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June 26, 2005
Holy Hospitality
Matthew 10:40-42
The Lord makes an astonishing claim. He tells his disciples that whoever welcomes them also welcomes him. Now, if he had stopped there probably nobody would have thought much about what he said. We all know about ambassadors. When President Bush sends one to some country, the ambassador stands for the President himself; insult the ambassador, you insult the President. The ambassador speaks for the President; indeed except the ambassador speaks the President's mind; the ambassador doesn't really have anything to say. And those to whom the message is delivered ought not to have any other thought but that what the ambassador tells them is what the President wanted said. That's just the way it works.
But then Jesus went way beyond what we're used to. Not only do those who welcome disciples also welcome Jesus; they also welcome the One who sent Jesus. Three guesses about Jesus' thought here. The first three guesses of most people are that he meant the Lord very God. If of us came up with different guesses let me urge a moment of reflection and reconsideration. Whoever welcomes one Jesus sends not only welcomes them, but also Jesus and the very Lord God.
Powerful stuff. Those who represent the Lord Jesus bring people into the presence of almighty God. That's one way to take what Jesus says. At least, that's what a prophet might say, and a righteous person believe. I wonder about us. I think it must be pretty easy for us to believe that as we gather here in this lovely, newly renovated Sanctuary that we are in God's presence. I mean we have the Lord's word on it: wherever two or three are gathered, the Lord's there. We'd be glad to have others be here with us. In fact, I think more than a few of us hope a lot more people will decide to be in the Lord's presence here with us in this place. We want this to be a welcoming place, and not just on Sunday mornings. Members have gone a long way toward making this a welcoming place, to have this be a place where people may be in God's presence. Does that sound like we've done our part?
A lot of you know Judy and I make our home in Kansas. Maybe it's just my provincialism, but my eyes jump when I see the name of someone from that part of the world. Michael Kruse is a Presbyterian Elder in Kansas City, about an hour east of us. Close enough. When we bought our home in Topeka, our real estate agent told us there were two good things about Topeka: first, it was close to Lawrence, KS, a wonderful university town, not unlike Iowa City; and, second, it was close to Kansas City. Don't get me wrong: I know people who say they like Topeka for itself, but maybe you get his thought.
Back to Elder Kruse. He says Presbyterians are suffering from respiratory failure. Before we go on, this is what I want you to do: take a deep breath and hold it. Go ahead. Now hold it. Keep holding it. Keep holding it. For as long as you can. Try to hold it until you start turning red. There! Feels better when we breathe out, too. In and out. It's one of the basic rhythms of living. Remember how we got our breath in the first place. The Lord God breathed it into us. The Lord breathed out so we could live. The Lord breathed Spirit into us.
Krause's analogy is this: in recent years Presbyterians have emphasized gathering, getting together. Come to worship. Come to this. Come to that. We're friendly when people show up. That's being welcoming. What if the emphasis were on people welcoming us? What if the emphasis were on our going to people so that they might be in God's presence?
Have we forgotten why we get together anyway? We get together to be equipped, to be readied to be sent out into the world, to serve. Look at that in light of the passage from Matthew. Discipleship is what we're being equipped for. The way the early Christians got the word out was for prophets, teachers and preachers of God's truth, to go about from place to place. These prophets depended on the hospitality of people in communities wherever they went to take them in, house them, feed them. In brief, to show them hospitality, to welcome their message. The same with "righteous" people, that is, people who did works of justice. Truth and justice are the twin pillars of discipleship. That's the kind of life we're supposed to be equipped for through out getting together.
Kruse thinks we Presbyterians have been breathing in all the time, holding our breath, and not breathing out. Gathering here for worship, and study and fellowship is good. I'm for it. But there's more. When we depart we're not just leaving. We're being sent. That's the other part of breathing. We're being sent into our community in Christ's name. Those who welcome you, welcome Christ, and those who welcome Christ, welcome the one who sent him. We're being sent to bring people into God's presence.
