Continuous:

Genesis 22.1–14 God asks Abraham to sacrifice Issac.

Psalm 13

Romans 6.12–end

Matthew 10.40–end Welcome?

This mornings gospel reading carries on from last Sundays theme of welcome. Jesus is trying to help us understand the value of offering hospitality and the importance of welcoming others as we have been welcomed into God’s people.

As Christians within the Anglican Communion we are encouraged to follow the five marks of Mission. They express the Anglican Communion’s common commitment to, and understanding of, God’s holistic and integral mission. The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ. These five marks are:

1.To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom

2.To teach, baptise and nurture new believers

3.To respond to human need by loving service

4.To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation

5.To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth

Although I want to focus on that second Mark of mission, to teach, baptise and nurture new believers, through welcome we are able to participate in all of these Marks of Missions.

Today we are baptising Dolcie into the family of God, she is being welcomed into this Christian family. But for her to continue to be a Christian requires her to be nurtured by those around her into the family of Christ. This is why when children or babies are Baptised, they have God parents. Godparents are chosen by the child’s parents to nurture their child in the ways of Christ and to encourage them to keep their baptism promises.

The second century theologian, Tertullian of Carthage once said Christians are made not born. Let’s think about that for a moment. Each of us that have been baptised have in one way or another, made a choice to live a life following the ways of Christ. Often that choice was the consequence of the nurture and care of our families or maybe God parents or friends, but all of us who are Christians are made not born. We’ve been on a journey towards maturity in our faith because of the welcome and nurture we have been given by our brothers and sisters in Christ.

As a parent I think carefully about how I nurture my son because I want him to know that he is loved unconditionally and in turn show love to others. This is what my mother showed me and so I hope Logan will pass on this legacy. This is what Jesus is asking us to do too through the welcome that we show but also to do more than the initial welcome, we also need to nurture.

I saw a t-shirt recently that said boys will be boys but with the second boys crossed out and instead said wonderful human beings. The phrase boys will be boys has so often been used to excuse bad behaviour which consequently means that it is assumed that boys will behave badly.

Yet we aren’t completely defined by our genetics or cultural norms – we are and can be made. Boys are born but men are made and being made takes support, vulnerability and nurture.

When Jesus talks about giving a cup of water to these little one’s, he’s saying that new believers in God need to be nurtured. By showing new believers hospitality and welcome and accepting them into the body of Christ, new believers can understand that God accepts and welcomes them and they in turn will welcome and accept others.

Yet it’s not just Dolcie who needs to be nurtured and welcomed so that she can grow into a mature faith. We all do, no mattered how long we’ve been followers of Jesus. Christian’s are all made into this body of Christ over our lives and the life of the church. We need to teach and nurture each other in our discipleship. We need to listen and be open to teachings from each other, the church or the Diocese but also lay or ordained leaders who want to share their theological reflections and insights into God. As children of God it is good to go a little deeper, to spend time learning through a Lent course or Bible study. No matter how long we’ve been a follower of Christ, there is always more to learn and more ways we can teach each other.

I’m sure you’re all thinking this all sounds lovely! And in many respects it is, but It’s not as easy as it sounds. As Christian’s we have to nurture those who may not be easy to love. We have to keep on welcoming even when it may not be straight forward. Welcome does not just mean being smiley and friendly, welcome means taking the time to listen to someone and being open to challenge. Just as a little reminder, when I say we, I mean all of us as disciples of Christ. If someone behaves in a way that is hurtful, we need to have the courage to ask them why and remind them of the Lord’s greatest commandment which is to love your neighbour as yourself. We also need to have the courage to listen to challenge. If you go on thinking boys will be boys, then their behaviour won’t change, it’s only when you make a choice to challenge the status quo that change can happen. The kind of community that challenges the status quo is the kind of community that Jesus is inviting us into through this morning’s gospel passage. A community that is not self serving like an old boys club, for want of a better phrase, but a community where the last will be first. This is what we are being called to when we open ourselves to be welcoming and to be hospitable, we will be a community of believers who are open to the radical love and welcome of God and in turn show that radical love to others. Through this we will have the courage to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom, through welcome we are responding to human need and loving service. Through welcome we are challenging unjust structures of society and pursuing peace and reconciliation. It may seem as simple as providing a cold glass of water to someone, but this simple act can create endless possibilities if we open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit among us.

Amen.