WEBVTT 00:00:05.949 --> 00:00:09.050 Kia ora and welcome to the St. Francis Church 00:00:09.050 --> 00:00:11.570 sermon podcast. We're so glad that you've joined 00:00:11.570 --> 00:00:14.990 us. Our prayer is that as you listen, you would 00:00:14.990 --> 00:00:17.910 encounter God's presence. Be refreshed in your 00:00:17.910 --> 00:00:20.769 faith and equipped for everyday life with Jesus. 00:00:21.629 --> 00:00:24.289 As a church, we are learning to faithfully follow 00:00:24.289 --> 00:00:27.879 Jesus by practicing His way at His pace. For 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:30.899 more info about who we are and what God is doing 00:00:30.899 --> 00:00:36.799 among us, head to stfrancis .co .nz. Grace and 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:44.859 peace. Good morning everyone. I hope your week 00:00:44.859 --> 00:00:48.119 has been good, because God is good, so he would 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:50.539 have been there with you. I hope you're feeling 00:00:50.539 --> 00:00:55.240 well and fighting off or staying away from any 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:58.369 of the illness that seems to be. travelling rapidly 00:00:58.369 --> 00:01:02.770 around everyone. But we come here now this morning 00:01:02.770 --> 00:01:07.950 to worship God, to hear his word and to hopefully 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:09.390 be able to take something away from what I'm 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:17.730 going to share with you this morning. Three verses 00:01:17.730 --> 00:01:21.629 this morning. That's what we get from Matthew 00:01:21.629 --> 00:01:27.319 today. Jesus has been sending out His disciples, 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:32.799 just 12 ordinary guys, he gave them specific 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:36.079 instructions. He warned about the rejection and 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.159 the hardship and told they'll be like sheep among 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:47.819 wolves. The whole of Matthew 10 is one long commission 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:50.739 and it ends here with three verses that feel 00:01:50.739 --> 00:01:57.239 almost like an afterthought, almost. Jesus' words 00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:00.719 are never wasted, are they? They're even the 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:06.680 one or two that we get. So hear this again. Whoever 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:10.120 receives you receives me. And whoever receives 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.699 me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:16.139 a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:19.900 a prophet's reward. And whoever receives a righteous 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:22.060 person in the name of a righteous person will 00:02:22.060 --> 00:02:25.650 receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever 00:02:25.650 --> 00:02:29.229 gives one of these little ones even a cup of 00:02:29.229 --> 00:02:32.430 cold water because he is a disciple, truly I 00:02:32.430 --> 00:02:35.830 say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. 00:02:38.169 --> 00:02:42.050 Let's sit with that last image for a moment. 00:02:45.969 --> 00:02:50.810 It's a cup of cold water. Not a miracle he's 00:02:50.810 --> 00:02:53.689 talking us about, not a sermon, not a... a big 00:02:53.689 --> 00:02:59.210 sacrifice, a cup of cold water given to a thirsty 00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:05.150 person in Jesus' name. And Jesus says that that 00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:12.289 will not be forgotten. All of us, through our 00:03:12.289 --> 00:03:16.389 lifetime, we walk into rooms or spaces carrying 00:03:16.389 --> 00:03:21.250 things, things like fear, loneliness, am I good 00:03:21.250 --> 00:03:26.710 enough? Pride. Sometimes you might walk into 00:03:26.710 --> 00:03:28.949 a room saying, look at me, or hopefully they'll 00:03:28.949 --> 00:03:31.949 look at you. Or there's the other one of, I want 00:03:31.949 --> 00:03:35.830 to hide. I have to be here, but I want to hide. 00:03:37.110 --> 00:03:39.949 So what did you carry into this place this morning? 00:03:42.150 --> 00:03:44.530 I'm not going to get you to name it out loud. 