Christ the King Epiphany Wilbraham, MA

Deacon Michael Hamilton

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

June 7, 2026

Please pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts may be pleasing and acceptable to God. Amen (pbs)

Today’s Gospel is very familiar to all of us. It is easy for us to recall the sketchy tax collectors who took advantage of people. We know and feel for the woman who has been bleeding for 12 years, and she sees her chance to be healed, and our hearts are pleased that the little girl has been returned to her parents. Often, when we know a story so well, we skip to the end so quickly that it is unlikely that we will absorb too much from what is already familiar.

If I wanted a short one-sentence synopsis of today’s Gospel, it would be that ‘faith in Jesus allows for restoration, healing, and life’. That might be a bit too simple, but from all of the evidence that is presented to us in Scripture, Jesus did not bend to the wealth that Matthew had; He did not require the ideal image of youth with a perfect body and strength before He could recognize someone in need, such as a desperate person on the ground that was reaching out to touch His cloak. Nor did Jesus respond to a person because of their social status, but in the case of the leader of the synagogue, Jesus did not ignore them either. Wealth, Youthful Vigor, and Social Status are typically markers that we are motivated by, but with Jesus, it was simply faith.

This quick recognition that Jesus was motivated by faith is in keeping with the historical action of God in the Hebrew Scriptures. The very Scriptures that Jesus lived with are the building blocks that form our Christian identities today.

If we return to the first 2 readings and the Psalm selected from today, we are reminded that all God asks of us is to be faithful.

From Hosea, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Steadfast love and not sacrifice. As humans, we have a difficult time imagining a relationship that isn’t transactional. This has been evident from the very beginning of time when the idea of a sacrifice, a gift, an action, or prayer, could persuade God, or pacify God, into doing what we wanted. Similar to a vending machine where I put the money in, or perform the action, or follow a LAW as if it were the magic answer to a problem, and this payment or action would force God into forgiving us, loving us, answering us, or blessing us with something. When Micah, a contemporary of Hosea, asked, “What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

From the Psalm, I find this most interesting, and it helps me wrap my head around some of my own faulty thinking;

12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, * for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.

13 Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, * or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving * and make good your vows to the Most High.

15 Call upon me in the day of trouble; * I will deliver you, and you shall honor me."

What is delusional on my part is getting the story the wrong way around.

I love the verse;

If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.

In my hubris, I sometimes forget that there isn’t anything, anything that I can ‘do for God’, there isn’t anything I can ‘give to God’, and I never have to think that I am ‘protecting God’ or having to ‘defend God’ because I cannot. That sounds a little harsh and possibly heretical, but in reality, God needs nothing from me; our relationship is not transactional; it is a relationship where I am the recipient of the grace of God. All that God asks in return is that I am faithful. How I choose to live out this relationship of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God is my contribution to the relationship. My contribution can be loving my neighbor and enemy. My contribution can be sharing the resources that God has given me with others in need. My contribution can be taking time to nourish my relationship with prayer, or labor, or meditation, and being open to what God is sharing with me in my daily life.

In terms of living in faith, instead of under the law, we heard in Romans,

“If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation”.

If our salvation or love from God was dependent upon laws, then in order to have laws, one must have consequences for breaking those laws. If laws are the metric that is used for salvation, then there is no need for faith because your acceptability is based on a scorecard of, yes, they followed the Law, or no, they did not. The reading states, ‘For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation'. In other words, faith alone and the grace of God are the instruments of being in right relationship with God and salvation.

Returning to our three examples, by living with faith in the promises of Jesus, Matthew and his sinful companions of various stripes, a marginalized, unclean, sick woman shunned by society similar to a homeless, poor, addict living on the street that we do see as we pass by, or a person of power, authority and religious leadership, somewhere in between that spectrum we find ourselves. Together, we are all called by Jesus with the same voice, the same invitation, and the same benefits.

Trusting in His words, this week, think about your relationship with Jesus; is it a quid pro quo vending machine swap? Is your relationship based on strict rules and laws? Are we able to trust that faith alone and grace alone is enough? Have a great week and listen for that invitation and how you want to respond when you hear, “Follow me”. Amen.