Second Discourse in Matthew: Rewards
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
Love is the ethic of Jesus of Nazareth—love of God, neighbor, and self. Jesus, Paul of Tarsus told us, is our peace, the one whose love breaks down walls of hostility that separate people. The church, as the body of Christ, is called and commissioned to break down those walls wherever we encounter them. It is our mission, and we understand that. Thus, every Sunday morning in American churches, bulletins, greeters, and signs on the door offer messages of welcome. Yet what is often meant by welcome is that strangers can come in as long as they look like us, don’t offend us, don’t challenge us, and work heroically to fit in with our communal sense of self. ~ Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis
What is the reward for letting go of our ego? For removing the mask? For becoming our true self? For welcoming - truly welcoming?
For breaking down the walls that divide us?
Connection. Unity. Relationship.
Salvation.
What is it that allows us to break down those walls?
Love.
We are saved when we are one with each other. We are saved when we are one with God.
We are saved when we welcome the stranger, not as one who is like us, but as one who is their own true self.
When we welcome the neighbor, the stranger, the person who challenges us, we are welcoming the One who welcomed all.
The One who welcomes all.
We are saved when relationship blossoms. When respect of the other forms.
When we allow ourselves to be changed and to grow by their very presence: when we allow ourselves to be loved by them.
Love is both the ultimate reward, the ultimate gift to us, and it is the gift we give the other.
As we head into Lent, the theme will be how love moves us and saves us, and the Church.
Meditation: Who is it that I am challenged by that I am being called to welcome and to love?
Love is the ethic of Jesus of Nazareth—love of God, neighbor, and self. Jesus, Paul of Tarsus told us, is our peace, the one whose love breaks down walls of hostility that separate people. The church, as the body of Christ, is called and commissioned to break down those walls wherever we encounter them. It is our mission, and we understand that. Thus, every Sunday morning in American churches, bulletins, greeters, and signs on the door offer messages of welcome. Yet what is often meant by welcome is that strangers can come in as long as they look like us, don’t offend us, don’t challenge us, and work heroically to fit in with our communal sense of self. ~ Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis
What is the reward for letting go of our ego? For removing the mask? For becoming our true self? For welcoming - truly welcoming?
For breaking down the walls that divide us?
Connection. Unity. Relationship.
Salvation.
What is it that allows us to break down those walls?
Love.
We are saved when we are one with each other. We are saved when we are one with God.
We are saved when we welcome the stranger, not as one who is like us, but as one who is their own true self.
When we welcome the neighbor, the stranger, the person who challenges us, we are welcoming the One who welcomed all.
The One who welcomes all.
We are saved when relationship blossoms. When respect of the other forms.
When we allow ourselves to be changed and to grow by their very presence: when we allow ourselves to be loved by them.
Love is both the ultimate reward, the ultimate gift to us, and it is the gift we give the other.
As we head into Lent, the theme will be how love moves us and saves us, and the Church.
Meditation: Who is it that I am challenged by that I am being called to welcome and to love?
Beginning tomorrow on Ash Wednesday, the daily devotions here will follow the Lenten Devotional book, "Claiming the 'L' Word."
Daily Devotions on Matthew's Discourses will begin again after Easter.