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The Holy Gospel according to Matthew, the tenth chapter. Jesus said to the twelve, 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. This is the gospel of the Lord.

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Thanks be to God.

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He may be seated. Well, there's an old story about an abbey, formerly known for its vitality and its spirituality, that had fallen on hard times. Once there were many people that would come to visit and worship and sing with them, and now it was almost empty and there weren't enough voices for them to sing together. So the abbot decided to visit a holy man who lived nearby. And when he arrived, he poured out his heart and he told the wise man everything and wondered what sin the abbey was guilty of. The wise man said, Yes, you are right. There is a sin that you are guilty of. Because each time he thought of somebody, he's thinking of all their faults, and he thought, well, it can't be that one, and it can't be that one. But then he wondered if maybe that was the disguise. So back at the Abbey, he shared with the community what he had learned, and they all decided that the only thing to do was to treat each person as if they were Christ. It wasn't long before things changed for them in that community. It suddenly seemed like their vitality was back. It seemed that they felt more welcoming, and in turn, people were visiting and joining with them. It simply took that reminder that they already had Christ dwelling among them. It was that reminder that they had forgotten, and now that they remembered that Christ was present in their community, things changed for them. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Have you ever thought about that? When have you truly welcomed another person? Not that superficial hospitality, that, hey, how's it going? How are you good? How are you good? But maybe when you welcome somebody with that deep compassion that Christ has given you, and you ask for nothing in return. There was a story of a man in the news, and he would research presumed online scams of folks who asked for financial help. You know those. Please help me, this is happening in my life. I need you to send money. And he would discover that some of those stories were true. And when he found the true stories, he would try to help the people and actually raise money for them. There was a particular woman who needed surgery, and online people were saying, This is a scam, don't send money to her, it's a scam. And he found out when he discovered this woman and talked with her and found out her whole story, and also talked to her medical personnel, that her story was true. So he worked with her to help her put together a book with her story, her life, and pictures, and she in turn was able to sell that to raise money, and she was able to receive her surgery, which changed her life. But these things that this man did also changed his life. He learned to live out of compassion for his neighbors near and far, welcoming their stories, and then offering a way for them to receive help, to show mercy, and to show love. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. There's a couple right in our midst at Luther Memorial Church that when the weather is hot, so I'm guessing they're going to be working this week, when the weather is hot, they drive around with bottles of cold water, and anybody that looks like that needs that bottle of cold water, they hand them out. No questions asked. Could be somebody working outside, doing road construction, maybe it's somebody in the park or somebody just up against the side of a building trying to catch some shade. It doesn't matter. They hand out the water, and when they do, they let them know that it's an extension of hospitality from their church, from Lutheran Memorial Church. And they simply do that to show compassion and care. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Well, in this gospel of Matthew, one of my former professors, Reverend Dr. Mary Hinkle-Shore, she says that righteousness is an important issue for Matthew. And it might not be what you think it is. Because righteousness in the Gospel of Matthew is always tied to acts of mercy, to almsgiving, and to forgiveness. We are not righteous on our own. We are not righteous when we judge another person. We are not righteous when we think that we are more influential than someone else. We are righteous when we show them mercy. We are righteous when we show that mercy because we receive it from Christ. We are righteous when we show the love to that person, the love that we have first received from Christ. And we are righteous when we show forgiveness, for we know that we first were forgiven. Maybe you know the name Walt Wangren. And he tells a story about being in his church, and this one is touching to me as well, being a female pastor who has participated in the baptisms of my own children. But his pastor was baptizing her own child at church that day. And she got to that part in the worship service where she was holding the baby over the font and using the water and going to say the words, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Although when she got to that part, she kept stumbling over the words, I baptize you, and she would just kind of stop. And then she'd try again. And Walt said he was sitting in church and he's getting impatient. And he's thinking, What's your problem? Why are you stumbling over these words that you know so well that you could simply say? And then he kind of leaned over and he saw her face. And he realized why she was stumbling over those words. Because he could see that for her, she recognized that all of a sudden that it wasn't just this water, this water that she was using. She was caught up in the immensity of the moment and the words that she was saying and what those words meant because it was filled with God's word and God's promise. It wasn't just that water, and it wasn't just her voice speaking the words. But she was so overwhelmed with the gifts that her own child was receiving that day at the baptismal font. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. It is not up to us to decide whether someone is deserving of God's love, compassion, and mercy. Our role that we are invited into is to show love, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness to those people that we meet and to welcome them. When we join together here, and especially when we have communion at the table right behind me, and we say, All are welcome, come eat, this meal is for you. What an example that we participate in, knowing that God's love, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness is given to all of us and to any who step into this place as well as when we go out into the world. No matter who we are, no matter our backgrounds, no matter what we're thinking of each other when we're here, that compassion, love, and forgiveness is shown. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. It surprises me again and again to know that Christ wants to work through us, that we are activated to go out with our hands and our feet, our voices and our presence, to live out God's good news and love shown through us through Christ, to show welcome, to show mercy, to show love, and to show forgiveness. Mother Teresa was known to share it this way. She would hold up her hand, five fingers, and say, the gospel is written on these five fingers. You did it to me. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Amen.