Without Conditions--June 8, 2026

Without Conditions--June 8, 2026

"As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. (Matthew 9:9)"

Did you notice the lack of fine print here?

Did you catch that there are no conditions here?

Did you see that Jesus makes no mention of prerequisite steps Matthew must take in order to be eligible to belong to the community of Jesus' followers?

None of those things show up in this verse, which many of us heard in worship this past Sunday.  And their absence is important, because it means Jesus doesn't invite people merely to apply or audition in order to see if they make the cut to belong.  He just outright calls to us: "Come.  Follow me."

Implicit, then, in that short summons is Jesus' choice to receive us as we are.  And maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal when we are talking about the call stories of the decently respectable fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John.  To hear Jesus call them and say, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people!" sounds pretty tame, actually.  There's nothing scandalous about being a fisherman, and nothing that would cause a stir of gossip among the neighbors to see Jesus going around with a bunch of fishermen as his followers.  But a tax collector is a different story.  In Jesus' time and place, tax collectors are almost universally despised, both for suspicion of being extortionists and cheaters, squeezing people for their own personal gain with the help of some intimidating imperial muscle, and for selling out their own people and passing along the collected tax money to the very empire that was occupying their land, harassing their people, and brutalizing their neighbors. Everybody's got a reason to view tax collectors with disgust--and maybe a fair amount of it was deserved.

That's the thing about Jesus' invitation to Matthew the tax collector here: it is in exactly the same unconditionally brief form it was spoken to Peter and the rest of his fishing crew.  Jesus simply says, "Follow me."  There is no catch. There is no implication that this is only a trial period to see if Matthew really proves to be "good enough." There is no indication that Jesus is going to give ol' Matty a six-month window to make some personal changes in his lifestyle, stop associating with the "wrong crowd," and get a more respectable job before Jesus is willing to be seen in public with him.  No, none of that.  There is only the unashamed call, "Follow me," which both implies that there is no question of worthiness or acceptability from Jesus' perspective, and that Jesus wants Matthew the--gasp!--tax collector to be a part of his found-family of disciples right away.

And this is the take-home for all of us as well: Jesus does not tell the people deemed outcasts, "You would be acceptable to me if only you would make these five changes in your life first." He simply calls them--and us--as we are. It is his calling to us that makes us acceptable and indeed, already accepted.  We are the ones who keep imposing conditions, restrictions, and our own religious litmus tests on who we think is "worthy" to belong, but Jesus brings no such fine print.  He doesn't for Matthew, whom all the Respectable Religious People would have deemed unacceptable, and he doesn't for us.

When we finally get it that Jesus isn't holding tryouts, for which we have to make ourselves look "good enough" in order to make the cut, but rather calling us as we are to belong in his community right now, things change for us.  Maybe we stop seeing the need to make ourselves into gatekeepers for grace.  Maybe we start to see our own selves as worthy and beloved rather than inadequate and unacceptable.  Maybe we can finally quit putting up hurdles that keep other folks out from following Jesus, but instead help clear the way for everyone he calls.  And maybe we will be less concerned about being seen with "those kinds of people" in our churches and instead just grateful that Jesus has called us all into belonging.

And maybe, at long last, we'll be done looking around for fine print that isn't there.

Come, dear one, just as you are.  Jesus calls you--in all of your you-ness--to belong.

Lord Jesus, let us hear your call to each and to all, and to rejoice in your wide welcome.