Welcome (Matthew 10:40-42)

 I saw this image on social media last week. It shows two different types of macaroni and cheese.

The one labeled “Juneteenth” shows a baked macaroni and cheese, with the edges golden and crispy.

The one labeled “July 4th” shows a creamier, less crispy mac and cheese, one that was probably made on the stovetop, and not in the oven.

I don’t know where this meme originated. I don’t know who created it. And I don’t know the message they were intending.

Some have said it is racist, implying that the baked version is favored by Black Americans, while the creamy version is favored by white Americans; yet I haven’t seen any commentary saying which version of mac and cheese is the better version.

To me, they both look good.

But people do have their preferences. And some will take a meme like this, that appears on social media, and use it as a way to divide us from one another.

They’ll say: “there’s only one right way to make mac and cheese.”

They’ll say: “anyone who makes their mac and cheese the wrong way is just, well, wrong.”

Well, let’s imagine that, in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States, that we’re having a Great American picnic. The question is: Which type of mac and cheese will we serve?

But maybe that’s the wrong question. Because isn’t there room at our Great American picnic for both? 

Of course there is! But only if we make room for both.

I’ve been to chili cookoffs, where there were dozens of different types of chili present. Everyone has their own preference. Some like it spicy. Some like it mild. Some like it with beans. Some like it without beans. Some like it with a little bit of cumin. Some like it with other spices.

There’s room for all different types of chili at the cookoff.

So why would we ever insist that there is only one right way to make mac and cheese?

There is room at our Great American Picnic for both.

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For the early Christians, one of the most pressing questions was whether there was room in the movement for both Jews and Gentiles.

We know that the Jesus movement began with Jews. Jesus was a Jew; the twelve disciples were Jews. In fact, the reason there were 12 disciples is probably because there were 12 tribes of Israel. 

This was a Jewish movement.

But Jesus also interacted with and welcomed non-Jews as well as those who were “sorta” Jews, those who maybe considered themselves part of the Jewish people, but whose practices and ideas differed to some degree from the Judaism practiced and taught at the temple in Jerusalem.

Then, on Pentecost, the Spirit gave the disciples the ability to speak in many different languages, the languages of Jewish and non-Jewish people; and the movement began to spread around the world.

And soon, among the disciples and other early Jewish followers of Jesus, the question arose: is there room for everyone in the movement?

Those non-Jewish followers: they were different. They made the Jewish followers uncomfortable. Their customs were different. They spoke in different accents and different languages. 

How do we welcome those who are different, whose ways we don’t understand, whose presence and lifestyle and customs make us uncomfortable?

Some of the Jews believed that non-Jews should be welcomed into the movement only if they became Jews. They needed to leave behind those ways that made them uncomfortable.

They needed to make their mac and cheese the right way.

Last week, we heard a reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans. One of the prominent themes in Romans is the tension between Jews and non-Jews.

Paul urged Jews to welcome non-Jews wholeheartedly. Paul insisted that non-Jews did not need to become like Jews and adopt Jewish ways in order to be followers of Jesus. They didn’t need to be circumcised. They didn’t need to follow Jewish customs. They could follow Jesus, and be part of the movement, just as they were.

In today’s short scripture reading from Matthew, the word “welcome” appears six times. But because we heard a reading from Romans last week, and because I’m currently reading a book on Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul’s emphasis on welcome is echoing in my mind. 

 ****** “Welcome one another,” Paul wrote, “As Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

The welcome Jesus talks about in today’s scripture, from Matthew, is a little different. Jesus is talking to his disciples, giving them instructions for the mission they are to carry out.

And when, in Matthew 10, Jesus talks about welcome, he’s talking about those who welcome them, and those who refuse to welcome them. 

But even though the context is a little different here in Matthew than in Romans, the idea of welcome and hospitality remains central.

******

Earlier in this same chapter (Matthew 10), Jesus makes a reference to Sodom and Gomorrah, cities that were famous for their lack of welcome. 

Jesus says to his disciples, “If anyone welcomes you and offers you peace, great! But if anyone refuses to welcome you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for those who refuse to welcome you.”

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is, itself, about welcome. Two strangers, visitors from another land, come to Sodom. 

They are different. They are foreigners. Some would say they are the ones who make their mac and cheese the wrong way.

And yet, a man named Lot welcomes them into his home. He follows the code of hospitality by giving them a safe place to stay, and offering them his protection.

But a group of citizens from that town arrive at Lot’s door, and demand that he turn these two visitors over to them. 

They don’t like these two visitors. They don’t like the way they make their mac and cheese. It makes them uncomfortable. 

And so they seek to humiliate and punish these strangers in order to differentiate themselves from them, and to make them feel unwelcome.

******

And every time Sodom is mentioned in scripture after that, it is to show an example of a city that did not provide hospitality or protection to those who were vulnerable; a city that did not welcome those who were different, those who were poor and needy.

I know; you may have been told that that’s not what the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is about. You may have been told that the whole point of that story is something else entirely.

Because the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is often used (or misused) to show that homosexuality is a sin.

But the fact that people are making this false claim actually helps emphasize the point I’m trying to make.

For some, the presence, the mere existence, of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender makes them uncomfortable.

They don’t like the way they make their mac and cheese (one might say).

And so, ironically, they will take a story from the Bible—a story that is about welcoming and providing hospitality and offering protection—and they’ll tell you that it’s a story that justifies exclusion and condemnation; and they’ll then use their own misguided interpretation as a weapon to demonize those whose existence makes them uncomfortable.

In other words, they’ll use the story to justify their own behavior, even though their own behavior is exactly the behavior that the story condemns.

And this practice continues today.

But not here. Not at First Christian Church. And not at the dozen or so other churches here in Bloomington-Normal, and countless congregations in our denomination and in many other denominations, who all understand that, central to the gospel message, is the message of welcome. The message of inclusion.

They understand that the welcome we are called to extend must be extended especially to those who are vulnerable, to those who are different from us… even if we need to overcome our discomfort in order to do so.

This is an ongoing process. Yes, we are an open and affirming congregation; but that doesn’t mean we have perfected the art of welcoming others.

In fact, there may be someone here who, in your head, you know should be welcomed, but in your heart, you have to admit—if you’re being honest—that that’s challenging for you, that their presence makes you at least a little uncomfortable.

I have no shame in admitting that it took me a long time to get over my discomfort of people who are different—people who make their mac and cheese different—and that I’m still examining my own biases and prejudices in an effort to overcome those biases and prejudices.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that, even though some people make their mac and cheese differently, that doesn’t mean it isn’t good.

And maybe for you there are people who you tolerate and accept, but to whom you have been less than 100% welcoming. People about whom you may think, “Well, they can worship here, but I’m not going to go out of my way to greet them or welcome them.”

Yet that is precisely what the gospel calls on us to do. Welcome one another, as Christ has welcomed you…

How would Christ welcome them? How would Christ let them know that they are welcome here, that they are wanted here, that this is their home as much as it is anyone else’s home? ………

I’m proud of the welcome we at FCC offer. Visitors report feeling truly welcome.

But we can do better. We can always do better. 

So if there is someone you’ve been avoiding, someone to whom you’ve shown a less-than-enthusiastic welcome, I would encourage you to pray about that, and to ask God to show you how you can do better, how you can grow in this area, in the way you welcome one another.

******

You may not know it, but the passing of the peace we do toward the beginning of each worship service… the scriptural precedent for that is Jesus’ instruction that if you are angry or have some sort of grudge against a fellow worshiper, you are to go and be reconciled to that person before you come to worship, before you offer up your praise to God or your offering to God.

And in a similar way, the apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, admonishes the believers for gathering for the Lord’s Supper while doing nothing to overcome the divisions among them. Paul’s instructions are to seek reconciliation and unity with one another before partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

That’s why we do a passing of the peace.

So if there is someone with whom you need reconciliation, someone from whom you feel divided, someone who you have not been enthusiastic about loving and welcoming and embracing as a sibling in Christ, 

…I invite you to pray about that. Ask God to show you how your love can be more genuine toward that person, how you can be more welcoming, how you can let that person know that you are glad they are a part of our church family.

******

Let them know that their mac and cheese is delicious just the way it is, that you love their mac and cheese even if it’s not the same as your mac and cheese.

And together, we will grow in unity; and our love for one another, and our love for all who seek to join us, will be a sign to the world that truly we are followers of Christ.

They’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Romans 6:1-11)

  I was in middle school, and had just started going to church youth group. 

One day we went mini golfing. We had a great time. In fact, we may have been a little too loud, running around the mini golf course, but never in a way that was disrespectful to others who were there. We were, after all, church kids, something we took pride in. 

As church kids, we wanted others to know that we were good kids, but that we could also still have fun just like everyone else

We were different… but at the same time, we were not that different.

We were church kids… but we weren’t weirdos, or freaks, or zealots. 

There was a tension there. Do you notice?

We wanted to be different, but we also wanted to fit in.

And living with this tension involves lots of compromises.

