June 28, 2020 - Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 28:5-9; Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42

June 28, 2020

Adapted for print from transcription.

Well, good morning Shepherd Family. I want to start off with a few announcements. First, a great big shout out to Linley Morris. When Gabi Young and I reached out to Linley, she was so kind in saying that she would be the coordinator for our mask making ministry. So a great big shout out to Linley Morris this week, who reported to me that we now as a Shepherd Family and our Mask-Making Ministry have produced 350 masks for different members of our Shepherd community and for our friends at the Beatitudes Care Campus. So a big shout-out to Linley Morris and all those who helped along the way.

Also one other announcement, the full Church Council did have an opportunity to meet again this last Tuesday, and they adopted that subcommittee’s plan. So, as I announced last Sunday, what we're looking at is a 14-day downward trajectory of new COVID numbers before we reopen to in-person worship. The first phase of that in-person worship will just be myself, Riley, and a few others; readers probably, here in the church and then 14 days following that time, if numbers continue their downward trajectory, we will then reopen. So that's your council update in terms of what church will look like in the upcoming weeks and months.

As you know, if you're connected to the news, our numbers here in Arizona have skyrocketed. So I imagine it will be sometime before we open up. So with that said, I did want to take the opportunity to give us a different church experience today by doing all of our videos here in the church and allowing us to feel to feel our Shepherd of the Hills building and hopefully have a better sense of connection this way.

It's definitely a very unusual experience for me, not only being back in a robe for our Sunday video, but also being here in the church. This is my first time doing a video in the church during this time, and having no one here with me is very shocking. But we have a lot to break open in this Sunday's reading. So much so, we're just going to focus on today's gospel. There's a lot to break open and we do provide resources to take a look at all of our Sunday readings, not only on our website, but also in our weekly e-blast, so please look at those resources in terms of going deeper into these weekly readings.

As I reflected on all three of our readings, the number one reading of course that stood out for me was the gospel lesson, and I thought, well, I'll have to go to one of those other two readings because the gospel reading is only about three verses. But it is meaty! So as I reflect on this gospel lesson from Matthew, the number one thing that stood out for me was, “give them a glass of cold water,” and of course, “The Little Ones.” So I want to just reflect on those two key points. So first of all, we've done a lot of water drives here in Arizona. And since I've been at Shepherd of the Hills, we’ve done at least one major water drive for our friends down at ICM, in what we call “The Zone,” where most of our homeless folks live or are trying to get connected to services.

Last year, we also had exchange students put together packets for us to then take out and give to homeless people that we see that are on the road. And one of the primary things in that bag, along with a granola bar, was a bottle of water. We broke those open during a children's sermon time, and just a reminder, there’s a bus ticket in there, which is very helpful. If you're living on the streets, and you're needing to, let's say, do something like get to a medical appointment, a bus pass is always appreciated. They're very thankful for a bus pass, a granola bar, so something to eat immediately, and then a bottle of water.

Those were kind of the key things that were in there, plus a new pair of socks. And then surprisingly enough, having worked at Justa Center, which is a day resource center for our homeless seniors in downtown Phoenix, we know that something as simple as a new, clean pair of socks are so important for our homeless residents and they are very thankful to receive those.

But we hear today, “offer them a glass of cold water.” So this idea of cold water here in Phoenix, we all know what it takes to get a glass of cold water or not get a glass of cold water. And how thankful I know for myself, I keep water bottles in the refrigerator at home, and sometimes I even stick them in the freezer because I love to have cold water to just grab a cold bottle of water and enjoy that, especially after a long hot walk at the end of the evening. Here's the thing, if you took one of those bags and put that in your car, you know that those water bottles sitting in your car or wherever we might leave them, they don't stay cold. So the primary thing that we're hearing in today's gospel is this idea of not only hospitality, but to be intentional about your hospitality. So as Nora shared in today's children's time, you know, what's expected when we provide hospitality to someone, we invite them into our air conditioned spaces. We might offer them food and we, definitely here in Phoenix, offer them cold water or a cold something to drink; a cold something to enjoy.

So we're intentional about this. Well, what really stood out today for me in today's gospel is this idea of intention. Just a reminder that we're still being sent out. Jesus is still sending his disciples out on a mission. So, you know, I think that this is where the church, so often for so many years, this is where we've gotten it wrong.

