What does it mean to welcome others? In this Sunday’s brief Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus tells us that when we offer even a cup of cold water to welcome someone, we are really welcoming him. Welcoming our neighbors means seeing them in their full humanity, as beloved children of God. As members of the body of Christ, we share the welcome of grace which we ourselves have received through Jesus.
Today’s Scripture readings are Romans 6:12-23, Psalm 146, and Matthew 10:40-42. I found very helpful (and quoted extensively from) Pastor Esther K. Sianipar’s reflection in this week’s ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starters email. Here’s the livestream from Christ the King and the sermon podcast audio:
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Most of you know that I’ve spent the last week in Nashville on a service trip with Christin (Deb) and some of our Lighthouse youth, so I’m still recovering this morning.
We’ll share more pictures and stories from the trip in a few weeks at a joint worship service celebrating our whole summer of service.
If you want a sneak preview, after worship you can ask me/Christin why we came back with a different rental van than we left with. But we had a really good trip.
I have to say, when I saw the timing for today’s Gospel reading, I thought this would be an easy sermon to write. Listen to that last verse of the gospel reading: “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.”
Our summer theme is focused on the phrase “Do Something.” Loving your neighbor through your actions. Putting faith into action.
VBS was all about how you can be a superhero by loving God, which you do by loving your neighbor. Doing service projects. We assembled school kits and birthday kits, and we had “community heroes” like an ambulance crew, an educator, an army sergeant, social workers all come in to share with us how they make a difference in their community.
We call that idea of serving neighbors through our jobs vocation, the way God works through us in our ordinary lives, through our words and actions. There’s meaning in the ordinary things we do.
The point, of course—not just of VBS but of this whole summer theme—is that you can follow Jesus’ command, you can love your neighbors, you can make a difference not just by driving nine hours to a faraway city, but by doing basic things, simple acts of love.
Jesus says even giving a cup of cold water to a little one in his name makes a difference. Every little thing matters. We can handle giving people water—we literally handed out water bottles to a few people on the street on Thursday afternoon in Nashville.
We can do this! Isn’t this a great Scripture passage?
Here’s the challenge: If welcoming people is so straightforward and easy, why does Jesus bother talking about it? Listen to Pastor Esther Sianipar:
Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
At first glance, these words seem straightforward. Offer hospitality. Be kind. Open the door. Share a meal. Give a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty. But Jesus is talking about something deeper than good manners.
Welcoming a stranger involves risk. You do not always know who is at your door. You do not know where they come from, what they believe, or whether your neighbors would approve of your association with them. Hospitality is not simply a social courtesy; it is a spiritual practice of recognizing God’s presence in another human being.
Jesus tells his disciples that when they are welcomed, Christ is welcomed. And when Christ is welcomed, God is welcomed. That means that every encounter becomes holy ground.
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The welcome Jesus describes is not conditional. He does not say, “Welcome those who are exactly like you.” He does not say, “Welcome only those who make you comfortable.” He does not say, “Offer a cup of cold water only to those whom society approves.” Instead, Jesus teaches that when we welcome another person, we encounter Christ.What if Christ comes to us in the person we least expect? What if Christ comes to us through a young person trying to understand who they are? Through a transgender neighbor seeking safety? Through a family looking for a church where they can worship without fear? Through someone who has been wounded by religion and is wondering whether God’s love truly includes them?
One of the reasons I love going on service trips (mission trips) with youth is that we get pushed out of our comfort zones. Not just the youth, but after doing almost 20 of these trips, I’m challenged every single time by meeting people who have had very different life experiences than me. People who talk differently, look different, act differently than I do.
We talked this week about how easy it is to make assumptions about people, based on just a quick impression. We judge why people are getting food from the food pantry, or we look at how they’re dressed and think we must know where they live, how they spend their time, even what they care about.
Maybe those assumptions are true, maybe not, but they’re always incomplete. They’re never the full story. Truly welcoming someone means listening to their story, seeing them as a full person.
What changes when we see people who seem very different as fellow children of God? When we recognize the truth that we are all fellow human beings?
Giving a cup of water to a thirsty little kid sounds pretty easy. But…what about when they’re older? What if…they’re not very nice? There are people who are genuinely hard to welcome, hard to get along with. How do we see the image of God in them too?
Perhaps it helps if we remember not just that we are fellow humans, but that the grace we ourselves have received from God is undeserved. In Romans 6, Paul describes us as people “who have been brought from death to life.” For better or worse, we really do have more in common with “those people” (whoever they are) than we might think.
Without God’s help, we are all slaves to sin, captives who cannot free ourselves. Sinners who are incapable of following God’s call. We are all in need of help.
But thanks be to God, we have been rescued. God has set us free from sin. Not because we deserved it, not because we’ve tried hard enough or are good enough, but out of grace. “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23. (As we’ll sing in a few minutes:) Not because we’re worthy, but because God is good. Because God loves us. Because God loves you.
God welcomes you to come and be washed clean in the waters of baptism. God invites you to be fed at the table.
When we act to love our neighbors, when we take the risk of welcoming strangers, you and I are simply sharing what we have received. Not acting out of fear of punishment, not seeking some kind of reward, but living out the fruits of grace.
Why do we do this? Why is this what God’s love looks like? Well, this is God’s character.
Listen to the words of the Psalm:
The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
That is the kind of God I want to follow. That is a vision worth working towards. And God makes that vision real through us, by our actions. What we do as members of the Body of Christ reflects God’s love.
One action at a time, even if it’s just passing someone a cold water bottle, or boxing up frozen chickens (as we did in Nashville). Even if it’s just making a meal. Listening to someone. Mowing your neighbors’ lawn. Giving a ride. Letting a newcomer know they belong here.
Pastor Sianipar ends her reflection with this: “Perhaps the good news today is this: long before we learn how to welcome others, God has already welcomed us. God welcomes us in all our complexity, all our questions, all our joys and struggles. We are received by grace.”
Thanks be to God. Amen