One Hundred Thousand Welcomes Matthew 10: Rev. Megan Cochran Lake View Presbyterian Church July 2, 2017

Transcription

1 One Hundred Thousand Welcomes Matthew 10: Rev. Megan Cochran Lake View Presbyterian Church July 2, 2017 There s a bit of an ongoing debate happening in my house. It may be a lifelong one, in fact. And I want to share it with you today. Now, it s not about politics or music or anything like that. And maybe this is just because we have two pastors in our house, but I really don t think so, I think this goes beyond that, into like normal family territory. Our ongoing debate is about the best way to welcome people into our home. Here s the thing, when I know we are going to host a party, I want to fling the doors open, invite anyone and everyone, the more the merrier, loaves and fishes and all that stuff. But, then Alex, my husband, starts asking thoughtful, intentional questions like, Where will everyone sit in our 1,000 sq foot condo? Will people be comfortable? What kind of food will work best if people are going to need to stand instead of sit? Will anyone have a good time if they are crammed elbow to elbow and can barely breath? You know, logical questions, for the most part, except that breathing part; people would be able to breathe. We are opposite ends of the spectrum about how to welcome people, which makes sense since I am off the charts extrovert and Alex is off the charts introvert. The more people the better, we ll make it work! is my refrain. Less people, thoughtful, meaningful time together! is Alex s. And the best thing about this discussion, this debate, is that it probably will be lifelong because I think we re both right. And I think our scripture for today shows us that. At first this text might rub you the wrong way, or it did me at least, it can initially read something like, if you do these good things you will get a rewards so you should do these good things so you know, you get a reward. You will receive a prophet s reward...you will receive

2 the reward of the righteous...none of these will lose their reward. Ahhh. What?! That s not our theology! We re Presbyterians! Grace through faith! Not this you have to be good to get a reward kind of stuff. We re more of a you do kind stuff in response to all of this love that God gives us unconditionally people. But, I really don t think this passage is about rewards. This passage is about empowerment. This is Jesus talking to the disciples about the importance of their role and the roles of the people they will encounter. One scholar said this: More than any other Gospel, Matthew underlines the ways in which Jesus not only represents divine power and presence, but democratizes this power -- and the responsibilities that come with it...this discourse (in Matthew) as a whole makes clear that God s power is now at work not only in Jesus, but in and through his disciples. 1 Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me. God is working through the disciples just like God is working through Jesus. And you might know what this means, God is working through you just like God is working through Jesus. WOAH. Just sit with that for a minute. That s some intense empowerment, right? But, don t get too stressed out, this isn t about doing heroic things, that s the other really cool thing this passage points out. No, it s about everyday kindness, a cold cup of water, welcoming someone into your home, greeting them with kindness, beginning to interact with the world in a different, more open way. Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes, dean of Vanderbuilt Divinity School, famous womanist theologian, asks this question in response to this text, she asks, How might we become more sympathetic to and supportive of the efforts of oppressed people to accomplish social reforms-so 1

3 that even an usher s greeting or a pastoral handshake becomes the beginning of radically changing our world to be more in line with God s realm? 2 Last night there were 100 people filling this sanctuary to celebrate the life of a man who died far too young. Someone our church didn t know, but the family needed a place for a service. This young man, Justin, was brilliant: a gymnast, opera singer, musician, Italian speaker. He lived his too short life well. But, he did not feel welcome in churches. Coming out as a teenager the Roman Catholic Church unfortunately was anything but welcoming to him. I talked to his family and they were hesitant, Is it appropriate to put a rainbow on the front of the bulletin for the funeral? they asked. Yes, I said. But, what I wanted to say was, Yes, of course, put rainbows anywhere and everywhere it breaks my heart that you even have to ask that! We found a balance for the service: a beautiful way to honor Justin s life, create a sacred space for his family and chosen family to remember him and say goodbye, and there was some God stuff with very clear welcoming and affirming theology. There was beauty and welcome everywhere yesterday amidst the very real and honest pain. At one point, before anyone arrived the funeral directors and I were using this rainbow flag, a flag that Joy made on her sewing machine years ago, as a pall on the coffin. As we were putting it on, one edge of the flag touched the ground. One of the funeral directors looked at me with sadness in his eyes and shaking his head he said, I am so very sorry that just happened. I was not quite paying attention to what had happened and I quickly said, Oh, it s okay. Don t worry about it. He responded with all of the seriousness in the world, No. We need to worry about it. All flags, this flag, deserves our respect. And I wanted to burst into tears. Here was this funeral director placing equal importance on the rainbow flag as he would the American flag at a 2 Feasting on the Word, Matthew 10:

4 veteran s service, equal importance on this rainbow flag as we placed it on the casket of a young man who never felt welcome in the church at his funeral in a church. And that was one of so many moments from yesterday where the amount of welcome experienced was almost overwhelming. I called Floyd and Paul to come help, Matthew and Nedra came representing the deacons. Together, we helped to create a welcoming space, a space where a community of a man who never felt welcome in a church could gather and celebrate his life. This is Lake View s job. This is our job. To show that there is a way to do church that is welcoming and open. So many times last night people said to me, I never knew churches existed like this...thank you for creating space for us and caring for us...if this was how church was I would think about going...your church gave me hope in Church, in general and then this same guy turned and said, but don t let it go to your head too much, and we both laughed and laughed. It was overwhelming to know what a few small gestures can do. Our crew of helpers made lemonade and coffee and set up the reception, Paul and Alex figured out the sound and video stuff, I wrote a service...but really the community that we have built here is what allowed this all to happen...it allowed this group of people who are skeptical and distrusting of the church and for good reason, a place to see that it can be done differently. Just like that usher s greeting and pastoral handshake, that Rev. Dr. Townes spoke of, becoming the beginning of the world looking more like God s realm...our lemonade, and care for the rainbow flag, and openness last night made this world look even just the slightest bit more like the world God wants. //////// So, there s this saying in Gaelic that I think should become our mantra when it comes to being a welcoming church. Translated into English the saying goes, One hundred thousand

5 welcomes or You are welcome, one hundred thousand times, wherever you come from, whosoever you be. One hundred thousand welcomes. In our lifetime we get at least one hundred thousand opportunities to be welcoming to others. We are empowered to literally live out our faith in a welcoming and loving God. Remember, Jesus told us, God is working through us, too. And in case that feels overwhelming to you today, the cool thing about this saying is that we have all of those same amount of chances to be welcomed by others, if we let ourselves. And to get real meta, God is welcoming us all one hundred thousand times a day. One hundred thousand welcomes. A greeting, a handshake, respecting the history of this rainbow flag, welcoming in people who have been hurt by the Church, listening to someone share about their awful day, laughing with someone you just met, introducing yourself to someone new, it all seems small, but it may just be the beginning of radically changing our world to be more in line with God s realm. And if you screw up, you re only one down in your one hundred thousand chances, so just go ahead and try again. Amen.