Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

From the Old Testament of this Feast Day: Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, all My words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say, ‘thus says the Lord,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear. [Ezekiel 3.10-11]

From the Epistle of the Day:: And He some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors – teachers, for binding together the saints, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. [Ephesians 4.11-12]

From the Holy Gospel: Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the  righteous, but sinners.  [Matthew 9.13]

     Today we observe the minor church festival known as “The Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist.”

     St. Matthew is called by Christ in the midst of his trade as tax collector, and Matthew leaves the tax business and follows Christ. Both as Evangelist, privileged to write one of the four Gospel accounts, and as Apostle, privileged to be part of the foundation of the New Testament Church, of which Christ is the chief cornerstone, St. Matthew is called to speak for God.

I.

     This never has been a comfortable assignment, to speak for God. In the Old Testament, you meet Ezekiel. He is a priest, one whose job is to speak TO God, in the temple, on behalf of God’s chosen people.

     Unfortunately, Ezekiel has recently become unemployed. The Babylonians have invaded, and Jerusalem has fallen, and the brightest and best of the sons of God’s people have been captured and taken into captivity, including Ezekiel.  He is unemployed; He is a captive; he is a hopeless man with no future.

     Then it is that God calls him to new employment. No longer an official spokesman TO God, Ezekiel is now called to be a spokesman FOR God, a prophet, the spokesman for God: “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, ‘Thus says the Lord.’”

     The prophet Ezekiel is to speak to God’s people: defeated, captured, and carted off to a foreign land. The spirit of this captured bunch is expressed by the unidentified psalmist: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” This lament, Psalm 137, reflects the pain, but also the hope, of the suffering remnant, who remained faithful to God.

     Most of the captives, however, were not of that mind set, which is why Ezekiel would have to speak to a group of people who don’t want to hear from him or from anyone who would speak for the God who punished them.

     Yet, God will be heard. He has His spokeman, and Ezekiel, the prophet, and for what purpose? It is for the purpose of binding up the spiritual wounds that God's people suffered in captivity. Ezekiel's job was that of a spiritual medic, who would bring the healing Word of God to God's wayward, and now captive, people. And those who humbly received the ministrations of the prophet found healing for the wounds of their bodies, for the wounds of their society, and for the wounds of their faith. And the reason that Ezekiel was to bring the balm of God's Word to God's people, whether they would receive it or not, is precisely a mission of healing, not a mission of persuasion.

                             II.

     St. Matthew, too, is called to be spokesman for God. It may seem that he has an easier job. It may seem that the Old Testament prophets had a tougher time being a spokesman for God, but that just isn’t true. St. Matthew, along with his fellow evangelists, Mark and Luke, and along with his fellow apostles other than John, will be martyred for his work. It turns out that St. Matthew, like the prophet Ezekiel, must bring a healing Word to sinners, whether they would receive it, or whether they would receive it not.

     The reason that this ministry to heal the soul is so misunderstood, in the Old Testament era, in the New Testament era, and even in this present era, is the people do not accept the fact that they are sinners – sinners through and through.        Oh yes, there are some people who are obviously sinners through and through. Probably, we find them in jails, or in places of ill repute. But we, especially we Christians, are beyond that. Yes, we have some sins here and there with which to deal, but we are, after all, members of the church, not merely members of the rift raft of our age.

     Thus, with such a wrong perspective that infects us all today, as it has always done, the challenge of being spokesman for God always remains the same. The challenge is in the healing Word of God, that is to be spoken and heard. For it does today what it has always done: It kills. It therefore causes resentment and resistance, because no one likes to face that which kills. The Word kills, and it is only after it kills that it also gives life.

The Word of God kills in order to bring new life. That new life is created and sustains by Gospel that comforts repentant, humble sinners: You are Christ’s, now and forever. God’s love for you has brought you through spiritual death to spiritual life. God’s promise to you is that He will always continue to bring to you, through His chosen medics of the soul, the balm that heals the soul.

III.

The Epistle of the Day also speaks of this work of binding up the wounds of sinners, but sadly, this message is lost to most Christians today, due to a quite popular, but quite wrong, translation of the Greek text. Here is what you heard in the reading of the Epistle this morning: “And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equipt the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Every English translation, except for the King James Version, teaches you with these words that the office of the holy ministry is to get you ready, to “equip you” as these English versions put it – in order that you can go out and do the work of the ministry. Pastors have, following this translation, been turned into trainers, or even executive secretaries of the church getting you ready to go and do the real work of the ministry. And when pastors such as yours point out the error of this translation, they respond – “Oh, the KJV put an extra comma in the text, and that's why you are so misled by that comma: “to equip the saints [comma], to do the work of the ministry, and to build up the body of Christ.”

Well, that explanation misses the fact that in the original Greek text there are no commas, no periods. In fact, there are not spaces between words. So, the problem of this text is not one of the presence or absence of a comma. The key to unlock the true meaning here is the Greek word “katartismos,” which modern text translate as “equip” or “train.” But the ancient use of this term comes from the realm of medicine – it means to “bind up.” Aha! The work of the medic! And that is what the ministers of the Gospel are – medics, called by God to the ministry  binding up wounds of sin in the lives of God's people – whether they believe it, or understand, or even desire it – or not!

Such is the called work of St. Matthew, the called work of the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, and the called work of those in the office of the ministry today. And those who benefit most from this work today, are believing sinners, who cling to the promises of God's Word, and call out, at every opportunity to hear God's Word, “Medic!” and receive the balm of forgiveness.