St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist - September 21, 2025

The church celebrates this day, September 21st, St. Matthew,

Apostle and Evangelist.

Today we give thanks to God for what he has done in and through St. Matthew.

Matthew at one time was a tax collector working for the Roman government.

Then Jesus called him to be a disciple. Matthew followed Jesus as a disciple for three years.

Matthew heard Jesus teach and preach. He witnessed the many miracles of Jesus.

He was there. He also saw the death and the resurrected Christ.

Then after Easter, Jesus ordained Matthew to be an apostle along with the other disciples.

According to tradition, Matthew preached first of all in Judea,

and then he traveled to Ethiopia.

And he was also called to write by inspiration the gospel that bears his name.

The gospel of Matthew is the first of the four gospels that were written,

and it is a very important gospel as well.

It is the only gospel that gives us our baptismal formula and of the Trinity.

We learn that we are to go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The gospel of Matthew is a blessing for us in learning about Christ.

According to tradition, Matthew died a martyr's death.

So again, we give thanks to God for all that he has done in and through St. Matthew.

Yet this day is not primarily about Matthew. As a matter of fact,

we know very little of the man himself.

None of his words as a disciple are actually recorded in the four Gospels.

Rather, today is primarily about Jesus, whom Matthew followed and proclaimed in his Gospel.

And Matthew would want us today to talk about Jesus and not himself.

Would that in our humility, people would see Jesus in our words and actions.

Christianity, after all, is about Jesus and our life in Christ.

First of all, Matthew, of Jewish descent, of all things, worked for the Roman government.

Tax collectors were known to overcharge people in order to make a living.

And therefore, this made him, in the eyes of the Pharisees, an outcast,

a public sinner, and a traitor.

By our own human standards, Matthew does not fulfill the qualifications as a disciple.

In our mind, a disciple of Jesus needs to be holy and righteous.

He needs to have a good reputation in the community.

He needs to have a nice big smile and charm people.

But Jesus saw what we and others do not see.

Jesus simply walked up to Matthew at the tax booth and simply said, follow me.

Jesus didn't make any conditions. He didn't say, Matthew, clean up your act

first, and then I will see if you are worthy of being a disciple.

Rather, he just said, follow me.

Will Matthew leave his lucrative business and follow this creature called Jesus

of Nazareth? Yes, he will.

Will Matthew deny the world's definition of success, pick up his cross of suffering, and follow Jesus?

Yes, he will. Will Matthew put aside his desire for worldly wealth and follow Jesus?

Yes, he did. Matthew rose up from the tax booth, gave up his business of being

a tax collector, and followed Jesus.

He turned away with worldly gain and was a faithful disciple for three years.

Money is important and necessary in our life. Students need money to pay for tuition.

We need money to pay the bills, to support our family and the church and missions.

We need to be faithful in our employment, but money must never be our idol God.

Do not make money the most important thing in your life.

Do not place it over and above your faith in the one true God.

Matthew was called to follow Jesus and we also are called to follow Jesus.

Jesus once said, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself,

take of his cross daily and follow me.

And so dearly beloved in the Lord, you are a baptized child of God.

You are redeemed with the blood of Christ.

In Christ, your sins are forgiven because of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross.

Therefore, by God's grace and as a response of our Lord's gospel,

deny the world's definition of success.

Pick up your cross of sovereign, even in the midst of hostility from an unbelieving

world, and follow Christ on his path of righteousness all the way to heaven.

In our callic for today, we prayed, quote, grant that we also may follow you,

leaving behind all covetous desires and love of riches.

So what does it look like to follow Jesus?

It means to listen to

the preaching of our Lord's

word It means to be faithful in receiving the Lord's Supper And attending church

every Sunday It means to be faithful in our various vocations And our various

stations in life In the family or employment or the church or wherever.

It means letting other people know in our words and actions that Christ is my Savior,

and I am thankful for all that he has done for us so that we become then a light

in a dark world for flaming Christ as our Savior.

Matthew hosted a banquet at his house. Who were present? Matthew,

some fellow tax collectors, some friends, and Jesus.

Jesus was not afraid to talk with and eat with the so-called social outcasts of society.

They did not make Jesus unclean. Rather, Jesus made the unclean clean.

He made the unrighteous righteous through faith in him.

The tax collectors and the so-called sinners of the day were changed for the better.

They were sorry for their sin. They believed that Jesus is the promised Savior.

And they believed in his mercy and forgiveness. They turned away from their

sinful lifestyle. And this was a good thing.

And this is something to rejoice in.

Even today, we rejoice when a sinner turns from his evil ways,

turns from the world and believes in God's mercy that's found in Christ Jesus.

