Summer Sermon Series on Why we Worship Week 1-Rite of Welcome Matthew 1:1-18 Who Are Your Family?

Transcription

1 Summer Sermon Series on Why we Worship Week 1-Rite of Welcome Matthew 1:1-18 Who Are Your Family? We all have them those family members or relatives that we love or that we are not sure quite what to do with or explain. Let me tell about a few of mine. It would be easy to tell you about my crowd from Bathurst, NB who used to come stay at my grandparents on the Flat in Plaster Rock and participate in high stakes gambling anteying up 15 cents to play the card game 31 or rap. I could tell you about my Uncle Gordie and Aunt Blanche who would arrive from Ottawa with the family and us kids or maybe me held my breathe waiting to hear those magic words Blanche is going to make her home made pizzas which brought all the Doucette clan to the flat. I could tell you about my Aunt Mildred who owned Mildred s restaurant then Mildred s takeout and not only made the best homemade food but often would feed hungry hitchhikers for free. Or I could tell you about my mom s cousin Bernadette who died on Friday, a nurse and a woman of faith who on my parent s 40 th anniversary came in disguise wearing an old fur coat, a fake wrap around stole, an old hat and took out her false teeth and proceeded to fool everyone there. And then there are those I am not sure what to do with. My mom s cousin Edward who we called crazy Edward because he lived in an old small shack just a few feet from my Grandmother Christensen. Edward often sat on his front step with a shotgun on his lap. I was told he ate cold potatoes and fish suckers whether that was true or not I am not sure but I was

2 scared of him and never went near his house. I suspect now there was major mental illness. And then there was my mom s cousin Wanda who had an ongoing feud with the local government garage because they kept snowplowing part of her lawn. One day she saw them coming and out she came with a shotgun loaded with rock salt and shot the side of the snow plow there seems to be a love of guns. And then there is my Uncle Andrew s family. Uncle Andy struggled with alcohol and despite my parent s trying to help, he died having distanced himself from his siblings and family. His former wife and kids won t talk to any of us no matter how hard we try and that continues to be painful to me. His daughter could not say my name and called me Fa-Fa and one of my cousins Nancy still calls me that to this day. So this is my family the good, the bad and the ugly. So why am I telling you this today? Because it ties in with the gospel. I am sure you are wondering why I chose this passage to begin to talk about how we worship and the importance of welcoming. Well I chose the story of the genealogy of Jesus to show who his family was. This is not just a chapter of names but a look at where Jesus came from so let s do that. There are a major list of people beginning with Abraham and finishing with Jesus. Lots of names we know and lots that we might not know. We can see names we are proud of: Abraham, Isaac and, Solomon, Jesse, Ruth Hezikiah and Josiah good kings

3 Joseph husband of Mary who had to live with the whispers but then there are those we are not sure what to do with We have Jacob who stole his brother s Essau s blessing from his father Isaac while disguised has his brother. We have Jechonias and Amon and Manasseh who were bad kings. We have King David who ended up a good king but had a shadow side by sleeping with Bath-Sheeba next door to the castle and then arranging to have her husband killed in battle. We also have Tamar who sold herself as a prostitute to her father-in-law and Rahab who was a prostitute and a spy. And some saw Mary as sketchy having a child out of wedlock while trying to convince her husband it was God s child. So Matthew shows us that even Jesus had members of his family that were loved and some he would not have known what to do with or how to explain but they are part of the family and Jesus not only embraced his family but used it as an example of how to live his ministry. He did not only minister to the popular and well loved but he also ministered to those with a checkered past and present. He ministered to the marginalized, to his disciples, to the ruling authorities who rejected his message even offering forgiveness on the cross. Jesus was about welcome for everyone. So what do we do as a church community around this story? Well first we should probably look at our own family our own circle of friends, or the people we like in our church family or those we would rather not have to deal with. And then realize how do we go about having a heart of welcome or changing our heart and making room. What I loved about our Affirming process was that it challenged us to be truthful when we say we are

4 already welcoming but then to what extent we had to ask ourselves. Because there is that human line in the sand it seems in our capacity to welcome if we can be truly honest with ourselves. But Jesus erased that line in the sand. He shattered our notions of welcome and calls us to a different space and understanding. That is why it is so important to have greeters for everything we do. Welcome begins at the door. Imagine if you invited guests for supper but never welcomed them in the door? Of course we do! It takes courage for some people to walk through the door. Some never find their way or their way back often because of what they are living or maybe something we have said or a feeling of not being worthy or welcomed by us or God. Our welcome is the face of who we are and who we profess to follow. Do we just let new people fill into our seats or do we extend a hello and welcome. Do we make space for people in our seats as long as they do not take our seat. I remember as a kid a couple glare at visitors who sat in their seat until they moved. What about people who use our building through the entire week. What is our attitude towards them? How do we reach out to them? With grumbling or sarcasm or do we make space and welcome them with genuine hearts like Jesus whom we follow? The sign of peace we offer during our service is an opportunity to welcome those around us and offer the words Jesus used to welcome the disciples who were full of fear. His words Peace be with you were not an opportunity to discuss who was going to bring what to the next Passover meal does that sound familiar? Our passing of the peace has become a

5 chance to organize soups for Souper Sundae or Bazaar items or a meeting or an etc. Instead it should be a time to look people in the eye and say Peace be with you which means I welcome you as you are as God s child in need of being here this day to feel God s love and presence. Our welcoming during worship is meant to de-form us from ways that do not welcome one another into the body of God s children. It forms us by challenging us to look at ourselves to let go of anything and everything that separates us and keeps us from having a welcoming heart. And when we leave this place we do not leave our welcoming spirit on the chair to pick back up the next time we show up for worship. We keep it on and take it back into family gatherings, into our work places, in our neighborhoods into those corners that make us uneasy around people on the margins, into making space for others in our church during the week, including the kitchen in the basement at church fundraisers or in booths at our church bazaar. It extends to making room for new people and new ideas on committees and you can add your own places we need to wear a spirit of hospitality. Our church in the Spirit of Jesus is not for the perfect but for the people of our mission statement that begs us welcome. And that means those around us in the pew, in our family in our church during the week and those we meet randomly. So there are no good, bad and the ugly in God s eyes We may not be pretty but we are pretty awesome in God s eyes.