Matthew 10:40-42
Second Sunday after Pentecost / June 26, 2011
But then I spent some more time in scripture – digging more deeply into this passage. These verses at the end of chapter 10 are the concluding words of Jesus’ missionary discourse. He is sending the twelve disciples out to proclaim the good news; to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. They are to travel lightly and accept hospitality where it is granted. If they are not welcomed, they are to shake off the dust from their feet as they leave the town. And finally, as a note of encouragement, Jesus tells the disciples, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me” (10:40). This passage is not about the disciples extending hospitality to strangers, but about strangers extending hospitality to the disciples! Jesus isn’t asking us to reflect on the ways we extend hospitality to others; Jesus is asking us to reflect on the ways others extend hospitality to us! Isn’t it just like God to turn things around?
The questions this passage raises are: How do others welcome you? How do others perceive you? What do people see when they look at you? At the heart of these questions there is one very important question: When you encounter a stranger, does that person see Christ in you? I tell you, when I zip into that parking spot cutting off another car, the driver of the other car is most certainly not seeing Christ in me. I’m not surprised when that driver does not say hello to me in the store. I’ve done nothing to invite hospitality.
What intrigues me about this passage is that it isn’t about what we do, but about what the stranger does. Jesus gives three specific examples. First, does the stranger welcome you as a prophet? Prophets serve as a channel of communication between humanity and God. Do they hear you speaking the truth about God into this broken world and listen with open hearts? Second, does the stranger welcome you as a righteous person? Do they see that you are in a right relationship with God? Do they repent of their sins and seek to live righteous lives because of your example? And third, does the stranger give a cup of cold water to a little one in your name? Do they recognize God’s calling to serve the least, the last, and the lost in you, and respond by doing the same? In other words, does the stranger see the Christ in you?
Earlier this week The Upper Room Daily Devotional was written by a father in Ghana. He wrote:
My six-year-old daughter, Jessica, came home from school smiling. She slumped onto me and said gleefully, "Daddy, Daddy, I met a man today who asked me whether I'm your daughter. When I said, 'yes,' he smiled and said that I look like you."
"Is that the reason you are happy?" I asked her.
"Yes," she replied, "I'm always happy when people tell me that I look like you."[2]
The little girl was happy because someone else recognized that she looked like her father. In the same way, we will receive our reward when others recognize that we look like Jesus, who looks like our Heavenly Father.
But more than that, they will receive the same reward because they recognize Christ in us. That is an astonishing gift! So I ask, how does your life witness to the good news of Jesus Christ? How does your life reflect God’s image, compelling others to welcome you and to welcome the one who sent you?
I don’t know about you, but I get this kind of queasy feeling in my stomach when I think about this... being a witness, reflecting God’s image... these are far from easy! I want to believe that since the passage is Jesus’ missionary discourse, the words are just for missionaries. I get uncomfortable when I realize these words, spoken to Jesus’ first disciples, are intended for us, too. I want to look like Jesus, but there are so many times when I fail miserably. We are all sinners; we all fall short of the glory of God. And Jesus knows being a witness to the good news is far from easy.
Listen to the words Jesus tells his disciples just a few verses earlier in the missionary discourse: “Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (10:19-20).
Do not worry. The Holy Spirit is working in us, empowering us to be witnesses to the good news. It is God’s grace that goes before us that enables others to see the Christ in us. So do not worry. Be like David and trust in God, and your life will witness to the One who died for us and was raised on the third day – the one who promises us abundant life.
Today we have the extraordinary privilege of baptizing Jonathan Boyette. Jonathan has seen Christ in us, and today he is welcoming us into his family. Today, as he comes up out of the waters of baptism he will die to sin and be clothed in Christ. As the Holy Spirit is poured out on him, Jonathan will make a commitment to join the ranks of witnesses to the good news. Like the little girl in Ghana, Jonathan is so happy that he will more closely resemble his Heavenly Father. It is my prayer that others will give a cup of cold water to one of the little ones because they have seen Jonathan do the same.
But, before we move on to Jonathan’s baptism, let me return to the question: Do strangers see the Christ in you? I ask, because this begs a second question: Do you see Christ in the stranger? If we truly believe that the Holy Spirit works in us and that God’s grace goes before us, then Christ is at work, even in the one who does not know the name of Jesus. We are not the only ones who bear the image of God. All of humanity is created in God’s image. Some have fallen so far away from God that the image is quite soiled – but it is still there! Looking for Christ in the stranger takes time and energy – it takes more than a hand out, a VBS Manna Bag, or free food from Loaves and Fishes. Looking for Christ in the stranger means we have to welcome the stranger in ways that may make us uncomfortable, in ways that may call us to change. There’s that queasy feeling again! But seeing Christ in the stranger is Godly work.
This truth has always been profoundly revealed to me in our jails and prisons. I may be the one who walks in to the prison without chains on my hands; I may be the one carrying a Bible and a prepared devotional; but I go to prison to meet Jesus. Christ is present in the midst of those broken lives, offering healing and hope. It is the witness of the prisoners that leads me to welcome them into my life. It is the image of God in them that leads me to offer a cup of cold water to a little one. I offer that cup in the hopes that that little one might be protected from ever committing a crime that might put that little one behind bars. I offer that cup because it was not offered to the prisoner who has shown me Christ.
Do you see Christ in the stranger? Does that lead you to welcome the stranger? Does the stranger see Christ in you? Does that lead the stranger to welcome you? When this mutual welcoming occurs, we get a glimpse of true hospitality. When our eyes are opened to Christ in the other, our response can’t help but be a genuine love for the other and a deep respect for the dignity of others. As we look for Christ in the stranger, our focus inevitably shifts outward and we reach out to those not yet known. When the stranger sees Christ in us, we know the kingdom of God has come near. This mutual welcoming makes us uncomfortable as it invites us to change our behavior, our attitudes, our opinions. This mutual welcoming leads us to rethink what it means to be the body of Christ. For Christ is most assuredly at work in you and in me and in the stranger, working to bring God’s kingdom on earth in ways that challenge us and push us beyond our comfort zones. There’s a reason we call it Radical Hospitality.
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