Romans 6:12-23
12 Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew 10:40-42
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.’
Grace and peace to you, this day and everyday, from God our Creator, Christ our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, who gives us faith. Amen.
Welcome. … Shalom. … Willkommen. … Aloha. … Bienvenido. … Welcome.
Throughout the world, and throughout history as well, there have been numerous ways to express the warming and open spirit of welcome to one’s guests and visitors. We have our own little expressions to greet those in our midst; “Come on in!” … “Make yourself at home!” … “It’s good to see you again!” These phrases shape the contour of our relationships and our time with others. They warm the environment of our interactions and form a nurturing cradle for the caring love of family and friends to grow and thrive. When we experience that warmth, whether as those who offer it or those who receive it, … it feels almost holy. These moments feel set apart from the hustle and bustle, the worry and woe, and the pressure of daily life. … When have you been welcomed? Did someone welcome you into their home? Did they offer you a cup of water on a hot day? Did they welcome you into conversation, eager to hear your opinion or experiences? Did they take your coat and offer you the best seat in the house? Were you welcomed into a community of teammates, of believers, or a close-knit group of friends? How did that feel? What impact did that make for you in the moment or in the weeks or years to come? …
Sarah and I have felt the warmth of a welcome numerous times. When we were in Blair, Nebraska, Sarah worked at the local bank and encountered a kind group of women who were repeat customers there. She shared in conversation with them about how I was attending the college in town, and they in turn opened their home to us one evening for dinner. I remember the almost blanket-like warmth of a home-cooked meal, of curious friendly questions, of sharing stories and interests, and of laughter and hope. We had only recently moved out to Nebraska, relatively new in our marriage and certainly inexperienced in navigating life in our own place in a different town. So it was such a blessing to be among these adorable little old ladies as they welcomed us into their home with their thick Danish accents and traditional recipes. It felt safe. It felt nurturing. It felt holy. … When we were in Minnesota as I pursued my graduate studies, each student had an academic advisor and those advisors would welcome their little cloister of eager minds into their homes for food, and fun, and fellowship. My advisor was one of the Professors of Systematic Theology, Lois Malcolm, and she invited our little cohort into her home for dessert and conversation. There were two things about this memory that stay with me. There was the transition from isolation; from the tense, tentative, introspection of the outsider, unfamiliar with context, with people, with traditions or expectations … to a sense of belonging and freedom … to a sense of ease and space to learn, to a freedom to expose myself to new experiences and ways of being a member of a Christian community. The second thing … Sarah remembers this too … is that Dr. Malcolm, for all her good intentions, and in spite of her massive theological intellect and pastoral teaching, decided … for reasons known only to the Lord … to pair her generous offering of brownies and cookies, with a giant punch bowl filled with nothing but grapefruit juice. … It was so weird! … In retrospect it was also symbolic of the whole evening’s welcoming contour; the sweetness of the brownies and cookies connecting with the unexpected grace of new-found friendships and safety, and the mouth-puckering bitterness of grapefruit juice connecting with the seemingly insurmountable newness of a different and exciting context and community. It felt safe. It felt nurturing. It felt holy; but in a different way, set apart from any other way I’d experienced academics, friendships, or Christian fellowship.
I hope, in some small way, that you haven’t completely been listening to me as I’ve recalled these two memories of mine. It’s not that I hope you’re asleep, but rather … that I hope you’ve taken a side trip or two in your own minds, to recall moments when you’ve felt the blanket-like warmth of welcome and friendship, of safety, of nurture and holiness. It’s nice to linger in those memories, not just for the sentimentality of it all, but also to recognize that in these moments of friendship, sharing, and self-giving, the Triune God is with us. “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” Later in Matthew’s Gospel, Christ assures us that “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” These moments of community; of a united fellowship with friends, new or old, guided by the saving Grace of God in Christ, are holy places. Holy places, where Christ has gone before us in the world creating experiences manifested in and through the miraculous diversity of the Spirit in such a way that all those impacted by these places and experiences may know the love of God. I’ve been blessed to have these profound moments of community, and I pray that you have been blessed in similar ways as well. Most especially, I hope that you also have had such experiences of warming holiness here … in this place. St. Matthew too, has been an environment of nurture and joy as we strive with one another to discover the length and width, height and depth, of God’s love for us, and as we unite around the table where Christ is our Host and feast. We are a church that has welcomed people displaced by fire, tornado, and hurricane alike. We are a church that has been a welcome respite for those who travel to serve in other needy communities. We have been nurturing in our stewardship, in our giving financially and in giving fruits of our land to those in need. … Safety, nurture, and holiness are important here.
