Disciples Sin Boldly

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, June 11, 2023
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

    In 1521 after his trial at the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther wrote a letter to his friend Philip Melanchton that famously encouraged him to “be a sinner and sin boldly.” Some enthusiastic Lutherans today wear t-shirts with beer steins that say “sin boldly.”  I don’t think this is exactly what Luther meant, although he did enjoy brewing and drinking beer.  He wasn’t encouraging people to just do whatever they want whenever they want.  Because in the same sentence, he went on to say, “BUT believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.”  Luther understood sin as the great equalizer.  We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.  No matter who we are, no matter what our accomplishments may be or where we come from, we are not perfect people. But what do we DO with the knowledge that we are sinners?  Should we let shame, guilt, and regret keep us down, wallowing in our sin?  Instead, Jesus today calls us into a faithful pattern of confession AND forgiveness, to ultimately trust in God’s steadfast love and mercy that we know through Christ.  As modern-day disciples of Jesus, we sin boldly because we trust even more boldly in the steadfast love and forgiveness of Christ.
    In our gospel for today, the Pharisees complain that Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners.  He calls Matthew, a tax collector, to be his disciple!  Then he heals a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years- - an “unclean” woman who should not be touched.  A prominent person, a leader of the synagogue, has a daughter who is dying, and Jesus dares to touch the dead body, another unclean thing, and the daughter is raised from the dead!  Young, old, rich, poor, women and men, Jesus chooses to associate with all, even if they are quite obviously, publicly, understood to be sinners or unclean people.  We see that over and over, Jesus changes their lives for the better – teaching, healing, even saving them from death.  We all know the adage, “one rotten apple spoils the whole bunch.”  In Matthew’s telling, Jesus brings a reversal – his healing, his forgiveness, his salvation reaches all, making those who were rotten, unclean, sick, dying whole and well again.  One touch from Jesus makes people whole.  Jesus calls us as his followers to sin boldly, so that we might believe and rejoice in his healing, saving touch more boldly!
    The only time I have been really, really sick was in college – it’s the only time I’ve been hospitalized other than when I gave birth.  I still don’t know what was wrong with me, exactly, and I’ll never know.  I had such bad abdominal pain I could not keep any food or fluids down for over 24 hours.  My parents drove three hours at midnight to be with me in the emergency room. It was a frightening experience. I got IV fluids and pain medication, and by the morning, my symptoms were totally gone.  All tests and exams showed everything was normal.  There was never any diagnosis, but something was definitely wrong, until the issue mysteriously resolved.  
When we are physically sick, we know we need help.  We go to the hospital, we go to the doctor, we take pain medication, we try anything we can to get relief.  Imagine all of the things the woman who’s been bleeding for twelve years has tried, with no luck.  Imagine what the parents of the girl who was sick tried with no answers. We have a harder time admitting when our souls are sick and in need of a remedy.  We may not even recognize consciously that anything is wrong.  We’d rather not be labeled a sinner; considered dirty or unclean.  Yet this is why Jesus sits down to eat with tax collectors and sinners and dares to touch those who are in need of healing and resurrection life; he says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”  The Pharisees are too proud to admit their need, their sinfulness, their helplessness.  Our gospel today reminds us all of us are in need of Jesus’ healing touch.  Confession and self-examination as a regular part of our worship as Christians help us be aware of and admit our need for Jesus.  Jesus is the great physician who can heal our sin-sick souls.
We hear in today’s gospel that there was a lot of pressure to appear to be upright, moral, law-abiding citizens in Jesus’ day.  People like the Pharisees sought to separate and distance themselves as “righteous” people apart from the “sinners.”  Certainly, in our world today, we feel the pressure to post good photos on social media with smiling faces, dress nicely and wear the right brands, drive good-looking cars and invite people into our homes only if they look like a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  Jesus says, Luther says, “Sin boldly, and believe and rejoice in Christ more boldly.”  Admit you’re sick – a sinner in need of a savior.  We all have less than perfect days.  Some of us may be struggling more than others to even put on a show of having anything together.  We know our hidden faults.  
Another of my favorite Luther quotes is, “the church is not a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners.”  Luther might as well have been paraphrasing Jesus in our gospel for today.  The church ought to be a place where you can come just as you are – sweatpants and no makeup if you have to!  When someone asks you at coffee hour how you’re doing, you can answer honestly if you’re actually not so good.  The church is a community of people who can be real with one another, where we see one another on the same level as sinners in need of a Savior.  And then, of course, we help people look to Christ boldly, as the source of healing, wholeness, and life.
So as we seek to follow Jesus boldly as sinners in need of a savior, how might this vision of a church that’s a hospital for sinners rather than a museum for saints come to life here at Faith?  On Tuesday and Friday nights, we host Alcoholics Anonymous groups for those struggling with alcoholism.  Is there something else we could do for helping those in recovery and their families?  Our prayer team is in constant prayer for people in need of healing of any kind, and we do take anonymous requests – how can we continue to strengthen our prayer life as a hospital for sinners?  When we say, “All are welcome,” who do we struggle to welcome or extend Christ’s healing touch because they’re just too bad of a sinner in our eyes – LGBT+ folks? People who don’t speak English? Felons? MAGA Trumpers?  People we call “fascists” or “communists?”  Jesus eats with, touches, and heals people we are that uncomfortable with – the modern-day tax collectors and sinners of our day.  As we prepare to bless our graduates in a few moments, we celebrate and rejoice with all of your accomplishments!  We also want you to know we are here for you whenever you need for whatever reason.  Wherever God leads you in the future, we pray that you might be agents of Christ’s healing in whatever capacity you are serving – as scientists and teachers, students, nurses, athletes, engineers and managers.  Help us welcome people into the hospital of the church, and today we send you out to be agents of Christ’s healing.  “Sin boldly, but rejoice and believe in Christ more boldly!”  Thanks be to God.  Amen.