Sermon for the Feast of St. Matthew
“Follow me”
Today’s epistle appointed for The Feast of St. Matthew reminds us that “we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake”. The focus is entirely on Christ. The call of Matthew is altogether about the resurrection of Christ in us and about our being with Christ; in short, the commemoration of St. Matthew illumines the very nature of salvation for us. We are called to follow him who comes to us and who is raised up for us.
It begins with Jesus passing by, the Jesus who is always passing by. “As Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man called Matthew”. It all seems so casual, so accidental, so incidental but, to the contrary, Jesus’ passing by is not casual; it is essential. That is to say, it belongs to the very principle of God who is life itself, who is always active, and never static, and whose activity is always purposeful and therefore, always requires a response. We are always in his sight.
His passing by is not without consequence. Something happens. He glances upon us. “Salvation begins by our being seen by Jesus, by his turning toward us his compassionate eyes”. Here Jesus “saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom”, at the tax collector’s bench. Everything unfolds from that glance of Jesus.