5th Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 10:40-42: Hospitality

The Rev. Josh Stromberg-Wojcik, Priest-In-Charge

Perhaps you were as surprised as I was about how short today’s gospel reading is. And yet, there is a lot to unpack from even this short reading. Today, Jesus is teaching about the importance of welcoming and receiving others. In other words, about hospitality. He starts off teaching that whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. So, when we welcome others, we are welcoming God himself. The gospel continues by teaching about welcoming prophets and righteous people. And then, Jesus continues, poignantly, whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, none of these will lose their reward. Welcome, it seems, can take many forms, as Jesus sees it, including even something as simple as giving someone thirsty a cup of cold water. Water, after air, which is free and abundant, is the next most important thing for human life. Especially on these hot days, we are constantly reminded, for good reason, to be drinking plenty of water. It is very important for health and life. 

Last Thursday in our bible study, Cheryle asked a very good question. Why is it important that we be hospitable? In other words, is being hospitable necessary for our salvation? Are we hospitable to each other in order to earn our salvation? As Episcopalians, similar to our Lutheran siblings, we teach that no, it is not necessary, and that is not why we are hospitable. Jesus has already saved us. God has already sent us the amazing gift of grace, justification with God, as a free gift, whether we are hospitable or not. We practice acts of service, charity, and hospitality, as a response to that grace. When we feel the magnitude and the beauty of God’s gift, we can have no other response than to help others and share that hospitality with others.

So welcome, or hospitality, can take many forms. I had a powerful, unexpected experience of receiving hospitality in Mexico in fall 2009, when I was on a study away trip to Oaxaca, Mexico through Pacific Lutheran University as part of my Hispanic Studies major. We were on one of our delegation trips with Witness for Peace, and we had been invited to stay with rural, indigenous families in Teotitlán del Valle, with women who were part of the Vida Nueva (New Life) Weaving Co-op, which consisted of all women who were single for various reasons. Many of their husbands, brothers, fathers and sons had either immigrated to larger cities or the US looking for work. My classmate Jake and I stayed with Teresa, who lived with her father, Ernesto. It was extremely humble lodging- they had a concrete floor, and to get to the bathroom you crossed the dirt outside to the concrete floored very simple outhouse, which you used a bucket to flush. We had brought food for them to prepare for us, but Teresa insisted on bringing me to the local market the next morning to get the tastiest, freshest produce, which she prepared and made into delicious meals. At the end of the stay, the leader of the co-op, Pastora, asked us about our experience. Unanimously, we all declared, we had experienced surprising, radical hospitality, at the hands of some of the economically poorest but spiritually richest people we had ever met. She then issued her commission: in that case, she said, we ask that, when you go back to the US, you show our husbands, brothers, fathers and sons the same hospitality that you experienced here. I was struck by that commission. On the one hand, I knew that many of their beloved men were probably experiencing a fair bit of racism in the US. On the other hand, I, along with my classmates and others, could do my best to show hospitality to, and be an ally to, their beloved family members in the US. That has been an important part of why I have served both a Spanish-speaking Lutheran and Spanish-speaking Episcopal church. Since I speak Spanish, it has been my privilege and honor to serve at those churches, and I’ve done my best to try to repay the hospitality I received in Mexico with hospitality towards our immigrant sisters and brothers.

I think that message of the importance of hospitality is important for us, today, here at St. Aidans, as well. I’m going to assume that we all have a desire to grow our church and re-vitalize our church. It seems to me that true, authentic hospitality, especially for guests and visitors, is one very important element in that work. One important question we raised during our bible study Thursday was, “how can we best practice hospitality as a church for newcomers?” I think that, to best think about how to welcome newcomers, it is helpful to remember when we were newcomers, whether to St. Aidan’s, to another church, or to any new community that we were entering, where other people already knew each other and I didn’t know anyone, or very few people. It can be scary and overwhelming. And it can make a world of difference when some folks who are already a part of the community go out of their way to show us hospitality, both during the service, during coffee hour, and during any other church event. I know that, for me, at least, when I get comfortable and in a familiar routine in my life, whether it is at home, at church, at work, or wherever, I can tend to get a little bit lazy when it comes to adapting to change, or being aware of those changes. Or, in the case of welcoming visitors, I may not always notice when a newcomer arrives. At St. Aidan’s, I’m still relatively new myself, so still getting to know who are visitors and who are not. And, regardless, I think it’s worth all our time to reflect on how we can be the best hosts, and the most hospitable to visitors, as a church. And it seems that that is Jesus’ invitation in today’s gospel.

May we be inspired by the hospitality of Teresa of the Vida Nueva women’s weaving co-op in the rural Mexican town of Teotitlán del Valle, who had next to nothing yet insisted on giving everything. May we respond to God’s amazing gifts of love, grace and mercy, inspired by God’s great gifts of hospitality and love, so that whether prophets, righteous people, little ones, or those we don’t expect come knocking, we may not only offer them a glass of cold water, we may offer them an unexpected glass of the kindness and love of God, that your kin-dom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Amen.