"Christ called Matthew and set him apart for His good use" St. Matthew 2025

22. December 2025
Advent 4
John 1:19-28

[Jesus] said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Matthew 9:12–13)

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord. It is good to sing His praises, to speak of His steadfast love when the day begins and of His faithfulness when the day ends. Today, we give thanks for the love and faithfulness shown to St. Matthew. He was a tax collector, a man hated by his own people, despised even by his own people, and afflicted in his conscience. And yet Christ called him and set him apart for His good use. That is why we give thanks—because if Christ called Matthew, prophets, saints, and martyrs, then He calls us too.

Matthew was not searching for a Savior. He was not fasting or praying when Jesus walked by. He was sitting at his booth, collecting money, lining his pockets, enriching himself at the expense of his neighbors. Perhaps he was already being prepared by John’s preaching at the Jordan. But now Christ saw him. Christ spoke to him. And everything changed.

The call was not complicated. It was simple: “Follow me.” No explanation, no conditions, no delay. And Matthew rose and followed. That is how Christ works. He does not wait for the righteous to come to Him. He comes to the unrighteous. He does not gather the clean, but the dirty. He does not call the healthy, but the sick. He calls sinners. And when He calls, His Word creates what it commands.

The Pharisees could not understand it. They sneered when they saw Him at Matthew’s table, eating with tax collectors and sinners. They were scandalized that His Holiness would draw so near to the unholy. But they had it backward. Christ’s holiness is not fragile. But sin crumbles and dissolves under Christ’s righteous forgiveness. Christ does not become unclean by touching us. We are made clean because He touches us.

Think of the prophet. Ezekiel was instructed to eat the scroll before speaking. He tasted words of judgment, words of sorrow, words of lament, and yet they were sweet because they were God’s Word. First, he received, then he spoke. That is what happened with Matthew. He received the Word when Christ called him. He followed the Word made flesh. And later, he gave that Word to others. He set it down in writing so that we, too, could hear it, taste it, confess it, and live by it. Matthew’s Gospel is nothing other than Ezekiel’s scroll set down in ink, a testimony that God still speaks, still judges, and above all still shows mercy.

Paul reminds us that when Christ rose and ascended, He gave us gifts, the Holy Mysteries and the office of Steward of the Mysteries. Each of us receives grace according to His measure—some He made apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors–teachers. The point of it all is that the body might be built up, that we might no longer be children tossed around by every wind of doctrine, but mature in Christ, strong in faith, speaking the truth in love.

St. Matthew was such a gift, not because of his talent, but because Christ made him a gift to us. Christ called him, forgave him, and sent him. Matthew’s life and Matthew’s book are a gift that still serve us today. Through him, Christ speaks to us and calls us. Through him, Christ continues to build His body.

Matthew’s story is not unique. It is ours. We may not sit at tax booths, but we are bound to idols and serve them. We are greedy, stubborn, and self-serving. We betray one another for gain. We cling to what does not last. We have been Pharisees at heart, judging others, despising those Christ has chosen to sit beside.

And yet Christ still comes. He sees us in our sin, revealing what is hidden. He speaks to us in our darkness, illuminating us. He calls us to rise and follow. His voice cuts through our excuses, our defenses, our shame. And His call does what it says—it pulls us from death into life.

Ezekiel had to eat before he spoke. Matthew had to follow before he wrote. And so it is with us. We hear before we confess. We receive before we give. We follow before we speak. The Word is laid on our lips. It wounds us and heals us. It reveals our sin, and then it reveals Christ. It strips us down, then it clothes us in mercy. And once it has had its way with us, we are sent to others. Some will listen. Others will refuse. But whether they listen or not, the Word remains God’s, and it does not return empty.

The Pharisees could not bear the company Jesus kept. They believed holiness meant being separate. They thought righteousness was preserved by avoiding contamination. But they missed the point. Righteousness is not a fence to keep sinners out. Righteousness is Christ, and Christ came precisely to dwell among sinners. His righteousness makes us holy!

That is the scandal of His mercy: it looks weak, it looks foolish, it looks wrong. A physician surrounded by the sick, a shepherd surrounded by strays, a Savior surrounded by the lost. But that is who He is. He desires mercy, not sacrifice. He wants hearts broken open, not hands busy with performance. He wants sinners, because He came to save sinners.

And so we sing with a Psalm: it is good to give thanks to the Lord. His works make us glad. His thoughts are deep. His work is Christ Jesus, crucified and risen for Matthew, for us, for all. His thoughts are mercy, mercy for the tax collector, mercy for the traitor, mercy for the sinner, mercy for us.

The Lord told Ezekiel to go, to speak His words, whether people listened or not. That remains the pattern. We hear the Word. We taste its sweetness. Then we carry it. We take it into our homes, our workplaces, our neighborhoods. We carry it to the stubborn, to the resistant, to the hostile. We carry it to those who are sick and know it, and to those who are sick and deny it. We carry it because it is not ours. It is Christ’s. And His Word still calls us. His Word still forgives us. His Word still says: “Follow me.”

The feast of St. Matthew is not about Matthew’s greatness. It is about Christ’s mercy. Matthew was a sinner, called by grace. We are sinners, called by grace. Matthew rose from his booth to follow. We rise from our sin to follow. Matthew wrote the Gospel. We live, move, and breathe by the Gospel. Matthew ate with Jesus. We eat with Jesus, feasting on His holy body and blood, making us holy and together, His holy people.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord. It is good to declare His steadfast love when the day begins and His faithfulness when the day ends. Because that steadfast love never ends. It called Matthew. It calls us. And it will keep calling until the day we follow Christ home.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin