Sermon for Matthew 10:40-42 and Jeremiah 28:5-9

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me." (Matthew 10.40)

There are some verses in Scripture that seem to sit quietly on the

page, almost unnoticed, until one day they begin to glow. This is

one of them.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me."

Simple words. Gentle words. Yet words with remarkable depth.

Jesus speaks them as he sends out his disciples. When they are

about to leave the security of what they know and venture into a

world that may or may not welcome them.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me."

Perhaps we need to hear those words carefully, because they say

something important not only about the disciples, but about us.

Most of us would probably not think of ourselves as being 'sent'.

We may think that is for missionaries, clergy, or people with

particular gifts and confidence. Yet the life of all who call

themselves Christians begins not with an invitation to sit still, but

with a calling to go.

For most of us, being sent does not involve crossing oceans. It

means crossing roads. It may mean speaking to the neighbour

whose front garden is untidy, with an old mattress leaning against

the fence, while inside a single parent is carrying burdens most of

us cannot see. It may mean noticing the man in a suit who lives

opposite, leaving and returning at exactly the same time each

day, successful on the surface yet deeply lonely and unseen.

It may mean getting to know, and I don’t say this lightly, the

teenagers hanging around the shops with nowhere else to go, or

the couple whose life appears comfortable but whose marriage is

quietly falling apart, or the young couple overwhelmed by debt

and anxiety.

Jesus sends us not only to people who are like us, but often to

people we would never normally choose. For most of us, the

mission field is not somewhere far away. It is the people who

share our street, pass us on the pavement, or stand beside us at

the school gate. The question is whether we are willing to see

them, and whether we are willing to go.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me."

if Jesus is right, every encounter matters.

We may feel our faith is small. We may feel inadequate. We may

wonder whether anyone is interested in hearing about God

anymore.

Yet perhaps the question is not whether people are interested in

religion. Perhaps the question is whether they are hungry for

kindness, grace, hope and meaning.

And so many are.

Sometimes we assume the door is firmly closed when in fact it is

slightly ajar.

Perhaps our task is simply to be faithful.

To offer the invitation. To speak the kind word. To make room for

another person.

To carry Christ into the places where we already are.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me."

In our reading from Jeremiah we hear 2 prophets with very

different

messages.

Hananiah tells the people exactly what they want to hear. The

difficult days will soon be over. The future will be easy. Everything

will work out quickly.

Jeremiah says something rather different.

He doesn’t offer false comfort. He speaks of patience, hope and

trust. He knew that hope is not pretending that darkness does

not exist. Hope is trusting that God remains present within it.

These are words that do not deny the darkness of some lives, but

offer solidarity, support and hope in the darkness. And that is

what we have to offer as Christians who are sent out into the

world of old mattresses, broken homes and disordered lives –

solidarity support and hope.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me."

Not everyone will welcome you.Not everyone is interested in

faith. We may well be rejected.

But here we are in good company with Jesus Himself and His

disciples. They knew rejection, and they didn’t let it stop Jesus’

message of hope being established throughout the known world.

Jesus never told his disciples to retreat into safe cool churches

and wait for people to come to them. He sent them out into the

world of old mattresses, broken homes and disordered lives.

For wherever Christ sends us, he goes ahead of us. The Church

at its best has never been a building waiting for people to arrive.

It has been a community carrying Christ into the world.

And wherever Christ is welcomed, hope is alive.