The Citizen, 2008-06-12, Page 15THE CITIZEN. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2008. PAGE 15.By Rev. Cathrine CampbellMelville, BrusselsKnox, BelgravePresbyterian ChurchesMatthew 9:9-13, 18-26
There is something about customs
officers. I don’t care how
upstanding a citizen you are when
faced with one there is a momentary
pang – of guilt.
That new toothpaste I bought,
should it be declared? Did I write
everything down that I bought? Do I
have something that would be
considered contraband?
Not one of the people I know have
the assurance of Oscar Wilde who,
when asked “Have you anything to
declare said, “Only my genius.”
I am sure he got the deluxe
search, for in my experience
customs officers don’t seem to have
a really great sense of humour.
What customs officers do have is
a lot of authority. They can delay,
search, confiscate and usually do it
for a good reason – drugs, diseases
and dishonesty are going to be
stopped at the border and the agents
of the Canadian government are
charged with a task that does not
always make them the most popular
people going.
But, it is as agents of the
Canadian government that they are
doing their task and the thinking of
that government is that it is for our
good that they were put there.
It was quite different in
Matthew’s day. Matthew was
a customs man but he got the job
a little differently than our
present day officers. He bought his
position rather than meeting strict
criteria as to education and
background.
For Matthew when duty was
imposed there was always a little
extra – for Matthew. If the goods
appealed to Matthew they could be
seized and a little more money
would come to Matthew when
the rightful owner bought them
back.
This was a good deal for
Matthew. He was doing just fine. It
is true he didn’t have all that many
friends because of his position
but he could be with the other
customs offers and tax collectors
and life could be a lot worse. He
wasn’t one of those lepers in those
colonies.
In the reading of Matthew 9:9-13
and 18-26 we hear of three people,
Matthew, the ruler’s daughter and
the woman with the 12 year disease.
One was in good health, as far as we
know, one was dead and one was
sick. What we also learn is that all
three needed healing and all three
get healing from the same source,
Jesus Christ. And in that is a new
beginning.
“How are you feeling?” We ask
this every day only we usually say
just “How are you?” and reserve the
“How are you feeling?” to someone
who is lying in a sick bed. This
person knows you really don’t want
all the gory details so you will get a
weak smile and a “fine” even when
they are not.
And that “fine,” the response you
usually get when you ask someone
how they are, you would be quite
taken aback if you got what my
mother used to call “an organ
recital” with many, many, many
details of listener’s physical
condition.
However, most of the time you
get “fine” as well and the encounter
moves on. It has been my
experience that those who have the
most to be concerned about are the
ones who complain the least.
There are those who are not
believed even when they do tell youhow they really are and I guess thisled to the famous tombstone thathad on it “See, I told you I wassick”.
The woman in our lesson was sick
– she had every cause for complaint
– she had been ill for oh so many
years and it appeared that there was
no cure for her disease and no hope
for her future. She was an outcast
and so were Matthew and the dead
girl for all three would be
considered, unclean, untouchable
and unworthy.
With that depressing preamble we
come to the startling part of the
story. Jesus doesn’t follow the rules
of the day; he doesn’t turn away
from the sick woman – or turn her
away – he talks to the customs man
and he touches the dead girl. The
last action being an abomination to
any good Jew of his day.
But he is Jesus and Jesus had
come to give healing – he is not
defiled by impurity – he cures it.
He is a true shepherd as he cares for
his whole flock – not just the perfect
and the whole. Jesus wants the
flock to reflect his caring and his
choosing “I desire mercy – not
sacrifice”.
Jesus wants people to go out
and to be active followers – not
tied to empty rituals that imply
that God must be bribed in order to
look upon God’s people favourably.
God is not some killjoy ogre who
needs an endless supply of fresh
sacrifices to jolly him along but
God is an always present creator
and, like a gracious parent, is
reflected to us in the ministry of
God’s son.
There is to be joy and celebration
because of that. There are many
occasions when the dinner will be
the “tax collectors and the sinners’
because the simple truth is that there
are so many more of them than not– Jesus certainly knew whereof hespoke when he said “I have notcome to call the righteous but thesinners”
Matthew, the woman and the
child are not all right – right-eous.
They all estranged in some way, cut
off, and they all need healing and
restoration to the health that is a life
lived in God and God’s ways and
they, all three, get it!
And they get it because of faith;
they come to Jesus and they go with
Jesus because they know that their
lives are to be transformed simply
by the association with Jesus. In
Jesus they find they are changed
people.
The old lives are no longer
satisfactory, no longer will Matthew
exploit and misuse his fellow
humans, no longer will the woman
be abused and shunned by her
family and neighbours, no longer
will the ruler’s daughter be a
dismissed as an unimportant
“child”.
All are changed into joy. There
is much to celebrate and this is
not to be done quietly. There is to
be laughter and friendship and it
is in Christ that there is celebra-
tion.
One commentator asks “Is joy a
lost note in our Christian faith?” I
don’t think it is lost but sometimes
it is pretty quiet, suppressed under
solemn ideas of the “right thing”
and a whole list of “Thou shalt not”
that God never gave.
Our expressions of faith are
not done in a series of jokes and
sound bites but rather in the quiet
smiling glow that comes from a life
that is lived in harmony with a
faith that grows through life’s
struggles.
“How are you feeling” is not to be
an empty question. It certainly isn’t
a trivial one for God asks it, daily. Itis in our responding that we showthat we have taken the gifts God hasgiven us and used them not just forour betterment but for the
betterment of all people and our
answer to that question will not be a
tepid “fine” but a ringing,
“Wonderful, Thank You.”
And thanks be to God!
From the Minister’s Study‘How are you feeling?’ not an empty question
308 Blyth Rd. E. ~ Pastor Les Cook 519-523-4590
B l y t h C o m m u n i ty Church of God
C H U R C H O F G O D ,ANDERS
O
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“The Church
is not a building,
it is people
touching people
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
- Christian Education
for all ages
11:00 a.m. - Worship Service
Mid-week Bible Studies
See you
Sunday!
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, June 15th
Brussels Public School
10:30 am and 6:30 pm
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age (mornings only)
Childcare provided for infants and toddlers
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact:
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, JUNE 15TH
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 519-887-9831
11:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
9:30 am - Sunday Belgrave Service
Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street
Blyth United Church
Office: 519-523-4224
All Welcome
Sunday, June 15
Worship Service and Sunday School - 11 a.m.
Guest speaker for Father’s Day is Bruce Whitmore
PASTOR DAVID WOOD
119 John’s Ave.,Auburn
519-526-1131
SUNDAY, JUNE 15
Join us this Sunday for...
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School
10:30 a.m.
Morning Worship
7:30 p.m.
Corporate Prayer Service
Upcoming Event...
Saturday, June 21
9 am - 12 noon
“Crown Financial Seminar”
Debt management & preparing
for future economic times.
Everyone Welcome!getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
June 15 - FATHER’S DAY
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Chuck
&
Shannon
Talbot
Christ-centred, Bible-believing,
Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared
Missionaries to Ga’dang Tribe, Philippines
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come
and worship with us
Parish of New Beginnings
Holy Eucharist - Sunday, June 15
Rev. Perry Chuipka
Trinity, Blyth
9:30 a.m.
519-523-9595
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Please join us for worship
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00am
Evening Service 7:30pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Pastor John Kuperus
Hwy. 4, Blyth
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca
Sunday, June 15
Ethel United Church
Worship Service - 9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
Worship Service - 11:00 a.m.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship