Today's gospel passage closes out the
section on missional instructions given to the twelve disciples.
This section began two weeks ago when Jesus called the twelve
together and sent them out into various parts of Israel (avoiding
Gentiles and Samaritans for the time being) to proclaim, cure,
cleanse, and restore. But as I alluded to last week, that is no easy
mission. You know it wouldn't be easy when Jesus tells them not to
worry about physical death, or that he has come to bring a sword, or
that sons will be against fathers and daughters against mothers.
Both we and the disciples are being
sent out among wolves to proclaim, cure, cleanse, and restore. And
today that commissioning, that sending, is given its final set of
instructions. We are being sent out to do great things, but before
we go, there's one more thing you need to know. That one more thing
is this short paragraph that is today's gospel passage.
Earlier in these missional instructions
Jesus told the disciples to shake off the dust of a house or town
from their feet if they were not welcomed. Now he's preparing them
on how to behave should they be welcomed. “If someone welcomes
you, they welcome me.” Both we and the disciples have been
elevated to the place of official spokesman. In other words, when we
speak, so does Jesus because we speak on his behalf.
This is just the opposite of that
disclaimer you see/hear in places: “The views expressed by the
participants do not necessarily reflect the views of . . . X.”
Well in this case, they do; so we need to be careful about how we
represent Christ and the Church.
Jesus' statement, “Whoever welcomes
you . . .” and, “Whoever welcomes a prophet . . .” is primarily
directed to the twelve. Jesus is implying that the twelve named
disciples being sent out speak on his behalf, and anyone welcoming
them welcomes both the Son and the Father. He is also elevating them
to the status of prophet, a venerated position of that time. In
short, the twelve are the VIPs of God's kingdom and not to be
ignored.
But it isn't just the twelve who are
VIPs. Yes, they include Sts. Peter, Andrew, James, John and the
rest. And there are other VIPs who are well-known down through the
ages. People like St. Paul and Justin Martyr, Polycarp and Perpetua,
Francis and Claire of Assisi, Pope Leo, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther
King, and our own Michael Curry are included, as are so many other
great people and names of the faith. Anyone who welcomes those
people in the name of God will receive their reward.
On the one hand, that's good news. On
the other hand, though, this brings up a two-fold problem. First,
and most obvious, how do we discern between a VIP and an impostor?
That can be difficult because sometimes charisma is mistaken for
charism. Without going too far down this path, using the Baptismal
Covenant as a framework for discernment would be a good idea.
The second problem is that it can be
distressing news because precious few of us rise to the level of
those great saints and people I mentioned. What do we do with the
myriads upon myriads of Christians living simple, faithful, anonymous
lives? Lucky for us Jesus addresses this very issue.
“Whoever gives even a cup of cold
water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple . . .”
In Matthew, when Jesus uses the term
“little ones” he is referring to the humble Christians who may
also be poor, or those who are new to the faith.
Notice what Jesus says here: Whoever
GIVES a cup of cold water to these little ones in the
name of a disciple.
In the long history of God's mission on
earth, in the long history of the Church in all of its variances, the
vast majority of people are like Matthias – known only to God and a
few others, living as faithfully as they can, serving in anonymity,
and simply going on about their business as faithful witnesses.
These are the foot soldiers of the Church. These are the ones who do
the vast majority of the work. These are the 99 percent. These
people are not to be neglected or treated with disdain by the
so-called VIPs or other leaders of the church. These are the ones to
whom we are to give in the name of a disciple.
In the Examination portion of a
priestly ordination, the ordinand is charged to love and serve the
people among whom they work, and to care alike for young and old,
strong and weak, rich and poor. There are no, or should not be any,
VIPs in the eyes of a priest. It is my job, then, to treat everyone
fairly and offer cups of cold water in the name of Jesus to even the
little ones. Who, by the way, may actually need it more than others.
But treating all fairly and offering
cups of cold water to the the little ones isn't only my job. You all
are counted as disciples. You all have been commissioned to
proclaim, cure, cleanse, and restore. You all also speak for Jesus.
In the Letter of James, the author, writing to an unspecified group
of believers, says, “If you take notice of one wearing fine clothes
while denigrating one who is poor, have you not made distinctions?”
Like me, it is your job to not distinguish but to offer cups of cold
water even to the little ones.
We are being sent out to proclaim,
cure, cleanse, and restore. Some of us may become VIPs. Most of us
will not. And while you may not be called to far off mission trips,
or to become a “superstar Christian,” all of us are called to
respect the dignity of every human being. It just may be that our
greatest mission field is right here within these walls, welcoming
the stranger, proclaiming the good news of God in Christ as St.
John's understands it, and giving cups of cold water to the little
ones on our midst.
It just may be that our acts of curing,
cleansing, and restoring happen right here. It just may be that
those cups of cold water we offer will allow those little ones to
experience the Church as it was meant to be experienced.
In the name of Christ, may we proclaim,
cure, cleanse, and restore all people; VIPs and little ones alike.
Amen.
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