My Dear
Brothers and Sisters of Saint Matthew’s
‘As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow me”. And he rose and followed him’ (Matthew 9.9).
Greetings on this Saint Matthew’s Day, the day in the Church calendar given to our Patron Saint! Saint Matthew is an Apostle, Evangelist and author of the first gospel in the New Testament, written in the second half of the first
century. In Church tradition the usual emblem given to Matthew as an evangelist is a man, because of the genealogy in his gospel that emphasizes the human family ties of our LORD Jesus Christ. Christian tradition differs about the mode and place of his martyrdom. Matthew is called ‘Levi’ in the gospels of Mark and Luke. In Christian art Matthew is depicted as an Apostle or evangelist. As an evangelist he sits at his desk, writing his gospel with an angel either guiding his hand or holding the ink well. As an Apostle, he is seen as holding the emblem of his martyrdom, a spear, a sword, or a halberd. In some pictures he is seen as holding a money box or bag in memory of his former profession before Jesus Christ called him.
Luke tells us that when Jesus saw Matthew and said to him, “follow me”, ‘leaving everything, he rose and followed Him’ (Luke 5. 28). Having recently left our Church building and many possessions behind in service of
our LORD this is especially powerful for us. We are in good company dear brothers and sisters! Matthew left everything behind him in order to follow Jesus. He walked away from what was familiar and comfortable to him in order to embrace the adventure of discipleship and follow the Master. Jesus has the authority to tell us to leave behind those things which we no longer need for what we are being called to in the future. What a fine example Matthew is to follow. I like to think that he is proud of us!
This story of the call of Matthew echoes back to the book of Genesis where God tells Abram, ‘leave your country, your people and your fathers household and go to the land I will show you’ (Genesis 12. 1). Once Jesus had
spoken those two words to him, “follow me”, it was a new era for Matthew, a new beginning, and the same is true of us.
On this St. Matthew’s Day let us again hear the voice of Jesus say “follow me” and welcome the reality of God’s rule over our lives and all that it involves, for us as individuals and as a Christian community. C.S. Lewis reminds us, ‘our faith is not a matter of our hearing what Christ said long ago and trying to carry it out. Rather it is this;-the real Son of God is at your side and He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning,
so to speak, to ‘inject’ His kind of life and thought, His life into you, beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin’.
May our LORD Jesus Christ who continues to call us, pour out His love and power upon us all here at Saint Matthew’s Anglican Church as we seek to follow Him into our future.
Almighty God,
Who through your Son Jesus Christ
Called Matthew from the selfish pursuit of gain
To become an apostle and evangelist:
Free us from all possessiveness and love of riches
That we may follow in the steps
Of Jesus Christ our LORD. Amen.
With my ongoing affection and prayers
Mike Stewart+
Rector.
