Trinity 1 (Proper 5) Hosea 5: 15 – 6: 6; Romans 4: 13 – 25; Matthew 9: 9 – 13, 18 – 26
‘For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice’. These are words of the prophet Hosea in our first reading which Jesus quoted when his disciples were challenged by the Pharisees as to why Jesus was eating with sinners. He replied using marginally different words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
So think about sacrifice on the one hand and mercy and steadfast love on the other. Do you have a view about which best describes your life or the life of the Church community here? Re you by nature a Church or an individual that veers towards offering sacrifices or one that that is committed to mercy and steadfast love. And what is the difference?
The Israelites in Hosea’s time and the Pharisees criticising Jesus’ behaviour several hundred years later were keen on sacrifice. They frequently gave of the best that they had, an unblemished lamb, a couple of pigeons, the first fruits of their crops, that sort of thing, something special. They gave it back to God whom they had believed had given it to them in the first place. It was a generous act of devotion, a way of keeping the Jewish Law, something that showed they loved God and trusted him and put him first.
Their problem was that it was actually largely a personal, individual act, which neither impinged upon, nor benefitted, the community round them. If I offer my best vegetables that I have grown to God, sacrifice them to him rather than eat them myself, it actually makes little difference to you. They’re not even much use in the food bank collection because they’ll probably have gone off before anyone takes home my misshapen carrots. It might make me feel better but actually if that’s all I do, my sacrifice is a bit of an empty gesture.
The point of sacrificing was intended to do exactly the opposite. It was supposed to be part of a much larger community offering. I bring my carrots and you bring your potatoes and we are united in our love for the God who has blessed us with both of them. The point of the sacrifice was to honour God, support the priesthood who received them and unite the nation, inspiring them to care for each other. It was not intended to separate the pure from the impure, but rather to encourage all to greater unity of belief and lifestyle.
However it was difficult for human beings not to feel holier than thou through their sacrifices and they came to believe that their religious acts justified them and atoned for their sins and that therefore they were clean. Squeaky clean. So clean that they couldn’t risk staining their characters by getting too close to people who were not as clean as they were. Those who work for the false God worshipping Romans like tax collectors. Those who spilled blood like the woman with haemorrhages. Dead bodies, like the little girl who had died. The sacrificial system was not bad, unless you used it to build up boundaries like the Pharisees, or relied on it so much that you ignored your needy neighbour, like the Jews in Hosea’s time.
But you and I are not like that are we? We come to church regularly. We receive bread and wine at the sacrificial meal at communion. We put £25 in the collection plate. We even hope other people will join us, even perhaps that obnoxious man who lives down the street. But perhaps we might be a little surprised if someone came to sit so close to us that they touched us. Especially if they happened to be bleeding. Like the woman with long term haemorrhages? Would you not involuntarily move away a little? Would you find it hard not to flinch? Especially if she smelled a bit? Would you be worried about cross-infection? Would you share The Peace with her? Especially after Covid?
We come to church regularly and we consider ourselves blessed to be Christian but we don’t often invite people to join us. And especially not people who might find it hard to fit in. Like Jesus did to Matthew the hated tax-collector. Of course Matthew is always welcome to walk through the doors. I just hope he feels secure enough and has enough self-belief to do so after being shunned throughout the day by people who are not flocking to pay their taxes.
Do you see any truth in these caricatures when you consider your own daily life or that of the parish church? Are you a Church of sacrifice or of mercy and steadfast love? And how would anyone else know?
‘For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.’ If these two lines, the last in our first reading today from Hosea are dependent on each other it seems natural to connect sacrifices with burnt-offerings. If that’s true then steadfast love must be amplified by considering ‘the knowledge of God’.  …  ‘For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.’ And how do we best discern what ‘the knowledge of God’ means other than by considering his incarnate Son Jesus Christ. How he behaves, what he teaches, who he spends time with?
Showing steadfast love and mercy in today’s passage seems to imply getting very close indeed to the more vulnerable and excluded elements of human life. That’s what Jesus did, in our search for ‘knowledge of God’. Showing steadfast love and mercy seems to imply responding to human touch and offering human invitation. They seem to imply not worrying what other people think of you or how dirty you’re going to get.
