DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Luke 5:27-32
(10/8-10/21)
Saturday of the Twentieth Week after Pentecost
Wisdom’s Children II ~ Tax Collectors and Sinners: Saint
Luke 5:27-32, especially vs. 32: “I
have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Wisdom’s
Children are those persons who strive to keep the words of the Lord Jesus (Mk.
3:34,35).
By obeying Christ, one gains Life from Wisdom. Since the Lord is wise, the obedient
disciple is joined to the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ (Heb. 12:1),
to all those who know and love the Savior, and manifest the depth of the riches
of His wisdom (see Rom. 11:33). The
tax collector, Levi, or Matthew, was such a man, for when the Lord called him
from his lucrative and rapacious tax-collecting business Levi obeyed. “...he left all, rose up, and
followed Him” (Lk. 5:28).
The example of Levi’s response highlights the key
facet of obedience to the Lord Jesus - repentance. To obey Him is to repent - ever the
hallmark of Wisdom’s children.
But do not miss what is at stake: Levi models obedient repentance
because he changed his occupation, his morals, his way of life and his eternal
destiny when he answered the Lord’s call.
Our word ‘repentance’ translates the original
word ‘metanoia.’ Literally, it means ‘to change the
nous or deep center of the heart.’
Repentance, thus, is to reform the inner core of one’s self. The root in the English
‘re-pentance’ is
‘penitence,’ but, in Christ, repentance is not just a sorrowful
aspect of personal recognition - hanging the head in grief. Sorrow is only a first, small part of
the change. Examine the repentance
in Levi’s life when he followed our Lord.
Levi ‘left all.’ Do not exaggerate this to mean
‘abandoned.’ Yes,
Matthew arose from his usual place at the tax office, and the record shows that
he did become a disciple, training full-time under the Lord Jesus (Lk. 5:28).
However, first, he held a great feast for the Lord Jesus with his fellow
tax-collectors in his home (Lk. 5:29). He did not leave
‘everything’ all at once.
He began changing, withdrawing, bit by bit from his former life. First he left his occupation, then his
home, and finally even his native land. Holy Tradition records
that Saint Matthew preached both in Parthia (Iran) and Ethiopia. In becoming a disciple, he gave up much;
but, then, God replaced his ‘losses’ with the inestimable riches of
His Kingdom and the victor’s crown!
You and I have answered the call of Christ, the Wisdom of
God. We began dropping our former
values to follow Wisdom in life more and more fully. I have found that a great deal of the
‘leaving’ that true repentance requires is
‘interior.’ Some of the
‘letting go’ involves relationships, jobs, places, and thoughts,
yet it is an ongoing inward process.
Saint Paul said of himself, “...when I became a man, I put away
childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11).
The process takes time.
Tragically, for some followers, a point may come when the cost of
letting go is too great. I pray
this never happens to us - that we never go away sorrowfully (Mt. 19:22). It is wise not to hold too tightly to
things in this life, for the Wisdom of God is calling. He is too valuable ever to lose!
Think of Levi’s ‘following.' He discovered that when Wisdom confronts
a person, forks appear in the road of life. Indeed, in Christ, I am free to choose
my direction. Wisdom is faithful to
point the right way at each milestone, what is right and free from error. The ‘old man’ (Eph. 4:22) in
me often longs to and does follow the old path of deceitful desires and
indulgence. Still, take care to follow where Wisdom leads, for He is the
highest and best, always!
And note: Levi invited his fellow tax collectors to dine
with the Great Physician, so that Wisdom could heal them as well. Many around us are sick. Many are ready to risk changing to gain
genuine health. Let us invite them
to tour our banquet halls where the Wisdom of God and His healing are found, or
to the banquets - our Liturgies and the educational sessions.
Grant, O Lord, that we may complete the remaining time of
our life in repentance.
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