Latest / Belin Memorial UMC / Rev. Dr. Sandra Stevens Poirel - "TWO - WAY WELCOME"
Transcript
- Belin Memorial UMC: ⁓ The scripture lesson today comes to us. We are still in Matthew chapter 10. And today is ⁓ not a long passage. It's only three ⁓ And it's subtitled Rewards. ⁓ Whoever welcomes you welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. These are the words of Jesus. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous. And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward. This is the word of God for the people of God. Well, this brief passage actually closes Jesus' long mission discourse, which is contained it begins in chapter nine and goes through chapter ten. It is also called the Little Commission. Thus far, as we have been traveling through this, this whole sending mission began with Jesus using a very serious, solemn tone. His directions were very clear. They were instructions, including warning. Jesus had called his disciples. He has been preparing them to go out into the world to preach and to teach and to heal. And he sent them with no provisions. And their directive was to share and spread the good news of the gospel while warning them about possible difficulties along the way. You may recall that he had even indicated to them what they do to me, they will do to you. So he was preparing them in this long speech that being his disciple has wonderful rewards. But it will not be an easy journey. So here we are, after four Sundays of really tough text, the tone shifts to one of encouragement. And there's a gentleness about it. This is what we would equate with and probably expect to hear from Jesus. So Jesus concludes the speech. With a promise that there will, in addition to these tough, difficult times, there will be times of welcome, hospitality, support, and kindness. There will be times of comfort and care. The word welcomes actually appears in these short three verses. It appears six times. The last few weeks were very difficult texts, and I will tell you, we knew that we were getting here. It would have been so much easier if we could have read the whole discourse speech and gotten here immediately following some of the tough sayings, but we are finally here. You can smile. I think every preacher that was preaching from the revised common lectionary breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. When we got to today. A couple weeks ago, I I had said that I felt like I wanted to just write a thank you note. Thank you, Revised Common Lectionary. Those were tough texts, but we are here. There is a world-renowned anthropologist who was once asked by one of the students: what is the earliest sign of civilization? in a culture. Now he expected the typical answers, and you can probably guess what they are. He expected clay pot, grinding stone, the invention of the wheel, some form of writing or some kind of communication. The answer that came from the anthropologist to the question: so what is the earliest sign of civilization in a question, in a culture? And here was the answer: a healed femur, which is a significant bone in the leg. Now, if anyone has ever experienced a broken leg, you understand that bone heals at the rate of a bone. Not its skin and some other body parts. And the student was puzzled with this answer. So the anthropologist explained: a healed femur is evidence that someone cared. There is no healed femur in hyper-individualism, me first mindset. Every person for themselves environment. For a femur to heal, someone else had to take up the duties. They had to care for and handle the duties of the person who now has the broken femur. And they have to do it for a while. It's not just a couple days. It is an extended time until the bone heals, at least to the point of being able to function again. This is an act of compassion. It's evidence of compassion. It's evidence of care, of welcome. It's a sign of true community. It's mutually caring for one another. Now we hear that in a hymn that you know, and you can fill in the last word, and they'll know we are Christians by our love. They'll know we are Christians, followers and disciples of Christ by our love. Jesus goes on to give an example of this. How will they know us? They will know us by our love. They will know it by our deeds, our actions, and the way we. represent or represent Christ. And in so doing he names a small, and I mean a minute, small kindness. In fact, it is so small that some are tempted to consider that Jesus has set the bar very low. It seems just too insignificant. The example he gave was even a cup of cool water, just a cup given to one of these. And in the scripture it refers to, given to one of these little ones. Now, little ones does include children, but in this particular text, it's the disciples, it's ones in need. And Jesus is saying that even that. Even offering a cup of cool water, something so small that anyone could do it is significant. And Jesus says, I notice it, I see it, I welcome it as though you did it to and for me. It sounds like an odd example, especially after all we have heard in this long discourse. And it also sounds odd to us because to us, a coo a cup of cool water may seem to just be too easy. It's difficult to appreciate it as being weighty. When we have access to refrigeration, we have cool water dispensers available. We carry water bottles with us. Our children, grandchildren, they go to events, they take water bottles with them. This week at Vacation Bible School, we had them lined up with their names on them, and every single night we had to say, Did you get your water bottle? Did you get your water bottle? And we would send them with them and they would bring them back. So for us, bottled water even is abundantly available, but Jesus offered this example in the first century. A cup of cool water in the first century was not so accessible. It actually could be the difference between life and death. These are travelers on the road, and the heat on the roads was brutal. There was no shade, and there still isn't. For long stretches, there were no rest stops. There was no air conditioning. Water by the travelers was carried in skins. They carried them on their shoulder in skins. There was no refrigeration. And the water as they