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:49.930 You already know what they are. I have another 00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:53.129 question for us, though. And it's hiding in these 00:03:53.129 --> 00:03:56.789 three verses in Matthew that I want to pull out 00:03:56.789 --> 00:04:00.330 into the open for us. It's not complicated, but 00:04:00.330 --> 00:04:03.949 it's more demanding than it's look. It's this 00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:07.849 question here. Do you understand who you're carrying 00:04:07.849 --> 00:04:14.810 when you walk into a room? Because Jesus is saying 00:04:14.810 --> 00:04:17.509 something extraordinary here to us. He's not 00:04:17.509 --> 00:04:20.670 just commissioning the disciples to go and do 00:04:20.670 --> 00:04:24.230 good things. He's saying, when people encounter 00:04:24.230 --> 00:04:30.410 you, they're encountering me. So when they encounter 00:04:30.410 --> 00:04:37.069 you, Janine, or Dave, or Wendy, or Tony, when 00:04:37.069 --> 00:04:39.970 they encounter us during the day, they're encountering 00:04:39.970 --> 00:04:43.610 Christ as well. And when they're encountering 00:04:43.610 --> 00:04:45.689 me, they're encountering the Father who sent 00:04:45.689 --> 00:04:49.829 me. Now that's a chain of presence that goes 00:04:49.829 --> 00:04:53.610 all the way back to God. And it runs through 00:04:53.610 --> 00:04:57.230 you and through the ordinary, unremarkable, imperfect 00:04:57.230 --> 00:05:04.810 you and I. That's a certainty in our lives. Today's 00:05:04.810 --> 00:05:09.810 three readings all converge on this. How we show 00:05:09.810 --> 00:05:12.850 up in the ordinary days, which is just day to 00:05:12.850 --> 00:05:15.689 day living, matters more than we usually believe. 00:05:16.490 --> 00:05:18.910 The cup of water, the door opened, the person 00:05:18.910 --> 00:05:24.829 welcomed. Those ordinary things, simple things 00:05:24.829 --> 00:05:26.649 are not peripheral to what God is doing in the 00:05:26.649 --> 00:05:33.310 world. They are central to it. When you go back 00:05:33.310 --> 00:05:36.250 to the beginning of Matthew chapter 10, Jesus 00:05:36.250 --> 00:05:40.730 has been watching. He's been moving through the 00:05:40.730 --> 00:05:42.689 towns and the villages. We heard that just a 00:05:42.689 --> 00:05:45.370 couple of weeks ago. Teaching, healing, meeting 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:49.149 people at the edge of their lives. And Matthew 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:51.410 tells us that when he saw the crowds, he had 00:05:51.410 --> 00:05:53.769 compassion for them. Remember that gut wrenching? 00:05:54.129 --> 00:05:56.449 That's his compassion. It physically moved him. 00:05:57.290 --> 00:06:02.170 They were like sheep without a shepherd. And 00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:06.149 then he does something unexpected. He calls 12 00:06:06.149 --> 00:06:09.889 ordinary guys, gives them his own authority, 00:06:10.069 --> 00:06:12.589 now this is the authority you have in my name, 00:06:13.029 --> 00:06:15.689 and he says, go and do what I've been doing, 00:06:16.170 --> 00:06:19.269 go and heal, go and announce, bring the good 00:06:19.269 --> 00:06:25.449 news. And by the end of chapter 10, he's telling 00:06:25.449 --> 00:06:28.910 them, well whoever receives you as you go and 00:06:28.910 --> 00:06:36.149 do these things, receives me. Sitting here, you 00:06:36.149 --> 00:06:38.970 are not just people going out to do good things 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:44.350 for God. You are carriers of His presence. You 00:06:44.350 --> 00:06:48.310 are a vessel where He dwells within you. That's 00:06:48.310 --> 00:06:50.870 the extraordinary claim that we have, and it's 00:06:50.870 --> 00:06:56.870 not reserved for the Twelve. The early Church 00:06:56.870 --> 00:07:01.129 understood this. And they understood this to 00:07:01.129 --> 00:07:03.209 apply to every follower of Jesus who goes into 00:07:03.209 --> 00:07:06.509 the world. I think within some of our teachings 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:10.290 in the life of the churches since then, we've 00:07:10.290 --> 00:07:15.029 lapsed on it. But this also connects to something 00:07:15.029 --> 00:07:19.310 that Paul was saying in Romans 6. His whole argument 00:07:19.310 --> 00:07:22.930 in this chapter is about what you yield yourself 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:27.829 to. He says this, do not offer any part of yourself 00:07:27.829 --> 00:07:30.850 to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather 00:07:30.990 --> 00:07:34.170 Offer yourselves to God as those who have been 00:07:34.170 --> 00:07:37.629 brought from death to life, and offer every part 00:07:37.629 --> 00:07:40.810 of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. 00:07:43.129 --> 00:07:48.050 An instrument. Wow. The word in the Greek is 00:07:48.050 --> 00:07:52.709 huppun, which is a tool or a weapon. Paul is 00:07:52.709 --> 00:07:57.769 saying that your body, your hands, your voice, 00:07:58.810 --> 00:08:02.680 your presence, These are the instruments that 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:07.480 will be used in everyday life to share and tell 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:14.800 and show of God's love and life. The question 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:16.759 is not whether you'll be an instrument of something. 