“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
(Matthew 10:40-42)
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As Ruth already mentioned during announcements at the start of today’s service, last Tuesday was a very exciting day, as we discovered that Teamu and Amine - the two refugees from Eritrea that we’re sponsoring - will be arriving in Canada on March 9 from Eritrea. I didn’t know that a couple of weeks ago when I decided that the general theme for today’s service would be “welcoming,” but the Holy Spirit has a way of arranging things, and so here we are. The word “welcome” seems to me to be at the heart of Christian faith. As Jesus welcomed all, so are we as a Christian community that gathers in his name to welcome all. The doors should be open and not closed. Thinking about the whole refugee issue, it disturbs me that a lot of Christians (although I’m thankful that this seems to be primarily an American phenomenon) seem to want to close the doors and keep refugees out - and mostly that’s a position taken on the basis of fear. We tend to be afraid of those who are different than we are, and we tend to be suspicious of strangers rather than welcoming to them. I suppose as Christians we should simply be grateful that 2000 years ago those who ruled Egypt didn’t close their doors to refugees as Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled there are refugees to escape the murderous King Herod. So, with the arrival of Teamu and Amine now very much on the horizon, our minds go to being welcoming - and to extending welcome as widely as possible, because such is the way of Jesus.
Jesus said some interesting things about the idea of “welcome” in our passage today, and yet when I first started working with these words, it wasn’t the word “welcome” that leaped out at me. It was the word “anyone.” Until the last few days I had never really thought very much about how deep and how rich is the word “anyone.” On the surface it sounds like a pretty innocuous word; a word of little importance. It seems to be referring to someone who’s almost irrelevant - it refers, after all, to literally “anyone.” And when I first started to plan out what I was going to offer today, my thoughts weren’t even focussed on “anyone.” I had a very different idea of where this short little passage was leading me. But somehow the word “anyone” kept eating away at me; gnawing at me. It really was as if the Holy Spirit wanted me to think about “anyone.” Just who, exactly, is “anyone”?
It’s interesting to reflect on the wider context of Jesus words. All of Matthew 10 consists of instructions that Jesus gave to his original twelve disciples about the mission he was sending them on. It was a mission which centred around proclaiming the good news, which Jesus described as “the kingdom of heaven has come near.” They were to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers [and] cast out demons.” In other words they were to embark on a mission whose purpose would be to wipe out all the things that could put an end to a person’s ability to be in relationship with others. The disciples were to break down barriers and reconcile those who had been cast aside and create a new community of those who not only awaited the kingdom of God but who sought to create the kingdom of God as best they could. Jesus went on to warn the twelve that their efforts would not be universally appreciated. They would be persecuted, he said, but God would be with them. And Jesus said not to fear. And then came the words, “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
The first thing that intrigued me when I started to think about “anyone” is that this passage actually sounds at first glance very un-Jesus-like. Jesus’ focus, after all, was always on others. Jesus’ desire for his disciples was that we would always be for others. We shouldn’t be focussed on ourselves, in other words. We should always be taking stock of the needs of those around us and trying to find ways to help meet those needs; to reach out to those who have those needs. We are supposed to be welcoming to others, to invite them into the circle, to break down the barriers that divide. And yet, these words of Jesus start by putting the focus on us: “Anyone who welcomes you …” he said. Why us?
It occurs to me that there’s a bit of a circle being drawn here. There are those who offer welcome, and those who welcome us welcome Jesus and those who welcome Jesus welcome God and in the end isn’t it God who is really welcoming us - all of us? Wasn’t the very appearance of Jesus a statement of welcome to the world: “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” This is what we mean when we speak of doing Christ’s work - it is extending a wide, wide welcome to all to a place where they can find peace and rest and sanctuary; just as we have been welcomed to a place where we can find peace and rest and sanctuary. So in reflecting on the richness of that word “anyone” it finally occurred to me that, really, in the end aren’t we the “anyone”? We welcome and we are welcomed. There’s a statement of family there. Sometimes we speak of being forgiven and forgiving; we are also both welcomed and welcoming.
Surely, this is what the cross reminds us of. All who desire to are welcome to gather at the foot of the cross. It’s at the foot of the cross that we experience the ultimate welcome: the invitation to experience and claim God’s grace. And yet the invitation to be welcomed to the foot of the cross is not an easy one to accept. Even many of Jesus’ original disciples ran away, so overwhelmed were they by what the cross represented. Yes - the cross is a welcome, but it is more than just a welcome to all things bright and beautiful. It is a welcome for those who choose to associate themselves with those who are cast out and cast away, with those who suffer and with those who are hungry and with those who, like Jesus himself, have no place to lay their head. As those who have been welcomed by God - may we extend a wide, wide welcome to those who most need it.
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