That tension has stuck with me. And maybe you feel it, too.

We are different. 

God calls us to be different. 

But how different do we really want to be? How different are we willing to be?

******

In Mark’s gospel, Jesus begins his ministry wandering from town to town, healing people and telling them about the kingdom of God. What he was doing was so different, so strange, so bizarre, that his family tried to stop him, because people were saying that Jesus had gone out of his mind. 

Then Jesus called twelve disciples to join him, to follow him, to learn from him as he engaged in these activities. And those twelve left their homes, their jobs, their families, and followed him.

This was not normal! Many of their families probably questioned their judgment, or even their sanity.

When Jesus preached about the kingdom of God, his whole point was that the kingdom of God was everything that the kingdom of Rome was not. It was radically different. When the gospels talk about God’s kingdom, they are presenting a direct alternative to life under Caesar.

****** Luke’s gospel sets up this contrast of two kingdoms from the very beginning. In the first chapter, Luke says that it was in the days of King Herod of Judea… And then in the second chapter he begins by mentioning Emperor Augustus. 

By mentioning these rulers of the Roman world, Luke is setting up a contrast: the rulers of the world have their kingdom and their ways, but the kingdom of God and the way of Jesus are very different.

******The opening words of Mark’s gospel, meanwhile, state that this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.

This also is a political statement, meant to contrast God’s kingdom with the kingdom of Rome. Caesar had his own “good news,” his own gospel.  The “good news” of Caesar was a political and religious propaganda campaign.

So when Mark starts talking about the good news of Jesus, those to whom Mark was writing easily and instantly recognized that Mark was talking about an alternative to life under Roman rule. Mark was talking about something intentionally different from life as they knew it; a whole new way of living.

******The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Romans, and at the beginning of this letter, he introduced himself as “Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, set apart for the good news of God.”

Paul was a Roman citizen. He could have identified himself that way. (“Paul, a citizen of Rome.”) Especially since he was writing to people in Rome. But no; he instead chose to identify himself as a slave of Jesus Christ, one who was set apart for the good news of God. 

Not the good news of Caesar; the good news of God.

******In Romans 6, Paul talks about how, through baptism, we have died to the old ways, and have been born into newness of life. 

Paul talks about Christ’s own death, which is in its own way a deliberate contrast with the ways of Rome. 

In Rome, peace was achieved through the taking of life. Rome maintained its peace by destroying its enemies. Their blood was the price of Roman peace, the pax romana.

But in the kingdom of God, peace is achieved not by taking life, but by giving life. Christ offers up his own life, for the sake of the world. There is no violence committed against others, just the willing sacrifice of love.

The way of Christ is different in almost every way from the way of the Roman Empire.

We who have been baptized into Christ are called to follow Christ’s example. 

We are to no longer follow the sinful way of the world.

We are to no longer demand that others pay the price for our peace, for our prosperity.

We are to instead offer ourselves in love and service to others. 

In doing so, we will walk in newness of life, just as Christ was raised from the dead into newness of life.

Notice, also, how much these verses talk about freedom… See it?

Rome, like all empires, sought to control people. Empires exploit the labor of their people, through slavery and other forms of control and oppression.

But in the kingdom of God, the only slavery is the one that we willingly submit to. Just as there is no taking of life, there is also no taking of freedom. Life and freedom are never taken; they are only given.

We do not force others into slavery, and we do not exploit the labor of others. All we do is offer our own labor and our own lives to God and to humanity.

******

So it makes sense that I heard about Juneteenth through the church long before I ever heard of it anywhere else. Not too long ago, Juneteenth was not a federal holiday, and Juneteenth was not something I was taught about in school.

But I did hear Juneteenth mentioned in the church, and because of that, I learned that it is a day that celebrates freedom; specifically, the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

Because even though the United States was founded on freedom, that freedom was not applied to everyone. 

Freedom for all actually meant freedom for white males.

Women did not have the same freedom as men.

Indigenous people did not have the same freedom as white men.

And African Americans did not have the same freedom as white men.

******

In 1837, this congregation was founded, and a central part of our congregation’s identity was the belief that no person of any race should have their freedom denied because of the institution of slavery.

That was 28 years before the last slaves gained their freedom in this country.

Being against slavery wasn’t always popular in those 28 years, even here in Illinois. In fact, there were groups of people who left this congregation over the issue.

So being against slavery was definitely a different path. To stand for freedom and against slavery in those days involved the difficult choice of choosing to identify with the kingdom of God over and against the ways of the empire. 

