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Sermon for Sunday 28 June 2020

First Reading                                  Jeremiah 28:5-9

5The prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, 6and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. 7Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

Psalm                                                  Psalm 119:153-160

153Behold my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law. 154Plead my cause and redeem me; according to your promise, give me life. 155Deliverance is far from the wicked, for they do not study your statutes. 156Great is your compassion, O Lord; preserve my life, according to your judgments. 157There are many who persecute and oppress me, yet I have not swerved from your decrees. 158I look with loathing at the faithless, for they have not kept your word. 159See how I love your commandments! O Lord, in your mercy, preserve me. 160The heart of your word is truth; all your righteous judgments endure forevermore.

Second Reading                               Romans 7:1-13

1Do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to those who know the law — that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. 4Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. 7What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

Gospel                                               Matthew 10:34-42

34{Jesus said to the disciples,} “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 40Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Welcome Inc.

The lady of the house was giving last minute instructions to her butler before a huge dinner she was holding at her estate: “Bentley,” she said, “I want you to stand at the front door and call the guests’ names as they arrive.”  “Very well, madam,” replied the butler, “I’ve been wanting to do that for years.”  One of the expectations of occupations where you must greet and serve people is that, despite your own reservations or mood, you must be welcoming to people, even when they aren’t particularly welcome-able.   

Waiters and waitresses, for example, must endure patrons who aren’t always very pleasant or who are downright rude.  I was reading a response to a question asked of a fast food worker concerning what the worst thing people had said to them at the drive through.  Aside from the racial slurs, the individual was cussed out and called stupid, on repeated occasions, because customers failed to place their order correctly, and despite the fact that the employee repeated the order back for approval, they still blamed the attendant for their mistake.  The employee said it was frustrating because no matter how hard they tried, the customer still got angry because, “they should have known” that the customer didn’t like tomatoes, or pickles, or whatever, on their sandwich. 

I’ve heard these same stories from my own daughter, as well as others I know, who have had similar experiences; who were verbally accosted all because the customer somehow decided “they had the right”, to be disrespectful and verbally abusive.  It’s sad but true, many in our society have lost the ability to respectfully work out our differences.  The truth is, we have become toxic toward anyone who disagrees with us. 

Instead of listening carefully to see what the other person is saying or is frustrated about, we immediately attack, and the goal suddenly becomes one of “winning” at all costs.  Today, as we see evidenced in our nightly news reports, far too many people feel they have the right to be verbally and physically abusive, to anyone who might have a difference with them.  And sadly, violence isn’t off the table either.  It’s sad, that instead of working through our differences with mutual respect, we now immediately resort to verbally attacks and name calling.  In short, we have lost the ability to be welcoming.

Mormon missionaries and Jehovah’s Witnesses are, in contrast, usually polite and pleasant.  Still, few of us are thrilled when they, or any evangelists, come knocking, as we hear in the following story: Two church members were going door to door.  They knocked on the door of a home where the woman who opened it, was obviously not happy to see them.  She told them in no uncertain terms that she did not want to hear their message and slammed the door in their faces.  To her surprise, however, the door didn’t close.  In fact, it bounced back open.

She tried slamming the door again, really putting her back into it.  The result was the same — the door bounced back open.  Convinced that the unwanted callers must be sticking a foot in the doorway, she reared back to give it a slam that would teach them a lesson, when one of them said, “Ma’am, before you do that again, you need to move your cat out of the way.”  While it’s true that pushy door-to-door salespeople are getting rarer and rarer these days, they do have modern descendants.  Aggressive telemarketers, computer spam, and pop-up window advertising are some of the unwelcome curses of the digital age.  Being welcoming and being welcome-able: while these should be important characteristics in sales, they are at the core of what the kingdom of God is all about.  

Through Jesus, you and I are welcomed into the family of God; we have been incorporated into — made a part of — what could be called “Welcome, Incorporated” or “Welcome, Inc.,” the Body of Christ.  Through the waters of baptism, God formally and publicly welcomes us and claims us as His own, and we begin the life-long process of learning to be Christ-like.  As baptized followers of Jesus, His mission becomes ours: to proclaim the good news that God is in the business of welcoming the lost, the outcast, the forgotten, the stranger, even the enemy.  And when we incorporate that message into our lives and we give flesh and blood to that message, we become both welcoming of and welcome-able by others because of and through the power of the good news we bear. 

We can be welcoming and welcome-able: because of the free gifts of God: the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body and eternal life.  Since the mercy and life God offers are gifts, we are not in competition with others for it, and because the grace and life we’re given in Christ is God’s, it’s not a non-renewable commodity or resource that will eventually run out.  Best of all, the price required to receive these gifts will never go up; not tomorrow nor ever. 

Jesus paid the price for God’s judgement on sin, “once for all,” when He died on the cross.  It is therefore available to all who believe, confess and accept God’s mercy in faith.  But for this to happen, we who have incorporated the gospel message into our lives, must be both welcoming and welcome-able, not just in words and theory but also in attitude and action.

Consider the stories of Jesus, how He went to where the people were.  He met them in their towns, out in the wilderness, even at their gathering places like the Samaritan’s well.  Jesus talked to women, He touched lepers, He healed foreigners.  But in every story, He never compromised His message.  When the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) was brought to Him, He rebuked her accusers, and they left her there before Jesus one by one.  But Jesus didn’t excuse her behavior.  Remember the final thing He told her?  “Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”  Or consider the Samaritan woman at the well.  Jesus told her everything about herself and then offered her living water.  Jesus showed compassion, shared the message of God’s love and He also shared with them God’s forgiveness and welcome.

The Body of Christ — Welcome, Inc. — is to be full of open doors, open hearts, and open minds.  I’ll admit that at times that can be difficult because of both fear and an un-welcoming society.  A pastor friend of mine wrote the following on Facebook on Wednesday, quote, “We just cannot seem to listen to one another.  We just do not want to hear what the other side have/has to say.  [The prevailing attitude is], I’m right and you are wrong….. and that’s just that, and because you are wrong, I have to hate you.  This just breaks my heart.  Well people that is not correct.  If we call ourselves children of God, we do not have that right to mistreat anybody like we are doing.  

Many of you here, that are part of the faith communities I have, and am serving, will find it difficult to hear what I have to say (or even disagree harshly with me), as well as even members of my family and extended family, but this doesn’t mean we can stop, close ourselves off, or become abusive like society around us.”  He went on to say later in his post: “As Christians we were changed: this past Sunday I preached on Romans 6 – where we hear God through baptism made us anew.  He gave us a new life, new creation, a new purpose.  One that set(s) us free from the bondage of this world that is out to limit us to our agendas, ideas, ideologies, and indoctrinations.”  End quote. 

People today are frustrated, angry and in most cases they don’t even understand why they feel this way.  People today desperately need peace, not only inner peace but outward peace and the words of Jesus to His disciples, just before His betrayal and arrest, are now more important than ever: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).  And as I pointed out last Sunday, we can better understand Jesus’ statement, “do not be afraid” as stop being afraid, now and in the future.

We see the world changing around us and we might feel more and more like fish out of water.  Again, Jesus, in His high Priestly prayer (John 17), reminds us that we are in the world, but not of this world.  We often wonder, with all the animosity we see, will anyone even want to listen or respond to the message we have to share.  The encouraging news for us is, in spite of the seriousness of discipleship, as we read in last week’s gospel lesson, Jesus assures us some people will respond.  Jesus said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matt. 9:37-38).  When people see God’s love and mercy reflected in us, they will respond, even through the smallest of gestures of reception from others.

But does this mean in our welcoming that we should compromise Biblical truths and teachings in order to get people in the doors and make them feel welcome?  Do we just cover up the dirt and sidestep the hard issues?  The simple and straightforward answer is no!  If we’re willing to accept the truth of why our society is in the shape it’s in today, then we must accept the fact that this is exactly what churches have been doing for some time now.  The church is guilty of not speaking up, not proclaiming God’s word, even when it’s hard for the world to hear it, and not standing up against the sin that plagues our world.  The truth is, the church has been silent for far too long and we, and society, are now paying the price.

As we heard in our Old Testament reading for today, being silent or reinterpreting God’s message was not what Jeremiah, the prophet, did.  He would not compromise on the truth of what God was saying when others were mouthing only what was politically correct at the time (Jeremiah 28:5-9).  Jeremiah would not rationalize, excuse or smooth over the sin and disobedience of the people.  Despite the threats, the verbal abuse, and later on the physical abuse, Jeremiah shared God’s message and was faithful to his call.  Paul was spot on when he reminds us, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).  Being incorporated into God’s people does not mean business as usual.  Being welcomed by God and becoming welcome-able to others results in changed lives.  The apostle Paul made this clear in last week’s epistle reading from Romans 6 (vs.12-23).

The most authentic witness to the good news of God’s love occurs when, according to Paul, we present ourselves to God and no longer continue to habitually live in sin.  In other words, through faith in what God has done for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are set free from the power of sin and its control over our lives.  Furthermore, we are enabled to please God and actually turn away from sinful behaviors and attitudes that hurt us, and others, and our relationship to God.  With God’s help we must, as Paul reminds us, do “not [let] sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness (Rom. 6:12-14).

We also need to remember we are called to share God’s message in humility and love, remembering that we too have fallen short of the glory of God.  There’s nothing more damaging to our witness then when others can label us as hypocrites because we try to present ourselves as “holier-than-thou” “super-Christians” who never stumble.  That simply isn’t reality.  As the bumper sticker so aptly expresses: “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”  And while this is a fact, it’s never to be used as an excuse for sinning.  Always remembering that we are forgiven sinner-saints which is the proper welcoming and welcome-able attitude to have.  It’s the attitude that brings welcome relief and allows others to respond to Jesus Christ and become part of Welcome, Inc. — to become incorporated into God’s kingdom.

Many of our Christian social service agencies are good models for this welcoming and welcome-able attitude.  One such agency is the Wernle Youth and Family Treatment Center in Richmond, Indiana.  Wernle is a welcoming place for the forgotten, the rejected, those upon whom society has, perhaps, given up, those who have been hurt and those who have hurt others.  The center does this by “providing opportunities for growth and development of troubled children and their families through caring programs and healing relationships that are reflective of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ.”  What a great summary of what we’re called to be about as a community of believers.

Shouldn’t we be caring people in a caring community embodying healing relationships that are reflective of God’s love revealed to us in Jesus Christ?  It’s not only a wonderful responsibility, it’s also a privilege!  God chose to go the route of incarnation and incorporation — and no other route.  And God has chosen to entrust us with His message of love, forgiveness, welcome and peace. 

We are invited and challenged to take the message into us and, in a certain sense, become the message.  When we do this, we become welcoming to and welcome-able by others so that, they too can have access to God’s free gifts — forgiveness of sin, resurrection of the body and eternal life.  It’s our mission to share that message and welcome with others.  As baptized and welcomed members of the body of Christ, at this and every branch of Welcome, Inc., sharing the uncompromised welcoming good news of Jesus Christ is our business; it’s our only business.

Amen.

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