Why eat with sinners? The short answer is “Because sinners eat, just like me, and while they are eating is a good time to talk with them.” Today is the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle. The story of the call of Matthew is one of a dozen or so in the Gospels where Jesus sat down to eat with sinners. Looking at why Jesus did that has been helpful to me as I think about how I can live my faith today.
The Call of Matthew
Matthew was a tax collector. He was a Jewish person who cooperated with the Roman government and made himself wealthy at the expense of his Jewish brothers and sisters. By everybody’s definition, he was a sinner. He had friends who were seen as sinners, too. In today’s Gospel, Jesus called Matthew to follow him and went to his house for dinner.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
He heard this and said,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”
Maybe Jesus Still Goes to Dinner–Through Us
Our Catholic faith teaches that it is God who seeks us, who wants a relationship with us. How does he find us? He goes where we are. He is in the Eucharist and other sacraments, in church and in Scripture–yes. But what if someone isn’t going to church or reading the Bible? How does God reach for those folks?
Well, people eat—both saints and sinners. While people eat, they often talk. As they talk, people often bond over food. At present in the US, it is not so very hard to move from talking about the weather to talk of current hurricanes. From talking about hurricanes it is easy to move to talk of people helping people or people suffering. Such topics as great storms then lead naturally to “Where is God in all this?” or similar tough questions.
As Christians, it is important for us to face tough questions and answer them for ourselves. That may mean that we may need to start out being the sinners someone eats with. There is so much of our faith that we do not know! We may need to be the ones who must first learn.
The dinner table is a good place to do it.
It’s a good place to enter into dialogue.
How to Have a Good Religious Argument
Earlier today I watched a video of Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles in the US give a talk about how to have a good religious argument. I think/hope I have put a link to be able to listen to that talk at the end of this reflection. It fed me well. I want to share it. Bishop Barron makes several points in a talk to staff at Facebook. Much of his evangelical focus is reaching out to the younger people who are very Facebook and internet savvy. He knows how to engage the younger, more scientific minded, doubting or agnostic members of our culture. He was doing just that in this presentation.
He countered common attitudes head on. He spoke of how faith is not opposed to reason—and he showed it. He challenged those who believe that scientific knowledge is all knowledge—in a way that would make sense to the scientifically minded. He faced the current zeitgeist that toleration is the ultimate value when there are multiple perspectives on faith. He advocated for the triumph of intellect over power, emotion, or will—in a way that made intellect look very, very good. He finished with the value of listening, respect, and empathy for the point of view of the other.
But I Don’t Know What Bishop Barron Knows
Honestly, today, I could not do what Bishop Barron did. I do not know what he knows. I am not as fluent in religious dialogue as he is fluent. But I have seen Bishop Barron develop. I heard him today give a beautiful cameo example from Saint Thomas Aquinas. But I’ve also read a book he wrote years ago about Saint Thomas that I had to trudge through. I’ve seen some of his videos from a decade ago. Good content. It would not have engaged a Millennial for more than two minutes.
But he readily engages them today. He has learned how.
My point: Bishop Barron has LEARNED how to talk to sinners. Especially the young and questioning.
I can learn, too. So can you.
Using Our Gifts–Even at Home
In today’s first reading, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he is encouraging them to LIVE their faith–which is also a function of learning:
I…urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace:
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
In the beginning of his talk, Bishop Barron makes the point that if we don’t know how to have a good religious argument, instead we have a bad religious fight. I have to admit that I’ve had some of those. It can ruin a meal and stress a relationship.
What My Father Did
On the other hand, my father and I had lots of good religious arguments at the dinner table when I was in high school. My father did not become a Christian until I was a freshman in high school. Once he was baptized, he embraced Christianity whole-heartedly. He LOVED St. Paul. I was more inclined toward Gospel stories of Jesus healing. I learned how to think religiously and talk from logic, not will or emotion, from my father in those discussions. It was all new to him. Logic and debate were new to me. It was grand fun! It built my faith and likely built his. It identified holes in my faith—and might have identified some holes in his.
My father was a wonderful teacher. He brought his gift of teaching literally to the table. I profited from it. We all have gifts. St. Paul goes on today,
“But grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ.”
Your Gifts to Help Jesus Eat with Sinners
If you carry your faith to eat with sinners, what are your gifts? Are you the cook…the hostess or host…the one who gets conversation going…the one who knows how and where to look something up? Are you the listener, the one who understands and accepts? Are you the clown who pipes up with something funny at just the right moment? Are you the one who eats quietly and prays for the dialogue?
We all have a role. We all have gifts. We are all called. Jesus’ answer for why eat with sinners gives me pause. I know many who need even the simple witness I can give:
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
It is interesting to me to learn that while Matthew is one of the twelve apostles, there are no solid legends of where he evangelized or about his martyrdom after the Ascension. Perhaps he sat at supper, a “middle man” in evangelization, who let others do the primary preaching. His role was to eat with sinners–as Jesus had eaten with him and his friends.
Perhaps he used his experiences at those dinners and arguments to write the Gospel of Matthew–or tell the stories that led to its writing. It is a Gospel that seems born of dinner table conversation–a mixture of story and logic.
Like conversation at a family dinner or around a table of friends.
Prayer:
Lord, you made me a good cook and gave me the further gift of loving to cook. I am also a widow. I mostly eat alone. Is that what you want of me? I would much rather “eat with sinners”—those far away from God and those who may be farther away from God than they think–or those who simply yearn for more of God. My friends and family even. How might I do that? What do I need to learn to be able to effectively argue for you, Lord? Bishop Barron made the point that religious argument is a means of peace, as well as a means of Truth. Call me, Lord, Lead me.
Link to Bishop Barron’s presentation to Facebook staff on September 18, 2017.
