Hospitality to all

‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me’ (Matt 10:40)

 (Year A: The Third Sunday after Trinity, 28^th June, 2020)

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READINGS

Genesis 22:1-14

Psalm 13

Romans 6:12-23

Matthew 10:37-42

Parallel readings are found in Mark 9:37, 41 as well as Luke 10:16,12:51-53, 14:26-27, 17:33.

‘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.’

(Matthew 10:40-42)

In the course of life nobody crosses our path who does not provide an opportunity for us to learn and to show kindness. It happens more often, perhaps, that we receive more kindness than we give. And there are kindnesses that we may never know about or that we took for granted at another time in our lives. 

The point of life is to live it in the now. Regrets may teach us valuable lessons and may spur us on to leave the past behind and to live better in the now while leaving the future to God’s mercy and help. Life is precious and the people who cross our paths are precious. There is a purpose and direction in life even if we cannot appreciate it fully now.

In this short passage from the gospel of Matthew we hear about welcome – God’s welcome of us in Jesus Christ and the welcome we can give to one another. Especially in the context of this Gospel reading there is the special welcome that is given to those who announce with their lives the truth that is in Christ. Their role in proclaiming, announcing and living the gospel message is a vital part of the experience of a Christian community.

In some selections of gospel readings for this particular Sunday verses 37-39 are added just ahead of the verses focussed on welcome:

‘Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;  and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it’.

(Matthew 10:37-39)

This may seem like a harsh statement and one that is divisive. Read in the context of the experience of the Jewish-Christian community in the region of Antioch (roughly present day Syria and south east Turkey) we should not be surprised that a decision to follow Christ cost dearly. Tragically, it often had the consequences of division not that Christ or his earlier followers wanted, planned or engineered these sad outcomes even if, subsequently, some followers have misunderstood the gospel message and inflicted wounds of division.

Welcome for one another complements the carrying of the cross. If we are to truly love others including those different to us by virtue of race, religion or other characteristics we must welcome them as they are and not as we would wish them to be. Welcome is a difficult idea and can rail against our assumptions and defences. Welcoming another does not necessarily mean abandoning our own principles or beliefs. Rather, it means listening to, acknowledging, learning from and communicating with another human being different to us but sharing the same ancestry as human beings planted on this fragile earth for a time.  Welcome founded on love is the basis of Christian mission and witness.  

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