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:20.160 The question is what you'll be an instrument 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:24.060 of. Now an instrument can be used for a tool 00:08:24.060 --> 00:08:26.620 or the same instrument can be used as a weapon. 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:29.899 This is the question he's asking us, what will 00:08:29.899 --> 00:08:34.419 you be an instrument of? And Jesus and Matthew 00:08:34.419 --> 00:08:38.539 10 are saying that each of us have the responsibility 00:08:38.539 --> 00:08:41.100 of being an instrument through which people encounter 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:44.539 him. Not because you're impressive, not because 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:48.539 you've got everything sorted, but because you 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:52.019 belong to him. And he has chosen to make himself 00:08:52.019 --> 00:08:54.360 present through the people who carry his name. 00:08:57.929 --> 00:09:00.590 We are marked externally and internally with 00:09:00.590 --> 00:09:02.529 His name when we are baptized in the name of 00:09:02.529 --> 00:09:05.970 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We 00:09:05.970 --> 00:09:11.850 carry His presence which dwells within us. Teresa 00:09:11.850 --> 00:09:14.889 of Villa is attributed with these things, God 00:09:14.889 --> 00:09:20.409 has no hands but ours, no feet but ours. Ours 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:23.110 are the eyes through which he looks with compassion 00:09:23.110 --> 00:09:25.509 on the world. Ours are the feet with which he 00:09:25.509 --> 00:09:29.009 walks to do good. Ours are the hands with which 00:09:29.009 --> 00:09:35.250 he blesses all the world. We do something like 00:09:35.250 --> 00:09:38.830 this at the cathedral, every chrism mass, which 00:09:38.830 --> 00:09:42.809 is held in Holy Week. One part of the service, 00:09:43.009 --> 00:09:47.169 the bishop goes back to the front or back wherever 00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:49.360 you're standing and looking at the church. has 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.019 the anointing oil that's just been blessed for 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:54.500 that time and calls us to come forward and marks 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:57.799 in our hands the sign of the cross with the oil 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:02.860 saying, God has no hands but these hands. That 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:06.259 brings it down that my hands are to do God's 00:10:06.259 --> 00:10:11.340 work. My words, my life, my feet are to carry 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:14.500 me to do the things that God has called me to 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:27.559 do. And that is placed on each one of us. You 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:30.299 may not feel like as you go through the days 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:33.179 that you're actually carrying much but Jesus 00:10:33.179 --> 00:10:37.500 says whoever receives you receives me and That 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:41.539 should change how you walk into a room So I wonder 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:44.840 if I send you all out today to outside the doors 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:49.080 there with these words still in your ears Whoever 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.419 receives you receives me and they should change 00:10:52.419 --> 00:10:54.360 how you walk in true. How you would then come 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:57.389 into this room this morning if you really knew 00:10:57.389 --> 00:11:02.049 that. If that was in front of your thinking instead 00:11:02.049 --> 00:11:07.110 of tucked away in some corner of your mind. Now 00:11:07.110 --> 00:11:09.669 look at where Jesus lands this whole discourse. 00:11:10.929 --> 00:11:14.169 He doesn't land it on the dramatic, on the miracles 00:11:14.169 --> 00:11:17.889 or preaching. He lands it simply on a cup of 00:11:17.889 --> 00:11:22.500 cold water. And whoever gives one of these little 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:24.659 ones even a cup of cold water, because he is 00:11:24.659 --> 00:11:27.620 a disciple of mine, truly I say to you, he will 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:33.139 by no means lose his reward. A cup of cold water. 