Jesus’ steadfast love and mercy include a chance encounter with Matthew the tax-collector. Was it chance? How much of it was pre-ordained by God? There are some questions to which we will never know the answer in this life! As Jesus ‘happened’ to pass Matthew’s little booth, he saw him sitting there. Did he look depressed? Or greedy? Did he appear despised? Why did Jesus choose Matthew? Or did he call everyone and Matthew was just one of the few who responded? Whatever, Matthew presumably saw hope and acceptance in Jesus, and without thinking twice, found himself following and sharing a meal with other lost souls. The Pharisees criticised and grumbled – somehow they did not seem to understand steadfast love and mercy despite all their reliance upon sacrifices but one of their friends, the leader of the local synagogue came in desperately, clearly a broken man, torn with anxiety and pain about his young daughter who had just died. He presumably came because there was no other person to whom he could go. And Jesus had mercy on him too even though he might well have been the sort of person who would have criticised had his need and pain not been so great. And then the healing of the bleeding woman and the touch of the dead little girl. That’s all love; steadfast love. That’s all clearly merciful. Stuff of the Kingdom rather more obviously than a whole multitude of sacrifices.
And I’m left with the challenge. What can I point to in my own life that imitates this steadfast love, this wonderful compassionate mercy that Jesus demonstrates? And I’m left with the disappointing truth that I’m quite good at sacrifice in the sense that the Pharisees live it. I’m quite holy. I go to church a lot and actually I love it and I don’t really want it to be disturbed by disruptive people who might not match up to my idea of how a good Christian should live. I can point to examples of mercy and steadfast love in my life, but I can point to far more examples of exclusive sacrifice. Oh dear! I wonder what Jesus makes of that? Will he be disapproving?
Actually perhaps I’m just the sort of person whom Jesus is calling out of his tax booth! Perhaps his steadfast love and mercy can reach even me in my sinful self-obsession?!
After all is not his death on a cross and resurrection on Easter Day pointing to just that? Jesus died because of his steadfast love for you and for me and for Matthew and for the little girl and her respectable synagogue leading father and for the poor woman with haemorrhages and even for the Pharisees complaining at his inclusive welcome. And when I look at it like that perhaps it’s even easier to share this Good News outside the four sturdy walls of the church building?
When I consider the effect of this seemingly very busy day on Jesus’ life the one thing that seems abundantly clear is that Jesus was effective on the margins of society, with the anguished bereaved father, with the despised tax-collector, with the outcast bleeding woman, with the defenceless little girl. He grappled with all the circumstances surrounding these people and released every single one of them, bringing new starts, healing, hope and acceptance. He also offered the holy Pharisees a way out of their locked in, tight-lipped disapproval but you get the impression they did not seize it with both hands. He wanted them to join in the chaotic dance of life, but they did not want to tango. I pray that I do!
So return to your examination of whether you are a person keen on single-minded sacrifice like the Pharisees, and how much you can pin-point steadfast love and mercy. Return to your examination of how your church fits in the same question. And then over the next few days do two things.
First make a point of receiving Jesus’ offer of steadfast love and mercy in your own fallen life. Receive it anew. Allow his invitation of love to raise your head and believe in your own renewed humanity. And feel the peace and hope and possibly even exuberance that this brings. No one is beyond his reach – not even those tight-lipped disapproving Pharisees. You just have to follow like Matthew did, being prepared to leave behind all those old preconceptions that actually tie you down. Do this for yourself and also for your Church and your involvement within the Christian community.
Second, consider what is important to you. Perhaps, who is important to you? What are your enthusiasms? Who are your responsibilities? Where are your worries? What are your anxieties? What do you think the Church is being called to do? Because Jesus is merciful and steadfastly loving and wants to share all this with you. Is there something that he is calling you to do, or say, or be? Is there some decision he is calling you to make however risky or dangerous it may seem? And are you going to act upon it or remain in your tax-collector’s booth? And if you do it, will there be a little more steadfast love and mercy created in the world?
So don’t just sit there!
Amen.
