Disciples: Shaped by Jesus Story

Genesis 12:1-3, Matt 9:9-13, 18-26

Throughout our series, The Stories That Shape Us, we’ve reflected on my story, your story, and God’s story. Today listening to the stories of the Scriptures we continue to discern how those stories intersect with our stories.

The Gospel reading included the story of the calling of Matthew, a tax collector.
Tax collectors, like Matthew, would have been collecting taxes on behalf of the Roman Empire and so were not viewed in a positive light by the community around them.

So, we have this person who would have been possibly excluded, and kept on the margins of society, who is then invited into inner circle of Jesus’ followers. Matthew, a counter of money, who was possibly thought of as not being worthy of being counted himself, is now counted in. With all these things about counting, I was reminded a story about someone else who could count, and I’m going to read that story. It’s called Counting on Frank.

You might be wondering why I’ve read this story. How does Counting on Frank relate to Matthew, or to the Scriptures at all? As a congregation, we value discernment: prayerfully seeking God’s will and purpose in our lives. Part of that is learning to recognise God’s presence not only in Scripture, but also in the stories around us, even in a children’s story like Counting on Frank.

Here are a couple of things about this story that might be spiritual lessons for us. The first is fairly obvious: Frank has a particular ability to understand numbers in a way that most people don’t. This is a reminder that people have different capacities for different things. For Frank it’s maths, but it could be language, music, sport, cooking, or just about anything else. For some reason, these abilities become part of who we are, part of our human make-up.

As Christians, we often speak of those abilities as gifts. Frank’s gift happens to be with numbers, but the deeper lesson is that God gives each of us gifts of different kinds. They may come through the way our minds are formed, through the work of the Holy Spirit, or through the shaping influence of our environment. However they come to us, these skills and abilities can be received with gratitude and recognised as gifts from God.

Another lesson in Counting on Frank is how gifts are recognised and used. It’s not enough to say someone is gifted; we are also called to help those gifts flourish. As Frank’s father says, “If you’ve got a brain, then use it.” The lesson is twofold: to use the gifts we have been given, and to affirm and celebrate the gifts of others.

These lessons from Counting on Frank take us back to Matthew, who is counted in by Jesus’ choosing of him. Further, the idea of being chosen links to the Old Testament reading, where God promises Abram that he will become a great nation, that greatness was not for the sake of domination. Scripture goes on to say, “all families of the earth shall be blessed.” If Israel, or the Church, is to be great, then its greatness is measured by whether others are blessed through it. That remains a challenging idea in the news we see hear about out contemporary world.

The promise that all families of the earth shall be blessed is echoed by Jesus’ behaviour in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus sits with tax collectors and sinners. He includes those that others would exclude. He does not diminish or cast people aside; he welcomes those at the edge of community and restores them to belonging.

We also see Jesus’ concern for people’s healing and flourishing. In the stories of the bleeding woman and the little girl restored to life, Jesus shows that salvation is about the whole person. His concern is not only for what comes after this life, but also for healing and well-being here and now. That, too, shapes how we are called to live.

In the story of Jesus’ life there are those who are critical of Jesus’ ministry. They focus on the importance of ritual purity and of sacrifice. For Jesus though, the processes of the rituals of the synagogue and religion need to be understood in context. Jesus’ view is that compassion, mercy, healing, love, and inclusion are primary, not secondary to these rituals. Thus, the rituals should give rise to such values.

This morning, we’re going to participate in a ritual - sharing in communion. This ritual is meant to help us think about and live out our faith and our values, but it also does more than that.

In communion we begin with the story Jesus gave us at the Last Supper. As the liturgy unfolds, we remember God’s acts in history and join our voices with the worship of heaven.

We say these words from the book of Isaiah.

“Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.”

We join words that are sung by the heavenly host before God’s throne in Isaiah’s vision and are drawn into sharing thin that worship. We also join with all other people who share in the Lord’s Supper.

Then we say this:

“Blessed is [he] or the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.”

These words from Psalm 118 were sung as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the temple. They were shouted on Palm Sunday as Jesus entered Jerusalem, and for the Church they announce Christ’s presence coming among us in bread and wine.

We will pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon us and the bread and wine, trusting that God is present in the bread and wine. Our tradition often speaks of these elements as symbols, yet in communion they become, in a mysterious way, means by which Christ is truly present to us. At this table we open ourselves to the Spirit of God moving among us. We believe that communion transforms us because Christ meets us here.

At this table we are drawn more deeply into the story of Jesus—his life, death, resurrection, and ascension—and shaped to follow his way of love, mercy, and compassion. This bread and wine, sometimes called the medicine of immortality, strengthen us to love God and neighbour, including the outcast, the sinner, and those in need of healing and hope. As we live this way, the Church becomes a sign and foretaste of God’s coming kingdom, where all the families of the earth are blessed. Everyone counts.

This is the great story that we are part of and that we seek to live out as we continue Growing as Lifelong Disciples of Christ. Amen.