Forsake & Follow
THE FEAST OF ST. MATTHEW, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST
O ALMIGHTY God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist; Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches, and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
From this collect appointed for today's Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle, and Evangelist, emerge two great themes: forsake and follow. These two words, forsake and follow, screech like nails on a chalkboard in the ears of modern man. "The world is my oyster," boasts Pistol to Fallstaff in Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor." "The world is my oyster" has come to mean that the world and all it contains is mine for the taking, is here at my command and for my enjoyment. A true statement in one sense but a dangerous sentiment in the other. Yes, all of creation is given by God for our use and enjoyment. "And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good." God made good things for the good of men. But unfortunately, we suffer from a severe defect and are often abusers of good things.
We wrongly use good things because we Christians are incomplete- we are being remade, repaired, refashioned, and restored. Therefore, we don't love things; we covet them because our love is inordinate- it's defective. With hope, we look to a future day of perfection and, in the now, live as imperfect saints. Thus, we beg for grace to help us choose the good and shun evil. We need grace to forsake and detach from the greed lurking in the heart and our proclivity to gravitate towards the riches of this world. There is nothing with wrong with created goods, nothing evil about beautiful and precious things. No, the problem lies within the soul. Grace and grace alone can impel a willful detachment of those things which need to be let go of; to forsake lesser loves as Christ Jesus beckons unto himself and into his service.
St. Matthew is the very picture of grace detaching a man from earthly riches. Jesus looked at Matthew and said, "Follow me." And immediately, Matthew "arose and followed him." Consider what Matthew left on the table (so to speak) when he stood up and followed Jesus: wealth, authority backed up by the government, power, the security of self-determination, and a life -according to the world- filled with prosperity.
And yet, as attractive as Matthew's life seemed, he could not forsake the Divine gaze of love nor the gracious invitation spoken to a sinner, "Follow me." Matthew is the antithesis of the Rich Young Ruler from today's reading at Morning Prayer, who, having gazed upon the face of Jesus and received the very same invitation to sell his possessions and follow, went away sad. The Rich Young Ruler would not force open the grip of greed on his soul, and thereby, he fell into the worst poverty of all. But in leaving everything, Matthew attained a far greater prize and inherited wealth beyond the treasures of this world.
Again, possessions aren't inherently wrong or evil; we are. Detachment is a means by which the Good Physician heals our soul, refocuses the will, and orders our loves rightly. He makes us hungry for himself, and he is the only food that satisfies us. Search your hearts and ask for the Spirit to reveal any good thing that may impede the path to a greater thing. Perhaps the Lord is calling you to step away from the table of this world, or maybe He's telling you to go and sell what you have and give it to the poor, to release and detach from whatever that thing may be (position, title, wealth, possessions, worldly aspiration); anything causing you to hesitate to "follow me."
Remember, "everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life" (Mt 19:29-30). Ask God for grace to forsake and follow. And trust that in Christ you shall be satisfied, complete, and made whole. Amen+
