Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Hosea 5:15-6:6
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 

This is a story I heard first from one of my mentors- Timothy Lull, professor of ethics at Philadelphia Seminary, later dean and then President of Pacific Lutheran Seminary before his untimely death a few years ago... It came from his hometown in south central Ohio...

It seems around the turn of the century there was a notorious house of prostitution just outside of town, run by an equally notorious madam. But one day something happened to this woman: she believed she had been touched by God and called out of her business, and so she put the house on the market and told the young women working there that they should either leave the business or find another place to work. She also decided that she could best grow in her new faith by going to church-and in that town the biggest church was a Lutheran congregation. It was the only church she knew about, and so she decided that was where she would go.

Sunday morning arrived, she put on her best clothes (think about that for just a second-how flashy and over the top she must have been), and went to worship. She was delighted to find out that she knew many of the people there-many of the men, and she greeted them warmly by name... She sat through what she thought was a wonderful sermon about Jesus and his love, and was feeling really good about her decision-her conversion...

But on the way out of church, she was met by the pastor and a group of women who ripped her for her inappropriate dress, and suggested that church was no place for a woman of her character, and that she should leave and not come back. Heartbroken, in tears and then later furious, she returned to her home, took it off the market and was open for business as usual Sunday night...

We are in Week 2 of our sermon series, "You've Got a Story to Tell," and our focus this morning is a reminder that "God speaks through you..." And I thought of the story of the Ohio church as soon as I read our Gospel reading, telling us about Jesus calling the tax collector Matthew and the Pharisees complaining about Jesus hanging out with "tax collectors and sinners..."

I find the story heartbreaking! What missed possibilities: that woman had an incredible story to tell and could have made a huge difference in the lives of others by sharing how she could be accepted and forgiven...(except that she wasn't accepted and forgiven by the church) but was driven out before she really had the opportunity to learn, grow and reflect on what had happened to her...  And the church might have all kinds of stories, but who would tell them, knowing that any imperfection and sinfulness was going to be met with the self-righteous judgment the madam had received. So each Sunday, the people gathered and pretended that they lived perfect-or nearly perfect lives...while they heard stories about Jesus, his love and his grace that they, apparently, didn't really need or believe, and then couldn't share. God may well have wanted to speak through them, but couldn't and didn't, because of their behavior. The only voices were those of perfection and judgment.

This is, unfortunately, the story of many churches-places of perfection, where you can't really share your struggles.

I remember years ago, at another church in another place, a couple in the front row every Sunday, holding hands, smiling, and touching each other affectionately, all while they were going through the nastiest divorce you could imagine. Then, when the divorce was final, they both disappeared and we never saw either of them again... They were both called- and each said they "didn't feel comfortable..." Church was for the perfect...not for them...

How can we tell our stories about faith-how can God use us to share what it means to be loved by Jesus if we can't be honest about who we are, or how we struggle???

Let's have a look at this issue in two ways- as individuals and as a congregation- and with Jesus' words and actions as our guide.

Jesus calls a tax collector as a disciple. Remember, the tax collectors were traitors- working for the occupying Romans. And they made the bulk of their money by extortion. Anything above what they had to collect was theirs to keep. They were roundly despised and deservedly so. And yet Jesus invites Matthew into his inner circle.

Naturally enough, Matthew introduces Jesus to his friends, and they share fellowship. Just as naturally, given Matthew's social status, his friends are "tax collectors and sinners..." And the good religious people of the day, the Pharisees object... sound familiar?

Then Jesus unloads on them- but in a curious way: "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..."

SO, he says, I have absolutely come to be with the tax collectors and sinners- they're the obvious- but have a look at your life- are you really righteous? Are you really sin free? Because I'm right here for you, too! There's an invitation to all of us- to each of us there...

One of the reasons we try and pretend that we're righteous- we're perfect- is that we're afraid we'll be rejected by others and by God! But in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus-the one who came to call sinners, you and I are accepted by God regardless of what we have done or not done! That's pretty good to start off with because most of us spend our entire lives trying to be accepted by others. We want to be acceptable to our parents, to our peers, to our enemies, to people we envy, by total strangers. People do all kinds of crazy things just to feel accepted by somebody.

Remember as a kid when you were dared to do something. It was stupid but you went ahead and did it anyway. Why?  Do you remember the kid who was "triple dog dared" to lick the frozen flag pole in "A Christmas Story?" And did it? Why? He wanted to fit in with the crowd. He wanted to be accepted. So did we...

Let me give you another example: Some of you grew up with an "unpleasable" parent. No matter what you did, it was never good enough. If you got C's, they wanted B's. If you got B's on your report card, they wanted A's. If you got A's, they wanted straight A's. If you got straight A's they wanted you to take extra curricular activities and add that in too. No matter what you did, either they were unwilling or unable or something, they just did not give you the approval and the acceptance that you craved.

Some of you today are still trying to earn your parent's acceptance. They may be dead. They may live in another state. But in the back of your mind you're hearing, "You're never going to amount to anything." And you're thinking, "I'm going to prove them wrong. I'm going to prove it to them." You're still reacting toward your parents, rather than responding to God. And your image of God has been skewed by your parents. When you think "God," you're thinking of them...

