Seeds for 08/10/2023 - Matthew 10:40-42
Scripture: 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.”
Observation: Welcome, welcome, welcome. I count six uses of the word. The only verse in which it isn’t used describes how to offer welcome and hospitality to someone. This is clearly the theme!
There’s a transferrable principle here, repeated three times. Those who extend welcome will be blessed accordingly.
To welcome a representative of Jesus is to welcome Jesus Himself, which is also to welcome God the Father. Before Jesus’ followers where called the “Body of Christ,” we see this idea at work. As Jesus is extending His ministry and authority through them, the benefit comes in the opposite direction as well. Welcoming these disciples is regarded as tantamount to welcoming Jesus, which is tantamount to welcoming the Father. The connection is that tight, that close.
Likewise, those who welcome a prophet or a righteous person will be rewarded accordingly.
The last verse is one, writing this in the middle of August in Texas, that I would certainly shout Amen! to. I’m not alone.
So what’s the big deal about welcome? As we saw earlier in this chapter, hospitality or welcome is a practice that it includes specific actions like giving a cup of cold water to the hot and thirsty. It’s also an ethic that cultivates virtues so that it’s the sort of person we are and not only a collection of things we do.
Cultivating a welcoming heart means that hospitality is also a disposition and an attitude. It’s a willingness to be vulnerable and to open oneself up. Jesus knows that the disciples need to minister to and with those who are most open to what they have to offer.
I pray for our community to be hungry for Christ and for God’s Word. But I also pray for God to bring those who are already hungry to our church and for us to welcome them with open arms. Why? I want everyone to have a longing to receive the Good News of Jesus. And far be it from me to be so focused on trying to persuade some people to get hungry for Christ that I fail to feed those who already know they are hungry and want the Bread of Life right now. Those who welcome the messengers of God have a disposition of the heart that is ready for what the disciples are offering. If they are ready for Christ, hungry to know Him and His grace, He is more than ready to give them that which their souls long for.
Application:
What might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, keep me hungry for you. Sustain me by the Life you offer and let me accept no substitute. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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What does this scripture say or speak to me? I should cast a wide net in my community. Open my eyes, look around. There are folks hungry for Christ and probably don’t know it. They are empty and need to be filled. How do I accomplish this without seeming “pushy?” Strike up a friendly conversation. Tell them of one of the ministries in our church or programs we offer; go through the back door and mention what we are working on and the many ways we need help! Invite them to join us in the effort! Make them welcome! Make them feel welcome and needed!