Although my memories of welcome, in typical Lutheran fashion, are colored by food and fellowship, this (thanks be to God) is not the only way Christ works in welcoming experiences within the world and in history. There are circumstances in our lives, when the welcoming presence of Christian fellowship is not colored by happiness or joy. But instead this welcoming presence is colored by solidarity with those who are oppressed, with those who grieve and mourn, with those in need, with those who doubt, or with those who are ill. We have been the arms to hug and the hands to hold others as they struggle with anger or despair. We’ have also been shielded by the fierce love of others who step into our lives to guard us from circumstances beyond our control. We have been joined by or joined with others in silent companionship throughout the struggles of life. These experiences, when we have shared or witnessed them, are not exactly cherished for their overt warmth and smiling. Nevertheless, they too are also cherished because they too are moments when the triune God is among us, sanctifying our lives and equipping us for ministry.
In one of my classes at seminary, a teacher told us of one of his past professorial colleagues whose wife was struggling against cancer. Despite a lengthy struggle, one day the professor’s wife died. The professor was overrun with grief. He went to the academic dean in tears and told him, “With the death of my wife, I’m broken in my grief. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I can believe. I don’t know if I can continue to teach at seminary.” He tendered his letter of resignation. The dean, upon hearing this, pushed the letter of resignation back into his hand saying, “No. You belong here. Stay with us. We will believe for you.” When we welcome those who are suffering, which we have done and should continue to do … when we do this, we are doing the Lord’s work. We are creating holy and ministerial places for safety and nurture in Christ’s name.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” When we welcome others into our midst, we find ourselves wrapped up in God’s triune life of creation, healing, and holiness. The welcoming of the Christian life is much more than brownies and conversation. It is the in-breaking of God’s justice, mercy, and peace into the lives of those who need so desperately for us to act on their behalf as “instruments of righteousness” to sanctify each moment for God.
In the Bible, there is an interconnected relationship between how Christ is sent into the word to welcome and save sinners and how we as believers are sent into the world to proclaim God’s love in Christ. Jesus’ birth is welcomed by angels, by kings, and by shepherds; by lofty and lowly alike. Pharisees welcome Him with disdain and resentment. He welcomes disciples with the challenge and promise to become ‘fishers of men.’ He is welcomed into the homes of tax-collectors and sinners, where He shares with them in the breaking of bread, sanctifying their communion together. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus enters the home of a Pharisee where the dinner-festivities are ‘crashed’ by a woman who anoints His feet with oil and washes them with tears. Christ speaks to the Pharisee, saying, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.’”
We here at St. Matthew have done well to be God’s vessels for selfless gracious welcoming in the world. Our sins have been forgiven and hence we have shown great love. We should feel blessed and proud to have done so. … But we should never feel finished. … God can always do more in and through us than we could ever possibly ask or imagine. As Paul says in our reading from Romans today, we have been freed from sin and the advantage we get is sanctification. By Christ’s gracious salvation, through faith we are freed from sin and empowered to make each moment holy for God. … … What would it look like if we proclaimed, as a community of believers, that emerging stances of rejection, oppression, and fear of people from other countries or faith traditions is wrong? … What would it feel like if we openly discouraged the condemnation and villainization of other communities as if extremist acts were indicative of the whole community’s identity? … How would we be changed for the better if we brought more of our particular, or even peculiar, individual and personal beliefs and spiritual practices into our communal celebrations of faith?
Taking the risk of ministry is challenging. Welcoming the stranger, the irreducible other in our midst, into our homes and into our community can be difficult. There is a lot of uncertainty in welcome. We don’t know if people will feel safe, we don’t know what they will say, what they will do, or how we will change. But through Christ all things are possible. Through Christ, all things are made new. After all, who would have thought it possible that a loving God would have sent His Son to earth to save and redeem you, and me, and all of creation? This is a new life, with new intentions, new hopes, and new possibilities. Christ provides this new safety, this new nurturing space, and this new holiness. And we are so blessed and privileged that He provides these gifts to the world in and through us.
The liberation theologian Ronaldo Munoz writes, “The one true God personally reveals an active presence and call not in the great ones of the earth, not in the [power] of human hierarchies, not in an elitist culture and the prestige of the ‘governing classes,’ but in our neighbor in need, recognized and served as our brother or sister, and in the multitude of poor and outcast, with their privations, their misery, and their hope.” The free gift of God, the eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, is with us and therefore, we have certain hope. We are not alone in this. The triune God; Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is with you and with me as we seek to offer others, in Christ’s name, their daily bread, to offer food and clothing, home and property, work and income, a devoted family, an orderly community, good government, peace and health, a good name, and true friends and neighbors. We have all experienced a warm welcome, maybe not from adorable Danish Nebraskan ladies, or from theologians with brownies and grapefruit juice, but we should remember the safety, the nurture, and holiness of these moments. Let us be mindful of how we can offer these things to those inside and outside our communities who need it most. May we rejoice in the freedom Christ has won for us, in the welcoming we have received in our baptisms, and in the hope we share as we offer love unto others in His name. Thanks Be To God. Amen.
Sermon Hymn - 793 - Be Thou My Vision
Closing Hymn - 434 - Jesus Shall Reign
