In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
A man who was lying on his deathbed called his best friend to his side moments
before he passed away. “Bill, I want you to promise that you will do this one
thing for me after I’m gone. Promise
that you will have my remains cremated.”
Wanting to honor his dear friend’s last request, he leaned over the bed and asked, “And what do you want me to do with your ashes?” The dying man replied, “I want you to mail them to the IRS with these four words written on the envelope, “Now you have everything.”
Whether it is fair or not, the IRS is a popular target for comedians, a popular issue for politicians and an unpopular subject for tax-paying citizens. Americans have perfected the art of complaining about taxes, but the concept did not originate with us. Taxes and those who collect them have been the object of scorn and ridicule for thousands of years. The subject of today’s window to the Word is a case in point.
Before he became a disciple of Jesus, Matthew was a tax collector. It was bad enough that he took a healthy percentage of the wealth his countrymen labored to produce. It was even worse that he turned around and gave it to the Romans.
Because they were regarded as traitors among their own people, because they routinely stole from their own people, the term, “tax collector,” became a synonym for “sinner” in Matthew’s day. And even if he was honest, even if he wasn’t corrupt, that is how he was perceived.
So how is Matthew the tax collector pictured in the window that is dedicated
to him? Is he sporting a dark suit and
glasses? Are there dollar signs popping
out of his eyes? Does a greedy grin spread
across his face? Let’s take a look.
Actually Matthew looks rather saintly, almost perfect. Notice the halo, the wings, the pristine face and the praying hands. Put all of these things together and it would be easy to mistake the person in this window for an angel.
Make no mistake. Matthew was not an angel. Matthew wasn’t perfect either, but he was and he is a saint. The former tax collector is holy in the eyes of God for the same reason you and I are able to claim membership in the communion of saints. And as you look at his window and listen to his words, this disciple of Jesus will become much more to you than St. Matthew. You will be able to recognize him as…
MATTHEW: A SAINT LIKE ME
I. The winged man
II. The
scroll, pen and inkhorn
III. The wooden
cross
I. The winged man The symbol of the winged man comes from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel and the New Testament book of Revelation. In the first chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet sees a vision of four creatures, each with four faces: the face of a man, a lion, an eagle and an ox. Four similar creatures appear in the apostle John’s vision in Revelation (4:7). And for centuries they have represented the four gospels in Christian art and architecture.
Of the four symbols, Matthew’s appears to be the least symbolic. Matthew was a person, a regular human being like you and me. And in our stained glass he is depicted as a man. The picture doesn’t beg for further explanation. The casual observer probably doesn’t hope to discover some hidden meaning. The image looks rather normal, except for one thing. What about those wings?
We associate wings with angels. When we think of angels, we think of heaven. And when we think of heaven, we think of glory and perfection. So what is a sinful human being like Matthew doing with wings? Jesus gives us the answer.
Humanly speaking none of the twelve disciples was a strong candidate for
apostleship, but perhaps Matthew was the least likely disciple of all. He was a tax collector in
Since Jesus had attracted a large following, since Jesus had spent quite a
bit of time preaching and teaching in the region, it is possible that Matthew
heard what this prophet from
Maybe the tax collector’s conscience tugged at him when Jesus said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
Maybe Jesus heaped burning coals on Matthew’s head when he said: “Give to the one who asks you, and do not
turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (5:42). Maybe Jesus looked Matthew straight in
the eye when he declared: “No one can
serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and Money” (
And maybe Matthew looked at the people standing around him when Jesus warned:
“Do not judge or you too will be judged”
(7:1). Maybe Matthew took Jesus’
words, “Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (7:7), as
a personal invitation. And maybe, just
maybe, Matthew thought to himself: “When Jesus pleaded with the people to enter
through the narrow gate that leads to heaven (Matthew
We don’t know if Matthew listened to the Sermon on the Mount. We don’t know if Matthew and Jesus ever crossed paths before they met at his tax collector’s booth, but it would help explain what happened next.
The Lord walked up to Matthew and said: “Follow me” (Matthew 9:9), and he did. He didn’t need an explanation. He didn’t ask for more time. Jesus’ call was direct, and Matthew’s response was immediate. And from that day on, Matthew was a disciple of Jesus.
