7 June 2026 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 12.1-9 Psalm 33.1-12 Romans 4.13-25 Matthew 9.9-13; 9.18-26
Our Gospel today has three healing stories. We do not often look at the call of Matthew as a healing, but he was an ‘outsider’ in his community. Tax collectors were not associated with, for starters, they worked ‘for the Romans’, and secondly they were perceived to add some ‘cream’ on to your tax liability and keep that bit for themselves. So they were not considered ‘one of us’ when you were looking to gather your community for any event. The Pharisees question Jesus’ association with the tax collectors because all they see is ‘sinner’. And Jesus’ comment – I desire mercy not sacrifice – was a direct dig at their ‘pernicketyness’ in ‘rule keeping’. They focused on ‘rules’ and ‘sacrifice’ and ‘law’, but Jesus is telling them God doesn’t care about those things, God cares about how we treat each other, about how well we care for one another.
When the leader of the Synagogue comes to Jesus, he makes a surprising statement of faith – my daughter is dead, come lay your hands on her and she will live. Matthew tells this story differently to Mark and Luke, Jairus is not reporting a ‘sick’ daughter but a ‘dead’ daughter, but he knows the power of Jesus and trusts in that power to restore his daughter to life. The woman who follows behind has a similar strong sense of faith – if only I can ‘touch his cloak’ I will be healed. She doesn’t even need to ask, or speak to Jesus, just touching his cloak will be enough. Wow. If only I could have that degree of faith when I need God to help me.
In all three of these stories, Jesus restores them to their communities, he ‘heals’ them physically and socially. The woman was ostracised by her community because of her haemorrhages, Matthew was ostracised by his community because of what he did, even before the girl died, she would have been marginalised by her community because she was unwell. Now all three of them have been restored to their communities, their ‘place’ in society has been restored and ‘healed’.
This week we start thinking about Commitment. As you will see from your pew sheet, Commitment Sunday is June 21, so we have 2 weeks in which we can reflect on what our commitment to God, to the parish, to our community, will be. And our theme this year is ‘joy of giving’, which is one part of our parish ‘mission statement’.
When Jesus calls Matthew to follow him, he doesn’t have to give it a second thought. He immediately gets up, walks away from his table, leaves his income potential and everything else, and follows Jesus. And we are not told that he ever regretted that decision, he does not appear to have ‘missed’ what he has now walked away from.
Now I am not going to say that we should all be prepared to ‘walk away’ from our current incomes, but I am asking us all to consider - do I truly give ‘wholly of myself’, or just ‘what I have left over’. We all have essential expenses; we all have things that require us to spend or buy that we cannot do without. But, apart from that, do I really offer God my generosity, or my meagreness.
Stewardship is a 365 day a year activity. It is a lifestyle that says ‘I will use all my resources, as I am able, to provide for God, the community, the church. And that does not mean that I have to ‘run myself short’ on what I need for life but, as you will see in the testimony in your letters, sometimes we can give more than we think we can, and still not ‘feel the pinch’. In the testimony, the person, having come to faith, gives what they think is ‘reasonable’, and is happy with that, but as their faith grows and their knowledge increases, they are challenged to ‘tithe’. At first they baulk, but slowly they realise they can do it. Now tithing is not just a ‘financial’ thing, it is giving God 10% of me, not simply 10% of my income. And the thing about offering God ‘me’ is that gradually, I realise that it is not a big deal. I don’t find myself ‘missing out’ on anything, I don’t find myself ‘run ragged’, ‘doing’ things for others and finding no time for myself. When I can give ‘me’, I am free to ‘live’, free to ‘do’ without judgement or anxiety or pressure. I am free of ‘society expectations’ and live into ‘God’s love and joy’.
So please, over the next couple of weeks, prayerfully consider what your ‘giving’ to God can be. May your ‘commitment’ be free of anxiety and pressure and given freely.