June 29, 2014
Welcome
- Romans 6:12-23
- Rev Ruth Chadwick Moore
I was at Montreat last week – a fun time was had by all! – so I had to write this sermon before I left. As I was doing my customary reading about the scripture passages I decided that I was not going to read or preach from the Old Testament lesson assigned for today. It was the story of the attempted sacrifice of Isaac and I listened to the advice of another pastor who said “this text is too powerful, too evocative and too easy… for us to misunderstand badly. It demands your full attention, or none. You decide.” So, since I did not want not want to preach on what theologians call a “text of terror,” I decided to go with the Romans passage Teri read this morning.
But the passage from Paul’s Letter to the Romans is not much better – it is all about sin. And I really don’t like preaching about sin – although I know that, too, must be a sin – it is just too demoralizing for me. Paul depicts sin as the opposite of obedience to God – so I am in deep trouble here. But sin for me is distorting our relationship with God, with other people and with all creation – and that’s not exactly the same thing.
And then the Psalm for this morning is a hard one too. It is a psalm of lament that asks, “Will you forget me forever, O God?” As we listened to Robbie sing the psalm this morning were we to have perplexity in our minds and grief in our hearts? Are we to cower in fright because the enemy triumphs over us again and again? The Psalm does go on to express trust in God, but really, do you want to deal with a God who hides his face from us?
But like it or not, these are part of our sacred scripture, facets of the God revealed to us in the Holy Bible. It would be easy to ignore texts that are difficult for us. Look at me – I didn’t read the Old Testament lesson because I didn’t think I could preach a good sermon about it. But contrary to popular opinion, I really do enjoy struggling with difficult scripture passages. I believe that God’s word is worth struggling with. But sometimes we are challenged to reconcile difficult bible passages with the idea of a loving God. It is a struggle to get ourselves to that point. And struggle we do, because even our gospel passage is not particularly affirming either. (Shoot, why did I agree to preach today?!)
Jesus speaks about rewards – like the rewards I offered the children earlier – rewards for prophets, and rewards for the righteous. And let’s be honest, we all like to be rewarded for good behavior or for working at something. But Jesus also speaks of people who lose their reward. If the reward is eternal life – which is what most people believe Jesus rewards to us believers – who wouldn’t be concerned with losing that? And doesn’t it make us scared to think we could lose it?
But Jesus also says, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me…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, these will definitely get their reward.”
So maybe that’s what we should concentrate on: welcome.
Welcome is such a common word. It is on our floor mats here at church. It is in our worship bulletin every week. It is on road signs as we enter a new state. But making someone welcome is not as simple as just offering a word, although it usually starts there. The art of making someone welcome is rooted in the ancient practice of hospitality. Preparing to welcome someone takes thought, intention and discipline. And some of us naturally have the gift of hospitality and some of us have to work at it. My husband Mark is just naturally welcoming and hospitable. I am meaner and more self-absorbed so I have to work at it.
Jesus actually teaches the disciples and us about 3 different types of hospitality.
First he asks us to open ourselves to the hospitality of God that comes to us in Christ – to hear the message of the Kingdom of God and embrace it – with all its difficulties as well as the benefits or rewards that it offers. This is the response of faith, of believing that God’s kingdom really is available to us, that it exists now, and that we can be a part of it. For me, this means that the Christian life, to be a follower or disciple of Jesus, is the most reliable truth by which to live and through which to share the challenges of our world.
The second way to embody the hospitality that Jesus teaches us flows out of the first. It is to become proclaimers – prophets – of God’s hospitality to the world. As we discover and experience God’s hospitality we can’t keep it to ourselves. It is an ever expanding welcome that needs us to carry it out to others who long to find belonging, inclusion and acceptance. This is what evangelism is all about folks. This is not a message of come join us because you will be saved or we have your ticket to heaven. This is a message of Good News to the poor, liberation to the captives, release to the prisoners and wholeness to the broken. This is the new world order that Jesus taught and that he sent his disciples to preach. He wants us to preach that message too.
And finally, the proclamation must be accompanied by actions if it is to have any validity – and this is the third response we are called to make. As those who have received God’s hospitality and who proclaim it to the world, we must now be those who welcome others. We must become the people who welcome the righteous people, who welcome the prophets of all kinds and the people who welcome the least – whoever they are. We are to welcome, include and accept all others in Christ’s name. We are to provide – in our lives, our homes, our communities and especially our church – a place of belonging, of serving and of loving for all who long for a home. In this way we become the expression of God’s kingdom, of God’s hospitality in our world. We are to welcome all in Christ’s name whether it is at church, or on the street, in the grocery store, at the gas station, over the back fence – wherever there is human contact and relationship. Because it is there that hospitality will be seen and felt. It is at these places that Jesus knocks at the door seeking to be invited in.
The psalmist could have cried, “I don’t trust you Lord,” but instead choses to praise God. And God responds with saving help.
Paul could have insisted that “we should sin because we are no longer under the law,” but instead proclaims our true freedom in righteousness. And God gives us the free gift of eternal life.
We can seek to be in control, we can refuse to trust God, we can sin until the cows come home and you know what – we are still loved.
So how do we respond? Do we hate, do we fear, do we make decisions based on prejudice or lack of knowledge?
I don’t think so, because we are trying to be disciples of Jesus Christ and we are loved and cherished by a loving God and an ever present Spirit. So instead we can do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. And following the teachings of Jesus we can welcome all – offering not just hospitality, but acceptance without judgment, giving without obligation and love without condition.
And the most wonderful part of all is that as we welcome all the various people who come to us and who we invite and interact with, we can discover that we are welcoming Jesus. And as we welcome Jesus, we welcome God and the Holy Spirit too, and so in an eternal cycle of welcome we are once again drawn deeper into the hospitality of God. Life begets life and welcome begets welcome. No theology of exclusivism and rejection, of judgment and condemnation can ever know this all embracing amazing invitation. It is known by those who are willing to take the risk of opening the doors of the Kingdom and of their lives without seeking to regulate who may enter.
So let us choose life. Let us choose justice. Let us choose to offer a cup of water to one of those little ones in the name of God. May it be so, Amen.
Sources:
www.gbod.org/lead-your-church/lectionary-planning-helps/third sunday-after-pentecost.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2014/06/02/3-pentecost-proper-8.
http://preachingtip.com/archives-year-a/pentecost-year-a/proper-8.
http://sacredise.com/blog/p=976 by John van de Laar.