Sermon 2nd July 2023 – 5th Sunday after Pentecost
Text Matthew
10:40-42 – All Welcome?
It’s probably
seen on every church sign board – on every church bulletin – on powerpoint
displays – in fact it’s probably the very first word spoken by the Pastor or
during announcements – WELCOME
Signs may say
“ALL WELCOME” The opening phrase may be “WELCOME TO WORSHIP”. Welcome.
Such a small
word that we say all the time – but an important word that is vital for
churches to remain alive. A church would not survive if those who attended
believed this is not a welcoming church. A visitor or new-comer would not stay
if they were not to be made to feel welcome. What does it mean to be a church
that welcomes? It doesn’t mean changing worship styles or the pastor wearing
casual clothes. It doesn’t mean being more entertaining or making sure we don’t
talk about sin and judgment. Usually a person visiting a church expects these
things because they know that these are part of how a church presents itself. In
fact sometimes they come for those things because they can get all the other
things elsewhere. If they want to be entertained they can go to the footy or to
the movies. If they want modern music they can turn on the radio or their
Spotify account. No, they are looking for something different in church that
they cannot find in our dog eat dog world that judges us by our standing in
society. They are looking for hope – They
are looking for acceptance of who they are as a child of God and not some
insignificant person defined by their possessions or career.
We have a look
at what Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading: “Whoever welcomes you welcomes
me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me”. So, Jesus is the
standard of who and how we welcome. If we look at Jesus’ ministry we see him
welcoming all without judgment or discrimination. We all know that he ate with
sinners and tax collectors. But he also ate at Simon the Pharisee’s house. A
Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So Jesus went to the Pharisee's
home and got ready to eat. And while he was at Simon’s place a sinful woman in that town found out that
Jesus was there and started washing his
feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. The woman kissed his feet
and poured the perfume on them. Simon was horrified that Jesus would welcome
someone like her. Simon said: If this man really were a prophet, he would know
what kind of woman is touching him! He would know that she is a sinner. Jesus
knew exactly what kind of woman she was and how she had been treated. It could
very well have been the woman caught in adultery whom Jesus welcomed back with
dignity.
Being a
welcoming church is more than just putting a welcome mat at the front door or
putting a sign saying “all welcome”. Welcome is more than a word; it is an
action and it is also a subjective feeling by the person. What do I mean by
that. We might say and believe we are a welcoming church but if the person
doesn’t “feel” welcomed then that’s important to understand. If a visitor walks
through our door it’s for a reason. It’s not because they had nothing to do
today so they thought they may as well go to church. People have TVs and sports
to occupy themselves when they have nothing to do. In fact Sundays have become
one of those days where people like to go our for brunch or have family
gatherings and also sport is very popular on Sundays especially children’s
sport. People come to church because they believe at church they going to find
something different – they are going to be welcomed by God.
In his book, What’s
So Amazing About Grace, Philip Yancey speaks about a woman, like the woman who
came to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears. One of his friends was speaking to
this woman who was in desperation and asked her “have you ever thought about
going to a church for help”. Her response was “Church! – why would I ever go
there? I am already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel
worse”. Is that how people see the church? Is that how people see us. Is that
what Jesus is speaking against – judging rather than welcoming?
Jesus sees a
direct link between welcoming others to welcoming Jesus and his Father into our
midst. It sort of reminds me of what the writer to the Hebrews says – Do not
forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown
hospitality to angels without knowing it such as Abraham did in our reading a
couple weeks ago. We may only get one shot at welcoming someone when they come
to visit. And if they feel like they have been welcomed then they will be our
greatest witness as they tell their friends and family. But if they are not
made to feel welcome then they become our biggest critic and who knows how many
people they may affect.
When we are at
Holy Communion we experience God’s hospitality. A banquet has been prepared for
us and we are welcomed in. We received God’s hospitality to prepare us to give
God’s hospitality to others. It reminds
me of the song that we sing: Freely freely you have received, freely freely
give.
We are welcome
by the Lord today and in our encounter with God we receive a blessing in order
to be a blessing to other as Jesus explain. For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick
and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ‘Truly I
tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters
of mine, you did for me.’
While we have
our “official greeters” at the doors of our church to welcome people as they
enter, each of us should consider ourselves a “Welcomer” so they don’t feel
like a first timer or an outsider breaking in, but a part of the family. And
the welcome is not just as they arrive but also as they leave. Arriving is easy
– walk straight in and get involved in the service. But what about after – to
invite them in for a cuppa and fellowship. Sometimes they may say they can’t
stay – Then maybe you can give up your time of fellowship and walk them to
their car and keep chatting. To see if you can follow up. That’s where the
welcome really begins as Jesus says - 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.”
Welcoming is
made up of many small gestures – gestures like making a phone call to ask how a
friend or stranger is doing, dropping off groceries for someone unwell,
reaching out to the lonely and most vulnerable among us. How many of our
members have become hidden because they haven’t returned since Covid? There is
no small gesture. A cup of cold water is the smallest of gifts – a gift that
almost anyone can give. But a cup of cold water is precious to a person who is
thirsty – in some instances, the gift of life itself.
The smallest
service brings with it an eternal reward for the giver and sometimes to the
receiver as they are made to feel welcome and return the following week. Don’t
underestimate what welcoming and hospitality can do to the receiver and to the
giver. Look at the visitors who came to Abraham. 3 angels visit Abraham. As
angels they probably didn’t need to eat or drink but they knew how important it
was to Abraham to be hospitable so they accepted his hospitality. Sometimes God
sends us visitors – angels unaware – for our sake. To teach us how to extend
hospitality.
Jesus tells us
that small deeds are important – even eternally significant. It doesn’t take
much; but it takes something. And every one of us can achieve these things, and
every one of us can make that difference – a phone call, a visit, a card. We
can find God in those smallest of good deeds and so too can the receiver. We
are all called to be Christ to each other and to meet the needs of others
through acts of kindness… cups of water. When we welcome one another, we
discover the reward that comes from the deep hospitality found in God’s welcome
of us. When we give hospitality and welcome to others we begin to understand
God’s hospitality and welcoming to us even deeper. Whoever gives even a cup of
cold wate will most definitely not lose their reward. Let us become a church
that welcomes the least of these and share the blessings we have received from
God.