Matthew 10:40-42 Welcome home.

"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."

These days there are people to welcome us everywhere. Whether at supermarkets or ‘non-essential’ shops someone is at the door to squirt us with sanitiser and guide us through necessary procedure. As we plan to open our churches similar practices might need to be adopted. Even before COVID days there were welcomers in many places. When we boarded a plane a steward or two would be at the door to greet us. Why? Ostensibly to check our Boarding Pass but maybe it was more a case of them checking our age, clothes, disposition and attitude to work out whether we are going to be high maintenance or not. It is often the case that we welcome and we eye up. 

In our gospel reading Jesus talks about us welcoming others. It’s a slightly complicated little paragraph but basically it emphasises the importance of welcoming people, and as we greet them to truly recognise who they are. 

Let’s imagine ourselves approaching the Pearly Gates of heaven. As we get closer we feel both excited and apprehensive. Finally we get to the front of the queue but St. Peter asks us to wait a moment as he makes a phone call. Our anxiety levels shoot up. But he them turns to us and says that he was just making sure our room was ready. What a relief! Once in we might reflect back and wonder why we felt anxious and apprehensive. Were we not sure of God’s love for us? Did we not know that we belonged? Why weren’t we more confident in our faith? This might be a silly story but it reminds us that welcoming people is so important because it gives much needed reassurance and puts people at ease…even if we think they needn’t have had any such worries. 

Isn’t infant baptism a wonderful thing! To be welcomed into the world and into God’s family right from the start. And that welcome is echoed at church doors and at the start of Services. It is even better when we develop a generally welcoming personality. It is a godly thing to welcome the visitor and stranger, the refugee and asylum seeker, even the person who has been out of circulation for a while and is tentatively making an appearance again. We are all one family. Finally, let’s take this welcoming one stage further. We started by referring to ‘non-essential’ retailers. I wonder whether there are many in our world who consider themselves ‘non-essential’ by the way they have been treated. Fodder. What can we do to extend a welcome to them? Jesus talks about giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty child. Let’s take that as a sign pointing us in the right direction.