"And He Said... Follow Me."

"I ask for the grace to pray and meditate faithfully.  I ask for patience, tolerance, compassion, empathy, and gentleness.  I ask to abstain from anger, anxiety, compulsive behaviour, discouragement, arrogance, and self-importance.  I ask to know and follow Jesus more closely, seeking justice, loving kindness and walking humbly."


Matthew 9:9-13
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
10 And as he sat at dinner^* in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting^* with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ ¹²But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’


1)  "Follow;" "...those whoa re well, have n o need of a physician;" "...I desire mercy, not sacrifice;" "...I have come to call... sinners;"


2) My first observation is that it says Matthew [the tax-collector] "got up and followed him," not, "Matthew believed," or "his faith made him understand/see," just "he got up and followed him."  Bonhoeffer argues that belief and obedience are two sides of the same coin, "The one who believes obeys, the one who obeys believes."  These two sentences are qualitatively different, yet cannot be separated one from the other.  In separating them, the result is either a cheap grace or no grace at all.  Can we identify a desire to just get up and follow?  What holds me back from following immediately?  Where is my treasure?  What keeps me from identifying my freedom and satisfaction with what God calls me to do?  Do I trust that God wants only the best for me and that what God desires for me is in fact better than whatever I want for myself?  My ability to know what I want and what is best for myself is impeded by my nature as a creature, I am not the creator.  I'm a sinner.  It's terrible how we contrast "sinner" with "saint" when saints are not different in kind, but only in degree.  Saints are the same as sinners, they've just made some better choices along the way, maybe had a little more practice trusting God.  It breaks my heart to contemplate how many "believers" out there make little or no effort to "seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with their God."  Do I?


3) What is the invitation in all this?  to question less and follow more.  I keep coming back to the invitation to trust that if I get up and follow, what God will provide will be better than what I currently want for myself.


"Holy One, give me whatever it is I need to get up and follow."


Breathprayer: "And he said... follow me."