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:38.000 Well, in first century Palestine, offering water 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:42.100 to a traveler, this was just a basic act of hospitality. 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:45.720 It wasn't remarkable, it wasn't spiritual, it 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:50.639 was just ordinary. It was just an ordinary human 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:55.460 decency towards someone who was thirsty. And 00:11:55.460 --> 00:11:59.259 Jesus says, when that happens in his name, that 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:03.100 it doesn't go unremarked. It doesn't fall through 00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:06.519 the floor of history unnoticed. God sees it. 00:12:09.220 --> 00:12:12.120 If he knows they're here on your head, the numbers 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:16.580 of them, he'll see this as well. Think about 00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:18.860 what that means for the texture of an ordinary 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:24.299 week. A drink made for someone or for a colleague 00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:27.460 who looks like they're struggling. The phone 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:30.279 call that took 20 minutes that you didn't have 00:12:30.279 --> 00:12:33.320 at the beginning of it. Or the door held open, 00:12:33.419 --> 00:12:35.519 the name that's remembered by someone thinking, 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:38.700 oh, they won't know it. The moment when you choose 00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:43.139 to stay instead of leaving. The second question. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:48.759 when the first answer wasn't the real one. Those 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:52.580 are the cup of cold waters. These things feel 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:56.259 small. They get lost in the ordinariness of days 00:12:56.259 --> 00:12:58.679 and we just think they're just things that happen. 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:01.720 We don't usually think of them as spiritual acts. 00:13:02.820 --> 00:13:04.740 We certainly don't think of them as encountering 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:11.419 Jesus, but Jesus says they are. Thing that is 00:13:11.419 --> 00:13:16.179 small register in the economy of God. The smallest 00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:20.799 act of a genuine welcome done in His name is 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:25.919 not nothing. There's a story that illustrates 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:28.440 this, and you heard it as a first reading this 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:32.659 morning, Abraham in Genesis 22. He's asked to 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:35.860 give up the thing that he loves most, his son, 00:13:36.740 --> 00:13:40.080 the promised son, the son that... everything 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:44.019 was supposed to flow through. And he goes, he 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:48.419 doesn't understand it. There's no record in scripture 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:51.700 of him arguing his way through the theology of 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:57.000 it. He just goes. And at the last moment, God 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:01.059 provides. God provides the ram that's caught 00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:05.159 in the thicket. He hears the angel's voice. And 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:08.620 Abraham names a place the Lord will provide. 00:14:12.009 --> 00:14:14.750 What strikes me about that story in this context 00:14:14.750 --> 00:14:19.450 of the Matthew is this. Abraham's obedience to 00:14:19.450 --> 00:14:22.309 that looked like one thing on the outside, a 00:14:22.309 --> 00:14:28.269 man walking up a hill with his son, with some 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:32.870 wood. Unremarkable from a distance, just a man 00:14:32.870 --> 00:14:36.450 walking out for the day with his son. But the 00:14:36.450 --> 00:14:38.309 obedience was carrying the whole weight of the 00:14:38.309 --> 00:14:42.210 covenant, the whole future of God's people. everything 00:14:42.210 --> 00:14:46.889 that was to come. That tells us that sometimes 00:14:46.889 --> 00:14:48.789 what looks small from the outside is carrying 00:14:48.789 --> 00:14:53.730 everything on the inside. Mother Teresa of Calcutta 00:14:53.730 --> 00:14:57.070 said this, we can do no great things, only small 00:14:57.070 --> 00:15:02.129 things with