Discipleship’s Rewards—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 5A/Proper 8 (Matthew 10)
Matthew
10:40-42 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 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, 42 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.”
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If the
preceding passage (Mt. 10:34-39) focused on the cost of discipleship, this
reading focuses on the rewards of discipleship. Contextually, Jesus is about to
send his disciples out on a missionary trip. He speaks here of hospitality and
the rewards to be accrued not by the missionaries, but by the recipients of
their efforts. We might think here in terms of the promise God made to Abraham
that through his descendants the nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-4). In
this brief passage, Jesus speaks of the rewards accrued by those who fully and
faithfully welcome the ministrations of his followers.
The
mission of the twelve is introduced earlier in chapter 10, where Jesus sends
the disciples out with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. They’re to
preach about the realm of God and offer healing to the sick, raised the dead,
and cast out demons (Mt. 10:5-15). Having addressed this mission, including the
possibility of persecution and the division that might occur as a result of
Jesus’ ministry, Jesus speaks to the blessings that come from this work. As
such, this reading brings to a close the story that begins in verse 1 of
chapter 10 of Matthew’s Gospel. What Jesus wants the disciples to know is that
when people welcome them, they’re welcoming Jesus. In other words, as they go
out into the world, preaching, healing, raising the dead, etc., they’re serving
as Jesus’ representatives. If you want an ecclesiastical term for this work,
they served as “vicars of Christ.”
Before
we get too far with this passage, it’s important to note that the mission Jesus
sends his followers on is rather narrowly defined. They’re to stick to the
children of Israel. They’re not to engage with Samaritans or Gentiles (Mt.10:5-6). Contextually, Jesus is seen here keeping the mission tightly focused,
but as we see as we read the larger story, it will quickly expand after Jesus’
resurrection. Consider that Matthew’s Gospel ends with the call to make
disciples of the nations (Mt. 28:19-20). That work will have its day, but not
just yet. As for us, well, we live in the Post-Cornelius era, when the doors
have been opened to the entire world (Acts 10-11).
As we
ponder this passage, we might focus on the word “welcome.” Jesus suggests here
that those who welcome the disciples, welcome him. When people welcome Jesus by
welcoming his disciples, they welcome the one who sent him. Might we read this
in Trinitarian fashion? That is, when
Jesus’ representatives are welcomed, Jesus is welcomed, and therefore the one
who sent him (I realize this might be construed in a binitarian fashion, but I
think the point is there). When it comes to the word “welcome;” it appears four
times in this brief passage. What does it mean to welcome someone? While
this passage focuses on the disciples being welcomed, what about the reverse?
What does it mean for the church to be a place of welcome? Churches will often think of themselves as
friendly and welcoming places, but in reality, many who claim to be welcoming
are rather exclusive. That is, they welcome folks like them, but not those who
are different. Even if they welcome them in, they may not welcome their gifts
or ideas. That word—assimilation—often crops up in national and church life.
What people often mean by assimilation is that “newcomers” need to shed their
prior identities and become the same as those already present in the
community/nation. It’s easy to welcome folks who are just like us because they
don’t threaten the status quo. Welcoming the stranger (outsider) is quite
different. It can change things.
When
the disciples went out on their missionary journey, they put themselves at the
mercy of others. In other words, they went out into the world as strangers
knowing that not everyone would welcome them. Nevertheless, those who do open
their hearts, homes, and communities to the disciples will receive their
reward. So, to receive the prophet as a prophet receives the prophet’s reward,
and the one who receives the righteous receives the righteous person’s reward.
Finally, the one who provides a cup of cold water to one of the little ones
will not lose their reward.
The
reference to the “little ones” is intriguing. Matthew doesn’t have children in
mind here. Rather it would appear that “little ones” refers to the evangelists
whom Jesus is sending out into the world. If this is true, then in its original
context the reference to the “least of these” in Matthew 25 likely also refers
to Jesus’ representatives. While this is likely true, we needn’t be overly
restrictive in terms of the application of this word from Matthew’s Jesus.
