7A Pentecost Matthew 10: 40-42 June 29, 2008
Many years ago when I was about 9 years old my family and I took a weeks vacation to the Brainerd Lakes Area. Brainerd was well known then, and still is today, as a vacation paradise with many stately wooded areas and many beautiful lakes for fishing and waters sports of various kinds. The Brainerd Lakes Area continues to be a favorite vacations destination for hundreds of thousand of people each summer.
Back in mid 60’s there was another popular attraction in the area, especially to families with children. It was called Paul Bunyan Land, a small but entertaining theme park. Other than a Ferris wheel, a rickety roller coaster—I really don’t remember any of the other rides, but I will never forget our entrance into the park! As you walked into the park a huge 55-foot statue of Paul Bunyan sitting in his very large chair welcomed you. After my parents had paid the entry fees, we set foot into the park, and Paul Bunyan (mouth moving and all) said in a deep, booming and resonating voice, “And now we welcome Steve and Annie Blenkush from Mounds View, Minnesota. This is their very first visit. Welcome to our new friends!”
Let me tell you, I was impressed! Paul Bunyan knew my name! He called my sister and me his “friends”! And the expression on Paul Bunyan’s face was depicted in such a way that I knew that I his welcome was sincere. He truly was a gentle giant, and he truly was glad to see me! I don’t remember anything else about our visit to Paul Bunyan Land that day, but I will never forget how welcomed I felt, and how good it felt to be there.
Who would have known that a trip to Paul Bunyan Land would be so influential in the years to follow as it taught me an important lesson regarding the importance of first impressions and the importance of hospitality.
In the spirit of offering contrast, let me share another Brainerd related story.
Some years ago I met Len and Evelyn from the Brainerd area and members of First Lutheran.
Len and Evelyn had been visiting family down in southern Minnesota and on their way home on a Sunday morning they decided, if the timing was right, they would find a place to worship before continuing home. As it happened they did find a church, so they pulled into the parking lot and as they walked into church they passed five different people, but not a word was said. They sat down in a pew next to another couple, but again not a word was spoken, and not even a nod to acknowledge their presence.
During the announcements, the pastor looked at them, but made no mention of welcome to visitors. After the service the people sitting beside and around these two “strangers” offered no smile, no handshake, no words of welcome. Instead they made a beeline for the door, probably racing to the nearest restaurant for brunch.
Len and Evelyn returned to their car in shock! They couldn’t believe what they had just experienced. The emotions jumped from sadness to anger to frustration to hurt and back to sadness. They felt excluded, rejected, unwanted. Nobody seemed to care whether or no they were even there.
First impressions are powerful. Failing to extend simple hospitality can have lasting effects.
Much to Len and Evelyn’s credit, they processed all that had happened (or better, had not happened) on that Sunday morning and they vowed that such a thing would never happen at their home church. Ever since that day, until his death in 2002 Len became known as “Mr. Hospitality’ in his home congregation. Every Sunday Len would be on the lookout for visitors. And when he saw one, either before or after the service he would greet that individual personally, welcome him or her to worship and say a word of thank you for that person’s presence.
No person would experience what he had experienced.
Jesus said: “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me.” I am convinced that the Church of Jesus Christ needs to practice hospitality the way Len and Paul Bunyan practiced it.
I am also convinced in light of today’s gospel that most of us are perfectly capable of extending simple hospitality in a variety of ways, the very least being a smile, a word of welcome, a thank you, simple assistance to a visitor or guest, a cup of cold water or a cup of coffee.
Hospitality was so important and thought so highly of in centuries past, so much so that it was expected. If you were one of those Semitic folks that wandered through out the Middle East it was understood that if a traveler came to your tent it was expected that you provide them with basic hospitality—something to drink, a bite to eat and a place to rest. To refuse offering such hospitality was a grave sin. It was simply expected, as it might mean a matter of life or death to the traveler.
Interestingly Jesus takes this call to hospitality a step further—as he is often prone to do—when he suggests not simply offering a cup of water, but rather a ‘cup of cold water’. Imagine a weary traveler, in the heat of the day, coming through a forbidding desert. What could be more important than water? In that kind of situation, any water would be OK. Warm, tepid, lukewarm—if you are hot and dusty and feel like you are about to die of thirst, room temperature water is just fine. But Jesus says, “Whoever gives a cup of cold water…will not lose their reward.” Getting a cup of cold water might have meant a little more work—it may have meant water freshly drawn from the well rather than water drawn earlier in the day.