great love. With obedience to the 00:15:02.129 --> 00:15:07.470 command to go. The disciples Jesus sends out 00:15:07.470 --> 00:15:09.690 of Matthew 10, we know they're not impressive 00:15:09.690 --> 00:15:13.019 people, we've seen what their life's like, it's 00:15:13.019 --> 00:15:15.700 written down there for us. They're fishermen, 00:15:16.139 --> 00:15:18.759 there's a tax collector thrown in, and people 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:21.919 who will within hours of the crucifixion, they're 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:23.779 just going to run away. They're going to deny 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:27.559 Him. But they carry something that they didn't 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:31.259 generate themselves. And the cup of cold water 00:15:31.259 --> 00:15:35.299 given in Jesus' name by the least of them, it's 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:43.240 not nothing. And Jesus says so. See, in just 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:46.639 these few verses, there's something else that 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:49.480 we shouldn't miss with it. Jesus is not only 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:51.659 talking about the people being sent, he's talking 00:15:51.659 --> 00:15:54.700 about the people who are doing the receiving. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:04.980 Whoever receives you, they receive me. Whoever 00:16:04.980 --> 00:16:09.019 receives you, receives me. That means the act 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:12.740 of welcome. of opening your door, your table, 00:16:12.899 --> 00:16:15.899 your attention, your life to someone who carries 00:16:15.899 --> 00:16:19.200 the presence of Jesus, that act is also an encounter 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:25.080 with God. Welcome is not one directional. It's 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:29.659 not charity flowing from the generous to the 00:16:29.659 --> 00:16:34.179 needy. Welcome is something that is mutual. The 00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:37.340 person who gives a cup of cold water meets Jesus. 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:41.220 And the community that receives the person carrying 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:47.019 Jesus, will they meet him too? Paul, he picks 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:49.980 up the same logic in Romans 6 from the other 00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:53.139 side, he says, but now that you have been set 00:16:53.139 --> 00:16:55.360 free from sin and have become slaves of God, 00:16:56.220 --> 00:16:58.539 the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the 00:16:58.539 --> 00:17:04.240 result is eternal life. What you and I give ourselves 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:09.890 to shapes what you become. Because if you give 00:17:09.890 --> 00:17:14.690 yourself to sin, sin shapes you. Now I have two 00:17:14.690 --> 00:17:17.990 boys, sons, that are lifetime examples of this. 00:17:20.349 --> 00:17:22.430 You've heard about it there. They've decided 00:17:22.430 --> 00:17:29.589 to steal, steal in drugs, harm people. They've 00:17:29.589 --> 00:17:32.390 given themselves to that, so they're in prison, 00:17:33.289 --> 00:17:37.309 released from prison, go back into prison, released 00:17:37.309 --> 00:17:40.289 again. It's a continual cycle. What you give 00:17:40.289 --> 00:17:47.210 yourself to is what you will become. If you give 00:17:47.210 --> 00:17:51.910 yourself to God, then God shapes you, not the 00:17:51.910 --> 00:17:56.029 world. This is not a mechanical formula. It's 00:17:56.029 --> 00:17:58.670 an observation about how formation works in life. 00:17:59.150 --> 00:18:04.089 And it applies to welcome as well. That every 00:18:04.089 --> 00:18:06.670 time you open yourself to someone in Jesus' name, 00:18:06.990 --> 00:18:11.250 Something happens to you. You are being formed. 00:18:12.589 --> 00:18:15.150 You are becoming the kind of person who recognizes 00:18:15.150 --> 00:18:18.809 the presence of Christ in the unexpected faces. 00:18:20.230 --> 00:18:22.430 This is why hospitality in the New Testament 00:18:22.430 --> 00:18:26.369 is never just politeness. It's a spiritual practice. 00:18:28.170 --> 00:18:31.210 It's a practice of staying, well, I'm open to 00:18:31.210 --> 00:18:34.069 the possibility that the person in front of me 00:18:34.069 --> 00:18:38.549 is carrying something that I need. the unexpected. 