09.19.2020 Homily

Today we celebrate our patron's feast, St. Matthew. The gospel is a very short description of Matthew being called. Jesus ends up in Matthew's house. He ends up for a meal and He's there with His disciples, and sitting around the table are a whole variety of people, none of whom are the kind of people that your mother would want you to hang out with. Jesus is there with them. He's eating with them. He's sharing that time with them. And the Pharisees see this and it really wrecks their plan as to how life ought to happen. Now why is this man who's a teacher, who's a teacher of Israel, why is He eating with these people?

Doesn't He know that you're known by the company you keep, and does He want to have people think of Him the way they think of these people? And Jesus says, "I haven't come for the righteous. The righteous don't need me. You guys, the Pharisees, you really don't need me because you feel you've got it all worked out. I come for sinners. I come for people who recognize that there is need in their life, that there is the opportunity for them to do something different with their lives." 

You see, Jesus isn't there because those people sitting around the table are worthy. He's not there because they deserve it. He's there because they need it. And he's not just there as an act of kindness, that He's going to show kindness to these people who no one else will talk to. That's not why He's there. He's there to enter into solidarity with them. He's there to enter into an intimate relationship with them. He wants a place in their lives and He wants them to have a place in His life. He's there because He wants to make sure that both He and those people sitting at the table, that they understand how deep this connection is. He's there for solidarity, not for charity.

And that's what He asks of us as we come to Him. That He desires that we enter into His life, that we bring who we are. We don't have to dust it off. We don't have to shine it up. We don't have to do anything. You just come as you are. And we don't have to make any excuses. None of those people who sat at the table with Jesus felt a need to make excuses because everyone knew who they were. We don't have to make excuses. We need to recognize that there is a need inside of us. And we need to recognize that it's nothing that we deserve that we're going to get. It's just that we need it and we need it badly.

Well, today is the 50th anniversary of the dedication of this church. In 1968 on the day after Easter, the old church burned down. And two years later, a little more than that, this church rose in its place. And this church is very, very different from the old church. But then the world is incredibly different from the way the world was at the beginning of the 20th century. And there is a different understanding of what it is to be a member of the church, what it is to be a disciple of Jesus. And part of that understanding is that this discipleship is something that we share in a community. That there's no such thing as a lone ranger. That we're all linked to each other. And if we get to heaven, we're going to get to heaven with each other.

And that all are called into this community. You don't have to prove anything at the main door when you walk in. You don't have to dress up right, and smile right, and look right. You don't have to do any of that. Just come. Come the way you are. We're all sinners. We're all here seeking the mercy of God. And none of us has any reason to try to excuse ourselves. 

And this is the table. This is the dinner table, like in Matthew's house. I suppose that some might feel that I really don't belong at that table. That if my next door neighbor saw that I was in church, he'd be shocked. I don't know how many times people have told me, "Oh, I can't come in that building. You know, it's been so long. The roof would cave in if I walked in there." Well, come on in. The roof is strong. That's what the message of today's feast is. 

As we pray today, as we stand at this table, at this altar. As we enter into this meal with the Lord, let us know that He seeks solidarity with us. He seeks to identify with us. He seeks to walk in our skin, to live in and with us.

And He seeks for us to do the same with Him.