You're Welcome

Here is a modified version of a sermon I preached at Kinasao Camp on June 26th. I begin with two scripture readings:

Thus says the Lord:

Maintain justice and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.

Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil.

Do not let the foreigner joined to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;

And do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.”

For thus says the LORD:

To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

(Isaiah 56:1-7)

“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.”

(Matthew 10:40-42)

To be truly welcomed is a powerful thing. To be fully accepted as part of a group can be transformative for an individual. We know this from experience, our own personal experience. Let me give you one example from my own life.

When I was 12 years old Pastor Dan Berg came to be the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooks where I lived. Normally I went to Sylvan Lake Bible Camp in the summers but for some reason that summer the schedule didn’t work out and it looked like I was not going to have a church camp experience that year. The Berg family offered to take me with them when Dan was going to be the resource pastor at Christopher Lake Bible Camp, a commitment he had made while serving Naicam and Spalding congregations prior to taking the call to Brooks. So for a week and a half I became part of the Berg family. I was fully included in all the family activities and even though we were at a camp in northern Saskatchewan (which could just have well been in a foreign country for all I knew about it) I still felt welcomed, safe, secure and cared for. It was a powerful thing, and has created a special bond with that family that lasts to this day.

To be welcomed, to be received into a group is the beginning of meaningful relationships. Jesus was always welcoming people into his group, people that others might well have thought didn’t really belong: common labourers, unpatriotic tax collectors, women, deniers, betrayers… sinners. Some who would have been considered ideal individuals to be part of the group turned away and declined the invitation.

We are called to continue this welcoming process. The great commission at the end of Matthew’s gospel has Jesus commanding his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations”. But that is not always comfortable, it means we need to go and welcome people who are different from us, and that doesn’t always feel right.

Simply put, we like being with people like us. If we came from a Scandinavian heritage we enjoyed being with others who understood our lefse and lutefisk jokes. We weren’t too sure about those people of German heritage, they liked speaking their minds openly and drinking beer and dancing polkas – and that didn’t seem right to us. (I’ll never forget the time I was on a choir tour in Germany and I was surprised, shocked actually, that at the church fair a person could buy beer, in beer steins with the church logo on them!) When I was called to Christ Lutheran Church in Regina, I had to get used to these Germanic folks – it was God’s little joke I think.

The Jewish people were no different in Biblical times. Imagine their shock when Isaiah announces that God was welcoming foreigners and eunuchs, that the worship of these different people was acceptable and pleasing to God. I’m sure there were many who said “I do not like this situation, this does not seem right.” They who in the past were told to avoid or even slaughter foreigners are now told that God says “I will bring them to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

"Foreigners in the temple? That can’t be right, can it? And what about eunuchs? Those people are just weird; I don’t get them at all!" For Jewish people having children was a sign of God’s blessing, having descendants was part of the covenant between God and Abraham and Sarah. The Psalmist proclaims “Sons are indeed a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.” (Ps 127:3) Eunuchs are guys who ensure they can never have children by a rather drastic surgical procedure. What kind of people would want to “fix” themselves so they can not enjoy sex. What kind of persons would want to “remove” all possibility of having descendants? That just doesn’t seem right, and now God is saying “I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” (Oops Isaiah, was that a Freudian slip?)

Earlier in the Book of Isaiah the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, the people of the covenant, were chastised because they did not know the LORD, they did not do what the LORD required. Yes they continued to engage in ritual practices, but the LORD said to them “I’ve had enough of burnt offerings… bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me… your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.” (Isaiah 1:11,14) If the people are worshipping, how then can God say they did not know the Lord? The answer comes a few verses later where they are exhorted to “learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17).

So the religious festival keeping children of the covenant find themselves rejected while the foreigners and eunuchs are welcomed, their sacrifices accepted and their future assured. This could not have been easy for a Jewish audience to hear. We too are faced with similar challenges when we are being asked to welcome all people into our communities of faith. It might be fairly easy to welcome those who are similar to us, but the real challenge comes in welcoming those who are different – and yet that is precisely what we are called to do. Jesus sent us out to all nations, not just those similar to us. Jesus showed us what it means to accept and welcome others through his ministry to those marginalized by his society (often this was much to the surprise and perhaps discomfort of his disciples).

This ministry of welcoming others is powerful, it can literally turn a life around. To sense that you belong to a group of caring, loving folks – that you are accepted for who you are, in spite of differences – this is truly life giving. And it has another side effect. When we fully accept others into our midst we discover that there is a lot more that we have in common than what makes us different. Too often we focus only on makes others different from us, but the truth is we are all humans with many of the same concerns, fears, joys and hopes as everyone else. When we look at what binds us together rather than what makes us different we begin to see one another as the LORD sees us – as beloved children of God.

We have already been welcomed into the family of God, now we are being reminded to be welcoming to one another. May you know the fullness of God’s love and acceptance of you, and may you share that love and acceptance with all you encounter. As the gospel writer reminds us - when we welcome others we welcome God more fully into our lives. May we all discover the power and richness of being welcoming people.