00:18:40.410 --> 00:18:42.789 Henry Newman in his book Reaching Out says it 00:18:42.789 --> 00:18:46.289 this way, hospitality is not to change people, 00:18:47.470 --> 00:18:49.910 but to offer them space where change can take 00:18:49.910 --> 00:18:52.869 place. It is not to bring men and women over 00:18:52.869 --> 00:18:56.809 to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed 00:18:56.809 --> 00:19:04.170 by dividing lines. Hospitality that is open and 00:19:04.170 --> 00:19:08.859 welcoming. In Jeremiah 28, the prophet gives 00:19:08.859 --> 00:19:11.460 us a darker version of this very same principle. 00:19:12.460 --> 00:19:14.700 There's a prophet named Hananiah saying what 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:18.500 the people want to hear, that, hey people, peace 00:19:18.500 --> 00:19:21.059 is coming, exile will end soon, everything's 00:19:21.059 --> 00:19:25.980 going to be fine, so follow me. And Jeremiah 00:19:25.980 --> 00:19:30.660 stands up and says, I hope you're right. But 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:34.180 the test of a true word from God is whether it 00:19:34.180 --> 00:19:37.279 proves true. You can't always tell in the moment 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:41.140 which voice is genuine. Because we're wanting 00:19:41.140 --> 00:19:44.799 to believe that peace is coming, exile will end 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.059 soon, and everything will be fine. And if someone's 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:53.359 saying that, we want it, don't we? The same is 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:57.700 also true of welcome. There's a discernment that's 00:19:57.700 --> 00:20:01.019 required. Not every voice that claims to come 00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:06.440 in Jesus' name does. Jesus himself warned about 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:12.039 this earlier in Matthew 10, just last week. Standing 00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:15.539 at the back talking with someone and someone 00:20:15.539 --> 00:20:19.119 came in, generally afflicted on the knee, crossed 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.680 themselves, got up, then crossed themselves again 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:25.220 and went out. I knew this person though from 00:20:25.220 --> 00:20:29.619 many years from being here. So I had an eye on 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:32.319 them. And they walked out, walked around, and 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:35.660 walked down the hallway. So I excused myself 00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:38.180 and then followed them. Spoke to the person. 00:20:38.220 --> 00:20:41.059 He said, I'm just here for prayer. I said, well, 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:44.059 that's good. But you're not really here for that. 00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:48.240 You're here for something else. And he walked 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:54.500 down. I followed him out of the church. My welcome 00:20:54.500 --> 00:20:58.720 is to welcome them. But when they come stealing, 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:03.160 You have to discern. You have to be ready to 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:06.660 understand what's happening. As all of you are 00:21:06.660 --> 00:21:10.019 talking and sharing in conversation, there are 00:21:10.019 --> 00:21:17.440 walls roaming around as well. But with that, 00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:19.940 because of that exchange and the many things 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:23.319 over the years with this person, the call is 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:27.849 not to close down and stop welcoming them. The 00:21:27.849 --> 00:21:29.950 call is to be discerning and to keep the door 00:21:29.950 --> 00:21:33.289 open. Because the risk of welcome is real and 00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:37.829 Jesus calls us to it. It seems next time may 00:21:37.829 --> 00:21:44.349 be the time that I reveal myself to them. Three 00:21:44.349 --> 00:21:49.089 verses today. I said at the start they feel like 00:21:49.089 --> 00:21:53.390 an afterthought, but they're not. They're the 00:21:53.390 --> 00:21:57.099 hinge that the whole discourse turns on. Jesus 00:21:57.099 --> 00:22:00.880 has been sending people out into the world and 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.200 they won't always welcome them. He's been honest 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.680 about the cost that they've faced. Sheep among 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.140 wolves. Don't be naive. And then he says, and 00:22:09.140 --> 00:22:13.519 yet. Even the middle of all that, welcome is 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:17.759 possible. Welcome matters. And welcome carries 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:20.420 more weight than it looks like from the outside. 