26 June 2011 “A Disciples Reward” Matthew 10:40-42

26 June 2011 “A Disciples Reward” Matthew 10:40-42

Today is an exciting day for me personally. Today I celebrate the anniversary of my ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament. It was June 26, 2005. In the history of our church there have been installation services as new pastors have been called, and I expect we have ordained a few. We certainly have held many such services for elders and deacons. All who are ordained have a right to be proud.

I labored faithfully through seminary and those of you who are ordained, which includes many of you, have labored faithfully learning the faith, worshiping and being God’s ministry to one another and to the world. The remembrance of our dedication of service to our God is of great importance for the faith, the life and witness of this church, and we can be mighty proud of our work thus far.
Ordination is the act by which the church sets apart persons who have been called, through election by the church, to service. In our Presbyterian tradition and according to scripture, we call them presbyters.

The worship service for ordination is actually rooted in our baptism, which “is the basic Christian ‘ordination’. In baptism, we are individually claimed as God’s own beloved sons and daughters and grafted into the body of Christ – the community of faith – the church. It was in our baptism that we were made disciples of Jesus Christ and called to serve others as if we were serving Christ himself.
All worship takes this stance, we are made disciples for service and it is right and fitting that from time to time we remind ourselves of our personal call to be servant discipleship in Jesus Christ.

It is to this reminder that today’s scripture turns us. We hear it in Matthew’s gospel at the end of chapter 10 in the form of a call to welcome those doing God’s work and to hear about their reward.

Listen to it again:
“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.”

There is a powerful affirmation in this scripture. We have been doing God’s work, you and I, and it is now time to hear of our reward!

Welcoming the Word of God connects us to God, and being connected to God connects us to the reward of God’s salvation. That is what the reward of the righteous is. Our reward is found in being in a right relationship with God. God grants salvation through Christ’s cross, this is God’s atoning act of righteousness.

So, welcoming the Word of God connects us to God and connects us to the reward of God’s salvation. This is a beautiful truth to remember. It is the sort of good news we want to hear. This is our day to celebrate who we have been as a church and as the faithful, who we are now and who we will become. We will celebrate this day being ordained, all of us, being set apart, and knowing God’s truth for each of us. This day we receive the reward for our faithfulness.

Yet, something doesn’t seem right. Perhaps we have gone too far if we become the center of attention in today’s call for celebration and reward.

Ernie Hinojosa began a new congregation in San Antonio. The place was doing so well, far better than Pastor Ernie had dreamed, one day he found sanctuary in his office and prayed a lament to God: “ I’m too young, I’m not strong enough to do this!” to which God very clearly replied, “Ernie, what made you think it was about you? It’s not about you; it’s about me. This is my work.”

I am so struck by that line, “What made you think it was about you?” I have written that phrase in my journal and wish I could burn it in my psyche because I need to be reminded of that truth every day.

In the midst of an American culture that seems at every turn to tell us what we deserve, it is truly difficult to believe we are not the center of the universe. We deserve the best car, the biggest house, we owe it to ourselves and our families, why, just ask your doctor, Celebrex is right for you… there is no question, it is about us!

Is it possible we are surrounded by false prophets who tell us what we want to hear?

Jeremiah thought so. We heard this morning of Jeremiah’s response to the prophet Hananiah. Hananiah was preaching and prophesying what the people wanted to hear. The people of Israel were in exile in Babylon. They wanted to go home, to their land, their temple and their old way of life. Hananiah was telling them what they wanted to hear. He assured them, all the temple vessels would be returned to Jerusalem. He assured them they were about to be set free from their exile. Jeremiah hoped so. He truly did. He wanted to go home too. But, that was not happening. The words Hananiah was saying had not come true. He preached exactly what the people wanted to hear, rather than taking the route of God’s truth, which was what Jeremiah was all about.

There is another prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, who also decided to not preach what the people wanted to hear. Instead he preaches the Way of God’s truth. Jesus says exactly what God wants him to say, even when it is not what we want to hear.
In Matthew’s tenth chapter, Jesus has called his disciples and he sends us with them to do God’s work.

Today we hear about our real rewards for now we know the real truth. The cost and reward of being a disciple is that we must surrender to the fact that it is not about us. Ouch. Good by celebration!

About this passage, Barbara Brown Taylor has said, “What the Bible tells us over and over again – what our lives tell us – is that the only reward for doing God’s work is doing God’s work. Period.”

Susan Langhauser, another great preacher, says, “Let’s face it; our question, ‘What’s in it for me?’ is not a biblical question!”

Brother Lawrence, a humble 17th-century monk, having no possessions in this world, found himself quite well off, which he attributed to the fact that he sought only God, and not Gods gifts. He was not interested in Langhauser’s question, “What’s in it for me?” He believed that God is much greater than any of the simple gifts God gives us. Rather, he chose to look beyond the gift, hoping to learn more about God alone. It actually became his desire to avoid receiving any reward, so that he would have the pleasure of doing everything solely for God.
Barbara Brown Taylor is right, the only reward for doing God’s work is doing God’s work. Period.

God has placed within our hearts a desire to be in relationships. And when in a genuine relationship we do not ask, what is in it for me. A true relationship should not be about us. We know we are in a true relationship when we cannot distinguish the individual. Two in a relationship become one as they become friends, as they fall in love, as they become parents, or as they become the right thing they have done. It is not about us as an individual. We die to self, remember, and are born anew.

There is a wonderful story of a women’s Bible study group who had chosen to study Malachi 3:3, which says that God “will sit as a refiner, a purifier of silver.” Not really understanding that concept, one of the women volunteered to go discover the process of refining silver. She made an appointment and on arriving at the silversmith’s shop, was escorted to the place of refining. The smith held the piece of silver right in the center of the flame. The woman thought about what that might say about how God deals with us, and she asked the smith, “Do you have to hold the silver in the hottest part of the fire?” “Oh yes, “he replied. “If I look away for a moment it could get too hot and be destroyed. If I don’t let it get hot enough, it will not become pure and therefore workable for my purposes.” “But how do you know when it is refined?” asked the woman. The silversmith replied, “When I can see my own image in the silver, I know it is pure.”

This is Gods’ truth; God sits as a refiner, a purifier of each of us. Our baptism, our individual refinement as God’s own beloved sets us apart for service to God. The reward of doing God’s work is simply and powerfully doing God’s work.
Our celebration this morning is not about you or about me; it is about God, and it is about our relationships. Yours and mine and ours with God and all that God has created.
Today is a day for celebration. Today we remember our ordination, our baptism, our calling by God to join together along the route of God’s truth. Our calling to a journey of true faith in Jesus Christ for those being sent to do Gods’ work.

We will know we are on the right path to that work when our Creator’s image can be seen in us and all we say and do. When we love widely and care deeply for those around us Christ’s image can be seen in us and we will then know for certain, this life of ordained service to our God is most definitely not about us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen


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