Cool Water and K.I.S.S. Evangelism Pastor Mark Havel

Matthew 10:40-42

[Jesus said,] “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 shall receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person shall receive the reward of the righteous. And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

I always feel like we need to put this bit of Matthew’s Gospel into some context, just in case you haven’t been here for the last few weeks to here what Jesus has been up to.

Up to this point in the 10th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has basically been laying out a job description for his disciples. And a lot of what they can expect isn’t pretty, to be honest. If you were here, you remember there was all of that stuff about not bringing peace, but a sword and about families being separated, one from another, because of their affinity for, or their call to follow Jesus. There were even some warnings about arrest, persecution, and death, too.

So it doesn’t sound like such a great gig, being one of those first disciples: Hitting the streets with the Word of God. Knocking on doors to share the Good News of the Kingdom. Preaching the Gospel. Healing the sick. Inviting themselves into the hearts and lives and homes of people … welcoming strangers into The Way of following Jesus, who may or may not want anything at all to do with what they were selling.

Which is where we end up today … at the end of this ministry plan … where it seems Jesus tries to wrap it all up on a high note, with some encouragement, some hope, some promised – if unidentified – “rewards” for doing this work, for accepting this mission, for living this life. Rewards for the disciples who welcome others into the fold AND rewards for those who welcome them as they do his bidding.

A Facebook friend of mine, someone I knew in junior high and high school, posted a picture on social media this week and it made me laugh. It was a hot pink Post-It -note – handed to her by her UBER driver – that said, “God has something special for you. God bless you always. Smile, God loves you. (Smiley Face) Happy day!!!”

My friend’s response, via Facebook, was “OMG I’m in hell. I mean, Indiana.”

It might help to know that my friend and I knew each other when we lived in the suburbs of Detroit, again when we were in Junior High and High School. She’s lived most of her adult life in California, as far as I can tell – San Francisco and Oakland. She’s always been an artist – drawing and painting – and she travels the world lecturing on things like Artificial Intelligence in the world of computers and technology that is utterly beyond me. (She does things in virtual reality like designing holograms and robots, for crying out loud.) She’s always been a free-spirit, a deep thinker, and a non-conformist, yada, yada, yada.

Which is why, I imagine, being back in the Midwest – and in “ruby red” Indiana, in particular – where presumptuous prayerful Post-It Notes that promise God’s blessings and proclaim God’s love to perfect strangers might as well be Mars – or feel like Hell – depending on your religious inclinations and if you’re a cynical skeptic, like my friend.

Which is why her reaction made me laugh. See, she’s reached out to me via social media over the years – knowing I’m a Pastor – to say how disillusioned she’s become with Christianity and the Church. She didn’t get into specifics, but I have a hunch she means the politics of the “Evangelical Religious Right” and their treatment of women, LGBTQ+ people, and immigrants, among other things. I can laugh at her reaction to that uninvited, presumptuous Post-It Note, because I don’t blame her one bit for her skeptical cynicism – based on all of that.

My friend’s experience alongside Jesus’ marching orders for his disciples this morning about welcoming and being welcomed by others made me think there might be something to “knowing your audience” and “checking your motivation” when it comes to sharing grace and good news with people out there in the world.

Too many Christians can be relentless about their evangelism, either because they really do love their neighbor, because they think it’s on them to convert and save the souls of their neighbors, or both. Which is to say their efforts may be as well-intended as they are misguided, if you ask me. Because the fact is not everyone believes in or wants to be blessed by a God – or told to smile because of a God – they don’t believe in – or that is different from the God they do believe in. And to be told such a thing by a stranger is presumptuous and cringey – if not offensive – to many people, like it or not.

The audacity of it negates or dismisses or fails to care about the recipient’s own faith – or lack of faith – with any measure of respect. It’s akin to demanding we put the 10 Commandments into public school classrooms or making Bible stories part of public school curriculum. It’s like wishing “Merry Christmas” to your Jewish neighbor or “Happy Hanukkah” to your Muslim co-worker.

I think the simple explanation for all of this is that too many Christians take for granted our privileged place in our culture. And we forget that Jesus was living in a culture very different from ours – where he and his followers WERE NOT practicing a faith that was privileged or popular in their neck of the woods. And I think Jesus is saying, today, that we can welcome others more kindly, more faithfully, more graciously, more humbly, more simply, and more practically even, because of that. It’s why he calls us to start with nothing more and nothing less than a cup of cold water.

Jesus uses this image and example of cool water, because it’s something with which his poor, peasant disciples – living on the road in the dust and the heat of Galilee – could relate. Water was a precious commodity in those days, and in that region, whether it was used for cooking or washing or to quench your thirst. Everyone needed it, wanted it and could find a use for it – no matter how much or how little of it you had to offer.

It’s why I think Jesus might be saying, “keep it simple stupid.” Sharing a cup of water is a simple way of encouraging his people to meet the needs of those in need; to meet people where they are; to graciously offer something practical and holy and to let the Holy Spirit of God’s grace do the rest.

So what constitutes a proverbial cup of cold water in our lives? What is it that you could share? What is it that others around you need? What is it – large or small – that could make a difference for someone in your circle? How can you … how can I … how might we … go about offering up these cold cups of water in welcoming ways that matter?

Maybe it’s handing over some cash, a gift card, or a bottle of cold water to the next beggar you pass on the street…

Maybe it’s sharing food by way of our food pantry that doesn’t ascribe to all the rules, road blocks, and requirements that some food ministries demand…

Maybe it’s opening your church up to kids who could use a little more time and practice their English or their reading during summer break…

Maybe, it’s free “Mom Hugs” at a Pride festival for a kid whose own parents refuse to let them back in the house, now that they’re out of the closet…

Maybe it’s mowing your elderly neighbor’s lawn … maybe it’s paying for some other kids’ school supplies in your own child’s classroom … maybe it’s a more generous tip for the server at your favorite restaurant… maybe it’s giving blood in the parking lot at Church on Sunday morning.

I think it’s doing any of the above – and whatever else moves you – quietly, compassionately, humbly, and trusting God’s grace to do whatever God’s grace will do with it.

And I think this, because my Facebook friend from high school, the one who was scandalized by the pink Post-It Note from her Indiana Uber driver – despite her disdain and disillusionment with Christians and the Church these days – has also acknowledged, and found hope, in some of what she’s seen me post and preach online – and in some of what she’s noticed we have going on around here. She’s told me it’s given her a different kind of perspective about the way Christians and the Church can be – in and for the sake of the world. When we get it right, we really do do it with no questions asked, no requirements, no obligations, no pressure, and no strings attached – and people notice and are moved by that.

There are cold cups of water in every one of our lives waiting to be shared with thirsty people all around us who are thirsty for something the world can’t give. May we learn to discern what that looks like and how we might share it generously … with humility and faith … until hearts and lives are changed for the better and until the rewards of the kingdom are poured out for all people, and for the sake of the world.

Amen