A Cup of Cold Water

Me: Orientation

Over the past several weeks, our congregation has been participating in a study on pronouns.

As your pastor, I wanted to engage the conversation thoughtfully...

...not simply because it was offered, but because I wanted to understand it.

I came to this study with more questions than answers.

I’ve often wondered whether my own theological conviction…

            …that every person is created in the image of God…

                        …and beloved by God…

            …was enough to embody the kind of welcome Christ calls us to offer…

As someone who is generally perceived based on how I present myself...

...introducing myself as “Aaron, he/him” hasn’t always felt especially meaningful to me.

I’ve even wondered if, in my case, it could feel a little performative.

I have asked myself, are there other ways I can embody Christ’s welcome?

That question stayed with me throughout the week.

...the more I prayed with this week’s Gospel...

...the more I realized I might have been asking the wrong question....

I was asking, “What practice feels most authentic to me?”

But this week’s Gospel gently redirected my thinking...

Instead of asking… “What feels meaningful to me?”

Jesus seemed to be asking, “What kind of posture are you cultivating toward the people I place in your life?”

The longer I follow Jesus, the more I realize discipleship isn’t simply about believing the right things...

...it’s about becoming the kind of person who naturally reflects the heart of Christ.

Prayer is a posture...

Humility is a posture...

Forgiveness is a posture...

Generosity is a posture...

...and perhaps today’s Gospel is inviting us to see that hospitality is a posture too.

We: Identification

I imagine I’m not the only one who’s wrestled with questions like these.

...because I suspect most of us believe we’re welcoming people.

I certainly do...

We smile...

We greet visitors...

We learn names...

We offer a handshake or a fist bump...

We share meals...

Those are beautiful expressions of hospitality...

...but good intentions and Christian hospitality are not always the same thing.

Sometimes we welcome people in ways that make us feel comfortable...

Jesus seems more interested in whether the other person actually experiences welcome.

...and that can require something more than good manners…

It can require humility...

It can require listening...

It can require allowing someone else’s experience…

…to reshape our own understanding of what welcome looks like...

Perhaps that’s why hospitality is more than something we do...

It’s part of who Christ is inviting us to become.

God: Illumination

In our Genesis reading, Abraham discovers that God is present even in places of fear and uncertainty.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus reveals just how near the presence can be...

...in the very people we receive.

Let’s listen again to what Jesus actually says...

“Those who receive you are also receiving me, and those who receive me are receiving the one who sent me.”

Jesus doesn’t simply say that receiving another person is a kind thing to do...

He says that when we receive one another...

...we receive Christ.

...and when we receive Christ...

...we receive the One who sent him.

Do you hear what Jesus is revealing about God?

From the very beginning…

God has been a God who draws near.

God does not remain distant...

In Jesus Christ, God takes on flesh.

God enters human life...

God eats at tables...

God touches those others avoid...

God restores relationships...

...and now Jesus sends his disciples into the world so that this same movement of God’s love continues.

Every act of genuine reception becomes an opportunity to receive Christ.

That’s why this passage is about much more than hospitality...

It’s about participating in the ongoing mission of the incarnate Christ.

When we receive another person with compassion...

When we receive another person with dignity...

When we receive another person as one created in the image of God...

...we are participating in God’s own movement toward humanity.

Perhaps that’s because Christ has never stopped seeing the image of God in those the world overlooks.

Then Jesus brings it all down to earth...

“Everybody who gives even a cup of cold water to these little ones because they are my disciples will certainly be rewarded.”

...a cup of cold water...

Not a miracle...

Not a sermon...

Not a grand gesture...

Just one ordinary act that says…

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“You matter.”

“There is room for you.”

The kingdom of God is often revealed through ordinary practices that make God’s extraordinary love visible.

You: Application

So what does this mean for us?

If Christ is encountered in the people we receive...

...then every interaction becomes an opportunity to participate in the mission of God.

As Methodists, we believe God shapes us through the means of grace.

...we often think of prayer...

...searching the Scriptures...

...Holy Communion...

...Worship...

...but Wesley also taught that works of mercy become means of grace...

...not simply because they bless our neighbor, but because God uses them to transform us.

Perhaps Jesus is teaching us that even a cup of cold water can become a means by which Christ shapes our hearts.

So what might a cup of cold water look like in our own lives?

Perhaps it’s learning the name of someone you’ve only ever called “friend.”

Perhaps it’s sitting beside someone sitting alone during coffee hour.

Perhaps it’s inviting a neighbor to share a meal.

…or listening to another person’s story before assuming you already know it.

Maybe… It’s honoring the way someone introduces themselves...

...because every follower of Jesus is called to cultivate a posture of hospitality.

That’s where this study has been reshaping me...

I began by wondering whether introducing myself as “Aaron, he/him” was something I needed to do.

Matthew’s Gospel led me to a different question.

If such a simple act helps another person know they are truly received...

...then perhaps it becomes one cup of cold water I can offer...

...not because it earns God’s favor...

...but because it reflects the God who first drew near to us in Christ...

...affirming the dignity and belovedness...

...God has already placed within every person.

For someone else, your cup of cold water may look different.

It may be learning a new neighbor’s story.

It may be serving breakfast on a Sunday morning.

It may be volunteering at Lydia’s Attic.

It may be visiting someone who is lonely.

It may be noticing the person everyone else walks past.

...because Jesus reminds us that in receiving one another...

...we receive him.

We: Inspiration

Friends, I believe this is the kind of church God is already shaping us to become...

A church where every handshake...

...every greeting...

...every conversation over coffee...

...every act of service...

...every cup of cold water...

...becomes an opportunity for someone to encounter Christ.

A church where hospitality is more than a ministry.

More than a committee...

More than something a few extroverts happen to be good at...

...a church where hospitality becomes part of who we are...

...a community where people know they are truly received.

...a community that reflects the God who first drew near to us in Christ.

...a community that reflects the God who never remains distant...

...a community that recognizes in every person...

...the image God has never stopped loving.

May we continue becoming that kind of church...

One cup of cold water

...at a time.

So friends… I am Pastor Aaron, he/him, and I welcome you to University United Methodist Church…

…where all people created in the beautiful diversity of God’s image are truly received.

In the name of our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.