Cedar Valley Lutheran Church
Pentecost 5A June 28, 2026 Matthew 10:40-42
The disciples are getting ready to go on a mission trip by themselves. Jesus is sending them to share the gospel, not just with words of good news but with doing tangible things like casting out demons and curing the sick and even raising the dead. You would think they’d have to take some serious supplies along with them to be successful. Yet Jesus has told them to go with only the clothes on their back. They are to take no money with them, no food, no tent or sleeping bag. They are only to rely on the kindness of strangers … the hospitality of others is what will sustain them … nothing more, nothing less.
Behind Jesus’ instructions is a lesson for all of us. That lesson is that hospitality … the act of welcoming … is critical to the advancement of healing and forgiveness, of justice and mercy, of righteousness and hope, of even new life from what was dead. And, according to Jesus, it begins with offering someone a cup of cold water.
That sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? But think about it, where in Jesus’ day are you going to get a cup of cold water? Remember, there is no refrigeration, no ice machines, nothing that can easily produce a cold drink. To offer a cup of cold water, you must stop what you are doing, go out of your way and go to a well. There, you would draw some refreshing cold water from its depths and bring it to the one who is thirsty. And here is another thing to remember, this effort isn’t made for an important person … someone of significance. It is offered to whom Jesus calls “a little one” … somebody that lives in the margins and is easy to ignore, someone who can’t return the favor and maybe doesn’t deserve such kindness.
I found it significant that the word “welcome” is used six times in the three verses that is our gospel reading for today. That tells me that a welcoming spirit … that acts of hospitality … are an important quality in the life of a disciple.
Of course, this welcoming spirit cuts to our very core as a nation … it’s part of our DNA. As immigrants our ancestors were welcomed to this country by immigrants who came before them. Throughout our history, we have been a people welcoming other immigrants, refugees, and aliens. Often, at first, such are met with hostility and fear and misunderstanding. But, in time, with persistence and determination, they become part of the fabric of who we are.
I am reminded of the Statue of Liberty greeting many of these newcomers passing through Ellis Island. You are all familiar with the words of welcome Lady Liberty offers. What you probably don’t know is that these words come from the end of a poem written by Emma Lazarus entitled, “The New Colossus.” Colossus is a reference to a giant Greek statue, the Colossus of Rhodes, which was an imposing, powerful statue of a warrior. The entire poem makes the inscription on the Statue of Liberty even more poignant. It goes like this:
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
with conquering limbs astride from land to land;
here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles.
“From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome;
her mild eyes command
the air bridged harbor that cities frame.
Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!
Cries she with silent lips.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your teaming shores,
send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
These are good words to hear as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on Saturday, reflecting not only on the freedoms we enjoy but the gift of freedom we can give to others fleeing oppression and conflict. These are also good words to hear about our calling to be disciples of Jesus Christ and our mission to bring the good news of the gospel to others in word and deed.
Pentecost 7B July 7, 2024 Mark 6:1-13
We see in our gospel reading for today the continuation of a theme that has been running through the life and ministry of Jesus from the beginning. Again and again, Jesus has been forced to deal with rejection: rejection for what he teaches, rejection for what he does, and rejection for who he is.
The Pharisees criticize him for healing on the Sabbath. His disciples chastise him for sleeping in the middle of a stormy sea. Even his mother and his family try to get him to stop working so hard because his zealousness is proving to be an embarrassment to them. And today, Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth and it happens again. The people who sat next to him in worship, who celebrated with him at festivals, who watched him play and grow up, can’t accept what he has become.
At first, listening to Jesus teach in the synagogue, these family friends and neighbors are astonished by his eloquence and spiritual insight. They are impressed: “Where did he learn all of this?” they ask each other. “How did he get to be this good?” they wonder. “When did he get so wise all of a sudden?” they question. “After all, he is one of us. Up until recently he was just a local handyman, patching our roofs, framing our doors, and fixing our wobbly tables and chairs.” What happened? Where did Jesus get all of this?
Well, the answer to their questions is that he got all of this from them. He got it from his parents and siblings and relatives. He got it from his teachers at the synagogue. He got it from the values kept by his neighbors and from the stories he learned of his hometown heroes and his local scallywags. Jesus, in essence, is a mirror, showing them who they are and the role they played in shaping his identity and his place in the world. And the same is true for us. So much of what it is that makes us who we are and the things we do is shaped by our environment. And the history we carry and the people who have left a mark on our lives play a big part in our identity.
But their amazement suddenly shifts and they take offense at him. Someone in the crowd – perhaps a jealous neighbor, or maybe a childhood rival, or possibly the village gossip who loves to stir up trouble – questions the fact that Jesus has stepped out of his lane and ignored his place in the community. “He was one of us and now he thinks he’s something more – he has become something we didn’t expect him to be – something that doesn’t fit into the box we put him in.” And their doubts leave him powerless to do what he would love to do for them – what he has done for so many others.
But before we judge them too harshly, let’s imagine that we are also standing among his homies wondering the same thing ourselves. Like them, how often have we missed the holy among us because we could only see what we wanted to see? How often have we missed the new thing God is doing in Jesus because what we could only see is the old and familiar? How often have we not allowed Jesus to surprise us?
I remember something a wise friend told Pam and me when we were newly married. She said that we should surprise each other every once in a while with something unexpected. That surprise, she said, keeps the intrigue and the mystery of love alive in a relationship. I believe that part of the gospel mission for us involves an element of surprise. Because our openness to being surprised, keeps us open to the intrigue and mystery of God’s deep love for us so that it doesn’t get old and boring and meaningless.
My prayer for you, my friends, is that when you listen to Jesus you can hear a new thing God is doing underneath the comfortable traditions and the familiar habits of your faith. I pray you will be surprised by the mystery of the abundant life God has for you in Jesus – a life filled with love and grace … with mercy and forgiveness … with freedom and peace. May you have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the surprising good news God has for you in Jesus Christ, our Lord.