St. John’s United Church of Christ
June 29, 2008
A Sermon by the Rev. John Krueger
An Extravagant Welcome Matthew 10:40-42
In the late spring of 1963, Pat and I drove 150 miles from the Twin Cities, where I was finishing my seminary degree, to Appleton, MN for my first trial sermon. Everything about this connection between us and that church had been most irregular. We had never been in that rural farming community of 2,000 before, and the only people we knew were the couple who came to our apartment in the Twin Cities to interview us. They were desperate for a minister; we were desperate for a church, and so we set up this particular Sunday for a trial sermon, sight unseen for both of us.
The service went well, the vote was positive, I accepted, and we adjourned for the annual church picnic in the park. We were meeting almost everyone for the first time, they looking us over, we hoping they would like us, the die cast for us to be together as pastor and people
After filling my plate from the bountiful table I eased my way into one of those park bench-tables. Nettie Krebs, one of the church matriarchs, was seated across from me. She looked at my plate and said, “You don’t have any of my beans!”
I did have some baked beans on my plate but not her baked beans. She got up, took my plate, went over to the serving table and came back with another pile of beans on my plate. Setting it before me, she said, “Now, who’s beans are the best?” They do not teach you in seminary how to respond to such questions.
What I came to know is that Nettie and her sister, Pearl, had a running feud about baked beans, both being very competitive. She knew her beans from Pearl’s beans and she knew who’s beans were the best. That was not exactly An Extravagant Welcome for us on that Sunday afternoon, but we spent five wonderful years in that community. And Nettie and Pearl proved to be wonderful people.
The Gospel lesson for today is the tail-end of a section dealing with evangelism. Jesus sends out the 12 disciples on a trial run of sorts, an opportunity to mimic the ministry of Jesus. “Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.”
Jesus told them that as they went from village to village they would have varying responses and varying success. Some would eagerly hear the Good News of God’s love for them and others would see them as a bother and a distraction. They could hope for a gracious acceptance but that would not always be the case.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
One of our greatest challenges is to offer An Extravagant Welcome to someone else. A number of you did exactly that to members of the India Children’s Choir a few weeks ago. You offered them the hospitality of your homes, a clean, comfortable bed, nourishing food and pleasant conversation. They came to you as strangers from another part of the world and you now include them in your extended family.
Well, how far do we go in extending An Extravagant Welcome? Who will genuinely appreciate our efforts and who will take advantage of our hospitality?
That is the crucial part, isn’t it? We usually are interested in some sort of payoff for our efforts, some good outcome, some appreciation for what we have done. That is the way of the world around us, to be sure. There are always some strings attached, some present or future considerations.
There is no free lunch. Every transaction has something in it for both sides. Every act has implications, rewards and punishments for the players. This is business as usual, as we live it most days. We are used to paying our dues, working our way up the ladder, being deemed worthy of some favors and rewards. Even those who win the lottery qualified because they bought the chance to win. Nothing invested, never have the chance to hit the jackpot.
In contrast, An Extravagant Welcome does not keep score. There is no “earning” of the welcome, no qualifying for the honor. It is more like being in the right place at the right time, more like grace, undeserved, unearned. It is just gift, just for being there, just because someone chooses to bless you as you are.
An Extravagant Welcome says to that other person: I see you as a child of God, uniquely and wonderfully made in God’s image I see you as a person of value and potential with as much right and privilege as I enjoy. I see you as my equal, a member of my extended family, a representation of Jesus of Nazareth, a person of the Good News Club as indeed I too am a member of that club.
And this is where the concept of An Extravagant Welcome gets out of hand. Who are the most unlikely people, in our estimation, to deserve such a welcome from us? Who would test us, severely test us, in reaching out to that person in the name of Christ?
I would have a hard time welcoming Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe. Even though he grew up attending Christian schools, I consider his most recent actions to be despicable and grotesque. I would have a difficult time welcoming the polygamists in Utah, or the person who shot the bank teller with the twins, or the suicide bomber in Baghdad, or the persons who killed the great apes in Rwanda.
I would guess you could make your own lists, perhaps the illegal farm workers from Mexico, or the person who abandoned his wife and children, or the drunk driver who injured one of your friends, or the hedge fund administrator who siphoned away someone’s retirement nest egg. It is relatively easy to offer a cup of cold water to a child. It is much tougher to reach across these biases and barriers and welcome, in the name of Christ, someone who has hurt you or hurt someone you love.
The Jesus we profess to follow offers us a difficult road. We may want God to extend Extravagant Welcome to us, welcoming us back into the family, time after time, even when we abuse God’s hospitality, take advantage of God’s grace, mess up God’s reputation, and conveniently go our own ways.
Extending that same gracious, Extravagant Welcome to some others is the real challenge. These are people we know, their sins and mistakes. These are people who get under our skins, confuse our sense of right and wrong and justice. These are people who test our ability to forgive, and love, but each of them is a child of God, no less a child of God than I am, or you are.
Nettie Krebs was a bit clumsy in her initial welcome of me as I began my ministry in Appleton, MN, but she more than made up for that in the ensuing years. Either we can learn to offer An Extravagant Welcome the first time around, or we can make up for it in the ensuing years as we learn more about our capacity to love and as we grow in our capacity to love. God does want us to represent God’s grace, Good News for us, and Good News for all.