07.02.2023 - Welcoming Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 10:40-42

Matthew 10:40–42 NIV

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Welcoming Jesus

07.02.2023

Empty Vessels

Our lives are made to be full, not empty. In many ways, we are like cups, glasses, bottles, or other vessels that hold the things that fill our lives. We may look different from each other, and more importantly, we may be filled with different things. Indeed, it is usually what is inside that matters more than the outside.

Your cup may be filled with coffee, tea, milk, water, or juice. You might be very picky about what you put in your cup, or you may want to ensure that it is filled up, regardless of what you have. There are a lot of options.

We fill our lives with things as well. Some of us fill them with stuff. Bekah and I have been working on our moving process for several months. We have gained a new appreciation for how much “stuff” we have acquired and worked to eliminate much of what we don’t need. Sometimes we fill our lives with noise. Instead of physical things, we keep music or the television on because it makes us feel more secure. Silence can feel like physical emptiness, and that can make us feel anxious. So can stillness. You might struggle if you don’t stay busy all the time. Sometimes we think we can avoid fear, guilt, sadness, disappointment, and regret if we keep moving and distracted long enough each day. Some of us have prominent personalities, and we fill our lives with them. There have been days when life has been so good or bad that I make sure everyone around me knows, and I fill my life with my sense of self.

We can also fill our lives with other things that take over our lives and repurpose them. Some drinking glasses end up under the sink catching water from a leaking pipe. We have used at least one cup for cat litter. That won’t be going into the kitchen cupboard anytime soon. Our lives can be filled with unhealthy things that take them over, like addictions and destructive relationships — things the bible might call idols that make us less than what we were created to be.

And then there is Jesus. Our lives can be filled with Him as well. God’s greatest desire is that our lives be filled with Him, and Jesus will enter our lives whenever we welcome Him.

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Sin and Righteousness

In our scripture today, Jesus explains that we are rewarded for our efforts to welcome people into our lives. Unlike many other spiritual things we may do, welcoming is a relational act. This means it is equally important how guests affect our lives and how we impact their lives. When we genuinely welcome people into our lives, whatever they have in their cups often spills into ours, and whatever we have in our cups often spills into theirs. That means we must be prepared to deal with the mixing of life in relationships.

The Apostle Paul wrote about this messiness, not only between each of us but also between Jesus and us. Romans 6:12-14 says:

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Our cups are often determined by what they hold. For Paul, we as people can either hold sin or righteousness. They do not mix. Sin and righteousness push each other out as they both seek to be in control of the person that carries them. Paul used the word dominion, which means sovereignty or control, to tell us that whatever fills our life rules our life. He compares it to slavery in verse 16, which says:

16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

This is easy to understand. Sin is bad, and righteousness is good. Get rid of the sin in your life, and everything will be fine, right? The insidious thing about sin is that it enslaves us without us even knowing it.

We are coming up on a big celebration of freedom, and in our country, we read scriptures like verse 16 and tell ourselves that we won’t be slaves of anything or anyone, which will solve the problem. But it doesn’t solve anything. In Paul’s day, and back in the ancient world, slaves provided labor in exchange for protection and provision. The individual is not responsible for figuring all of life out. They only have to obey. It is the master’s responsibility to make all the right decisions to overcome life's challenges.

If we try to be our own masters, then we are fully responsible for our lives and the way they affect the lives of those around us. So, unless we know everything there is to know. Sin will eventually win if we attempt to be our own masters. Eventually, we will make a wrong choice, leading to our demise, and we may take others with us.

Paul tells us that the alternative is to go to Jesus, hand over the sin we have filled our life with, and allow Him to be our master. It is a simple choice, but it may be one of the hardest things to do because the sin in our life gets heavier the closer we get to Jesus. It won’t let us go without a fight, and the longer it is with us, the more it digs its claws into us. Sin will run and ruin your life, work, fun, relationships, and family until you take it to Jesus. And you will have to go through this over and over until it becomes a regular part of your life.

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Welcoming Jesus into Your Life

Emptying sin from your life is only part of what must be done. Remember, our lives are made to be filled; if we don’t fill them, someone else will. If we want to keep sin from returning, we need to fill our lives with something that can keep it out. This is something only Jesus can do. We can go to Jesus to get the sin out, but we have to invite Jesus to get Him to come into our lives.

If sin cannot keep us from going to Jesus, it tries to keep us enslaved by convincing us that we are not worthy of Jesus in our lives. And it is easy to convince us of this too. Most of the time, Jesus shows up in our lives, and we are not ready for Him. Our house is not in order enough to show Him the welcome He deserves, so we try to put it off for a while longer.

“Jesus, why don’t you stay on the street and let me bring you something to drink? Give me a few minutes. I need to find a glass clean enough for you to use. I don’t have any good tea or coffee made yet, and I’m certain that the Son of God does not drink tap water.”

It takes little time to talk ourselves out of inviting Jesus in at all.

There is an old Hymn from the 1750s that shares this sentiment. Listen to these verses:

1 Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

weak and wounded, sick and sore;

Jesus ready stands to save you,

full of pity, love and pow'r.

2 Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,

God's free bounty glorify;

true belief and true repentance,

ev'ry grace that brings you nigh.

3 Let not conscience make you linger,

nor of fitness fondly dream;

all the fitness He requireth

is to feel your need of Him.

4 Come, ye weary, heavy laden,

lost and ruined by the fall;

if you tarry till you're better,

you will never come at all.

In Revelation 3:20 Jesus told a church that was struggling to serve Him faithfully,

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

The New International Version (Re 3:20). (2011). Zondervan.

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Being with Jesus

The goal is not doing something for Jesus. The goal is to be with Jesus. “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.“ Jesus says.

If you welcome a prophet, you are rewarded by the prophet. If you welcome a righteous person, you are rewarded by the righteous person. If you welcome a disciple, you also receive their reward... but what do you get if you welcome Jesus? You get Jesus. There is no greater person you can welcome into your life, and while there is nothing we can offer Jesus that He needs from us, it doesn’t matter. The goal of Jesus is not to do things for us. His goal is to be with us. He wants to move into our lives and transform us from the inside out, and He can do this anytime He is around us. We are going to find out more about that next week.

Today, we gather to invite Jesus into our lives again. You may have done this a hundred thousand times, or perhaps you have never done it before. It doesn’t matter because we find many ways to invite Jesus into our lives every day. Start small and start right where you are. Whatever kind of cup you offer Jesus to welcome Him, He will fill it with His Spirit, His Life, and His Love, and you will be surprised every day at how Jesus guides and transforms you one day at a time.

Would you join me as we celebrate Holy Communion and invite welcome Jesus into our lives?

Regular communion liturgy without responses.

Communion

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him,

who earnestly repent of their sin

and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin:

Merciful God,

we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against your love,

we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hear the good news:

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

that proves God's love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Amen.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right and a good and joyful thing,

Always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

And so,

With your people on earth

And all the company of heaven

We praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection

you gave birth to your church,

delivered us from slavery to sin and death, And made with us a new covenant

by water and the Spirit.

On the night to which he gave himself up for us

he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread,

gave it to his disciples, and said;

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

“Drink from this, all of you

this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many

for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it,

in remembrance of me.”

And so,

In remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving,

as a holy and living sacrifice,

in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ,

redeemed by his blood.”

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other,

and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory,

and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit in your holy church,

all honor and glory is your, almighty Father,

now and for ever.

Amen

The body of Christ, given for you. Amen.

The blood of Christ, given for you. Amen.

As we end our time together, let us join in prayer as we commit our lives in service to God.

“I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things

to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”