Matthew 10:40-42
welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 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.”
Rob called me one night and told me that he really needed some pastoral counseling. He also told me that to insure confidentiality, we would need to go out in his boat onto the lake. Also, so we wouldn’t raise any suspicions about what we were doing out in the middle of the lake, we would need to make it look like we were fishing when in reality it was pastoral counseling. I could tell it was an emergency so I got to Rob’s house first thing the next morning. Rob’s wife Sally greeted me at the door and took me through the house and down to the boathouse, she handed me a small cooler packed with water, sodas and snacks.
Rob had everything ready. We got in the boat and went out onto the lake… for “counseling.” Rob had fished this lake for probably 60 years. As a kid he ran catfish lines and sold the catch to a “supper club” for Friday night fish fry. We fished. We talked. About 11:30 we headed back to the boathouse and pulled out the catch of fish. Rob cleaned all the fish. I was not allowed to help. I was his guest.
We then went back to the house and opened the door to the overwhelming smell of fresh baked bread. And there in the kitchen was “just a little lunch” as Sally called it. Fresh bread, meats and cheeses, pickles and condiments all laid out with the deepest of care. Rob showed me his favorite way to eat this lunch… a slice of Sally’s homemade bread with meat and cheese and some garlic sprinkled on top and then toasted in the toaster oven. It was perfect. The three of us chatted over lunch and when it was done I thanked them both and Sally put into my hands a bag with the rest of the fresh baked bread and Rob handed me a cooler with all the cleaned filets packed in baggies on ice and Rob told me he would need additional counseling… probably in next couple of weeks. I told him I would make room in my calendar for him.
Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me. Whoever welcomes me, welcomes the One who sent me. Rob and Sally welcomed me. By welcoming me, they welcomed Christ and by welcoming Christ they welcomed God. That’s not just a pastor thing. That’s a human being thing. Rob and Sally clearly lived that way… day in and day out. This is how they welcomed EVERYONE! This is the way they treated all of “the little ones” this lesson talks about. This is how they cared for the “the least of these” as Jesus refers to all of humanity later in Matthew’s Gospel.
The way we show welcome to “the little ones” and “the least of these” is how we show welcome to God! So this lesson asks us to reflect on how we welcome God in our churches? In our country? In our homes? In our hearts? You won’t convince me or anyone else with words. It is in what we DO… in how we SHOW our welcome for the "little ones" and "the least of these" that will show how welcoming we are to God.
So how do we show it? How do we SHOW welcome to the little ones and the least of these… titles that pretty much encompass all of humanity? The first step is to NOTICE them. You first have to SEE folks. Not for what you might get out of them. Not for how you might exploit them. Not for how you might have been told to fear them. But to SEE them as God created them to be at their core, and remember, everything that God creates isn’t just “good” but is “very good.”
All around us, people are asking us, pleading to us, screaming at us, and challenging us to notice them as they have not been noticed before. All around us people are saying to us “SEE ME FULLY AS GOD MADE ME TO BE!” That, I think, is what folks these days are talking about when they talk about being “WOKE.” Using the word “WOKE” in that way is certainly new, but the call to walk our lives towards being “WOKE” is as old as Abraham welcoming angels “unaware” into his tent for a meal. It’s as old as washing the feet of a weary traveler. It’s as old as a couple of folks inviting someone they met on the road to “stay with us now, because it is evening.”
In our world there has been violent pushback to the notion of being “WOKE” from politicians to pundits to the supreme court. What folks don’t understand when they pushback on “WOKE” is that they are pushing back on Jesus and the One who sent him. To counter that pushback you and I and the larger Christ Trinity community is being called to lead the way toward “WOKE” in our community. Or if you’d rather, toward a radical and extravagant welcome for all people, just as God has made them to be.
Providing that extravagant welcome to all people, just as God created them to be is what we are about here in this place. Christ Trinity is being called to continue to lead the way! We do that not only with words but in how we live. Out in the world, determined to see… to FULLY SEE the other we greet them as you would greet God’s angels. We greet them as you would greet one of Jesus’ disciples. We greet them as you would greet Jesus himself. We greet that new person as if the Divine were standing right there… right in front of you, because if we take seriously what Jesus says here, THAT is exactly what you will be doing. Amen.
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