Sermon: Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Matthew 10:40-42, July 2, 2023Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church, Pastor Jonathan Linman

Sermon: Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Matthew 10:40-42, July 2, 2023

Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church, Pastor Jonathan Linman

Did you listen carefully to the gospel reading? The word welcome appears again and again – six times – in three short verses. This, in summary, is what we heard: Whoever welcomes the disciples welcomes Jesus, and whoever welcomes Jesus welcomes the one who sent him, namely, God the Father. And on it goes with more elaborations on the theme of welcome.

Thus, today, we can’t escape talking about what it means to welcome others and be welcomed by them. And by extension, what it also means not to be welcomed. For if Jesus had to teach about the value of welcoming others, you can be sure that there were plenty of people who were unwelcoming.

On one of my walks around town, I saw a house with several signs near the front door. One sign said: “Warning, this house is protected by video surveillance.” Another sign read: “Beware: we’re members of block watch.” Still another sign on the door said: “No soliciting.” And the final sign read: “Welcome to Our Porch!” Given all the other warning signs, how sincere was that final word of welcome?

In fact, we’ve been seeing lots of stories in the news about people who show up innocently on people’s doorsteps and are subsequently met with guns, and some have been shot and even killed.

This period in our nation’s history is not characterized by a welcoming spirit. We increasingly don’t trust our neighbors, having become overly suspicious of them. This makes truly welcoming others increasingly difficult.

Moreover, the discourse we see on TV and in social media is often anything but welcoming of the viewpoints of others who differ from us. And this is true of those on the right and on the left of the political spectrums.

We are not welcoming of refugees and asylum seekers at our nation’s borders and ports of entry. And on and on the examples could go of our unwelcoming stances.

The words on the tablet on the Statue of Liberty don’t ring true of our day: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” Instead of Lady Liberty holding a torch lighting the way as a sign of welcome, maybe the statue should be reconfigured so that she is raising a clenched fist instead – that’s more in keeping with the spirit of our age.

Today’s gospel message stands in sharp contrast with the unwelcoming gestures we see so often all around us. On our walk of discipleship in following Jesus, we are beckoned to take higher road of welcoming others.

Jesus makes his point clear that giving welcome is a sacred act. For such welcoming of others, and being welcomed by them, becomes a way of welcoming of Jesus himself and ultimately of welcoming God the Father. For when we welcome the least of these our brothers and sisters, we welcome Jesus and entertain God’s angels unawares.

But here’s the thing: just as we only can love because God first loved us, we welcome each other because God in Christ first welcomed us.

God’s ultimate welcome of us happened when Jesus was on the cross, his arms outstretched in welcome to a whole, sinful world. And after his resurrection, Jesus welcomed us to newness of life when he appeared alive to many with words “Peace be with you.”

Thus, in the waters of baptism which connect us with Jesus’ death and resurrection, God in Christ welcomes us home to himself, to the family of the Holy Trinity, one God in three persons.

And God gives us a warm welcome in the merciful, forgiving, gracious words of scripture which are proclaimed here Sunday after Sunday.

Christ welcomes us to this table, this banquet of sacred hospitality, where we receive the gift of his very presence, his body and blood in a simple meal of bread and wine with the welcoming words, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

And strengthened and encouraged by these divine expressions of welcome, we welcome each other in the sharing of the Peace of Christ, and in the loving regard we give to each other in Christian community.

For example, Coffee hour after our 9:00 am service and convivio after the 11:00 o’clock service are times of holy welcome and hospitality when we share with each other good food and good conversation.

All of this welcoming is very rewarding to us and to the disciples of old. The words of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel make this clear: “Whoever welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet, and whoever welcomes a righteous person because she is 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 because they are disciples – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” (cf. Matthew 10:41-42)

And what’s the reward that we all receive? Salvation and life eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord, the most welcome gift of all. Here’s how the apostle Paul says it in today’s reading from Romans: “But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification [to being made holy], and the end is eternal life. For the wages [or reward] of sin is death, but the free gift of God [our reward] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:22-23) Thanks be to God for this loving, welcoming, sacred embrace!

This welcoming gift of salvation, of forgiveness, of grace, gives us the faith, the courage, the stamina, to leave this place of welcome to return to a hostile, unwelcoming world with the good news that God’s welcome embrace that we receive here is, in fact, available for all, even to those who might refuse that gift with hostile acts of resistance.

Yes, our calling as disciples of Jesus is to offer God’s welcome to others. And yes, extending this divine welcome is difficult work in our dangerous world. It comes with costs and can put us at risk.

Our congregation’s public commitment to welcoming and including all people has provoked acts of protest by people who want God’s loving welcome limited to only certain types of people, actively excluding some of God’s children. In this hateful, violent world, it’s not unthinkable that our public commitment to radical welcome of all may put us at risk of being on the receiving end of acts of hostility.

Still, we come back here Sunday after Sunday, and are energized anew by God’s gracious welcome to us, to go out into a hateful world with God’s word of loving welcome even to those most unwelcoming.

And we don’t go out begrudgingly, but warmly, willingly and with personal investment and skin in the game. For that’s what the word translated ‘welcome’ means in Greek.

And with our persistence inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit of the God who in Christ welcomes us and all, sacred welcome begets more welcome until eventually God’s welcoming, loving, gracious embrace will have the last word for the healing of the nations. Thanks be to God. Amen.