I am a sinner, and yet I confess my sins, and I believe in the forgiveness of

sins on account of Christ that he won on the cross.

You are a sinner. You confessed your sins this morning.

You heard the words of forgiveness, and you believe in Christ as your Savior.

The important thing then for us is to recognize our sin, confess it before God,

and believe in his promise of forgiveness.

And then as a forgiven sinner, we seek to do good works, not in order to be

saved, but out of thankfulness for all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus.

We joyful and willingly love the neighbor and show mercy toward others.

But the Pharisees took offense at Jesus' presence among the tax collectors and sinners.

They thought that because Jesus was eating with these kind of people,

that it made him a sinner.

And it proved in their eyes that Jesus must not be the promised Savior.

They thought that one earned God's favor by doing good. They also thought that

only the just and the right are acceptable in God's kingdom.

They thought that one had to follow God's rules perfectly before being accepted by God.

And we kind of think the same way.

There's a little Pharisee in each and every one of us. We like to compare ourselves

to others, thinking that we are better than them.

We like to make ourselves, we think that Christianity is merely following the

rules and living a perfect life apart from any gospel.

The truth of the matter is that we are all sinful by nature in what we think, say, and do.

When we are physically sick, we need a doctor.

The doctor will diagnose the problem and prescribe the cure.

Now, we often hesitate to go to the doctor because we fear the diagnosis.

We notice a lump, for example, and we hope that it will just simply disappear.

God's law works in a similar way.

It diagnoses that our real problem is sin.

And we don't like to be told that we are sinful by nature.

But the law is like a mirror. It reveals our idolatry, our greed,

our covetousness, adultery, self-centeredness, and the list goes on and on.

Jesus said to the Pharisees, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

The Pharisees believed that they earned God's favor through their good deeds.

They considered themselves righteous and in no need of Jesus or God's mercy.

Therefore, they in their mind had no need for the cross or the forgiveness of sins.

We are sick with sin.

We need Jesus, and he is our great physician.

He's come to cleanse us, to heal us, and to forgive us.

And woe to us if we ever fail to recognize our sin, because that's one step

away from denying our need for the gospel.

Jesus said to the Pharisees go learn and and

what this means and he quotes the book of Hosea I desire

mercy and not sacrifice for I've

come not to call the righteous but sinners

in other words Jesus is saying I don't

know I do not merely want only sacrifice

but more importantly i desire

mercy does god desire a

sacrifice in the temple yeah yes he does but when

it's done apart from any kind of faith that's not good the old testament sacrificial

system was meant to remove sin and it also pointed forward to the coming savior

who will be the lamb of god who would give himself as the one and perfect sacrifice.

But the Pharisees reduced sacrifices to an empty ritual, apart from any kind of repentance or faith.

They believed that the act of sacrifice itself made them right with God.

And while they felt justified in condemning the so-called sinners,

who did not keep their rules, the Pharisees offered sacrifices,

but they showed no mercy to the neighbor.

Don't make Sunday morning an empty ritual. Rather, may the Holy Spirit work

repentance and faith in your heart.

Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice. His sacrifice upon the cross was the one and

only sacrifice and he was perfect.

In every way. He has done no wrong.

But upon him was my sin, your sin, and the sin of the whole world.

Jesus was the Lamb of God bearing the world's sin on his shoulders.

And it's because of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross that God is merciful to you and me.

God is merciful not because we try hard and do good, But God is merciful toward

you and me on account of his son and what he's done upon the cross.

And because of Jesus, he died upon the cross. There is for you forgiveness and mercy from God.

Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners.

And this was a good thing, as he converted them from unbelief to faith.

Today, he eats with sinners, giving us his body and blood for the forgiveness of all our sins.

Today, he has table fellowship with those who trust that in this bread and wine,

there is truly Christ's body and blood.

This meal, the early church called the medicine of immortality.

Here, the great physician gives us medicine which we poor sinners need.

And as a response, we offer to him our sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise.

God works repentance and faith in the heart.

Then from that heart flows love for the neighbor, the spouse,

the friend, and the co-worker.

Since God first loved us, then we freely love one another. Since God in Christ

first forgives our sin, then we are freely willing to forgive one another.

Since God had mercy upon us in Christ Jesus, we have mercy upon the one who is in need.

So St. Matthew was a gift to the church.

Pastors today are gifts for the church from God. God bless St.

Matthew in his office as an

apostle And as the one through inspiration Wrote

the gospel that bears his name May God

bless you In your various vocations and stations in life May God give you grace

and strength To remain faithful As you follow Christ On his path of righteousness

All the way to heaven Amen man.