I'm still pretty new in your community, and there's a lot I don't know about it. Maybe things work differently here from other places I know about. Maybe there's not that much need for truth and justice here. Maybe things are about right
Back some years ago, Harry Truman was out trying to get people to vote for him. He ran on to a fellow in the hills of Southern Missouri, introduced himself, and noticed the man was about a half way through a pint of whiskey. The man, being of generous spirit, offered Truman a swig. When Truman declined the man was happy to take it himself. "A politician who'd come through a little earlier had given the whiskey to me," mused the man, "wanted me to vote for him." Truman asked the man how it was. "About right," said the man. If it'd been any better he wouldn't have given it to me. If it'd been any worse, I wouldn't have taken it.
And maybe that's the way things are in Cedar Rapids: about right. If they were any better you couldn't stand it. If they were any worse you wouldn't stand it. But if there are people in town who could stand to be brought into the presence of God in a way that is clear to them, how's it going to happen? Maybe everybody in town will wake up in the morning and say: "You know, I surely have been missing being in the Lord's presence and being with the Lord's people. I think I'll go to church this Sunday, and I've heard First Presbyterian would be a good place to start." I know I wouldn't mind if that were to happen pretty often. But I don't think we should hold our breath until it does.
We need to have ourselves breathed out into the community. We need to know we're sent there for a purpose. We need to know we're sent there in hopes of getting a welcome for the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the One who sent him.
Someone who welcomes you as a prophet will, according to Jesus, get a prophet's reward. You may not have gotten up this morning thinking of yourself as a prophet, but its not too late. I know a lot of us were taught that a prophet is someone who tells the future. I guess in a way that's true, but not in the way of foretelling events. Being a prophet is not looking into a crystal ball. Prophets don't foretell the future so much as fashion it. Prophets fashion the future by telling God's truth. Prophets fashion the future by telling God's truth where it's not being heard. Martin Luther King, Jr. told God's truth. What he said shaped the future we're inhabiting. Prophets fashion the future by telling God's truth to people who've lost their way. Sometimes the truth hurts, but not as much as a lie, not as much as self-deception. The hurt the truth causes is on the way to helping. Getting God's truth, that's a prophet's reward. God's truth is all a prophet's got to pass on to people. Speaking God's truth; that's breathing out. That's God's Spirit at work. To breath out, we've also got to take a deep breath. That's what we're supposed to being doing when we come together on Sunday mornings and other times. That's the Lord breathing the breath of life into anyone who welcomes God's truth.
Someone who welcomes you as a righteous person will get a righteous person's reward. I've gathered that you all are proud of your congregation's commitment to mission: the Sunday Evening Meals Program, the Thrift Shop, the Food Bank, and other work you help with in the community. These are righteous things; things that echo God's justice. That's all to the good. Word is that what you spend in support of outreach and mission has been going down in recent years. A lot of the things you're doing now got started a while ago. Conditions have changed. New challenges are here. Different needs are presenting themselves. How much of what you've been doing to you need to keep doing?
Breathe in; breathe out. What's going on in your community now? People from all over town have been involved in developing directions for the community to head over the next five years, or so. Many of these goals focus on rehabilitating and strengthening the downtown. Does your church have a stake in the future of downtown Cedar Rapids? Duh! We won't go into how much you put into the just completed renovation, or how much you'll need to put in to a Phase II. Let's just say you have a big stake, and it doesn't end with the financial investment.
Do you think this church and other downtown churches might bring something to the table in discussions about the future of downtown? What are the "right" things to do? Who will stand for what is right as community leaders consider all the good things that could be done? Who'll be looking out for the poor and marginal people for whom the downtown is a kind of last haven? Who'll be there with a cup of water for the little ones? Who'll be looking out for beauty when temptation is great just to consider the bottom line and what will work? What is the reward that comes of righteousness? Well, how does getting it right sound for openers? When we breathe out, it ought not be a sigh of relief. When we breathe out, it ought to be a breath of fresh air. It's the sort of thing people could welcome.
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First Presbyterian
Church of Cedar Rapids
310 Fifth Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org
Copyright © 2003-2007 First Presbyterian Church of Cedar Rapids. All rights reserved.