First Sunday of Pentecost, June 7, 10:30am
Sermon: Life on the Edge
Accompanying Scripture: Matthew 9 : 9-13, 18-26
Life on the Edges
Matthew 9:9-13; 18-26 6/7/2026
Shortly after we were married, my husband’s band went from Pittsburgh,
PA, to Youngstown, OH, to play a two-night gig. The contract was to
perform on a Saturday and Sunday evening until 2:00 in the morning.
Since Tom had relatives living in Youngstown, I traveled with him for a
change of pace. Sunday morning, 2:00 arrived, and the band took their
usual break before loading up their gear in the van. Strangely, that night
they dove into the clearing out with an energy I didn’t know they had.
In a short while, the van was loaded, and we all caravaned back to
Pittsburgh. I told my husband they cleared up quickly; that was
impressive. That’s when he explained that as the bar clientele was exiting
the building, well-dressed men were entering as if arriving for a meeting.
Certain comments from these men made the band nervous. Knowing that
Youngstown was the center of the Mafia for the Tri-State area, they didn’t
want to remain.
My question this morning is, would Jesus have a meal with those Mafia
figures? I think he would. I believe he would allow his home to be defiled
by these unrighteous people. And it makes me cringe.
I’m standing outside with the Pharisees questioning his actions. “Why
does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Tax collectors
were Jews hired by the Roman Empire to collect taxes. There were no
rules. Rome wanted their part and whatever the tax collectors could get
over and above the Roman tax was theirs to keep.
Some of them were no better than thugs. They were cheating their own
people out of precious money that never stretched to the end of the
month. And these are the ones Jesus chose to have a meal with.
Jesus’ answers are interesting and informative.
- “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (v 12, NIV)
- A challenge to study scripture, especially Hosea:
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For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God
rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)
Even for tax collectors? They’re wretched men! They don’t deserve
what you’re offering! Smite them, Jesus!
- Finally, Jesus provides one more comment. A comment that sets
me back on my heels: “I’ve come to call not the righteous, but
sinners.”
I’m standing next to the Pharisees, trying to make myself small, wishing I
could be invisible. Who can be sicker than a tax collector? Who can be in
more need of Jesus than a Mafia don?
Enter the unclean, untouchable woman. She’s been that way for twelve
years. Untouchable for twelve years. And the twelve-year-old girl who
died. Lots of kids in those days died before then. Kids aren’t of value to
anyone until they can go out and earn money for the family.
Jesus calls it a big deal. He stops what he’s doing to go to the Leader’s
home. A child won’t die today. On his way, he meets a woman desperate
for life. “Your faith has made you well,” he says. And soon the Leader’s
daughter will be made well.
The saying in the 1990’s was, “What Would Jesus Do?” Jesus would do
everything he could, going places that were dangerous, engaging with
people who were “unworthy.”
I believe the question for us is, “What Would Jesus Have Me Do?” What
would Jesus have me do?
We find our answers in our mission statement, “Love Go, love neighbor, all
our neighbors.” An important part of the benediction is taking the light
of Christ into the world.
What would Jesus have me do? I think we ask ourselves that question
every week. How you personally discern that call is to be found in prayer
between you and God.
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But Jesus is not an individualist. Nor does he call us to do this alone.
That’s the reason we call ourselves a part of Christ’s Church. All over the
world, people are figuring out what Jesus is calling them to do as a
community.
Our community is a small version of the Body of Christ. Everyone in this
space, everyone who reads these words, is a significant part of the Body.
Jesus needs each of us to discern Jesus’ call and go do it. The size of the
project matters not at all.
I probably won’t ever dine with a Mafia leader; I don’t have the gift of
raising people from the dead; and a touch from me probably won’t
provide total healing.
But,