40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 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. 42 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
This short passage from Matthew’s Gospel comes at the end of what is sometimes referred to as the Missionary Discourse. That is for most of chapter 10 of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus outlines what he expects of his disciples.
Firstly Jesus tells is followers that they are to share the Gospel
6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
Jesus then makes it clear to the disciples that they may expect a difficult time on occasion:
16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
The disciples are called to behave courageously.
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
And they can expect a cost to their discipleship
38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
The finally we get to these 3 verses at the end of the Gospel in which Jesus tells the disciples how they should share the presence of Christ.
The disciples are authorised and empowered to be representatives of Jesus on earth. And to give added importance they are reminded that as Jesus is God incarnate then the disciples are representing God.
40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
It should be noted that when we talk of disciples here, we are not just thinking of the original followers of Jesus. Matthew is writing his Gospel at least 40 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Possibly even longer.
Most scholars today think that the audience for Matthew’s Gospel would have been Jews who had “converted” to Christianity. And it is fair to say that they could be regarded as an early church. This is an important point to remember because when we come to consider this morning’s passage, it is not being written with just itinerant disciples in mind i.e. disciples who are travelling around preaching the Gospel. Matthew is writing to Christians who are gathered together but who still need to be reminded of the need to be disciples.
These are the “little children” Matthew quotes Jesus as speaking about. Little children is the term Matthew uses to refer to “ordinary” Christians.
So “little children” what is this passage saying to us to day?
Well to me it seems that this passage is clearly talking about the need for hospitality and the need to welcome in people as part of discipleship.
But why? Why do we need to welcome people as part of discipleship? Is it just so when I have to send in figures to the Methodist Church every October the numbers have gone up? Or is it merely to survive as an institution? Or to ensure we have enough finance? The answer is no to all three of those.
Robert Schnase in an excellent book called “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations” makes the point that fundamentally the church – the Body of Christ – exists to draw people to God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. And part of God’s plan for that to happen is for people to live in community with others. On one level such a community is a congregation and a congregation, an individual church, Schnase says, should be a school of love, a place where we are formed by God’s spirit and where we learn to give and receive love from friends, neighbours and strangers.
Robert Schnase says that such behaviour, showing such love, can be termed “Radical hospitality”.
I need to explain the phrase a bit a more. When we hear the word “hospitality” we can tend to think of offering people food or perhaps some where to stay. Certainly years ago when preachers and ministers would perhaps come from a way away then an offer of “hospitality” meant the spare bedroom at a steward’s house and Sunday lunch!
But hospitality is more than that. For it seems to me that greatest contribution any of us can make to the Body of Christ is inviting someone else to be part of the place where we find love or helping a newcomer feel so genuinely welcome that he or she receives what we have received.
So what is “radical hospitality”? Radical can mean “arising from the source” and in the context of hospitality it means practices that are rooted in Jesus who is the source of everything we do in his name. And these practises should radiate out into the lives of others. Radical also means “drastically different from ordinary practice, outside the normal.”
And Robert Schnase says churches that are characterised by Radical Hospitality are not just friendly and courteous, passively receiving visitors warmly. Instead they exhibit restlessness because they realise that so many people do not have a relationship with Jesus and are in desperate need of the love he brings.
We who are already part of the Body of Christ can forget what church offers to those in need. Love and fulfilment. And most importantly a place where we can encounter God’s love.
People need to know that God loves them. People need to know that their life is of supreme importance to God and that he values them all. People need to find peace in their lives. People need to know how to offer and accept forgiveness. And if a congregation is operating as God wants then it will be a school of love practising radical hospitality to all.
David Wiggs in his book “Who needs a welcome?” related this story.
I saw him in the church building for the first time on Wednesday. He was in his mid-70’s with thinning silver hair and a neat brown suit. Many times in the past I had invited him to come. Several other Christian friends had talked to him about the Lord and had tried to share the good news with him. He was well respected, honest, a man of good character. He acted much like a Christian would act, but he never came to church or professed Christ. After I got to know him well and we had talked about a wide range of subjects I asked him if he had ever been to a church service.
He hesitated. Then with a twisted grimace told me of an experience he had as a boy. He was raised in a large family. His parents survived the depression but they struggled to provide food and clothing for the family. When he was around ten years old a friend invited him to go to church with his family.
He went – the Sunday School class was great. The songs were fun to sing and the stories, oh the great Bible stories, were exciting to hear. He had never heard anyone read from the Bible before. As class ended the teacher pulled him aside and said, “Son, please don’t come again dressed as you are now. We want to look our best when we come into God’s house.”
He looked down at his old hand me down clothes that were certainly worn and tattered. He thought about that for a moment and said softly, “No ma’am I won’t ever.” Then he looked at me and said, “And you know what… I never did.” It was clear that he was done with that conversation.
David Wiggs goes on, I am sure that the Sunday School teacher meant well and in fact was representing the feeling of the majority of the folks in that church. But what if, what if she had put her arms around the dirty little boy in the ragged clothes and said, “Son, I am thrilled that you came this morning and I hope you will come every chance you get to hear more about Jesus because he loves you so much.” Moreover what if she would have talked with her pastor or her friends in the church and mobilized a full blown outreach effort to help this family make ends meet.
What if that church would have thought, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Or whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple will receive a great reward” (v. 40 & 42)
David Wiggs’ story ended like this:
I saw that man in the church house for the first time on Wednesday and I cried as I looked at the immaculately dressed old gentleman lying there in his casket. He was looking his best. But all I could think of were those words of an impressionable little ten-year-old boy echoing in my mind, “No ma’am I won’t ever.”
We may shudder when we hear that story. And we all like to think that we wouldn’t do something like that. We wouldn’t exclude someone. We wouldn’t send someone away from church. But it happens. And sometimes in subtle ways.
Very often church members care for each other so much, and their lives are so entwined with one another; that it can be difficult if not impossible for newcomers to break in. This very closeness that in many ways is the strength of a church can also be its biggest weakness. And those already inside and linked don’t realise what they are doing.
Practising radical hospitality means that we need to be aware of this. And means that we must be prepared to work towards helping others receive what Jesus Christ brings to each one of us already.
40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 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. 42 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.”
Hospitality is more than politeness to visitors and a warm welcome at the door – though it is those things as well. Radical hospitality is the practice of sharing Christ’s love with all we encounter and our opening up of our church community to receive others.