We talk about hospitality, but we forget when we hear a story like this, that Jesus is sending us out. Jesus is sending us out into other people's spaces. And so there's a sense of vulnerability that we're called to here, of being called out from our personal spaces, called out to go into someone else's personal space, and to allow someone else to provide hospitality to us. There is a sense of vulnerability there to enjoy someone else's cold drink, to enjoy someone else's food, to enjoy someone else's art, to enjoy someone else's bathroom. There is a sense of vulnerability when we’re not the one providing the hospitality.

And so this is the sense that we receive in the gospel today, is that we're being called out to not only be and provide radical hospitality to all of those, as the gospel says, “little ones,” but we're also being called out to experience other people's radical hospitality. And there is a vulnerability in that.

So back to this idea of hot water. You know, I instantly, I hesitate to always go back to my experiences with those that are incarcerated on Arizona's death row or to Justa Center. Again, if you're visiting for the first time, Justa Center is a day outreach center for our homeless seniors in downtown Phoenix. I was a Chaplain and Housing Coordinator there; a Social Worker. And I remember people coming into my office that I had to help. And I said this during our Lectio Divina time this week, this is a sense of vulnerability for me. There are people that we would rather not provide hospitality to. Maybe they smell. In my case, you know, I had to seek out different chairs for my office that were not fabric, so I could wipe them off because you're dealing, and again, we use that type of word; we're dealing with people. So the gospel today is calling us to not deal with people, but to come into relationship with them. And this idea about a cold glass of water. Having been to the Holy Land this last year, a year ago, here in June, we know that for anyone who's traveled in Europe, if you've been to Israel, cold drinks are a very American thing.

And so of course, cold drinks or a glass of cold water in the ancient world was unheard of. And I would say very difficult. So what are we hearing with this idea of cold water? We're hearing that we have to be intentional about our welcome. Intentional about our hospitality. So it's not necessarily rolling down your window and handing a bottle of water to somebody, it's making a place for them.

It's making a place for someone at the table. And again, that's why we talk about this table as the table of life, because this table isn't our table. So the invitation to experience this sense of radical hospitality, and then also the invitation to us to go out and receive hospitality from others.

This idea of vulnerability, this willingness to be sent out. This is our mission. This mission of going out to be vulnerable to others, to allow others to provide hospitality to us. And then of course, this idea of intentionality. So one last thing, this idea of “little ones” that we hear in today's gospel now many commentators have picked up and we may even pick this up, I know our Lectio Divina group on Thursday did, is this idea of “little ones” seems very demeaning, but the idea that's coming across in this early Christian community is that they are people that are in the margins. And this is one of the things that allowed the Christian movement to grow so rapidly in the ancient world, because it was appealing to those little ones. It was appealing to all of those that are in the margins. So the question for us this week, the question that we're sent off with today, is “who are the little ones in our life?” “Who are the little ones in our communities, as the presidential administration this week attacks the Affordable Care Act, as we face the public health crisis?”

This week, it's important to ask “Who are the little ones in society who are those that we are called to as Christians, to provide a cold glass of water.?” And again, that cold glass of water is offered with intention. Who are those little ones in our society? This also gives us an idea of what it means to be a Christian in today's world.

This is what we're called to. This is who we are. And maybe if the church wasn't so focused on inviting people in, maybe if we really listened to this call, this commission, this mandate that we've been hearing for the last several weeks and Matthew's gospel from Jesus to his disciples and to us as well. Maybe we would get out into other people's churches.This is why I have been so intentional, since I've been here at Shepherd, at not only inviting people from other religious backgrounds to visit us and to share with us and provide bridge building opportunities. Like our discussion time with our Muslim siblings, bringing a Native American medicine man here to honor the four directions throughout the year, inviting our Muslim siblings to dialogue and to hear a lecture on what Islam has to say about Jesus. I believe that these are the things that Christian churches- that we as Christians- are called to.

But in today's gospel, we also hear that we too are called to go into other people's spaces, to other people's homes and to receive their hospitality. So when we begin to open, know that we will in the future provide opportunities for us to not only go and worship in other church spaces. I have many friends from different historically black churches; African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Zion, and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

Know that when we begin to come back together and it is safe to go to worship, that we will provide opportunities to invite our brothers and sisters from those historically black denominations into our space. But more importantly, know that we will be saying yes to going into their spaces. We will be saying yes to doing things together, to working together, to being the church together, to being the body of Christ together.

Amen.

Peace be with you, 

Rock+

Rev. Rock R. Fremont Jr., Pastor
Shepherd of the Hills UCC 
(480) 280-6598 Mobile 

"That they may all be one." John 17:21