traveled would become very warm, even hot very quickly. I'm going to ask you a question. It's rhetorical. I have done this. You jump out of your car, you go do whatever you need to do, you jump back in your car, you're parched, it's hot, and you grab the bottle of water in your cup holder and you take a big gulp, forgetting that it's been sitting in the car in 90 to 115 degrees, and as you take the big gulp, it does very little to quench your thirst. I'm hearing some say, I've done that. Well when a traveller in the first century arrived at a home parched and in need, a gift of cool water was an expression of real hospitality, real welcome, real kindness. Water had to be stored in clay vessels in cisterns in the ground. That's the way they kept the water cool. This is the offering that could be the difference between being able to continue on the journey or not. So this is the example Jesus uses, and isn't it just like Jesus? He used the smallest act because the transactional cost was almost nothing. It required no special training, no qualifications. No credentials, and there was literally almost no financial cost. What it did require was someone noticing. Someone noticing that someone was in need and their willingness to respond to the need and offer that welcome, welcomes you, welcomes me. Offering a cup of cool water to these little ones. These are his disciples, these are ones in need. He has sent them out. They are dependent on those who own homes or who are along the way. They will be dependent on them, and sometimes they will need time for the figurative bone to heal. But then they are also the ones who have been given the task to share the good news of the gospel. So they are also the ones who will be offering the cups of cool water. So here's the gravity of the message as Jesus closes this whole discourse. Those who welcome Jesus' disciples welcome him. Those who welcome him welcome the one who sent him. A cup of cool water to these little ones is considered by Jesus. Stunning generosity. But Jesus is not saying that the smallest thing is all there is. He is saying that the small things matter, the small things done genuinely in his name are noticed. But so are the larger acts, they also matter. Acts Of welcome are important. Acts of faithfulness matter, but it doesn't stop there. Jesus is talking about this two-way welcome, mutual offerings that run both ways. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me. We are not only givers of kindness, but here sometimes is the hardest part. We are also sometimes the ones who need to be. The receivers of kindness. And when we are in need and are receivers of kindness, we give the joy and the opportunity for those who give to also be blessed. And remember, Jesus is noticing their act and our act, the giver and the receiver. It's a two-way street, and the mission with which Jesus sent. them and us out is carried out by those who offer and those who receive a cup of cool water. They're called mutual small offerings, giving and receiving. Somebody gives, somebody receives, somebody receives, somebody gives. The giving and the receiving are both noticed and received by Jesus as though it were done for and to him. And that's how Jesus closes this long speech. It is actually his longest speech in his ministry. Well, thus far, up to this point, this is his longest speech. And what he is saying, do this, the smallest thing. A cup of cool water. Do this, whatever it may be, and it will not be lost. Thank you. Thank you for being a community of faith. Who cares, who welcomes, and who shares cups of cool water in many ways, noticing when others are parched, and then being willing to dip out a cup of cool water from our reserves. It makes all the difference in the world. Now I know that she is sitting in here, and I want to say thank you to Mary Malik. She led us in a year of kindness, and that's exactly what the scripture is all about. You all participated as a community of faith in so many ways to provide for children, youth, adults, even pets. And it's noticed. It was noticed by Jesus before it was noticed by anyone else. Whatever you do in his name. To welcome two-way street others welcomes him and welcomes the one who sent him. So here's the good news. We are not called to do impossible feats. We are called to do it together. And you responded to the year of kindness so generously. We are invited to participate in mutual offerings, a two-way welcome to give and to receive. Sometimes it seems like it is the smallest act of kindness and to do it faithfully. Again, it's a rhetorical question, but I can tell you for me the answer is a resounding yes. Has anyone ever just given you a look or smiled at you or let you know they care about you and it changed everything? Now there was no financial cost, but it was a huge investment because Jesus uses it, blesses it, and multiplies it. So I invite you as you go this week, look for the little ones in your neighborhoods, in your workplaces, in your schools, wherever you may be, and do not underestimate the power of small acts of love. Done in Jesus' name. Your service matters. And when you do that in Jesus' name, it is though you did it directly for him because you did. Let us pray. Welcoming God, you call us by name into the presence of holiness as your people. We thank you for the promise that when we welcome others, we welcome you. Guide us to share in signs of your grace arriving as a gift just when it is needed, your timing, not ours, and give us the grace to see you and those who come to us in. in your name and the humility to embrace them and to receive the gift through them that you have for us. Forgive us when we make excuses or overlook the little things. Kindle within us a spirit of compassionate service that we may gladly offer cups of cold water to those who are weary, parched, hurting or in need. Remind us that there is no gesture of grace that is ever truly small in your eyes. May our hands and hearts be instruments of your peace, reflecting your boundless love to a world that is thirsty for hope. God and community, hear us as we pray, even as Jesus taught us to say, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not in tempt, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen.