Sunday, June 28, 2026
Sunday Reflection: Welcome
A lot of what Jesus taught is about how we treat each other-- and it is NOT about judging one another. Instead, we have a lot of passages like this one, at 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 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.”
It's not a long or complicated passage-- but too often we (including me) utterly fail to follow it.
Breaking it down a bit, here is what it says:
Welcome Jesus? Yes.
Welcome prophets? Yes.
Welcome righteous people? Yes.
Welcome children? Yes.
Pretty much, welcome everybody. And that can be tough. Prophets are bossy and contrarian, after all. They are, as we put it these days when exclusing people with strong or controversial opinions, "divisive." And kids, jeez-- so immature. You never know what they are going to eat or trample or pull to the ground.
Lately, I have put an effort into being more welcoming to those around me. It's a tiny thing, but you know that moment when you are a restaurant and the server comes over and says "Hi, I'm Morgan and I will be serving you today...?" I never bothered to introduce myself. How rude is that?
More importantly, I'm trying to have a more open heart, even to those I find annoying or hard to follow.
We all can get better-- and since I started trying I realize how far I have to go.
