Image: Saint Matthew (c. 1611) by Peter Paul Rubens
Talking to friends recently, somehow, we got onto the subject of a village church, a long way from here (not in Suffolk) where a scheme is being worked up to replace the ancient oak door with a modern glass one. The argument used in justification is that of making the building more accessible. That may or may not turn out to be the case.
My friends’ concern that the project would require various funding lines as the cost would be enormous owing to the size of the doorway and its irregular shape. The existing doors are perfectly serviceable as they have been for generations. Every pound spent on a project which may never show a benefit detracts from the real, immediate, and pressing needs of the poor.
I can see both sides of the argument and I struggle to reconcile them. Today is Saint Matthew’s day. When Jesus called Matthew to be a disciple, he opened Jesus reach to the world of tax collectors. When he dined in Matthew’s house he ate with such people and was criticised for it. His comment to his critics says a lot in a few words, (Matthew 9:9-13) ‘I have not come to call the righteous but sinners’.
Does that help with our priorities, financial or otherwise? It is a long way from a tax collector’s house in old Palestine to a village church in modern England, but I think it does. Jesus moved among people often avoided, lepers and sinners. When we use our resources, are we getting closer to real need whether for salvation, healing, or as is likely, both?
A Prayer
God of the leper and the tax collector, of all who have needs and who grapple with sin, guide us to judge carefully how we may get closer to real need and do what affords help now. In all our projects and plans, keep us ever sensitive to what the Spirit is saying, not to be over worried about preserving for preservation’s sake, neither from change for change’s sake.