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:25.119 So here's something that I would like us, all 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:29.480 of us, to take home today. You're carrying something 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:33.059 bigger than yourself, not because of who you 00:22:33.059 --> 00:22:38.619 are, because of whom you belong to. When you 00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:42.339 walk into your street, your workplace, or cafe, 00:22:42.940 --> 00:22:45.119 or anywhere, supermarket, your family gathering, 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:49.440 your neighbourhood, you are not walking in alone. 00:22:50.840 --> 00:22:53.619 Jesus says, whoever receives you receives me. 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:58.400 Now that isn't pressure to be impressive. It's 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:02.539 permission to be present, to show up, to be open 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:05.180 and be available to those that you encounter 00:23:05.180 --> 00:23:09.599 as they encounter you. Don't underestimate the 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:11.680 cup of cold water, whether that's a smile or 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:15.980 a welcome opening the door. The small thing done 00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:20.410 in His name is not nothing. It registers. not 00:23:20.410 --> 00:23:22.369 just with the person in front of you, but it 00:23:22.369 --> 00:23:26.809 also registers with God. The conversation that 00:23:26.809 --> 00:23:29.329 nobody else noticed that you had, the moment 00:23:29.329 --> 00:23:33.029 of patience that cost you something, the welcome 00:23:33.029 --> 00:23:36.970 that was inconvenient because you wanted to be 00:23:36.970 --> 00:23:40.069 somewhere else. These are not peripheral to your 00:23:40.069 --> 00:23:44.490 life of faith, they're the substance of it. And 00:23:44.490 --> 00:23:48.819 remember that welcome forms you. Every time you 00:23:48.819 --> 00:23:52.200 open yourself to someone in Jesus' name, you 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:55.779 become really a little more the kind of person 00:23:55.779 --> 00:23:59.619 who can see Him in unexpected faces. And that's 00:23:59.619 --> 00:24:03.380 not an accident. That's how formation works. 00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:08.380 Paul says, offer yourselves to God as instruments 00:24:08.380 --> 00:24:12.640 of righteousness. Don't offer Him just your big 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:19.349 moments. Offer Him your ordinary ones. The whole 00:24:19.349 --> 00:24:22.450 life of the Christian life can be described as 00:24:22.450 --> 00:24:26.130 learning to see, to see the face of Christ in 00:24:26.130 --> 00:24:29.369 the face of our neighbour and to respond to what 00:24:29.369 --> 00:24:37.470 we see. Ordinary time. That's what we're in. 00:24:37.930 --> 00:24:41.970 We're 13 weeks in of about 28 of them for this 00:24:41.970 --> 00:24:44.890 season of the Church's calendar, the season of 00:24:44.890 --> 00:24:48.059 going deep and of growing up. And perhaps the 00:24:48.059 --> 00:24:51.359 biggest and I think the most grown -up thing 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:54.880 Jesus calls us to is also the most ordinary thing, 00:24:55.259 --> 00:24:58.819 which is to welcome, to give water to the thirsty, 00:24:58.940 --> 00:25:03.799 to open the door for someone. But whoever does 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:09.200 that in His name, Jesus says, will by no means 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:24.460 lose their reward. Amen. Let's pause and pray. 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:31.299 Father, as we go and journey through our week, 00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:36.880 that we learn to be attentive to the small things, 00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:39.819 the cup of cold waters that you have named. Not 00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:43.180 going in the door, pausing with someone, having 00:25:43.180 --> 00:25:46.839 a conversation or just listening. Going deeper 00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:52.839 with them. but welcoming them and receiving them 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:59.240 because you are in them. May we take notice and 00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:03.559 have compassion as you did. May your spirit move 00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:08.720 us to see those around us. May we be discerning 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:16.519 people as we welcome them. Amen.