Thus, giving the cup of cold water could include the evangelists and the
homeless person both. In this, there is a reward, for in doing so, we do it
unto Jesus and thus to the one who sent him.
The
reference here to rewards, as with Matthew 25, has eschatological dimensions.
It speaks to a future day of the Lord when judgments will be handed down.
Judgments don’t have to involve punishment. They can include rewards
(blessings).
If we
can read this, at least in part, as a word about the blessings (rewards) that
come from being welcoming/hospitable, then we can broaden our conversation.
Now, hospitality can involve many different qualities that run from a church’s
coffee hour to providing shelter for the homeless. It can also involve one of
the church’s central elements of worship, the gathering at the Lord’s Table. Of
course, the Table isn’t always a welcoming place! When it comes to the
evangelists, we might assume that as they worked their way across the land,
they would have shared meals with the persons who received them. As they shared
the meal, they might have talked about Jesus and his ministry. They might have
also discovered the need for healing, whether physical or spiritual. In other
words, it was at Table that the realm of God was revealed. Thus, the hosts
became/become the ones who are hosted, so that in the course of the meal all receive
a blessing.
So how might
we lay out the welcome mat so that in welcoming others we welcome Jesus and the
one who sent him? As we ponder these questions our thoughts can move
beyond welcoming missionaries and evangelists, the “little ones” of this
passage, to others who might come into our lives. As we ponder this passage,
might we turn this thing around, so that not only does it speak about those who
go out on a mission, but perhaps how those who enter our lives and churches
become missionaries and prophets, and thus, vicars of Jesus? How we receive
those who bring a new word through their lives and experiences, brings
rewards/blessings (or not).
If we
start with the “little ones” as meaning children, how might our churches be
more welcoming to children? Moving on from there, who might come our way who
have been excluded elsewhere, including from our churches? Might we think here
of refugees and migrants, whatever their reasons for coming into our
communities? There is, at this moment, a strong anti-immigrant sentiment
present in the United States and elsewhere. What about members of the LGBTQ
community? Folks who are queer (I’m using here what has become a broader term)
have long struggled to find a welcoming home in the church, and often when they
hear a word of welcome it ends up being a bait-and-switch effort. The folks
most at risk right now are those who are part of the transgender community, who
are experiencing persecution in many parts of the country. How might those who
are being excluded and persecuted in our midst be truly welcomed, and as they
are welcomed, blessings come to all? It is, as Nibs Stroube, notes:
The good news is that God will continue to raise prophetic voices in our midst to call us anew into the commonwealth of God. The bad news is that we often will reject these voices as demonic and threatening. The truth is that God is sending missionaries into our lives because we are so hungry for love and wholeness. Let us pray that God’s Spirit will give us ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to receive, so that we can be converted and transformed and welcomed into the new world of the God movement in our midst, so that we may receive the prophets of God in the name of Jesus. [Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (pp. 292-293). Kindle Edition.
Again, the message is: when we welcome the messenger of
Jesus, whoever that may be, we welcome Jesus and the one who sent him.
What
this passage seems to call for is an openness to the other. If that is true,
then this is, in many ways, a matter of the heart. It not only calls for acceptance
of the other, but it goes much deeper into sets of actions that are rooted in
compassion and grace. To get there, we’ll need to adopt an attitude of
vulnerability. This act of opening ourselves up in this way will be difficult.
It’s risky. Yet, if we read Matthew correctly, there will be blessings
(rewards) involved not only for us but for all. As the call of Abraham
demonstrates, the covenant relationship that God creates leads to blessings for
the nations. This covenant is the work of the risk-taking God, whom we’ve come
to know in and through the person of Jesus.
So we
sing: “All who hunger, never strangers, seeker, be a welcome guest. / Come from
restlessness and roaming. / Here, in joy, we keep the feast. / We that once
were lost and scattered in communions love have stood. / Taste and see the
grace eternal. / Taste and see that God is good."
— “All
Who Hunger, Gather Gladly,” Sylvia Dunstan, (Chalice Hymnal, 419, vs.
2).
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