Sermon for St. Matthew (Apostle & Evangelist - 09/21/2025)
God Calls Sinners Matthew 9:9-13 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. If you noticed, today we are celebrating St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Some may be wondering what are the qualifications to make one a saint. Others may be wondering what exactly the words ‘apostle’ and ‘evangelist’ mean. Today we will handle these questions. Simply put, to be a saint one must be holy - perfect and sinless. Of course, we know that no one is holy of their own. And no, a saint does not need to be dead. To label someone a saint, is nothing more than to recognize that they have been called by God, made holy by Him through baptism into Christ’s holiness. Saints are so, because the Holy Spirit has built in them the faith to trust in God’s grace through Christ Jesus for their salvation. It is highly appropriate then, for us to call one another saints. In fact, if we look at very first verse of the book of Ephesians, Paul calls the...