Matthew 10:40-42
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever 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.”
So, as you’ve no doubt deduced by now, based off the bulletin cover, or the songs that we’ve been singing, or the giant rocket ship and moon base behind me, it was Vacation Bible School this week, and we had a blast. VBS is one of those amazing, wonderful, exhausting, exhilarating things that you really should experience at some point in your life. Plus, if you’ve ever struggled with insomnia, volunteer for VBS and I promise you, you will sleep so incredibly well. And for those of you who teach as a profession, I stand in awe of what you do, especially since you teach for more hours every day, and without the myriad of aides and assistants that we had. My favorite part of VBS has to be the skit that we do during the morning opening. This year I got to play Space Man Sam, a grizzled and jaded veteran of the space program on the eve of his retirement. At the beginning of the week, Space Man Sam was considering the possibility of just staying in space to get away from all the grumpy, mean people on earth, but eventually he had a change of heart thanks to a near-death-experience that involved a fog machine and some “sleeping gas.” I am incredibly thankful for my co-star, the effervescent Rachel Line, or Rocket Rachel I should say, who was my fresh-from-the-academy partner that renewed my faith in the goodness of humanity. As well as Pastor Laura who was a part of our top-tier writing team. I love getting to be a part of these skits, especially when one of the kids comes up to me later on in the day and says, “You look like Space Man Sam!” which actually happened on Thursday, to which I replied, “I do? Well, he’s a really handsome guy, so thank you for saying that! That is so kind of you”
One of the coolest things about VBS, that Pastor Laura actually mentioned in one of her morning devotions, is the idea that we are planting seeds in the hearts and minds of not only the kids who attend, but everyone who participates both young and old. Seeds that we probably won’t ever get to see blossom. But even though we might never get to see the fruits of our labors, planting them is still an absolutely worthwhile exercise. Because you just never know. You just never know how the welcome that we extend, or the love and acceptance that we instill into the lives of these kiddos, into the lives of these volunteers, how those things will grow and bloom and flourish in years to come. And I can say that with certainty, because my love of playing characters like Space Man Sam, or Scuba Sam which is what the kids have already decided my character will be named next year, that is the direct result of a seed that was planted in my heart, when I attended my church’s VBS as a middle schooler. While the younger kids were off doing their rotations and activities, our group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders spent the day rehearsing different Bible stories to act out at the close. And my favorite skit that we did was the calling of Samuel. You probably know the story, Samuel is an apprentice to the High Priest Eli, and as he lays in bed, God calls out to him. But each time Samuel thinks that it’s Eli who is calling him. I, of course, played Samuel, and we pushed three chairs together to make a bed for me and I lay there dreaming peacefully. My friend Chris played God. We had one of those solid pulpits where you can’t see through it, and he would rise up out of it with this ridiculous expression on his face and yell, “Samuel!” At which point I would jolt awake, falling off the chairs, with arms flailing, causing the kids to roar in laughter, before I ran to Eli, played by my friend Caleb, panted and out of breath saying, “Here I am, for you called me.” Just like in the actual Bible story, we repeated this slapstick, back-and-forth, a few times before Samuel finally answered God saying, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” It personally took me another decade or two before I was willing to say those words for myself, and listen to God’s call in my own life, but thankfully I did, and as a result I’ve gotten to see the seed that was planted way back in the sanctuary of Coastside Lutheran Church as it blossoms here at Bethlehem.
Another thing that I love about VBS is that, just like our church, all are welcome. You don’t have to be a member for your kids to attend or for you to volunteer. You don’t have to be Lutheran, or attend one of our preschool programs. There’s no expectation that you will come to church the following Sunday – there’s always an invitation, but never an expectation. VBS is open to all in a way that fits perfectly with our Gospel story for today, which is all about welcome. And although the passage is fairly short, it is full of lessons to be learned, and wisdom to be gleaned, on what it means to welcome others. We are told that even an act as simple and heartfelt as offering a cup of cold water to one of these little ones is an act worthy of a heavenly reward. I wasn’t thinking about this passage at the time, but we actually did give cups of water to the kids one day in the Imagination Station, not for drinking, but so that they could “paint” with water on the concrete while we were waiting for the next phase of our main project to be ready. And it resulted in one of the best things I heard anyone say all week. As you can imagine, repeatedly dipping a paint brush into the cup, and then painting on the sidewalk, resulted in not only some cool designs on the ground, but also in some fairly dirty cups of water. And as we were cleaning up, one of the girls in the group looked at her cup and said, “Wow! Look how dirty the water is. Really makes you rethink the 5-second rule.” The 5-second rule, of course, being the notion that it’s okay to eat something that’s fallen on the ground as long as you pick it up within 5 seconds. Such wisdom and insight at such a young age.
