2nd Pentecost 11
Life and simple acts of kindness.
Mathew 10: 40-42
This morning’s gospel is one of the shortest in the lectionary only being 2 verses long so I wanted to back up and take in two more verses so that this will make more sense to you the hearer.
38* and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39* He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. 40* "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. 41* He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42* And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." RSV
In this section, Jesus is speaking about the "life of burdens" that a Christian lives. He is talking about suffering and hardship.
Dietrich Bonheoffer the German theologian once wrote to his sister saying: "It is good to learn early enough that suffering and God are not a contradiction but rather a unity, for the idea that God himself is suffering is one that has always been one of the most convincing teachings of Christianity. I think God is nearer to suffering than to happiness, and to find God in this way gives peace and rest and a strong and courageous heart."
We live a life which is filled with the reality of living in a sinful and less than perfect world. Jesus is speaking about what has come to be called, "a theology of the cross"!! This theology says that through the brokenness of this world, through "crosses" life will be redeemed and renewed. Jesus is reminding the disciples and us that life is not easy. Living on this earth is very difficult. You and I will have "crosses" to bear. Life will not be easy. Living as a Christian, as a believer, in this world with the power of Satan to harness, means of life that is difficult, a "A Life of Burdens".
Sometimes, I think, Satan works extra hard to drive those away who are the most faithful to Christ. It seems that Satan is alive and well especially in the church. Jesus knew that. He knew life would be difficult for His followers especially after He ascended into heaven. Jesus speaks about this difficult life over and over again in the gospels.
In Matthew 16:24-28 He says, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Again in Mark 8: 34 and in Luke 9:23-27 and again in Luke 14:25-27, he says the same thing. This theme of a "rough road" is repeated again and again in the gospels.
Not only does this theme of cross bearing appear again and again, but also the idea of division, of a sword appears all over the gospels, as in this text for today and in Matt. 10: 21 it says, "Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death." And we find similar text in Mark, Luke as well as John. Also in the Old Testament we find such texts as in Micah 7:1-7 and we could go on and on.
Do you see, do you get the point!!! Jesus is saying life will not be easy as you follow me. Don’t look for a life of roses; don’t look for the easy way, but the narrow road. Carry your cross, be ready to defend your faith against even your father and mother, your children, your friends against all these we need to be able to defend our faith. I remember when I first started in the ministry my family was not totally for it, I chose not to argue but rather to continue to live my faith in front of them. Today they are far more accepting of me and respect my beliefs.
Not only did Jesus tell His disciples about the kind of life they would live for Him, but on Good Friday, He demonstrated that life by dying on a cross, by experiencing death, by facing pain, by being humiliated as He died a death of a criminal. This was not an easy life; this was a life of burdens for Jesus.
A pastor wrote: I think that pain and suffering is the price we pay for being alive. Being alive means living with original sin and the mighty power of Jesus’ death on the cross. When we understand that, our question will change to, What do we do with our suffering and pain? Our pain and suffering must become meaningful. It must not become pointless and empty suffering? How can we turn all the painful experiences of our lives into personal growth within our selves and within our relationship with God? We may never understand the why or be able to control the forces that cause our suffering. But one thing is for sure. We can have a lot to say about what the suffering does to us. We can determine what sort of people we become because of it. Pain makes some people bitter and envious. It makes others sensitive and compassionate. It is left up to us how we grow in our relationship with God.
So, I have a question. WHY IS IT TODAY, WE HEAR ON THE TV, FROM SO CALLED FUNDAMENTALISTS, FROM SELF PROCLAIMED BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS, THAT IF YOU ARE TRULY A BELIEVER YOUR LIFE WILL HAVE HEALTH, WEALTH AND PROSPERITY??? Jesus NEVER promised us any of those things.
Many today are making it a benchmark of a so called true believer that on the outside appearance of a Christian, at least life, has to look perfect. They think you are to live a life of no suffering, no pain, no heartache, no struggles, no guilt, no illness, no disability, but a life that is filled with glory. Many are saying to you and me, that if you don’t have a so called perfect life then, then something is wrong with your faith, something is wrong with your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you are not as good of a believer as I am.
