community and sharing our hospitality with others.  Whether it’s how we encourage children to be a part of worship or how we create times for food and fellowship like coffee hour every Sunday or so many events throughout the year—we’re a community that understands how God has included and welcomed us, and we want to share that inclusion and welcome with others.

Like the inclusion and welcome I felt at that Mississippi museum, so too have I felt that inclusion and welcome in this community, and I hope everyone who comes through our doors feels it too.  On this Feast Day of St. Matthew, I am especially reminded how much of a blessing it is to be St. Matthew together.  To share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world and to embody God’s inclusion and hospitality for each other and to our neighbors outside these walls.  I’m so grateful to be a part of this community, and to be the Body of Christ together.  Thank you for the ministry we do together, and thanks be to God for the gift it is to be St. Matthew together.  Amen. 

Pastor Brian | September 21, 2025 | St. Matthew's Feast Day