The second lesson for today was chosen for a specific reason. Matthew didn’t write those words, but he definitely understood what they meant. He knew that he didn’t deserve any special favors from God. He knew that he hadn’t done anything to earn his wings. Matthew was a sinner. Because he was a tax collector, he was in the top one tenth of one percent of sinners.
But everything in Matthew’s past, everything that made Matthew a prime candidate for fire and brimstone, made Paul’s pronouncement even more amazing: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
Matthew is Saint Matthew by the grace of God. Matthew is holy only because Jesus made him holy. The halo on Matthew’s head is the crown of eternal life God gives to everyone who believes in him. And that makes Matthew a lot like you and me.
We cheat. Maybe we don’t defraud others for a living, but are we always completely honest? We lie. Maybe we don’t distort the facts on purpose, but how many times a week do we bend the truth? We steal. Maybe we don’t intentionally take what belongs to someone else, but do we always give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay?
If you are not 100 % perfect, what gives you the right to call yourself a saint? If you have ever sinned, even once, why do you have any reason to believe that you will go to heaven when you die? Matthew’s answer is your answer: grace.
God’s undeserved love for sinners takes away your sin. God’s undeserved love for you makes you his child. God’s grace allows you to anticipate the day when you will stand with Matthew and all the saints around God’s throne in heaven.
I’d like to be able to tell you about all miracles Matthew performed, but I can’t. I’d love to tell you about the thousands of people the Holy Spirit brought to faith through Matthew’s preaching and teaching, but I can’t. I can’t because outside of his call to discipleship, Matthew’s name is only mentioned in the various listings of the Twelve.
None of the acts of Matthew are recorded in the Bible. Not a single word spoken by Matthew is recorded in the Bible. Instead of a detailed account of his own life and work, Matthew has given us something better. Matthew has preserved for us a written record of the life of Jesus in the gospel that bears his name.
II. The scroll, pen and inkhorn There is a symbol similar to this one in the window of all four evangelists. For John, it was a scroll. For Matthew, it is a scroll, a pen and an inkhorn. This repetition in the windows leads to a question about the Bible itself. Why are there four gospel accounts? If the gospel writers recorded the same basic information about Jesus (his teachings, miracles, suffering, death and resurrection), shouldn’t one be enough?
While it is true that we can learn everything we need to know for our salvation from any one of the four gospels, the Holy Sprit inspired four separate accounts to give us a complete picture of our Savior. Each evangelist wrote with a unique purpose and audience in mind.
Matthew is sometimes called the Jewish gospel. His goal was to convince the Jews that Jesus is
the promised Messiah. As a result, Matthew
contains more Old Testament quotations than any other New Testament book. Matthew traces Jesus’ lineage back to
Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation.
Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ role as the Son of David, the greatest of
Even though Matthew has a definite Jewish focus, it possesses a universal
outlook. Matthew is the only evangelist
to include the visit of the Wise Men.
And it is Matthew who records Jesus’ command to carry his name to the
ends of the earth: “Go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you” (28:19,20).
As different as the four gospel accounts are from each other, they share a common goal. Like Mark and Luke and John, Matthew proclaimed what he believed in the inspired words he wrote. And the object of Matthew’s faith comes into sharp focus as we look at the third and final window.
III. The wooden cross The cross is a popular Christian symbol. Look around our church and you will see crosses on the walls, in the windows, atop the altar, almost everywhere you look. But in Matthew’s day, the cross was not a symbol of victory. The cross symbolized pain and humiliation, and crucifixion was reserved for only the vilest criminals.
This cross is not made out of precious metal. This cross is not decorated with precious
jewels. This is a plain wooden cross, a
cross like the one Jesus carried to
Matthew knew what it felt like to be forsaken by others. He was an outcast. He was on the receiving end of many harsh words and cold stares. But Jesus treated him differently. Jesus wanted to associate with him. Jesus cared about him. Jesus loved him.
Jesus loved Matthew so much that he died for him. Jesus carried Matthew’s sins to the cross so that he would never have to know what it feels like to be forsaken by God. And because Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, because Jesus stepped in and took our place, the Lord will never forsake us either.
Jesus’ cross is empty because two men wanted to give his dead body a proper burial, but Jesus’ tomb is empty because he rose from the dead. Jesus lives, and because he lives, we will live with him forever. And when you are in heaven and someone asks you who that is with the halo and the pristine face and the praying hands, you can say: “That’s Matthew. He’s a saint, like me.” Amen.