For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been working our way through the instructions Jesus gave to his Twelve newly minted disciples before sending them out around the Galilee to “proclaim the good news [that] the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew’s Gospel is a book written to function on two levels, to offer a historical lesson on the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and to be a guidebook for disciples to carry on the mission of Jesus the Christ after he ascended into heaven. It is this second purpose, the guidebook for disciples, that we are focusing on in this season of the church year. And as such, Jesus’ instructions have been both empowering and challenging for us as we consider what Jesus is sending us out to, and how we are to follow these teachings today. Empowering because Jesus sends us out with his own authority, to cure the sick, cast out demons, cleanse the leper, and raise the dead. But challenging, because Jesus warned that he was sending us out like sheep in the midst of wolves, that we will face persecution in our mission. And that Jesus himself did not come to bring peace, so we too must expect that this work will not be peaceful.
But there’s a second challenge embedded in understanding these instructions for us, a challenge that I’m not sure was as much intentional as it was a result of the lens through which the writer of Matthew experienced the world. See, the writer of Matthew was a wandering disciple. His vocation in life was to travel around and spread the good news. And because that was his vocation, his recordings of Jesus’ instructions have a decidedly traveling bend to them. “Take no gold or silver…no bag for your journey… [go from] town or village…” and if you are not welcome, “shake the dust from your feet” and move on. There is certainly good wisdom for everyone in these words, but it also leaves a question. What about those of us whose vocation is not to move around from town or village? What about folks who are older or who care for others or who simply do not like to travel? Is there work for us in the mission of Jesus?
The answer, of course, is yes. As Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.” This morning we finally see Matthew’s perspectives expand a little, to show some of that variety that Paul spoke about.
We heard earlier that when the Twelve entered a town or village, they were to look for a household to welcome them. Which means, of course, some of Jesus’ followers could not be traveling, because someone had to be around to welcome the travelers. But we never find out anything about those people. Here we see the result of being such a household. “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” The Twelve were sent with Christ’s own authority to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven has come near, and since they travel under that authority, the result is that the households who welcome the Twelve, welcome Christ, and in fact have that kingdom of heaven present in their own houses.
But it even goes further than that. Jesus went on: “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; 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.” What Jesus seems to be telling his wandering disciples here is that the people who welcome them are just as important to the mission as they are. The disciples cannot put themselves above the people they stay with, just because they travel around. Not everyone has the gift of being a prophet, but there is just as much importance in welcoming a prophet as there is in being one.
This got me thinking. Most of scripture was written by people whose vocation was to travel around and proclaim that the kingdom of heaven has come near. Those are important gifts, but they aren’t everyone’s gifts. Some of us have the spiritual gifts of staying in one place and proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven has come near. And the spiritual gift of staying and welcoming is different, but every bit as important as traveling and receiving welcome. And given its importance, so important that even the wanderlust disciples, totally focused on travel, mention some of it, I started to wonder what Jesus’ missionary discourse might have sounded like if it was recorded by one of the stayers. So what follows is some ponderings on what such a speech from Jesus might have sounded like. Instead of the “Missionary Discourse,” I’m calling my hypothetical ponderings the “Hospitality Discourse.” I imagine it would go something like this:
The disciples who were to welcome the Twelve, Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Stay where you are, whether your homes are among the Gentiles, in the town of the Samaritans, or with the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Wherever you find yourself, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. You do not need additional gold, or silver, or copper in your stores, nor additional clothing or supplies, what you already have is sufficient for sharing.
When you meet someone in need of welcome, show yourself to be worthy. Do not wait for them to come to you, instead go out and greet them as they come. If they accept your welcome, let your peace come upon them, but if they do not accept, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not be welcomed, shake the dust from your feet and move on to welcome another. There are plenty of people in need of a welcome.
See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for not everyone you meet is well-intentioned. But guard yourselves. Do not let your wariness be a barrier to hospitality. Sometimes grace means telling someone who may harm you, either intentionally or unintentionally, that they must stay away for a period. It is easy to mistake grace for niceness, though true grace does not always feel nice. But grace also means looking for the deeper humanity, and being open to forgiveness when forgiveness is necessary.
A disciple is not above the teacher, nor the slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. In my travels I encountered people who trusted me and people who cheated me, people whom I healed and they praised me, and people whom I healed and they cursed me. But everyone who encountered me was transformed by our encounter, even if that transformation was not made visible. So too will people be transformed by their encounter with you.
So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. The difference you make in the lives of those you greet may not be visible in this lifetime, but it will be made visible. The grace you show in the privacy of your own home is not a secret to me. Goldfish in their bowls are a dime each, yet not one goldfish is too small for the Father’s attention. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than a tankful of goldfish.
Do not think that welcoming others will bring you peace; it will not bring you peace, but a sword. Just as I have come to set man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, this work of welcoming will be divisive. Some people you welcome will be unpleasant or strange, some will be different than you, some will challenge you to be different. Some people will judge you because of those you welcome. They will look down upon you for spending time with the wrong sorts of people, or threaten violence against you on account of the people you host. Whoever puts their status in the community ahead of me is not worthy of me; and whoever puts their comfort and ease above me is not worthy of me, and whoever will not challenge themselves to receive me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
The challenge I give to you is hard, but it is not without reward. For when you welcome others you welcome me, and when you welcome me you welcome the one who sent me. See the words that I spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. When you welcome the poor in spirit, you receive the rewards of the poor in spirit. When you welcome those who mourn, you receive the rewards of the mourners. When you welcome the meek, you receive the rewards of the meek, and so on. Truly I tell you, when you do even so seemingly simple a task as offer just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in my name, and in the name of those whom I have sent out, that simple act of kindness is itself the kingdom of heaven come near.
I think that might be what it might have sounded like if instead of being written by a wandering disciple, a Gospel was written by a stationary disciple. Instead of the Missionary Discourse, we may have had the “Hospitality Discourse,” Jesus’ message to his disciples whose vocation is to stay. Amen.
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