You are welcome to use parts of this sermon, but if you do, please attribute them properly!
I heard a story about a woman who had invited some friends to
supper. When everyone was seated at the table, she turned to her
six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say grace?"
"I
would not know what to say," the little girl replied.
"Just
say what you hear Mommy say," her mother said.
The
little girl bowed her head and prayed, "Dear Lord, why on earth did I
invite all these people to dinner?"
However you may personally feel about opening your heart and your home
to strangers and guests, you would be hard-pressed to deny that the theme of
welcome and hospitality threads its way through our Gospel reading this morning
and, therefore, must have something to do with who we are called to be as
Christians, as followers of Jesus.
“Good
morning and welcome to the Raymond Village Community Church.” “Welcome to
Walmart.” “Welcome to Maine: the way life should be” – though I guess now
it is “Welcome to Maine: Open for Business.” Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where
all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children
are above average. From welcome mats to
welcome signs, we like to think of ourselves as being pretty well refined in
the art of welcome and adept at the rituals of hospitality.
As well we should be, right? After all, the art of welcome along with
those rituals of hospitality are both deeply embedded in our religious
psyche. They are part and parcel of who
we are in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
First off, welcoming the stranger is integral
to the Jewish Torah. There are numerous
stories in the Bible to illustrate that ancient custom – like the one we read
this morning about Abraham welcoming the three strangers to his tent. Hospitality was a measure of the Jewish
community’s faithfulness to God, and so, it is not surprising that the art of
welcome lay at the roots of the earliest Christian communities as well.
For example, in the letter that the
Apostle Paul wrote to the congregation in Rome, he advised the fledgling church
community to welcome the stranger. Likewise, in the
Biblical Book of Hebrews, the author reminds readers that in offering
hospitality to those unknown to them, they might well be “entertaining angels
unawares.”
And here in our passage from the Gospel
of Matthew, Jesus cautions his disciples to welcome even the lowest and the
least with, if nothing else, a cup of cool water. In fact, he suggests that it is the very
smallest of acts of selfless kindness that signal the start of true
hospitality.
These verses from the Gospel of Matthew
conclude Jesus’ chapter-long discourse to his disciples as he sends them out on
a journey of welcome to heal the sick, cleanse the leper, and even raise the
dead. So far, he has outlined the scope
of their ministry and told them in no uncertain terms that what they are about
to embark on will not be easy. Now he
finishes up his instructions and observations with a reminder of the ancient
custom of welcome and hospitality – and the tantalizing mention of a reward.
And on that note, Peter, James, John,
Andrew, and the other disciples head out to do the work of ministry. Jesus sends them with no suitcases or even a
clean robe to change into.
He sends them
with no provisions, and therefore they will not know where their next meal is
coming from. He sends them with nary a map or a GPS. He sends them with no weapons save their
compassion, their faith in a loving God, and their trust in the power of the
Holy Spirit that somehow had lit a fire in the heart of each one of them.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me,”
Jesus tells them as he bids them farewell.
“Whoever accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Whoever
welcomes or accepts one of God’s messengers, well, that is as good as being
God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help.
This is a large and difficult work I have called you into, but do not be
overwhelmed by it.” And with a wave of
his handkerchief, he sends them forth on a journey of welcome.
Now what made it all so darn difficult for
the disciples was that being a person of welcome was far more profound and
intimate than just being friendly. Jesus
asks more of his followers than kind smiles and easy handshakes. The work of welcome is more than greeting
people and saying hello – though our little ritual at the beginning of worship
today is perhaps a tiny start.
Face it though: Real
hospitality, like much of Christianity, is a risky and downright challenging business.
You see, what Jesus is really talking
about in this passage about welcome or hospitality is a deep and heartfelt
acceptance. What he is challenging his
disciples to do is to receive people from the very bottom of their hearts and
souls. What he is challenging them to do is to merge their life stories with
the stories of those they meet along the way – even if they do not like or are
fearful of those other stories – because that is how new and vibrant
communities are formed.
The work of welcome is acceptance – not
tolerance but acceptance – of people with all their funny foibles and
individual differences and divergent preferences. The work of welcome is recognizing – and,
more than that, embracing - the lesbian, the oddball, the Muslim, the freak as
a child of God, just like you.
As Anglican Church of Canada pastor
Craig Condon wrote, “To Jesus, hospitality meant acceptance of even those who,
in his society and in his day, were deemed to be unacceptable. This is why he
put his arms around lepers, ate with tax collectors and sinners, forgave
adulterers and broke Sabbath laws. Hospitality was
not only important to Jesus, it was at the very heart of being God, and it
didn’t make any difference to him where such hospitality took place, or to
whom, or on what day.”