Let me be brutally frank with you. If you did not get your parent's approval or acceptance as a child, in all likelihood you're never going to get it. It's their problem, not yours. In all likelihood, they're probably never going to say, "I accept you unconditionally."

Let me say something else even more important: You don't need it. You don't need their approval to be happy in life. There are nearly six billion people in this world. Is it ok that two people don't like you? There are plenty of other people who will accept you and love you and not judge you and not hold a standard that there's no way you're going to live up to. If God accepts you, then they've got a problem. It's not yours.

Psalm 27:10 "Even if my mother and father forsake me, the Lord will receive me." God says, "I accept you." If God accepts me and you don't, that's your problem, not mine.

Some of you have got it in your mind, "If I could just be perfect, then everybody would love me. Then everybody would accept me." So we try and pretend that we are! I'm sorry to tell you this, but that won't work either. Even if you were perfect, people are going to reject you. The Bible says Jesus lived the perfect life, yet He was despised and rejected. He was rejected by His own people. The problem is not perfection, the problem was with them.

With the Grace of God, this issue is settled! Romans 15:7 "Christ has accepted you." Notice there is no condition. It doesn't say, "Christ will accept you if you go to church every week." It doesn't say, "Christ will accept you if you promise to be perfect... if you keep the Ten Commandments." No, it's unconditional because it's based on God's grace- on Jesus' love, not your performance.

In Christ, God has accepted you! Have you ever realized that? The Bible says God has chosen you. "You have been chosen by God" because of what Jesus has done for you on the cross, not because you deserve it but because of God's grace for you. In Christ, God has declared you acceptable- God has promised to love you forever!

We don't need to pretend we're perfect, we don't have to hide the fact that we struggle (and we all do), that's what being human is! But the call is not to be perfect. It is to be authentic, open and honest, in a community of people who all know that we are accepted by God-loved and forgiven by God... We don't have to impress God and we don't have to impress each other! That's when we can begin to share our stories- and our stories ring true- that's when God can use our stories in the lives of the people we meet.

It was such a good thing that Denny Driggers and Chris Thompson could be open about their recovery from addiction to alcohol, and share it with our congregation- because who can help someone who needs recovery better than someone who has gone (and is going through) it? Or when Arianne shared her doubts and struggles with her faith because of her illness- because who can help someone struggling better than one who has struggled with the same thing...

Who can best help someone who has been sexually abused than someone who was abused himself or herself... Who can better support the parent of a child struggling with mental illness than parents who have been working on the issue for years? The very thing that you may be hiding may be the story that God wants to use to help heal someone else- and in the process, help you continue in your own healing. If you have such a story, please share it with me- or one of the other pastors, the healing process can begin and a ministry can take shape... When we're authentic with each other, when we show people here the love and acceptance we have received from Christ, when we have given up any pretenses of perfection and live as the forgiven sinners that Jesus has called, it is then that God can most effectively use us to share our stories with the world...

For it is then that we give up telling people what we think they should do, and instead show them the same love and acceptance that Jesus showed and shows you and me every minute of every hour of every day... It is then that lives are changed...

I remember hearing a story about Arley Bjella-a long time member of this congregation who died several years ago. He had to fire an employee who, in his words, had "confused the company's money with his own..." And when the man became a recluse, battling depression, it was Arley who called him on a Saturday afternoon (from Phoenix), and told him he wanted to come and see him on Monday morning, and that he should go to his church on Sunday...

Arley flew back to Minneapolis for the meeting. And sitting in the man's kitchen, he asked him if he had gone to church and taken communion. He nodded, "yes." Arley said, "Good. So did I. Now we're just two forgiven sinners and we're going to talk about your future..." Do you see God's healing power flowing through Arley? Do you see his story being lived out in a way that was transforming both for him and for the people around him?

This is not a perfect community- far from it (in fact, if you're looking for the perfect church, don't join it, because if you find it, the second you join, it won't be perfect anymore...) We have all kinds of issues- issues that every person has- but we are learning that in Christ Jesus we are not called to perfection, we are called to forgiveness, to acceptance, and love.

There are as many stories here as there are people in this community of faith- stories that God wants to use to change lives- to bring healing to lives- ours and the people around us.

My challenge to you this week is for you to prepare your faith story. Where have you struggled? Where have you been challenged? How has God's forgiveness- God's Grace made a difference in your life? And how might that story be shared with someone who desperately needs a word of grace and peace in their lives- so they can know the same Jesus who knows and loves you and me. Will you pray with me, please:

Loving God, we give you thanks for the grace, the unconditional love we have received in the life, death and resurrection of your Son, our Savior Jesus. We give you thanks that He came to seek out and save the lost. Help us to rid ourselves of the notion that your Church is for perfect people. Help us to accept and love one another, faults and all. And help us to share your love and acceptance with our world the way Jesus did: with compassion and healing. I ask this in Jesus' Name, Amen!