This congregation could have chosen an easier, more popular route. It could have said, “slavery is the law of the land, so we won’t stand against it.” It could have said, “slavery is a political issue, so we won’t talk about it.”

But this congregation understood that our baptism signifies a new, greater allegiance, an allegiance to God, an allegiance to freedom, an allegiance to the good news of Jesus, the news that sets people free.

This work continues. We still live in a world where life is taken, rather than given; we still live in a world where labor is exploited, rather than rewarded; we still live in a world where freedom is denied, rather than upheld.

******

In the news while I was on vacation, it was reported that Elon Musk has now become the world’s first trillionaire. I have no reason to doubt that Elon Musk is very smart when it comes to finances and investments and money management.

But I also know that he benefits from an economic system that has been built specifically to reward those who are already rich, by giving them an unfair advantage.

The super rich in this country pay so little in the way of taxes. Ever since the 1950s, through one administration after another, the tax code has been gradually skewed more and more in their favor, until now, when the gap between the rich and the poor is the largest it's been in over a century.

Which means the rest of us, and especially the poor, are now bearing the weight of an increasingly heavy burden.

We’re paying higher taxes, higher costs for housing, higher costs for health care, higher costs for groceries, higher costs for gas, while at the same time benefits are being cut and incomes are not keeping up. 

Didn’t State Farm just announce a huge cut in benefits for many of its agents?

In ancient times, every time the economic system became so unjustly tilted in favor of the wealthy at the expense of the poor, God called prophets, to pronounce judgment on the nations and their rulers. 

Economic inequality is the chief concern of every single Old Testament prophet.

In fact, those prophets only existed in times of economic inequality. God didn’t call prophets when the rich weren’t taking advantage of the poor. There was no need.

******The prophet Habakkuk speaks of what will happen for those who build an unjust economy: “Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!... You have plundered many nations…“Alas for you who get evil gain for your house, setting your nest on high to be safe from the reach of harm! You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples. Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed and found a city on iniquity!” [Habakkuk 2]

******Micah, meanwhile, presents the vision of a world where God’s justice is enacted:

“God shall judge between many peoples

and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more;

but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.” In other words, they will enjoy the fruit of the trees and vines that they themselves planted. Their labor will no longer be exploited, for they will receive the benefits they deserve.

******Isaiah also shares this vision: “You who have no money, come, buy, and eat! Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your earnings for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” It is God’s vision that all people will receive sustenance, and will be satisfied… Even those who are poor and who have no money will still share in the benefits of the economy.

The concern of scripture isn’t that everyone should be paid exactly the same. 

But scripture is greatly concerned by an unfair and immoral economic system that penalizes the poor, makes it harder for them, and which gives extra advantages to those who are already wealthy.

A system like that takes away freedom. It takes away life. It is contrary to the kingdom of God, and contrary to the good news of Jesus.

******Another bit of news I heard while I was on vacation is the decision by the Southern Baptist church to ban women pastors and prohibit women from preaching. This is another instance of freedom being denied. 

The truth is that God calls women to preach and to pastor. I am thankful that we in the Disciples of Christ recognize this. I am thankful that we have women capable of preaching and pastoring right here in our own congregation—certainly, if you were here the two Sundays I was away, you know what I’m talking about. 

And I’m thankful that both our current and our previous General Ministers have been remarkable women who have led and inspired us as a denomination.

It was women who were first entrusted with the news of Christ’s resurrection. They appeared at the empty tomb, and were entrusted to deliver this news to the disciples.

And the apostle Paul—well, I think I need a whole separate sermon to talk about Paul’s views on women. But I believe that Paul is far more accepting and affirming of women than we have been led to believe. 

After all, it was Paul who said that, in Christ, there is neither male or female, for all are one.

Even Jesus himself allowed a woman to teach him; we see this in the story of the Syrophoenician woman who challenged Jesus on his understanding of his own mission!

******So Christians today should be among the first to affirm equal rights among men and women, as well as equal rights among people of different racial and economic classes. We should be among the first to affirm freedom in all its forms.

And yes, in a world that often tries to deny freedom, take away rights, and exploit people’s labor, taking a stand for freedom and equality does make us different. 

But we should not be afraid to appear “different” when we go against the flow of what so many in our society think or believe.

Because we have been baptized into Christ; and as Christians, we follow the ways of God’s kingdom, and not the kingdoms of this world; especially not when the kingdoms of this world take life and take freedoms away, rather than give life and uphold freedom.

To give life and uphold freedom isn’t something we do along with the proclamation of the gospel. It is the gospel. It is the good news… the good news of Jesus.