Track 1: Your Faith Has Made You Well
Genesis 12:1-9
Psalm 33:1-12
Romans 4:13-25
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Jesus was eating with “tax collectors and sinners.” Tax collectors were notorious thieves. They collected taxes for Rome and tacked on their fees which were often exorbitant. Reading from today’s Gospel:
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 1Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Matthew 9:10-13)
The Pharisees classified who were sinners and who were not. In their minds they were not the sinners. Jesus did not come to classify sinners. His mission was the restoration of the human race. For this reason he looked for people who wanted that restoration.
While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:18-22)
Most people generally know that they are sinners, accept for those who live in a fantasy world of their own making. The woman who hemorrhaging knew that she needed help. She was looking for God’s love. She was looking for healing. She was looking for forgiveness. When she saw the love of God in Jesus, she reached out to him. He was unlike anyone she had ever known. Her hope was in his mercy and loving kindness.
Abraham was called by God. He was unsure where God was leading him. Yet, Abraham put his trust in God, regardless of the circumstances. He realized that he was a sinner and that he needed a loving God who would not classify him as a hopeless. He needed to believe that God is a merciful God. He needed to trust God to do what he was not able to do. The Apostle Paul wrote about Abraham:
The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Romans 4:13-17)
What is Paul saying? Human beings are dependent on God. Only God can fix the problem of sin. Only God can do for us what we cannot do. But what is required of us is that we believe God, that we believe in what he is doing. He asks us to trust him and follow very specific directions. If we do, then God is then able to call us a righteous people.
The plan that God put into play was not fully understood by Abraham. It was not understood by the woman who was hemorrhaging. That plan was completed on the cross by the sacrifice of his Son. There the price was paid for sin. But the belief requirement is still very much. part of the plan.
We must believe in God. We must believe that sin is real. We must believe that God loves us, despite our sin. We must believe that he has eradicated our sin through the death of his Son. And we must believe in the power of the resurrection. Only then is sin finally defeated. The Apostle Paul wrote:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart, leading to righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, leading to salvation. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11)
God’s grace is given from his merch and love. What is or response today? Is God good? Does he love us? If we believe otherwise then we have not been confronted by the cross of Jesus. Our cross is believing what God has done and continues to do, in our lives and n=in the world.
Track 2: The Steadfast Love of God
Hosea 5:15-6:6
Psalm 50:7-15
Romans 4:13-25
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
God is a God. Scripture tells us that God is Love. But humankind has a tendency to define love, not as a person, but as an action we take to do the right thing or bless the right person. Our phony love does not take God’s place. This was true of Israel. God spoke through the Prophet Hosea:
Come, let us return to the Lord,
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:1-3)
God loves us. but we push him aside to do our own thing. They we claim that we are sacrificing our time and talents to the Lord. God reminds us through the prophet:
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)
The psalmist reminds us that God does not accuse us of failing to sacrifice to him:
Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
“O Israel, I will bear witness against you;
for I am God, your God.I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices;
your offerings are always before me. (Psalm 50:7-8)
God accuses us for failing to acknowledge and thank him his sacrifices to us. He wants to raise us up that we might live before him. He can only do that if we accept his sacrifices. His offers his love in exchange for our sin. A woman suffering from hemorrhages understood this:
Suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:20-22)
She believed that Jesus was love. She thought that if she could touch his love she might be healed. it was not that she just had faith, but that she had faith in a God of love. She had faith in love.
Do we know that Jesus is love? If so, we should reach out to him in faith. The woman had tried for twelve years to overcome her illness. Even “good” people were not able to heal her. She put her trust and hope in One man that she knew was unlike any other.
Jesus is the Person of promise from God the Father:
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
He is the proof of God’s love. He is the love of God.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Preaching the Lectionary 