Now of course, the cup of water in the Bible would have been for drinking, not for painting. Either way, though, it’s a reminder that the hospitality that we offer, the welcomes that we extend, don’t need to be overly complicated or elaborate. Welcoming someone doesn’t necessarily have to involve grand gestures, but it does need to involve heart, and sincerity. Back in that day, getting a cup of cold water wasn’t as easy as just going to the dispenser on your fridge. It would have meant walking to the nearest well, hauling up the water from the depths, carrying it back to your house in a heavy clay jar, before finally offering up the fruits of your hard work to someone else. A simple yet meaningful act of hospitality, that would have been much more than just a cup of water. It would have been a symbolic statement that the other person was deserving of the time and effort that you spent retrieving that water. More than just a kind gesture, it was an affirmation of their worth as a person. And when you get down to it, that is the entire goal of our VBS program. Pastor Laura, Jana, and I were all on the same page when it came to what we were trying to do. The central goal of the week was to have the kids walk away knowing that we love them, and that God loves them. If we could do that, if we could teach, remind, instill in them the fact that they are worthy of love, grace, and acceptance just as they are, that God’s love is given to them as a free and unconditional gift, then the week would be a success, and I like to think that it was.
The other thing that this passage highlights about welcome is the reciprocal and inter-connected relationships that form as a result of both welcoming and being welcomed. As the church, we often focus on being the ones who welcome others. And it makes sense to do that. Visitors make the brave decision to walk into a building that they’ve never been to before, filled with people that they don’t know, and they come to engage in the act of worship, an act that we hope is transformative, and life-giving, but can also be a little intimidating and foreign to those who are new. And as a church we are called to honor and recognize the vulnerability and bravery of simply making it in the door. And we do that in a lot of different ways. We wear nametags so that people feel more comfortable approaching us. We include information about our congregation and our worship practices on the inside front cover of the bulletin, as well as our welcome statement on the back. Many of us can still remember how we felt the very first time we walked through those doors, and as a result, we recognize the importance of being welcoming and hospitable. I’ll tell you that as a 2 on the Enneagram, I am absolutely in my element whenever I’m hosting others. I love offering hospitality, doing what I can to welcome others and make them feel comfortable. But I also recognize the power and the privilege that comes from occupying that space. I am able to welcome others because I already belong, I already have my place, my role. But in the passage for today, Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me, and welcomes the one who sent me.” And I’ll admit, that as much as I love offering hospitality, it can sometimes be difficult for me to receive it. I don’t want to be a burden, I don’t want people to feel like they have to go out of their way to make me feel comfortable, or expend too much of their energy or time on me. Even though I am more than happy to do it for others, I don’t always feel worthy of such efforts when I’m on the receiving end. But it is so important that we experience both sides. That we experience both what it means to welcome others, and what it means to be welcomed by others. For it is in both welcoming and being welcomed that we come to experience Christ in our lives.
Famous theologian Frederick Buechner once said that, “We have it in us to be Christs to each other … to work miracles of love and healing, as well as to have them worked upon us.” That means that we have both the distinguished honor of embodying Christ for others, as well as the incredible blessing of experiencing Jesus in and through others. And as always in Lutheran theology, this is a both/and, as opposed to an either/or, situation. None of us are ever meant to only be the one who embodies Jesus for others, and never receive that same gift and grace in return. Nor are we meant to always be on the receiving end, always having others be Christ for us, and never taking up the responsibility of offering Christ’s love to others. Rather we are called to both. We are called to share Christ’s love and welcome and grace with all whom we meet. We are called, as we say at the end of each worship service, to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world. And we are also called to occupy that vulnerable space, that brave space, of being the one who is welcomed. Of recognizing that we don’t have a monopoly on Jesus’ love. That we should not be so arrogant as to think that we are God’s only vehicle for being made manifest, made known, in the world. That our neighbor, or the stranger we walk by on the street, or the person who sets foot in this building for the very first time, that they are just as likely to act as Christ to us, as we are to act as Christ for them.
We are reminded of the reciprocal nature of all of this. That welcoming is the act of entering into an authentic relationship with someone, and authentic relationships are not one-sided in nature. We talk about this whenever we receive new members into this congregation. We say that we certainly hope that this community will be a blessing in their life, but that we know, with certainty, that they will be a blessing to this community. It strikes this beautiful balance between the dignity and responsibility that comes with God’s call that each and every one of us bear witness to the redeeming and transforming love that we have experienced. And the humility and openness that comes from recognizing that other people will do the exact same thing for us. It almost transforms the idea of “welcome” from being an act, or an action, into more of a state of being, a way of existing in the world. We become both conduits and recipients of Christ’s mercy and love, of God’s unconditional grace. And what better example of welcome as a way of living than a week-long VBS program? Where we do our best to tell each and every person involved that they are loved and cherished by God. And where we get the joy, and unexpected blessing, of seeing Christ’s love for us in the faces of tiny children who surprise and delight and remind us what it means to live as a child of God. To trust, and believe, and be curious, and amazed. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who receives the greater blessing, them or us. And really, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Amen.
Photo Credit: https://duvpfa.du.edu/2020/02/welcoming-new-faces/, https://tlcs.org/events/stellar-vbs-2023/, https://www.truthinformed.com/the-cup-of-cold-water-what-it-truly-means/, https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/exploring-the-true-nature-of-gods-love-for-you, https://twitter.com/njsynodelca/status/880795674060705793, https://www.facebook.com/biblestudytools/photos/a.10150557917308930/10151305269243930/, https://maryofmagdala.synapse-d.com/
Sinning boldly with Sam 