SUNDAY, June 26, 2011
On Matthew 10:40-42
It is green again.
We have journeyed through the dramatic events of Christ’s birth, ministry and passion. We have witnessed the beginning of the church on Pentecost, and then Jesus’ sending of the disciples into the world. And today we are back to the familiar and steady and green season of “Time after Pentecost”. In fact, in some ways, this Sunday welcomes us out of all the drama into the ordinary, and Jesus’ words today fit this moment very well as we are settling into ordinary time.
Jesus’ words to the disciples sound like an echo of what he had told them all along. Words of reassurance, a reminder of his and their mission in the world. Words that they need to hear because the world that they are facing is inhospitable. When reading the entire chapter 10 of Matthew’s gospel it becomes obvious that being a disciple of Jesus and his good news is not easy, but involves great risks and dangers. Just before today’s passage Jesus talks about the conflict in the world to prepare his disciples for what lies ahead of them. He compares them to sheep that are sent out into the midst of wolves, without protection, a second shirt or shoes. Jesus talks about unrest, persecution and martyrdom. He speaks of the good news breaking families and friends apart. Being a disciple of the Jesus movement doesn’t sound very enticing.
Matthew’s words are realistic in regards to the conditions that God’s good news is faced with in this world… then and now. Sure, we live in a part of the world where we no longer have to face the threat of persecution and martyrdom. Instead our resistance to the Gospel takes shape in our busy lives where there so often is no time for God. The Old Adam within us resists God’s good news of grace and forgiveness with boredom and disbelief. In our apathetic comfort we don’t need to seek out God’s help. In our desire for constant distraction and entertainment we consume whatever we can get our hands on. We want to be in control. In fact, we like to be God in God’s place. We want to be the ultimate authority. And we want to continue on just the way we are, focusing on our own happiness and accomplishments. Our egoism, our self-centeredness is a powerful force in this world. And all this focus on ourselves makes us unwelcoming and inhospitable hosts to the Gospel.
Jesus knows about the human struggle to be a welcoming host. And today he explains once again to the disciples what it means to be his followers, to be welcoming and hospitable.
Hospitality in the ancient world was not lightly given. To welcome someone into the community was to welcome not just an individual, but to welcome the entire community that they represented. If a neighbour from another village was visiting, one welcomed that whole village. If a distant relative was passing through town, then one’s whole extended family was welcomed. And so, the disciples represent the community of Jesus’ followers, and those who welcome God’s messengers welcome God.
And Jesus reminds them what it means to be hosts and beloved guests. He himself has come into this world as a beloved guest. He has lived among the people as host. Jesus was served and a servant. Jesus was welcoming but not always welcomed. And now he prepares them. As the disciples are about to go into the world to baptize and spread the news of Jesus, they would be welcomed or not, and thereby Christ would be welcomed, or not.
By means of four different examples Jesus describes God’s understanding of welcome and hospitality.
Now, welcoming prophets, the righteous and the little ones might sound strange to us today. Yet, when we look closer at these examples it turns out that Jesus didn’t choose them randomly. Prophets in ancient times had no status. Often they were outside of society, and their reward for proclaiming God’s good news was ridicule and anger.
The righteous in those days were the elite, the temple cast. And they were inaccessible for Jane and Joe Blow. They would never eat with common folks like the disciples, like us.
The little ones were the unwanted subordinates who just couldn’t live up to the standards and expectations of the people around them.
By identifying these vastly different groups of people Jesus encourages the disciples to welcome them all. For in God’s eyes to welcome means to receive: prophets, the righteous, and the little ones alike… they are all welcome. And the disciples’ mission as beloved guests is to proclaim grace and offer the love of a God who has come into this world as beloved guest.
“The movie “Babette’s Feast” plays in 19th century Denmark. Two sisters live in an isolated village with their father, who is the honored pastor of a small Lutheran congregation that is almost a sect unto itself. Although the sisters each are presented with a real opportunity to leave the village, they choose to stay with their father, to serve him and their church.
After some years Babette, a French refugee, arrives at their door. She begs the sisters to take her in, and commits herself to work for them as a maid, housekeeper, and cook. One day, the sisters decide to hold a dinner to commemorate the 100th anniversary of their father’s birth. Babette who had experienced unexpected good fortune, implores the sisters to allow her to take charge of the preparation of the meal. Although they are secretly concerned about what Babette, a Catholic and a foreigner, might do, they agree to accept her meal and Babette’s offer to pay for the creation of a “real French dinner”.
She leaves the village for a few days in order to return to Paris, as she must personally arrange for supplies to be sent to Jutland. The various, never-before-seen ingredients are plentiful, sumptuous and exotic, and their arrival causes much discussion amongst the villagers. As preparations commence, the sisters begin to worry that the meal will be, at best, a great sin of sensual luxury, and at worst some form of devilry or witchcraft. In a hasty conference, the sisters and the congregatiON agree to eat the meal, but to forego any pleasure in it, and to make no mention of the food during the entire dinner.
Although the stern guests do their best to reject the earthly pleasures of the exquisite and abundant banquet, Babette’s extraordinary cooking breaks down their distrust and superstitions. Old wrongs are forgotten, ancient loves are rekindled, and reconciliation of the community settles over the table.”* In the meal shared by the broken and resistant community, the Beloved Guest restores the relationships of all present.
Like Jesus has come to the disciples as beloved guest and host.
Like Jesus comes to us… to serve and send us to be beloved guests and hosts. Jesus comes to us as the Church, comes into our midst – no matter where we are at in life. Jesus comes to wash us clean in Baptism and proclaim God’s forgiveness. Jesus comes into our midst to bless and nourish us with his word, to feed us bread and wine, his own body and blood. Not because we have earned this in any way, but because Jesus is the beloved guest and host, giving his love and forgiveness to us freely.
Every time we gather in worship we practice the roles of beloved guest and host. Every time we gather in worship we learn what it means to be the Body of Christ in the world. And so, when the church assembles, and the body of Christ gets together in worship, we – to this day – follow God’s pattern of welcome: God gathers us, we sing, God speaks to us, we pray, God hosts a generous feast, we eat and drink. And strengthened and nourished by God’s meal and transformed by the good news of God’s exuberant love and forgiveness we go out into the world as beloved guests and hosts.
Amen.
* adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babette%27s_Feast