The work of welcome is venturing out of
your comfort zone to where the other person is, rather than expecting the other
to come to you. It is inviting someone
to worship – or inviting someone to coffee hour after worship – rather than
figuring it is their responsibility to come through those doors into a place
they have never been before or their responsibility to venture down to the
Vestry and into the midst of a bunch of people they do not know.
The work of welcome is moving beyond a
friendly greeting and instead personally inviting people into every aspect of
what it means to be this church family here in Raymond – from pot roast suppers
to Bible and book studies, from cantatas to hymn sings – not just an invitation
to come but an invitation to work to plan, and to volunteer. As Christian author Arthur Sutherland states,
"Hospitality is the practice by which the church stands or falls."
In this brief passage we read, Jesus
may be speaking to his disciples – Peter, James, John, and the others - and
maybe we are thinking that we should be breathing a sigh of relief that we live
some 2000 years later – and are not in
danger of being swept up in the company of that ragtag bunch – sans suitcase,
provisions, maps, and suitable weaponry. However, Jesus’ words about welcome are for us as well, both
as individuals and as a church family.
Just as he sent the disciples all those
eons ago, Jesus also sends us – we who say we are Christians - out on the same
journey of welcome. Oh, not all of us
may be ready to knock on doors, seeking out the marginalized, the lost, and the
lonely. He understands that. However, surely, all of us can at least open
the door. And maybe it is time for us to
push the boundaries a bit anyway, move outside our comfort zone, trusting as we
have been taught that with God all things are possible.
The
journey of welcome we have chosen – and our presence here today is a testament
to that choosing – the journey is a difficult one; that is true. However, the journey of welcome is also a
privilege. It is a privilege because, as
we journey, we get to represent Jesus.
On this journey of welcome, we are called to be Christ to those we
meet. By what we do, people will see
what God is all about. How exciting and
inspirational is that?
And
so I ask you, as Methodist pastor April Blaine once asked her congregation: Who will meet Jesus this week in you? Who
will see you this week and also see God? Maybe through something you say
or do not say. Maybe the time you take to listen. Maybe the care you
offer to someone right at the moment they need it….For whom will you be
Christ’s representative in the world?....Who will see God in you?”
And
not only will we represent Jesus on this journey of welcome, we will also encounter
unending opportunities to see Jesus in those we meet. It is as Mother Teresa once
noted: "I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's
wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord Himself. Is it not a beautiful
experience?"
The
journey of welcome then is at once challenging, inspirational, and beautiful
beyond measure. One would think that
such would be enough for even the most cynical among us. However, woven in and among Jesus’ words in
these verses is talk of a reward, a reward for embarking on this journey of
welcome. Whatever could he mean by that?
Well,
first off (and hopefully this is not too much of a disappointment), the reward
is not something we earn – like a pat on the head, stars in our crown, or a
one- way ticket to the pearly gates when the time comes. The reward is not payment for services
rendered, so we ought not bother keeping score:
I cleansed two lepers and helped one old lady cross the street
today.
No
– the reward is Jesus himself. The
reward is the experience of God’s grace. The reward is a life transformed –
both our life and that of the man or woman or child we meet along the way. The
reward is the gift of doing our part to bring forth God’s kingdom of justice,
reconciliation, peace, and compassion. The reward is truly being in relationship
with Christ.
That’s
it! Risky and challenging as it may be, Christianity is really startlingly
simple. It is like the story of a Sunday School teacher who could not open the
combination lock on the supply cabinet at the church. She went to the pastor for
help.
The pastor started turning the dial of
the combination lock, stopped after the first number, looked up serenely toward
heaven, began moving his lips silently, turned to the next number, repeated the
process of looking up and moving his lips,
then turned to the
third and final number, opening the lock to the cabinet.
The teacher gasped, "I'm in awe of
your faith, pastor, and the power of your prayers."
The pastor replied, “I have to be
honest. The three numbers are written on a piece of tape up there on the
ceiling."
You just have to know where to
look. You just have to know the basics,
which are stated in all the Gospels in various ways. For us today, the basics are these. First, you are on a journey of welcome, and when
someone sees you, they see Jesus. Though
your actions, you let them know what God is like. And second, on this journey of welcome, when
you see someone, be looking for Jesus, for he is there in your presence – and
respond accordingly.
As Presbyterian pastor Alan Brehm noted,
“It’s really no more complicated than that. No
elaborate systems, no obsessions with keeping every jot and tittle. At the
end of the day, it’s about having a heart that is willing to give to others the
same grace, and mercy, and unconditional love that we have received.”
Jesus
calls us to a journey of welcome. It is a journey that is at once challenging,
inspirational, and beautiful beyond measure. And now is the time to take those
first steps. So go, go forth and be
persons of welcome as Jesus has called you to be.
.
by Rev. Nancy Foran, Raymond Village Community Church U.C.C.
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