I WILL NOT BUY THAT STUFF. I look to Jesus, He was perfect, righteous, and obedient but yet He suffered.
As Christians, we have the only Lord who has suffered, so then he understands our suffering. He understands our burdens. He reaches out to help us carry those burdens in life. We do not have a savior who closes his eyes to the pain of the world, but he reaches out from the cross with out-stretched arms to embrace each of us in our live, with the burdens we carry.
And Jesus tells us that even in our own suffering, our own burden carrying, we need to reach out to others with hospitality.
That is what the last verse of our gospel lesson says; And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."
Jesus is speaking about hospitality here. How do we interact with others? The word reward does not mean we earn heaven, but it should literally be translated, “our promised result and outcome.”
Jesus is telling us as we carry our burdens, we need to be hospitable to others. We need to treat people as we would like to be treated. We need to show concern for the burdens they are carrying.
Let me give you an example of how this works. A pastor had gathered a selected group of workers to train them for evangelism. A young worker was complaining to a veteran caller about one of the people he had visited. The young man said, "I tried to tell him about Jesus, I tried to tell him about the love Jesus had for Him. I tried to tell him that Jesus was interested in helping him to live a life of grace, to help him with the burdens he was caring. But the man replied in this manner, "I am a poor old man and must stagger under this load of firewood that I had so much trouble in cutting. I can feel nothing of the love of God. I can feel nothing of God caring for my burdens. I can feel nothing of his grace for me. "
The instructor turned to the young, depressed visitor and said, " My son, if you would have offered to carry his load of ’wood for him. He would have believed in your words because he would have not only have heard about ’the love of God for him, but he would have seen an illustration of love in you.’’
And I would like to close with another story of God’s love as shown through one and giving to another. The simplest of acts can have impacts far beyond our wildest dreams. Take for example this story of a humble hotel clerk.
In the city of Philadelphia there was a little third-class hotel. Into it one night there came two tired elderly people. They went up to the night clerk and the husband pleadingly said, “Mister, please don’t tell us you don’t have a room. My wife and I have been all over the city looking for a place to stay. We didn’t know about the big conventions that are here. The hotels at which we usually stay are all full. We’re dead tired and it’s after midnight. Please, don’t tell us you don’t have a place where we can sleep.”
The clerk looked at them a long moment and then answered, “Well, I don’t have a single room except my own. I work at night and sleep in the daytime. It’s not as nice as the other rooms, but it’s clean, and I’ll be happy for you to be my guests for tonight.”
The wife said, “God bless you, young man.”
The next morning at the breakfast table, the couple sent the waiter to tell the night clerk they wanted to see him on very important business. The night clerk went in, recognized the two people, sat down at the table and said he hoped they had had a good night’s sleep. They thanked him most sincerely. Then the husband astounded the clerk with this statement, “You’re too fine a hotel man to stay in a hotel like this. How would you like for me to build a big, beautiful, luxurious hotel in the city of New York and make you general manager?”
The clerk didn’t know what to say. He thought there might be something wrong with their minds. He finally stammered, “It sounds wonderful.” His guest then introduced himself. “I’m John Jacob Astor.” So, the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was built. Four years later, the hotel was the largest in the world and boasted unprecedented standards of service. The night clerk became the best-known hotel man in the world. One humble act of service led to this unforeseen act of grandeur.
The point of this story is not that you will be rewarded for doing good deeds, but that simple deeds can produce larger results than we expect. Simple acts can show the love of God through our actions. One clerk chose to show a simple act of kindness to strangers by sharing his room with this tired couple. He touched them in ways he could not have foreseen. His simple act of kindness touched the fabric of this couple and greatly impacted how they looked at this young man.
So my challenge to you is this: Just as our heavenly Father first loved us and demonstrated service through His Son Jesus, we too can show that love in simple acts of kindness. Accept freely the act of grace that God has bestowed upon you and freely share it with those around you.
*Portions of this may have been used in other sermons on sermoncentral.
