“God still loves me” is a common refrain these days. It justifies a variety of attitudes, actions, and choices. With these four words (or some variation), we can counter any challenge that what we are doing may somehow be wrong. These words make us think that we cannot possibly have strayed very far from the path that God wants for us. In a word, this refrain makes us feel righteous.
But Jesus is clear in today’s Gospel: He did not come for the righteous, but the sick (cf. Mt. 9:13). If our actions are unassailable because God still loves us, then Jesus is not here for us. Jesus did not call Matthew because he was already righteous, but so he could become righteous. God’s love for us and call for us is part of our healing process. If we wish to respond to God’s call, we must first admit that we are not righteous—we must admit that we have sinned.