For those who work in the hospitality industry know that it the little things that make a difference—those things that often involve going above and beyond the call of duty—going the extra mile—the fresh flowers on the table, chocolate mints on the pillow, the personal touches, the attention to detail. All of these “cups of cold water” are the hallmarks of great restaurants and hotels. They all make a difference and separate the great and noteworthy from the mediocre.
In a world that is flooded with mediocrity, it is those cups of cold water that make all the difference in the world.
Obviously the same applies to communities of faith—a warm and welcoming smile, someone willing to offer assistance with the order of worship, an invitation to the fellowship and an introduction or two—simple and yet, it can make all the difference.
I read recently about a church that has a Latin phrase printed over the front entrance.
It reads, “Non nobis solum.” “Not for us alone.” That phrase should be the motto of every congregation, saying that this place, this gathering, is “not for us alone,” but for all who come in the name of Christ. We are called to welcome everyone, for Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me.’
Offering a welcome to someone is like giving a cup of cold water to a person dying of thirst.
It meets a basic need. Furthermore the beauty of this text is the sheer simplicity of it.
Last weekend over 7,000 participated in the annual Grandma’s Marathon along the North Shore.
Like the years prior thousand so people gather in Two Harbors and run the 26 miles to Duluth.
What is equally impressive is the presence of even more people lining the race route many of whom are offering cups of cold water and words of support and encouragement to the runners.
A simple gesture and yet vitally important to those who are participating in the race.
Not all cups of cold water need to be handed off face to face; even from afar we can share the love of Christ to those in need. Such is the story of Myrtle Howell, a woman confined in a retirement home. When Myrtle was 76 years old she felt the need to express her faith in some way. Myrtle read about a prison ministry and decided to write to the warden of Georgia State Penitentiary. She said, “Dear Warden, My name is Grandma Howell. I’ve never married and have neither children nor grandchildren, but maybe there’s a young man in your prison who would like an adopted grandma. If there is such a man, I could write to every week, pray for him, send him my picture and even some brownies now and then.”
The next week, Grandma Howell got a letter from the warden with the names of 20 prisoners who had signed up. They all wanted a grandma! As the corresponded with them, she was shocked by their tender replies. They wrote such things as “Give me some guidance for my life.” Or, “Please write to me, please love me.” Or, “I have done some terrible things, grandma, can I be forgiven?”
Grandma Howell wrote back to everyone who wrote to her and she this weekly from the time she was 76 until she was 91, and became too feeble to continue. Grandma Howell shared herself and her time with these men in need. She offered them love and acceptance. She welcomed them into a relationship with her and in doing so she modeled the welcome Christ offers.
Last Tuesday 16 of us from Zion drove down to Brooklyn Center to the Feed My Starving Children warehouse. Together with a group from a Catholic Church in NE Minneapolis we packaged over 7000 meals, enough to feed 21 severely malnourished children for a year.
Here it was a beautiful summer evening and yet there were individuals who felt called to take precious time to go the extra mile in order to pack meals for starving children in developing countries. By going that extra mile, by taking time from their own lives they made a huge difference in the lives of others, a difference that we will most likely never fully comprehend.
Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel reading that whoever offers friendship, a helping hand or a welcome in his name is offering that to him. Offering unconditional love and unconditional acceptance to someone is the greatest gift we can give them. It is the gift that God has God offered to us. Even though we are imprisoned by sin, God shows us that we are loved and accepted. God doesn’t just send us a letter. God gives us the Word made flesh. Jesus Christ comes to show us God’s unconditional love and acceptance. Christ empowers us to share that kind of love with others.
In closing I want to challenge you to think about the hospitality you extend to others. I want to invite you to consider ways that you might extend a cup of cold water to others in the name of Christ. And I want to encourage you to go the extra mile when it comes to extending unconditional love and grace to others—just as Jesus did for you.
Disciples are those who teach others, through their words and actions, what Jesus taught them.
And that message is simple, that God’s love is never ending. It does not discriminate. It includes each person God ever created. Consider, today, how you can be a messenger of God’s love.
Remember how you are loved and welcomed by God. Then, pass that message along to each one you meet. If a 55-foot mechanical statue of Paul Bunyan can do it, I bet you can too!
Let us pray: O God, we give you thanks for welcoming us into a relationship with you.
You have given us the gift of unconditional love and acceptance. Help us to share that gift with others. Give us the power and strength to reach out to people and help them to know that they are welcome and accepted in your name. Amen
